The Secret Teachings Of Patanjali Yoga Sutras

Patanjali is not the inventor of yoga but rather yoga’s most popularly known scribe. What has become known simply as the “Yoga Sutras“ (sutra means thread) or the “Yoga Darshana“ (the vision of Yoga), is actually a compendium of an ancient pre-existing oral yoga tradition consisting of both practical advice and theoretical context. The most accepted format of the Yoga Sutras consists of four chapters (called padas) written in the Sanskrit language approximately 2000 years ago in Northern India while utilizing the terminology of the time, i.e., Samkhya philosophical system. The dates ascribed to the Yoga Sutras vary widely from 250 BC to 300 AD. Patanjali’s ‘Yoga-sutras’ are the first systematic and authoritative presentations of yoga in both its theoretical and practical aspects. Followed by Patanjali, Vasys’s “Yoga–bhasya” and Vacavpati Mishra’s ‘Tattva-vaisaradi” are the good additions to Yoga philosophy. These two works are treated as commentaries on Yoga-sutras.