Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga – A Primer

‘Yoga’ is one of the major schools of Indian philosophy (darshana). Maharishi Patanjali synthesised and organised the existing knowledge of yoga into a seminal work called the ‘Yoga Sutra’. The work contains 196 sutras or aphorisms and serves as the foundational text of Yoga philosophy.

What is Yoga?

योग: चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः | – Yoga Sutra 1.2

Arguably one of the most famous aphorisms of Maharishi Patanjali,  this sutra given above  implies that yoga is restraining the vrittis (thought waves) flowing through the chitta (mind). Maharishi Patanjali states that as soon as all impurities are removed by the practice of spiritual disciplines – the eight limbs of yoga (ashtanga), one’s spirit opens up to the eternal, light-giving knowledge of the Purusha (Consciousness or Self). This sutra is also often quoted as the definition of Yoga.

What are the eight limbs of Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga?

The eight limbs of yoga are:

1. Yama (यम) : The basic rules of ethical conduct that should be practiced at all times – they are the don’ts. The yamas are abstaining from harming others, from falsehood, from theft, from moral infidelity, and from greed.
2. Niyama (नियम) : These are the dos, the observances and virtuous behaviours. The niyamas are purity, contentment, tapas (mortification), svadhyaya (self-study), and devotion to Ishwara (God).
3. Asana (आसन): स्थिरसुखमासनम्| It is necessary to learn to be seated in a firm position. Patanjali advises that the easiest and the most natural postion should be chosen for asana.
4. Pranayama (प्राणायाम) : Control of the vital energy or of the life-principle. The life-principle is the energy that enables us to act, to think and to breathe. Pranayama is control of this energy. The word is now  commonly associated with breathing exercises.
5. Pratyahara (प्रत्याहार) : The practice undertaken to detach the mind from sense objects by not permitting the mind to wander in the external world. A yogi draws her/his senses within – looks inward.
6.  Dharana (धारणा) : Concentration. Holding the mind within a centre of spiritual consciousness in the body, or fixing it on some divine form, either within the body or outside it.
7. Dhyana (ध्यान) : Meditation. An unbroken flow of thought towards the object of concentration or prolonged concentration.
8. Samadhi (समाधि) : The final stage of meditation is Samadhi or absorption. The mind is free from all other thoughts. There is complete forgetfulness of everything and the sense of time is annihilated. The object of meditation, the subject of meditation and the yogi all fuse into one.