Preface
Yog has come into a very powerful spot light in recent times. Thus sage Patanjali the expounder of yog as a philosophical system too has become iconic. Much literature generally on yog and particularly on yog-sutras of Patanjali has appeared on book shelves. Many have interpreted, commented, delineated and elucidated yog-sutras. But it must be noted that the yog-sutras are aphoristic in nature. Sutras are extremely codified to compress enormous and prolific purport. Huge amount of spiritual, metaphysical, philosophical, mystical, occult matters are compressed to one's astonishment. Basically, the central theme of yog-sutra is ageless human chittalogy. Chitta is the whole of mind stuff which is the greatest of great mysteries in Creation. Chitta is oceanic mind or even a 'space'-ial entity knowing no bounds. Chitta is our mind stuff which indeed has been beginningless. It won't be an exaggeration to say that it is immeasurably ancient than even the 'big-bang'!
Patanjali, apart from handing this awesome and awe-inspiring chitta deals with all the subjects of spiritual-metaphysical encyclopedia. In his 195 aphorisms, he has each of these sutras pregnant with prolific purports. There are profound theories, tenets and precepts in Metaphysics, Metapsychics, spiritual epistemology, cosmology, Teleology, Divine-ites or Divineologies. The brain-benumbing Karma theory greatly occupies his treatise. The occult in the form of yog-siddhis have been not only mentioned but thoroughly explained in compressed this aphorisms. Yog-sutra undoubtedly is a literal marvel the one without the second in human history. The second one, if any positions light years away from Patanjali yog-sutras. codified. A mortal cannot really find a break-through here. But the point is that his sutras are extremely-extremely But modern man very little rightly and greatly wrongly thinks that nothing is impossible for man and has ventured to read, study, write, speak and even teach yog-sutras. In Indian tradition of philosophies, the texts have been in sutra form. They are such as 1) Nyayasutras of Gautam 2) Vaisheshika sutras of Kanada 3) Sankhya sutras of Kapila 4) Yog-sutras of Patanjali 5) Mimamsa sutras of Jaimini 6) Vedanta sutras of Badrayana Each of these are codified and entail an authentic-original decodifier. Vyasa is the decodifier of yog-sutra and his work is neither a commentary, nor a scholium nor delineation nor a expounding of sutras. He was a Bhashyakara, meaning, official, original and authentic decodifier of yog-sutras. In classical times, to be a student of yog-sutras meant to be a student of yog-Bhashya of Vyasa. Nobody really looked into Yog-sutras but looked into VyasaBhashya. Just as one is not supposed to look at the sun with naked eyes but through an indispensable agency, sutras imply such thing. The only agency is Bhashya of Vyasa. Yog-sutras cannot be revealed by intelligence, analysis, intellectual processes, logical process etc... No one then ever ventured to read, study and comprehend with out the light of VyasaBhashya. Just one instance will suffice to justify above view and position. Patanjali in VibhutiPada has a statement (sutra) "Maitri-aadishu-Balaani" (3/23). A plane logic will deduce faulty deduction. Because Patanjali in the Samadhi Pada mentions four Bhavanasviz Maitra, Karuma, Mudita and upeksha. Thus in VibhutiPada by saying maitri etc., would mean all the four. But Vyasa with conviction says "not four but three only" and "not the upeksha. Without Vyasa's direction one will mistake in all probabilities. Anyway let it be as it may. It may be said with great amount of certainty that looking into yog-sutras without "Vyasa-scope" is to grope in dark in an unfamiliar place and to fumble over and over and again and again. Thus the classical way was to study-learn-teach and delineate on Vyasa Bhashya and resultantly study yog-sutras. Thus the endeavour to open out Vyasa-Bhashya for study and comprenson of Patanjali yog-sutras. There are, however few translation of VyasaBhashya which are by scholars formally educated in Sanskrit, Philosophy or Darshanas. Some of us venture to take up reading and find great amount of difficulty in understanding these. Those are scholarly renditions of Vyasa Bhashya and yog-sutras. But these writings are based on teaching, explaining and precisely initiating the keen ardent and sincere iniates. Thus this is not a literal translation of Vyasa Bhashya. But explanation of Vyasa Bhashya. No statement of Vyasa's has been avoided in delineation for any reason what so ever. These writing are not by any authority. But infact based on my own notes based on my studies of Bhashya which commensed in 1980. Precisely these are students notes and not scholar's writings. My humble request is one's assessment of this work must consider that.
Asana (106)
Bhakti Yoga (22)
Biography (53)
Hatha Yoga (100)
Kaivalyadhama (58)
Karma Yoga (32)
Kriya Yoga (91)
Kundalini Yoga (61)
Massage (2)
Meditation (358)
Patanjali (158)
Pranayama (71)
Women (33)
Yoga for Children (12)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist