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Yoga Sūtras
Yogasūtra
Attributed to Patañjali · c. 2nd century BCE–5th century CE (dates debated) · Short (under 150 pages)
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What it is
A compact text of about 195 aphorisms in four parts, the root text of the classical Yoga school, usually read with the commentary attributed to Vyāsa. It defines yoga as the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind and classifies those fluctuations: correct knowledge, error, conceptualisation, sleep and memory. Its framework is close to Sāṃkhya, with an important addition: a special puruṣa, Īśvara, untouched by affliction, who can be an object of devotion. The second part analyses the afflictions that bind us, ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion and clinging to life, and sets out the eight limbs of practice, from ethical restraints such as non-harm and truthfulness through posture and breath control to concentration, meditation and absorption (samādhi). The third part discusses extraordinary powers, with warnings, and the fourth the goal, kaivalya, the isolation of consciousness from matter.
Why read it
Modern yoga borrows its name, but this is a demanding theory of mind, attention and liberation, and reading it corrects many popular assumptions.
Where to start
Read the first sixteen aphorisms of Part I, then the eight limbs in Part II, with a commentary such as Edwin Bryant's.
Original text in the public domain; free translations exist online Read it free at Project Gutenberg