Yogasutra of Patanjali – Maharishi Patanjali | Patanjali Yoga Darshan
The Yogasutra a scripture of 195 sutras or verses or aphorishms written by Sage Patanjali is a Asthik Darhsana I studied while studying Shatdarshana ie 6 Indian Philosophies of life.
When I was doing Diploma in Yogic Science and latter Masters in Yoga I studied this text for 3 years and now with God’s grace have a good hold over it. I would be discussing all the aspect of Yogadarshan in this article. But each sutra needs its own blog post to understand because they are formulas and it needs explanation
In English the text is called “ Verses of Yoga” but actually the word sutra in itself mean thread. In Marathi and other Indian languages the word sutra means 2 things
1.Sutra – means a formula like the formula in maths where you need to expand it use . As per wikipedia it says “ Concise way of expressing information”
2.Sutra means Thread – The continuous expression of philosophy or ideas that are expressed one after the other.
Now Lets understand what is Yoga?
To understand this I highly recommend to read the following article.
History
During our studies our teacher had taught us that Hiranya Garbha was the creator or composer of Yoga. As per Wikipedia “ Hiraṇyagarbha is the source of the creation of the universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy”
I hope someday I will be able to write a blogpost on that too. But first lets just finish Yogasutras.
Yogasutras of Patanjali is the foundational text to understand yoga. It is difficult to pinpoint when Maharishi Patanjali composed this text but as per Britannica around 2nd Century BCE the text was composed.
Yoga or various forms and notions of yoga was spread out throughout all the Vedas ie Rigved, Atharvaved, . Yajurved and Samaved along with many other enlightening text. Maharishi Patanjali complied every aspect that is needed to understand Yoga under one heading and called it Yogasutra or Yoga Darshan.
Structure of Yoga Darshan
Yogadarshan has 195 sutras but some books claim that it has 196 which is also true because there is one sutra that some consider it as one complete and others consider it in 2 part both are right.
While giving viva it was made clear by our teacher / Guru that only 195 sutras will be the right answer and no other number will be considered right.
There are 4 chapters in Yoga Darshan
1.Samadhi Pada ( 51 sutras )
2.Sadhana Pada ( 55 sutras )
3.Vibhooti Pada ( 55 sutras )
4.Kaivalya Pada ( 34 sutras )
Each Pada or chapter if for a specific seer of yoga journey and it provides a structured guide for them.
Now lets take about each pada in details
1.Samadhi Pada ( Chapter on Completion of yoga journey )
This chapter is for higher yoga practioners who have been practicing yoga for a long time and have already reached a certain stage.
This chapter discusses
- Purpose of Yoga
- Vritti ( mental modifications )
- Practice and detachment
- types of Samadhi
- Ishwara
-Aum
-Obstacles in the progress - Methods of harmonising mind
- Sabeej samadhi and neerbeeja samadhi
2.Sadhana Pada
Sadhana means continuous practice the chapter is dedicated to understand various means to practice yoga.
Kriya Yoga
Klesha
Removal of Klesha
Purpose of destroying klesha
The Scene and the seer
Ashtanga yoga
Yama
Niyama
Asana
Pranayama
Pratyahara
3.Vibhuti Pada
Vibhuti means physic powers or metaphysical powers that we get when we practice yoga. The 3 limbs of Ashtanga yoga is also discussed in it because that path leads to vibhuti.
Dharana
Dhyana
Samadhi
The psychic power
It also discussed how this psychic powers will be a distraction to attain samadh
4.Kaivalaya Pada
Kaivalaya means only one or oneness or only thing (faktha in marathi ). It is the only ultimate goal of all yogis. Its liberation or mokshya. This chapter talks about
Prakriti
The individual and cosmic mind
Karma
Unity
Perception
Kaivalya
I hope this brief description will help you understand Yoga Darshana much clearly.
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