Patanjali’s Yoga Philosophy: Based on the Teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda

This text on Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali is based on his Yoga Sutras. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali brought together various principles and practices of yoga prevalent at his time into a coherent system. The sutras are short forms with a few essential words each. The sutras, therefore, need extensive explanations in order to understand their implications. This text presents the teachings of Patanjali in some logical order in three sections. In the first section, a brief introduction to yoga and its kinds, and the yoga tradition in India are presented. The yoga traditon covers the origin Yoga, Yoga in the Vedas, Yoga in the Upanishads, Yoga in Epics, Yoga in the Bhagawad Gita, Patanjalis contribution to Yoga, Yoga in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Puranas, Dharma Sastras, Agamas, Tirumantiram and Samhitas. Next, an overview of Indian Philosophy, and the Samkhya Philosophy and Patanjalis Yoga Philosophy are briefly presented. The second section is devoted for the discussion of Patanjalis Yoga Psychology. It compromises an analysis of the mind and their control, three Gunas, Prakriti and Purusha, God, afflictions: Causes and Remedy, and the doctrine of Karma. In the third section, Patanjalis Yoga system is explained. First, the preparatory practice of Kriya Yoga is outlined. Then an overview of the Raja Yoga is presented. After discussing the obstacles to Yoga, eachof the eight limbs of Yoga is explained. Finally the Doctrine of Liberation is presented.