Yoga Sūtras

The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are a foundational text of classical Yoga, comprising 195 or 196 aphorisms (the count varies by recension) that collect and systematize the practice of yoga.

Overview

Compiled in the early centuries CE, the text is divided into four chapters (pādas): Samādhi (absorption), Sādhana (practice), Vibhūti (powers), and Kaivalya (liberation). Patañjali collected and organized knowledge drawn from Sāṃkhya, Buddhism, and older Yoga traditions; a second compiler may have added the fourth chapter.

Content

The sūtras describe the eight limbs of yoga (aṣṭāṅga): yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi. The text also addresses the nature of mind, the causes of suffering, and the means to still the fluctuations of consciousness.

Significance

The Yoga Sūtras remain the authoritative reference for all schools of yoga. They influenced not only Indian philosophy but also modern global yoga practice.

Verification notes

Authorship is attributed to Patañjali, though the historicity of this figure is debated. The text likely reached its final form in the early centuries CE.

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