Yoga Life, The Patanjali Yoga Sutras an Introduction

The Patanjali Yoga Sutras is the most popular influencer for wisdom, concepts, and practices of yoga even for modern yoga cultures today .Patanjali can be said as one of the finest collection of knowledge on the path of spirituality laid out in an easy and structured format for anyone seeking enlightenment. Even though yoga has been mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Vedas, Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita etc, the credit for putting together a formal, cohesive philosophy of yoga goes to Sage Patanjali. In his Yoga Sutras, Patanjali has provided the very essence of the philosophy and teachings of yoga in a highly scientific and systematic exposition. it is created by Maharishi Patanjali, who is also considered as ‘the father of Yoga’. Although people know very little about Patanjali himself, many believe he’s thought to have lived between 200 and 500 B.C.The   Patanjali Yoga Sutras are one of the nine darshanas of Hindu schools of philosophy and a very important milestone in the history of Yoga. The book is a set of 195 aphorisms (sutras), which are short, terse phrases designed to be easy to memorize. Though brief, the Yoga Sutras is an enormously influential work that is just as relevant for yoga philosophy and practice today as it was when it was written. The sutras are divided into four chapters (pada) as follows:
Samadhi Pada: The first chapter provides a definition and the purpose of yoga. various approaches that can be used to achive the objectives of yoga are provides. it has 51 sutras. in sutra 2 of the first chapter, patanjali defined the yoga as

            योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः॥२॥ 

“yogascitta vritti nirodhah” (Sanskrit)


"Yoga is the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff"
– translation by Swami Vivekananda

Sadhana Pada: the second chapter contains the practical approach to achieveing the goals of yoga. In this chapter the author gives a description of the eight limbs of yoga called Ashtanga Yoga, which is how the yoga sutras, patanjali explains the two paths or the two forms of yoga kriya yoga and ashtanga

(Eightfold or Eight-limbed Yoga).

Ashtanga Yoga (Eight Limbs Of Yoga)*for detail go to link

1. Yama 

Ahimsa: Non-violence or not harming other beings

Satya: Truthfulness

Asteya: Non-stealing

Brahmacharya: Moving into Bigness; Chastity

Aparigraha: Non-accumulation, Non-possessiveness

2. Niyama

Saucha: Cleanliness or purity of the body

Santosha: Happiness and Contentment

Tapas – Endurance and Acceptance

Swadhyaaya – Self-awareness, and self-study

Ishwara Pranidhaana – Devotion to and love for the divine

3. Asana

4. Pranayama

6. Dharana

7. Dhyana

8. Samadhi

Vibhuti Pada: The third chapter focuses on some of the supernatural powers that an adept yogi may be able to attain .  It is said, yogis achieve mystical powers (siddhi) due to the regular practice of yoga. it has 56 sutras.

Kaivalya Pada: In the fourth chapter the nature of the mind and mental perceptions, desire, bondage and liberation and what follows it are discussed. It describes how the yogi deals with the overall process and after-effects of enlightenment.  it has 34 sutras.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are also sometimes referred  as "Raja Yoga" or the "Royal Yoga" or the "yoga of mind" because mind is the king of our body if have control over it, we can have control over all of our body, all thoughts , activities all and every thing

Patanjali yoga Sutras PDF free download 

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complete chanting of yoga sutra