Himalayan Yoga Tradition Teacher Training Program

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A brief translation

Chapter One: Samadhi Pada
The Chapter on Concentration or Samadhi
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Now, at this auspicious moment of transition begins the instruction in the discipline of yoga following the past tradition.
Yoga is the control (nirodah) of the modifications (vrttis) of the mind-field.
Then (upon the dissolution of the vrttis) the seer rests in his own true nature.
At other times the seer identifies with the form and nature of these vrttis.
The vrittis are fivefold and of two kinds: afflicted (klishta) and not afflicted (aklishta).
They are pramana (valid proofs), viparaya (perversive cognitions), vikalpa (imaginary cognition, linguistic misconception), nidra (sleep),
and smrti (memory).
The pramanas are pratyaksha (direct perception), anumana (inference), and agamah (authority).
Viparaya is illusion or false knowledge formed of a thing as other than what it is.
Vikalpa is vrtti based on verbal cognition regarding a thing which does not actually exist.
Nidra or dreamless sleep is the vrtti produced by cognition of absence or negation.
Smrti or memory is the vrtti caused by reproduction of previous impression.
Control (nirodah) of those vrttis is by abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (dispassion or detachment).
Between these two, abhyasa (practice) is the endeavour to stillness and stability (sthiti).
Practice becomes firm when done for a long time, without a break, and with respect, love, and positiveness.
Vairagya is established with loss of all craving for objects perceived with the physical senses, heard of, or described in texts.
Paravairagya is the higher, transcendent freedom of indifference for attributes, gunas, through realization of purusha, consciousness.
Samprajnata (samadhi of wisdom) occurs through the accompaniment of vitarka (gross thought), vichara (subtle thought), ananda (ecstasy,
bliss), and asmita (I-am-ness).
Asamprajnata is the other samadhi, which arises from paravairagya and ensuing cessation awareness, leaving only its samskara as residue.
Samadhi is natural to the videhas (bodiless yogis) and prakriti-layas (those who have merged into prakrti).
The samadhi (asamprajnata) of others follows the methods of shraddha (faith), virya (energy), smrti (repeated recollection), samadhi
(concentration / meditaton), and prajna (awakening of wisdom).
For those whose rate of progress is fast and momentum is great, samadhi is very near and imminent.
Even for those with great momentum there are slow, medium, and fast rates of growth.
Or (alternate to 1.20), samadhi may be quick through ishvara-pranidhana (practicing the presence of God).
A special purusha not smeared by afflictions, actions, their fruitions, or accumulated propensities is God.
In that God the seed of omniscience is unexcelled and ultimate.
That God is the teacher of even the first teachers, being not limited by time.
The word OM is the significator of God.
Japa or repetition of that name, and cultivating and absorbing its meaning is ishvara pranidhana (1.23).
From that practice (1.28) comes attainment of inward consciousness, realisation of the individual self and removal of obstacles (1.30).
These nine obstacles or distractions of the mind are illness, mental idleness, doubt, negligence, sloth, non-abstention, confusion of
philosophies, failure to gain a ground, and instability.
Accompanying these (1.30) are pain, frustration, unsteadiness of limbs, and involuntary inhalation / exhalation.
To prevent these (1.30-31) the practice of concentration on a single reality, one principle, is prescribed.
The mind is purified and made pleasant (for vashikara, final control) by cultivating feelings of amity and love for the happy, compassion for
the suffering, goodwill for the virtuous, and indifference for the non-virtuous. (These are called the four parikarmas or brahmaviharas.)
Or (1.35), by exhalation and restraint of breath and prana stability of the mind is established.
Development of direct perceptions of subtle or celestial objects is called vishayavati pravrtti and firmly establishes stability of the mind.
Or (1.35), the natural, luminous (sattvic) state, free of grief or suffering (and of pleasure) brings stability of the mind.
Or (1.35), concentration on a mind free of attachments brings stability of the mind.
Or (1.35), meditation on the states of dreams or of dreamless sleep brings stability of the mind.
Or (1.35), meditation in whatever way or on whatever object agreeable brings stability of the mind.
With the power of stabilising on the smallest atom to the ultimate magnitude, the mind comes under control.
With vrttis subsided, the mind-state is like pure crystal, with stability on grahitr (the apprehender), grahana (the process and instrumentation of
apprehension), and grahya (the objects of apprehension), and is called samapatti.
That engrossment or samapatti (1.41) with objects, words, and knowledge is savitarka samapatti.
That with purified memory, mind devoid of own form, and only object-awareness is nirvitarka samapatti.
In the same way (1.42-43), savichara (with subtle thought) and nirvichara samapatti are explained.
The having of the subtle as objects extends up to unmanifest prakrti, that without a mark (alinga).
Those four states (the samapattis) are the samadhi with seed.
Upon the purification (and mastery) of the nirvichara state, spiritual purity is attained.
At that state (1.47) occurs the wisdom which bears the supreme truth (rtam-bhara).
That truth (1.48) differs from that of learning or logic, because of having a special aim, dealing with particulars.
The imprint (samskara) from that (samadhi wisdom) opposes, prevents formation of other samskaras.
With the control, cessation, and dissolution (nirodah) of even that samskara, there is nirbija (seedless) samadhi.

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Chapter Two: Sadhana Pada
The Chapter on Means or Practice
1. Tapas, svadhyaya, and ishvara pranidhana are kriya yoga, yoga in the form of action.
2. Kriya yoga is practiced for developing and nurturing samadhi and for attenuating and eliminating the kleshas.
3. Avidya, asmita, raga, dvesha, and abhinivesha are the five kleshas, afflictions.
4. Avidya, is the breeding ground for the four others, whether they be dormant, attenuated, or active.
5. Avidya is regarding the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, pain as pleasure, and the non-self as Self.
6. Asmita (I-am-ness) is the appearance of the identification of purusha, or pure consciousness, with buddhi.
7. Raga is attachment, and is that modification of the mind field which accompanies and follows the remembrance of pleasure.
8. Dvesha is aversion and is that modification of the mind field which accompanies and follows the remembrance of pain.
9. Abhinivesha is the firmly established inborn fear of death, and is in the learnd as well as it is in the ignorant.
10. Those kleshas, being gradually made subtle, are destroyed by dissolution into their own causes.
11. Their (the kleshas) gross states or vrttis are avoided and dissolved by meditation.
12. Karmashaya, or latent impressions, are based on these kleshas and become active in this or a future life.
13. As long as the kleshas remain present as the root, the karmashaya matures in the form of species, life-span, and experience.
14. Due to acts of either virtue or vice, these three consequences (11.13) produce pleasurable or painful experiences.
15. To a Discerning one, all is painful because of the effects, anxieties, produced samskaras, and the inherent operation of the gunas.
16. Pain which has not yet occurred, can be avoided, prevented.
17. The cause of the pain which is to be avoided is the union of the seer and the objects of his seeing.
18. The seen has a 3-fold nature: light (prakasha / sattva), activity (kriya / rajas), and stasis (stithi / tamas), and are for experience and liberation.
19. The states or devolutes of the gunas are vishesha (gross), avishesha (subtle), linga-matra (merely a mark, mahat), & alinga (unmodified matter).
20. The seer is the consciousness-force only, and though pure, perceives in accordance with buddhi.
21. The essence of the objects of perception exists only to be the objective field of that seer (11.20).
22. Though ceasing to exist for one whose purpose is fulfilled, the knowable does not cease because of its shared use to others.
23. Union of buddhi and purusha has only one end: realization of the true nature.
24. The cause of that union, is avidya, ignorance.
25. When ignorance disappears, the union is dissolved and the seer attains realization of the absolute, or liberation.
26. The illumination of discriminatory wisdom, not affected or agitated by anything, is the means to liberation.
27. A sevenfold wisdom comes to the yogi who has attained discriminative wisdom.
28. Practice of steps (angas) of yoga eliminates impurities, increasing knowledge, leading to discriminatory wisdom.
29. Yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi are the eight angas, means.
30. Ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparagraha are the yamas (codes of self-regulation).
31. These become a great vow when universal, not limited to any particular class, place, time, or situation.
32. Shaucha, santosha, tapas, svadhyaya, and ishvara pranidhana are the niyamas (restraints, disciplines).
33. In case of the disturbance of troubling thoughts (opposing the yamas and niyamas) one should contemplate opposite principles.
34. Deviant thoughts, violence and so forth, performed by oneself, done by another, or approved; performed through anger,
greed, or delusion; being mild, moderate, or intense, are the causes of infinite misery and unending ignorance.
Such thoughts constitute the cultivation of principles opposite [to ahimsa and so forth].
35. When the yogi has firmly established ahimsa (nonviolence), there comes a loss of enmity in the minds of others who are nearby.
36. When the yogi becomes established in satya (truthfulness), his words become true.
37. When asteya (non-stealing) is established, all treasures attend upon him.
38. When brahmacharya (control over sexual passion) is established, virya (strength, capacity) ensues.
39. On attaining the stability of aparagraha (non-indulgence), knowledge of the nature of incarnations occurs. .
40. From the practice of shaucha (purification), one develops aversion towards one's body and to contact with other bodies.
41. Also (from shaucha), occurs the purification of the mental personality, clarity of mind, pleasantness of disposition, the ability to concentrate,
conquest of senses, and worthiness for self-realization.
42. Through santosha (contentment), one gains unsurpassed pleasure and satisfaction.
43. From tapas (austerities), and the eradication of impurities, comes mastery of the body and senses.
44. Through svadhyaya (self-study and repetition of mantras), communion with one's ishta-devata (chosen deity) is attained.
45. From ishvara pranidhana (practicing the presence of God), samadhi is attained.
46. Posture (asana) should be steady and comfortable.
47. Asanas are perfected through relaxing effort and fixing awareness on the infinite.
48. From that practice (11.47) arises immunity from the dvandvas, the pairs of opposites.
49. When that (asana) has been accomplished, regulation of the uncontrolled movement of inhalation and exhalation is termed pranayama
50. That (pranayama) of three modes (external, internal, and suspended), observed by locus, length, and number, is made long and subtle.
51. The fourth pranayama surpasses the external and internal operations.
52. Then gradually vanishes the veil over the manifestation of knowledge, that veil covering the light.
53. Then, through pranayama, the mind acquires fitness for dharana, for holding a focus.
54. When the senses cease interaction with their objects, and become assimilated with the nature of the mind-field, that is called pratyahara.
55. Through that pratyahara, final control over the senses is established.

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Chapter Three: Vibhuti Pada
The Chapter on Attainments or Powers
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Fixing the mind at a locus is called dharana (holding a focus, concentration)

In that (dharana), a single, unbroken, continuous flow is called dhyana.
That dhyana, too, when only the object of signification remains, devoid of thought of self or own form, is samadhi.
When the triad of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi are focused together in one object, it is called samyama.
Through mastery of that samyama, the brilliance of wisdom, light of knowledge, prajna, shines forth.
That samyama should be applied to the various levels of mind and concentration, or stages of practice.
This triad is more internal than the five steps which precede it.
This triad also is external compared to the seedless, nirbija, samadhi.
The subduing of vyutthana ("getting-up-ness"), along with the rising of nirodha is nirodah-parinama (turning to a state of cessation of vrttis.)
The mind at that stage flows calm and tranquil through the force of that cessation-samskara.
When the mind's scattered habit attenuates and the intent state arises, that is samadhi-parinama, turning to samadhi.
Then, when both subsiding and arising states are of equal samadhi-awareness, that is ekagrata-parinamah, turning to one-pointedness.
With these three alterations are also implied those alterations of attributes, time, gross and subtle elements, and senses.
Of these, that which continues existence or attributes in the past, present, or future is a dharmi, a possessor of attributes.
Change or difference in sequence of characteristics is the cause of there being differences in the end products.
Through samyama on these three types of alterations, the knowledge of past and present accrues.
Word, object implied, & idea are superimposed, thus: confusion. Samyama on their separation gives knowledge of the sounds of all beings.
By bringing previous samskaras to his awareness, knowledge of one's previous incarnations is gained.
By concentration on the external signs of another's mind's (thought processes), knowledge of another's mind is gained.
That knowledge does not include the (particular) subject of that mind's current cognition, but only the totality, since that was not the object.
By samyama on the body's physical form, the power of the body being apprehensible ceases, and one becomes invisible.
(By this principle the disappearance of sounds and so forth is also explained.)
Karma has or has not begun to fructify; by samyama on these, knowledge of one's death or of ill omen is gained.
By samyama on (the brahma-viharas) amity, friendliness, love, etc. (Sutra 1.33), their respective powers accrue.
By samyama on the strengths of various strong beings, the strengths of elephants etc. are gained.
By projecting to all things the light of pravrtti (1.35-36) one gains knowledge of things subtle, hidden, or distant.
Through samyama on the "sun," the knowledge of cosmic worlds accrues.
By samyama on the "moon," the knowledge of the arrangement of the stars is attained.
By samyama on the polar star one gains knowledge of movement of the stars.
Samyama on the naval center one gains knowledge of the anatomy of the body.
By samyama on the pit of the throat, hunger and thirst are turmed-off.
Samyama on the kurma-nadi brings steadiness and calmness.
By samyama on the light in the fontanelle part of the head one has visions of the siddhas.
Or every power may become known through intuitive flash, pratibha.
By samyama on the heart center, knowledge of one's own mind is known, as well as that of others.
When there is no distinction made between sattva (buddhi) and purusha, that is called is bhoga. Through samyama on the object of another
(sattva), and separate from that, the awareness of the consciousness principle itself, there arises the realization of purusha.
Through that samyama (3.35) supernormal intuition, hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell develops.
These powers are obstacles to samadhi, though they are accomplishments in the lower, vyutthana-consciousness.
By loosening the cause of bondage and learning the paths of circulation of mental energy, one may enter another body.
By mastering udana (prana above the throat) one does not sink in waters or get stuck in thorny bushes etc., leaves the body at will & ascends.
By conquering samana (pranic force in the naval area), one attains brilliance.
By samyama on the relation between the power of hearing and space (akasha), one gains an ear that hears celestial sounds.
By samyama on the relation between the body and space (akasha), through attaining lightness of cotten, one may travel through the sky.
The mental state in which the mind does not go outward is called mahavideha; thereby there occurs the loss of veils on the inner light.
By samyama on the gross, svarupa, and tan-matras inherent in the five forms of elements (bhutas) and their effectiveness to the purpose of
purusha, mastery over bhutas is obtained.
Then takes place development of (eight) siddhis such as minification, excellence of body, and bodily functions not affected by anything.
Excellence of body means handsomeness, charm, strength and adamantine, steel-like, thunderbolt-like, diamond-like texture.
By samyama on the process of the senses grasping their objects, svarupa, identification with asmita, inherent quality (gunas), and their
effectiveness with regard to the purpose of the five senses, mastery over them can be obtained.
Then comes speediness like the mind, clairsentience (the use of senses without restriction to space, time or objects), and conquest over
pradhana (the material energy-field, the primal energy of prakriti).
To one who cognizes only separateness of the mental personality (sattva) & purusha comes mastery over all aspects of being & omniscience.
When one has dispassion even about that, consequently the very seeds vanish, and one attains kaivalya (absoluteness)
Upon receiving invitations by the celestial beings to join them in celestial pleasures, one should not respond with attraction or self-amazement,
because there is the possible danger of falling back again into undesirable lower attractions.
Through concentration on moments and their sequence, there arises knowledge born of discriminating wisdom.
When between two similar objects there is no demarcation to differentiate them as to their genus, peculiarities or locus, then they may be
determined only through viveka, discriminatory wisdom.
Self-inspired, having all devolutes from the gross elements to mahat as its field, having all their ways (or states) as their field, not in a sequence
(of logic), such is the knowledge born of discriminatory wisdom.
When the mental personality (sattva) and purusha become equally pure, that state is called kaivalya.

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Chapter Four: Kaivalya Pada
The Chapter on the State of Absoluteness or Liberation
1. The siddhis are innate by birth, produced through the application of herbs, mantras, austerities and samadhi.
2. In siddhis the change of one state to another comes through the flooding from a finer cause. For example, growth in the powers
of the senses come by their being flooded from the source of their power, asmita, their finer cause.
3. No external means impel the finer causes (to come forth flooding), but through these means there occurs a break through the impediments,
the way a farmer breaks a dike to permit the water to flow.
4. The yogi may make duplicate, artificially-produced minds, created from his own asmita, I-am-ness..
5. In case of different inclinations in various duplicated minds, the original mind is the controller of the many other minds.
6. Of these minds, the one produced in meditation leaves behind no impressions as karmic residue.
7. The action of yogis is neither white nor black, whereas the action of others is of three kinds.
8. From those three kinds of actions the vasanas manifest themselves, in qualities that conform to the fruition of those actions.
9. Because memory and samskaras have the same nature, vasanas appear simultaneously though separated by genus, space or time.
10. Because expectations (of self-preservation) are permanent, the vasanas have been there without any beginning (forever).
11. Because the vasanas are held together through various causes, their results, resorts (where they may find a substratum) and with various
supports, in the absence of these factors, there is an absence of vasanas.
12. The past and future exist in the present vasanas, there being only a difference in the attributes of the forms taken at different times
13. Those processes or attributes, divided into the three paths of time, consist of the gunas, whether in manifest or unmanifest (subtle) form.
14. Because various products of the same gunas are each unique, an object appearing as that (particular thing) is made possible.
15. Even when the same object is present there is a difference of minds concerning it, the objects and minds taking different paths.
16. An object is not dependent on only one mind, for, if that were so, then at a time when it is not perceived by that mind, what would it be?
17. Because the mind is dependent upon the reflection that falls on it from an object, an object becomes either known or unknown to it.
18. Activities of the mind are always known to purusha because though the mental functions undergo alterations, purusha is ever unchanging.
19. The mind is not self-luminous, for it (is an object, a knowable, which) is perceived by purusha.
20. Both the mind and its objects cannot be cognized at the same time.
21. The suggestion that the mind is an object of perception for another mind is fallacious involving an infinite regression of buddhi upon buddhi and
so on
and thereby a confusion in memory as to which buddhi was which.
22. Purusha, which undergoes no changes, reflects in and assumes the forms of buddhi, gaining awareness of what is reflecting in that buddhi from
outside.
23. The mind-stuff being coloured by the seer and the objects of sight is scattered towards all objects and is not intent or one-pointed.
24. That mind, though coloured by innumerable vasanas, remains to serve the purpose of another (purusha), being an aggregate
(as all things, such as a house, that is a composite of many things, only exists for the service of another.)
25. For one who has realized the distinction between mind and purusha, all inquiry as to "Who am I?" "What am I" etc. ceases.
26. Then the mind, inclined towards discriminatory wisdom, is weighted towards kaivalya (the state of absoluteness, liberation).
27. In the gaps of that mind (when it is not meditating), other cognitions continue, due to previous samskaras.
28. The prevention and destruction of these intervening thoughts (IV.27) is to be understood in the same way as (II.10, 11, 26) as the removal of
the kleshas.
29. To one who is not anxious even concerning enlightenment, comes the dharma-megha samadhi (known as the rain cloud of virtue)
through knowledge of discriminatory wisdom.
30. Then the kleshas and karmas cease.
31. Then the knowledge, which is freed from all veils and impurities, is infinite, and therefore little is left to be known,
the object of knowledge becomes very insignificant.
32. Then the gunas, (having fulfilled their purpose), their sequence of modifications comes to an end.
33. This sequence, that state corresponding to each passing moment, is finally grasped at the end of a series of modifications.
34. The dissolution of gunas into their original cause, because they are no longer needed to fulfill any purpose of purusha, is
called the state of kaivalya (absoluteness), and then the Consciousness Force (chiti-shakt) is established in its own nature.
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The translation of the Yoga-sutras here is brief and condensed to keep the size to a minimum. Its purpose is to provide an overview of the
Sutras for referencing. It has been adapted by Michael Smith from the work done by Dandi Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati of Sadhana
Mandir, Rishikesh, India.
Sources are:
Yoga-sutras of Patanjali with the Exposition of Vyasa: A Translation and Commentary (Volume I - Samadhi Pada), by Swami Veda
Bharati, published by The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A., Honesdale, PA (1986).
A word-for-word Sanskrit-to-English translation, in manuscript form, also by Swami Veda Bharati.
Other Recommended Translations and Commentaries :
Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali, by Swami Hariharananda Aranya published by the University of Calcutta (1977), reprinted by SUNY
(State University of New York).
Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati s web site://www.swamij.com/index-yoga-meditation-yoga-sutras.htm
Aphorism of Yoga by Bhagwan Shree Patanjali by Shree Purohit Swami, Faber and Faber, London and Boston (1987), first
published in 1938.
The Yogasutra of Patanjali by Bengali Baba, Motilal, Dehli (1976), first published in 1963.
(The last two texts may be difficult to obtain.)

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