The Yoga Sutras: Patanjali and the Eight Limbs of Yoga

Talk of the basics of yoga often leads to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, one of the central texts of classical yoga philosophy. Here is what the book is, how it is organized, what the eight limbs of yoga are and how the text has come down to us. What yoga does for the body and for well-being is covered in The Benefits of Yoga for Physical and Mental Health.

What the Text Is

The Yoga Sutras are a set of sutras, short Sanskrit sayings about yoga practice. Some count 195 of them; others, B. K. S. Iyengar among them, count 196. The collection was put together in India in the first centuries of the Common Era, though a precise date is hard to pin down. It falls into four books: on concentration (51 sutras), on practice (55), on the powers gained (56) and on liberation (34). Its best-known definition comes near the start: yoga is the stilling of the movements of the mind.

The Eight Limbs

The Yoga Sutras are famous above all for setting out the eight limbs of yoga, or ashtanga yoga. The first two are rules of conduct. Yama means five restraints: non-violence, truthfulness, not taking what belongs to others, sexual restraint and freedom from possessiveness. Niyama means five observances: cleanliness, contentment, austerity, self-study and devotion to God. Then come asana, a posture that is steady and at ease; pranayama, the control of the breath; and pratyahara, drawing the mind back from the senses.

The Last Three Limbs

The final three limbs, dharana or concentration, dhyana or meditation and samadhi or complete absorption, are known together as samyama. For Patanjali, every limb is a needed base for reaching freedom and self-knowledge. In this scheme asanas are just one limb out of eight, even though modern yoga gives them the most time. Meditation is covered in more detail in Yoga and Meditation: How to Find Inner Peace.

How the Text Came Down to Us

In the Middle Ages the Yoga Sutras were the most widely translated ancient Indian text, rendered into some forty languages of India as well as into Old Javanese and Arabic. The Arabic version was made early in the eleventh century by the Persian scholar al-Biruni. After that the text lay almost forgotten for some seven centuries, from the twelfth to the nineteenth. Broad interest returned in the nineteenth century, thanks in part to Swami Vivekananda.

How to Get Started

In our yoga course, students learn the basic asanas, breathing exercises and meditation, build strength and flexibility, and practice focusing on movement and breath. Lessons are open to students from age 8. A trial lesson costs $8: it is individual and lasts 45 minutes. More about the course is on the Yoga page.