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Yoga Sutras

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are 196 concise aphorisms in four chapters (padas) that map the entire path of yoga. The text itself is roughly 2,000 to 2,200 years old, and it draws on a yogic tradition that had already been passed down orally for around a thousand years before it. Here are key sutras from each chapter, with the Sanskrit, its transliteration and a plain translation, beginning with the very sutra that inspired our name.

Chapter 1 · Samadhi Pada

Concentration

  1. 1.1

    अथ योगानुशासनम्

    atha yogānuśāsanam

    Now begins the instruction of yoga.

  2. 1.2

    योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः

    yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ

    Yoga is the cessation of the movements of consciousness.

  3. 1.3

    तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम्

    tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe’vasthānam

    Then the seer abides in its own essential nature.

  4. 1.4

    वृत्तिसारूप्यमितरत्र

    vṛtti-sārūpyam itaratra

    At other times, the seer identifies with the movements of consciousness.

  5. 1.5

    वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टाक्लिष्टाः

    vṛttayaḥ pañcatayyaḥ kliṣṭākliṣṭāḥ

    There are five kinds of mental modifications, painful or painless.

  6. 1.6

    प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः

    pramāṇa-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidrā-smṛtayaḥ

    They are: right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, sleep, and memory.

  7. 1.7

    प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि

    pratyakṣānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni

    Right knowledge rests on direct perception, inference, and scriptural testimony.

  8. 1.8

    विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानमतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम्

    viparyayo mithyājñānam atadrūpa-pratiṣṭham

    Wrong knowledge is false understanding not based on the true nature of things.

  9. 1.9

    शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः

    śabda-jñānānupātī vastu-śūnyo vikalpaḥ

    Imagination is knowledge derived from words, empty of any real object.

  10. 1.10

    अभावप्रत्ययालम्बना वृत्तिर्निद्रा

    abhāva-pratyayālambanā vṛttir nidrā

    Sleep is the mental modification supported by the absence of content.

Chapter 2 · Sadhana Pada

Practice

  1. 2.1

    तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः

    tapaḥ-svādhyāyeśvara-praṇidhānāni kriyā-yogaḥ

    Disciplined practice, self-study, and devotion to the Lord constitute kriya yoga.

  2. 2.2

    समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थश्च

    samādhi-bhāvanārthaḥ kleśa-tanū-karaṇārthaś ca

    It is practiced to cultivate samadhi and to weaken the kleshas (afflictions).

  3. 2.3

    अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः

    avidyāsmitā-rāga-dveṣābhiniveśāḥ kleśāḥ

    The five kleshas are: ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life.

  4. 2.4

    अविद्या क्षेत्रमुत्तरेषां प्रसुप्ततनुविच्छिन्नोदाराणाम्

    avidyā kṣetram uttareṣāṃ prasupta-tanu-vicchinnodārāṇām

    Ignorance is the field for the others, whether dormant, weak, intermittent, or active.

  5. 2.5

    अनित्याशुचिदुःखानात्मसु नित्यशुचिसुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या

    anityāśuci-duḥkhānātmasu nitya-śuci-sukhātma-khyātir avidyā

    Ignorance is taking the impermanent, impure, painful, and non-self to be permanent, pure, pleasurable, and the Self.

  6. 2.29

    यमनियमासनप्राणायामप्रत्याहारधारणाध्यानसमाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि

    yama-niyamāsana-prāṇāyāma-pratyāhāra-dhāraṇā-dhyāna-samādhayo’ṣṭāv aṅgāni

    The eight limbs of yoga are: restraints, observances, postures, breath control, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditation, and absorption.

  7. 2.30

    अहिंसासत्यास्तेयब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहा यमाः

    ahiṃsā-satyāsteya-brahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ

    The restraints (yamas) are: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation, and non-possessiveness.

  8. 2.31

    जातिदेशकालसमयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम्

    jāti-deśa-kāla-samayānavacchinnāḥ sārvabhaumā mahāvratam

    These universal vows are not limited by class, place, time, or circumstance.

  9. 2.32

    शौचसन्तोषतपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः

    śauca-santoṣa-tapaḥ-svādhyāyeśvara-praṇidhānāni niyamāḥ

    The observances (niyamas) are: cleanliness, contentment, disciplined practice, self-study, and surrender to the Lord.

Chapter 3 · Vibhuti Pada

Powers

  1. 3.1

    देशबन्धश्चित्तस्य धारणा

    deśa-bandhaś cittasya dhāraṇā

    Concentration (dharana) is the binding of consciousness to a single point.

  2. 3.2

    तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम्

    tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam

    Meditation (dhyana) is the uninterrupted flow of cognition toward that object.

  3. 3.3

    तदेवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यमिव समाधिः

    tad evārthamātra-nirbhāsaṃ svarūpa-śūnyam iva samādhiḥ

    Absorption (samadhi) is when only the object shines forth and the mind seems empty of its own form.

  4. 3.4

    त्रयमेकत्र संयमः

    trayam ekatra saṃyamaḥ

    The three together constitute samyama (perfect discipline).

  5. 3.5

    तज्जयात्प्रज्ञालोकः

    taj-jayāt prajñālokaḥ

    By mastering it, the light of higher consciousness dawns.

Chapter 4 · Kaivalya Pada

Liberation

  1. 4.1

    जन्मौषधिमन्त्रतपःसमाधिजाः सिद्धयः

    janmauṣadhi-mantra-tapaḥ-samādhi-jāḥ siddhayaḥ

    Supernatural powers arise from birth, herbs, mantras, austerities, or absorption.

  2. 4.2

    जात्यन्तरपरिणामः प्रकृत्यापूरात्

    jātyantara-pariṇāmaḥ prakṛtyāpūrāt

    Transformation into another form occurs through the overflow of natural tendencies.

  3. 4.3

    निमित्तमप्रयोजकं प्रकृतीनां वरणभेदस्तु ततः क्षेत्रिकवत्

    nimittam aprayojakaṃ prakṛtīnāṃ varaṇa-bhedas tu tataḥ kṣetrikavat

    The instrumental cause does not drive nature; it merely removes obstacles, like a farmer irrigating a field.

  4. 4.34

    पुरुषार्थशून्यानां गुणानां प्रतिप्रसवः कैवल्यं स्वरूपप्रतिष्ठा वा चितिशक्तेरिति

    puruṣārtha-śūnyānāṃ guṇānāṃ pratiprasavaḥ kaivalyaṃ svarūpa-pratiṣṭhā vā citi-śakter iti

    Liberation is the return of the gunas to their source once they serve no purpose for the Self — the power of consciousness resting in its own nature.