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Indian PhilosophyOS

sutra

योगसूत्र

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Yogasūtra

The root text of the Yoga darshana: a terse manual on the mind, its afflictions, and the disciplined path to isolation of pure consciousness.
Primary sourceSource not yet ingested
Tradition
Yoga (Patanjala) · Sankhya
Difficulty
intermediate
Attribution
PatanjaliTraditionally attributed to Patanjali; whether this Patanjali is the grammarian of the same name is debated
Period · language
Scholars commonly place the compilation between roughly the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE; many favour the early centuries CE · Sanskrit
Themes
Mind · Meditation · Discipline · Liberation · Consciousness

Why read this?

It is the classical systematic account of yoga as a discipline of mind rather than of posture. Its short aphorisms define key terms that later Indian traditions, and modern yoga, keep returning to. Read it with a commentary; the sutras were written to be unpacked.

Questions it answers

  • ?What is the mind, and why is it restless?
  • ?Can the mind be brought to stillness, and what remains when it is still?
  • ?What are the practical steps from ethics to meditative absorption?

Key teachings

Editorial overview
1

Yoga as a discipline of the mind

The text opens by defining yoga in terms of the mind-field (chitta) and its fluctuations (vritti). When these activities come to rest, the seer is said to abide in its own nature. Posture and breath serve this aim; they are not the goal.

2

Practice and dispassion

Steadiness is said to come from two complementary supports: sustained practice (abhyasa) and dispassion (vairagya) toward objects of experience. Commentators treat this pair as the backbone of the whole discipline.

3

The five afflictions (kleshas)

Suffering is traced to five afflictions: ignorance (avidya), I-am-ness (asmita), attraction, aversion and clinging to life. Ignorance, understood as mistaking the non-self for the self, is the ground of the other four.

4

The eight limbs (ashtanga)

The second and third chapters set out eight limbs: yama (ethical restraints), niyama (observances), asana (seated posture), pranayama (breath regulation), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). The last three together are called samyama.

5

Ishvara as a special purusha

Unlike classical Sankhya, the Yoga Sutras admit Ishvara, a distinct purusha untouched by affliction and karma. Devotion or surrender to Ishvara (ishvara-pranidhana) is presented as one means to samadhi.

6

Kaivalya: isolation of the seer

The goal is kaivalya, the isolation of pure consciousness (purusha) from the workings of nature (prakriti). The text shares Sankhya's dualist framework while giving it a practical, meditative method.

Structure

  1. Samadhi Pada (51 sutras in the common recension)Definition of yoga, the fluctuations of mind, practice and dispassion, kinds of samadhi, Ishvara
  2. Sadhana Pada (55 sutras in the common recension)Kriya yoga, the afflictions, karma, the seer and the seen, the first five limbs
  3. Vibhuti Pada (55 sutras in the common recension)Dharana, dhyana, samadhi, samyama and the extraordinary powers (siddhis)
  4. Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras in the common recension)Mind, karma, impressions and the final isolation of the seer

Important passages

Source not yet ingested
References only — the passages themselves are not reproduced until the source text is ingested.
  • Yoga Sutra 1.2The definition of yoga in terms of the mind-field and its fluctuations
  • Yoga Sutra 1.12Practice and dispassion as the means of restraintcf. Gita6.35
  • Yoga Sutra 1.23Devotion to Ishvara as a means to samadhi
  • Yoga Sutra 2.3The five afflictions (kleshas)
  • Yoga Sutra 2.29The list of the eight limbs of yoga
  • Yoga Sutra 2.46Asana as a steady and comfortable seatcf. Gita6.12

Source not yet ingested

The text of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is not part of this version. What you see here is an editorial overview with passage references. No verses have been reproduced or invented. The architecture is ready for the text to be added.

Concepts

ConceptयोगYogaJoining or disciplining — a path of practice toward freedom.Conceptचित्तChitta — mind-fieldThe whole field of mind, with its thoughts, memories and latent impressions.ConceptसमाधिSamadhiComplete absorption of the mind in its object, or beyond any object.Conceptध्यानDhyanaMeditation: an unbroken flow of attention toward one object.Conceptप्राणायामPranayamaRegulation of the breath and the life-force (prana).Conceptवैराग्यVairagya — dispassionFreedom from craving — the fading of attraction to what cannot satisfy.ConceptपुरुषPurusha — pure consciousnessThe conscious witness, distinct from all that changes.Conceptप्रकृतिPrakriti — naturePrimal nature or matter — everything that changes, including the mind.Conceptईश्वरIshvara — GodThe Lord — God as ruler, creator and object of worship.Conceptअविद्याAvidya — ignoranceFundamental misunderstanding of oneself and reality — the root of bondage.ConceptगुणGunas — the three qualitiesSattva, rajas and tamas — the three strands of all nature.Conceptमोक्षMoksha — liberationFinal freedom from bondage and the cycle of rebirth.ConceptअहिंसाAhimsa — non-harmNot harming living beings, in deed, word or thought.Conceptआसक्तिAsaktiAttachment: clinging to objects, people or outcomes.ConceptदुःखDukkha — suffering, unsatisfactorinessSuffering, stress or unsatisfactoriness — the starting point of the Buddha's teaching and a shared concern of Indian thought.Conceptक्रोधKrodhaAnger, often described as frustrated desire.Conceptमनस्Manas — mindThe mind that receives, coordinates and desires — restless by nature.Conceptप्रमाणPramana — means of valid knowledgeThe accepted sources of valid knowledge, such as perception, inference and testimony.Conceptसाक्षीSakshi — the witnessThe Self as the silent witness of the mind's changing states.Conceptसमत्वSamatvaEquanimity: evenness of mind in gain and loss, success and failure.Conceptतत्त्वTattva — principle of reality'Thatness' — a basic category or principle of reality, counted differently by different schools.ConceptविवेकVivekaDiscernment between the real and the unreal, the Self and the not-Self.

Related texts

Textसाङ्ख्यकारिकाSankhya KarikaShares the Sankhya metaphysics of purusha and prakritiTextश्रीमद्भगवद्गीताBhagavad GitaGita chapter 6 describes seated meditation and the role of practice and dispassionTextराजयोगRaja YogaA modern exposition that includes Vivekananda's rendering and commentary on the sutrasTextहठयोगप्रदीपिकाHatha Yoga PradipikaLater hatha manual that presents its bodily methods as a ladder toward raja yoga

Thinkers

Thinkerपतञ्जलिPatanjaliThe Yoga Sutras are placed by scholars anywhere between about the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE; many recent scholars favour a date around the 4th–5th century CE.Thinkerस्वामी विवेकानन्दSwami Vivekananda1863–1902 CE (modern).

Continue exploring

Traditions

योगYoga (Patanjala)साङ्ख्यSankhya

Learning paths

Understanding the mind

Source type: Primary source. Overview text on this page is editorial.