THE YOGA SUTRA OF PATANJALI
INTRODUCTION
CONTRIBUTED BY
ALAMELU &
C.L.RAMAKRISHNAN
The philosophic
systems of India are called Darshanas.
The Sanskrit
word Darshana means
Perception. Six Darshanas, namely Nyaya, Vaisesika,
Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta,
are referred to as the Orthodox, or
Astika Darshanas, as they acknowledge the
authority of the Vedas. In contradistinction,
are the three systems Buddhism, Jainism and
the Charvaka schools, referred to as the
Unorthodox, or Nastika Darshanas, as
they do not accept Vedic authority.
The Astika Darshanas
agree that "Moksha", or emancipation from
the Karmic cycle of rebirths, leading
to identity with the Ultimate Reality, is
the highest objective
of existence. The different Darshanas, of
course, diverge on their approaches to
this objective Yoga focusses on disciplines
of mind and body
that lead the individual through cultivation
of a healthy body and mind, into
an active life of rectitude and purpose,
and keep
him on the path of
moral advancement, which will ultimately
lead to the same goal. The other Darshanas
have their focus more on the ultimate
goal itself.
Yoga, in it's
most generic definition, stands for "path"
or "approach", leading to Moksha, though
a literal meaning is "union", referring to
union
or identification with
the Ultimate Reality. The doctrine of Karma
postulates that man
accumulates the results of the good and
bad actions
of his lifetime,
into what may be called a moral balance
sheet. And as
long as the balance
is not a zero (a subtle point to
be noted here is
that both a positive
and negative balance will invite rebirth),
Moksha will
be out of his
reach, and he has to work
it out in a succession of
lives, which Dr.Radhakrishnan
describes beautifully, as a succession
of spiritual opportunities. There are always,
of course, the rare exceptions,
the Jeevan Muktas,
who attain the ultimate objective within
their
lifetime, as
living demonstrations that Moksha is no
idle dream, but
an ever-present possiblity
within reach of anyone who has the
will.
The various ideas
and concepts related to Yoga, are
collectively
referred to as the
Yoga Sastra, or the Science of Yoga.
References
to them are strewn
all over the philosophical and religious
literature of India, and are addressed
in considerable detail in the Gita. Indeed
the
Gita explicitly says
it treats of the Yoga Sastra, and
all it's 18
Chapters bear the
title of a particular Yoga. All the
essential ideas
and concepts from
all the different sources have been assembled
together by Patanjali,
making hiswork,
more or less, a master
reference work on
Yoga.
The Yoga Sutra,
as it's title indicates, treats of
it's subject in the
form of the Sutra
(meaning a string, here denoting a
string of thoughts,
like a string of
gems). The Sutra, corresponds to the Aphorism,
and is
a literary form with
an astonishing combination of depth and
brevity. Ancient Sanskrit works explicitly define
a Sutra as a text that fulfils
the requisites of
brevity, clarity, certainty, and being faultless
and comprehensive in meaning. This literary
form was evolved to preserve accuracy
of knowledge content in a tradition
of oral transmission of knowledge, a tradition
that has been responsible for the
preservation
of knowledge in India
through thousands of years with remarkable
accuracy.
The philosophical
positions from which the Yoga Sutra
proceeds are twofold : that the physical
world and it's experiences are a reality
(even if relative)
that must inevitably affect our actions
and decisions,
a position called
the Satvada; and that both the
physical world and
its experiences are
subject to constant and inevitable change,
a position called the Parinamavada. From
the point of view of the latter,
the
Yoga Sutra argues
for directing the mind and body towards
change for
the better, and provides
a methodology for doing this. The
methods proposed, include a regulatory regimen
for the body, and practices
that give the mind
the quality of steadiness in the
midst of the
unremitting diversionary efforts
of the senses, responding constantly to
the stimuli of the
external world. Obviously every effort
in this direction would give physical and
mental fitness so essential to taking
us
forward on the path
to whatever goal we may set ourselves.
In the Yoga
Sutra, the mind occupies a pivotal
position between body
and higher faculties.
All the facets of how the mind
holds the balance between the physical and
the moral being are treated in the
Yoga Sutra
in ways which any
modern psychologist would be proud to own.
Practice of Yoga
in the light of the teachings of the
Yoga Sutra would
be most beneficial.
And a study of the Yoga Sutra would
also make for
an ideal entry point
for a study of the Darshanas of India.
The word by
word meaning given in this presentation
of the Yoga
Sutra cannot convey
it's inner meaning adequately. The Sutras
can be
best understood only
when explained by a learned
scholar or presented
as a free interpretive
translation by a learned teacher. The free
translation used here is that of
Sri.T.K.V.Desikachar, as set out in his
wonderful
text book on Yoga,
entitled "The Heart Of Yoga". Where different
versions of a Sutra
exist, or where altenate meanings are possible,
this
is indicated in a
few illustrative instances, in a brief note
under the concerned Sutra.
Apart from his
own profound scholarship, this work of
Sri. Desikachar bears the stamp and authority
of his father and Preceptor, Sri. T.Krishnamacharya,
in whose name the Yoga Mandiram at
Chennai
has been founded
by Sri. Desikachar. When Sri Krishnamacharya
died
in 1989 at the
age of 101, he was one of the
greatest teachers and practitioners of
Yoga in contemporary India. If an
abiding interest in
Yoga has become well
established throughout the world today, it
owes much to his great contribution,
in training many teachers to carry this
knowledge to different parts of the world.
Sri.Krishnamacharya was a profound realist,
who saw that the individual's progress to
any objective, near or distant, rested ultimately
on a sound physical body. Yet his
own perceptions spanned
the whole path from health for the
body to moksha for the soul. And
this sweeping vision he attributed to
study
of the Yoga Sutra.
LIST OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 SAMADHIPADAH
51 SLOKAS
CHAPTER 2 SADHANAPADAH
55 SLOKAS
CHAPTER 3 VIBHUTIPADAH
55 SLOKAS
CHAPTER 4 KAIVALYAPADAH
35 SLOKAS
TOTAL No OF SLOKAS
195 SLOKAS
PROCEED TO CHAPTER - 1
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