Yoga Sutras, A Beginning

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali can be sumarized as a users manual on how to be a complete being.

We are studying the Yoga Sutras through Iyengar’s book, “Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.” The yoga philosophy was first described in the Yoga Sutras (sutra means thread), a collection of 196 aphorisms written by the Indian sage, Patanjali as the foundation of the philosophy and practice of yoga. Patanjali describes the enigma of human existence and shows how, through yoga practice, we can transform ourselves, gain mastery over the mind, emotions, and overcome obstacles to our spiritual evolution and attain the goal of yoga, liberation from the bondage of worldly desires and actions, and union with the Divine.

Patanjali lived between 500 and 200 B.C. He is noted for yoga sutras (health of the mind) along with grammar (clarity) and Ayurveda medicine (health). Traditional representation of Patanjali is seen as a deity with the hood of a cobra and lower body as the tail of a snake.

The Sutras are unique because they are not dogmatic and anyone from any religion can appreciate and study them. They are for all, if one is open to it.

There are four books/chapters or Padas (Sanskrit word) in the Yoga Sutras.

I. Samadhipadah (Samadhi Pada): Concentration

Yoga is defined along with the movement of the consciousness (citta vrtti) and the various disciplines by which they may be stilled. The goal of yoga is Samadhi, blissful enlightenment; the last stage of the eightfold path of yoga.

II. Sadhanapadah (Sadhana Pada): Discipline
Sadhana is the Sanskrit word for “practice” or “discipline”. In this section Patanjali outlines Kriya Yoga (Yoga of Action) + Ashtanga Yoga (Eight limbed Yoga).

III. Vibhutipadah (Vibhuti Pada): Result of Discipline + Techniques
Vibhuti is the Sanskrit word for “power” or “manifestation.”

IV. Kaivalyapadah (Kaivalya Pada) Freedom + Liberation
This section describes the nature of liberation and the reality of the transcendental self.