Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)

 

Sutras means “thread” or stream of consciousness, as I said in the Introduction. It means “to sew,” pertaining to a thread or rope that holds things together. It also pertains to a collection of aphorisms that together become a manual for spiritual seekers. This is a particular collection and grouping of thoughts on various aspects of yoga and its practice. Patanjali separated the Yoga Sutras into four chapters (pada), containing in total 195 aphorisms. It is believed that the Sutras were written sometime between 1700 and 2500 years ago. No one actually knows when the sutras were actually written. They existed before that in unwritten form and were passed down by oral tradition. Patanjali is considered a compiler, not the author of the Yoga Sutras, and no one knows who started these traditions, really. They were handed down through the generations from teacher to student. No one really knows if Patanjali was even a real person, or if he was a mythological character. Some texts refer to Patanjali as an incarnation of the serpent God, Anata. The Yoga Sutras are the basis for Raja Yoga, and clarifies many of the concepts associated with the spiritual path. The four books (padas) of the Yoga Sutras are as follows:

• Samadhi Pada (51 sutras) This chapter deals with the attainment of the blissful state of being absorbed into the One Self, samadhi.

• Sadhana Pada (55 sutras) Sadhana means “practice” in Sanskrit. Kriya yoga (Karma Yoga) and ashtanga yoga (Raja Yoga) are outlined.

• Vibhuti Pada (55 sutras) Vibhuti means "power" or "manifestation" in Sanskrit. The "higher" states of awareness and the techniques of yoga to attain them are covered and expounded on.

• Kaivalya Pada (34 sutras) Kaivalya means "isolation" but in yoga it means liberation and freedom from the illusion of human life. These thoughts address the idea of realizing the self as “being of the world but not in it.”

You can buy a book that translates all of Patanjali’s sutras, and they are not secret at all. They can easily be found on the internet and are free of copyright laws since they are so ancient. No one owns the Yoga Sutras, and they are free to all who would like to ponder them. They can be found on several websites, and each translation of them seems a little different, so I encourage you to explore the various subtleties in the translations and make your own decisions about what they mean.