Yogasūtra 1.1–3 · Patañjali
अथ योगानुशासनम् ॥ योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥ तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम् ॥
Now, the authoritative instruction on yoga (1.1). Yoga is the cessation (nirodha) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the mind-stuff (citta) (1.2). Then the seer (draṣṭā) abides in its own essential form (svarūpa) (1.3).
These three sūtras form the most compact philosophical programme in Indian literature. "Now" implies prerequisites — typically prior Sāṃkhya study. The definition (1.2) has every word commented on exhaustively: citta = buddhi + ahaṃkāra + manas; vṛtti = the five modification-types; nirodha = not suppression but positive stilling. Sūtra 1.4 names the failure mode: otherwise the seer takes the form of the vṛttis (sārūpyam itaratra) — misidentification driving saṃsāra.
Founder / texts
Yoga Sūtras · Patañjali
Period
c. 2nd century BCE – 4th century CE
Primary text
Yogasūtras (196 sūtras · 4 pādas) · Vyāsabhāṣya
Pramāṇas
3 — pratyakṣa, anumāna, āgama (+ yogic direct perception)
Core philosophy
Citta-vṛtti-nirodha — the definition and its stakes
Citta encompasses the entire psychic apparatus: buddhi (intellect), ahaṃkāra (ego-sense), and manas (coordinating sense-mind). Five types of vṛtti: pramāṇa (valid cognition), viparyaya (error), vikalpa (conceptualisation without real object), nidrā (sleep), smṛti (memory) — each kliṣṭa (afflicted) or akliṣṭa (non-afflicted). Nirodha is the positive stilling of all these — not suppression, which implies force and resistance, but the natural settling when the cause of disturbance is removed.
Svarūpe'vasthānam (1.3) — "abiding in the seer's own form" — is Yoga's liberation formula. It presupposes Sāṃkhya: Puruṣa has a "form" (pure witnessing consciousness) genuinely distinct from Prakṛti's modifications. Liberation is not dissolution into Brahman but persistent self-luminous witnessing.
Aṣṭāṅga yoga — the eight-limbed path
Eight progressive limbs: (1) yama — five ethical restraints (ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya, aparigraha), (2) niyama — five observances, (3) āsana — stable seated posture, (4) prāṇāyāma — regulated breath, (5) pratyāhāra — withdrawal of senses, (6) dhāraṇā — concentration on a single object, (7) dhyāna — uninterrupted flow of attention, (8) samādhi — merger of object-consciousness and subject-consciousness. The last three (saṃyama) are the direct instrument of yogic higher perception.
Modern yoga privileges āsana (2 of 196 sūtras). The ethical limbs yama and niyama receive ten sūtras. Patañjali's yoga is primarily an ethical-cognitive-meditative discipline; the physical posture tradition belongs to the later haṭha yoga lineage (Haṭhapradīpikā, c. 15th century).
Samādhi — stages and their metaphysical map
Samprajñāta (with seed, with object): savitarka (gross object with verbal construction) → nirvitarka (without construction) → savicāra (subtle object with reflection) → nirvicāra (without reflection). Beyond: asamprajñāta (without seed). Final: dharma-meghā-samādhi — discriminative wisdom floods in, kleśas are burned, kaivalya follows immediately.
The progression maps onto Sāṃkhya's tattva hierarchy: gross elements → tanmātras → ahaṃkāra → buddhi → near Puruṣa. Each samādhi stage penetrates one level deeper into Prakṛti's structure until Puruṣa is fully disclosed. The metaphysical and soteriological architectures are perfectly isomorphic.
Īśvara — Yoga's departure from Sāṃkhya
YS 1.24: Īśvara is kleśa-karma-vipākāśayair aparāmṛṣṭaḥ puruṣaviśeṣa — a special Puruṣa untouched by afflictions, karma, their results, and latent impressions. Not a creator god. Īśvara is the ideal object of devotional meditation (Īśvarapraṇidhāna) and the guru of all prior teachers, transcending time (YS 1.26).
The tension: if all Puruṣas are self-identical pure witnessing consciousness, what genuinely distinguishes Īśvara from other freed Puruṣas? Vyāsa: eternal (not achieved) freedom and fully actualised omniscience. Vijñānabhikṣu argued this makes Yoga secretly theistic; Vācaspati Miśra maintained the distinction is one of degree, not kind.
Commentary tradition
| Ācārya | Text | Period | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patañjali | Yogasūtras (196 sūtras, 4 pādas) | c. 2nd c. BCE – 4th c. CE | Canonical synthesis of yoga traditions into Sāṃkhya-metaphysical framework |
| Vyāsa | Yogabhāṣya (Vyāsabhāṣya) | c. 4th–5th century | Essential; without it many sūtras are too terse to interpret; standard reading of citta-vṛtti-nirodha |
| Vācaspati Miśra | Tattvavaiśāradī | c. 9th century | Commentary on Vyāsa; most systematic classical exposition; clarified samādhi typology |
| Bhoja Rāja | Rājamārtaṇḍa | c. 11th century | Independent commentary; sometimes diverges from standard reading; practical royal framing |
| Vijñānabhikṣu | Yogavārttika | c. 16th century | Theistic synthesis; argued Yoga compatible with Vedānta; controversial but widely read |
Pair dialogue — Yoga ↔ Sāṃkhya