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PATANJALI’S YOGA SUTRAS
A study manual to learn the practice of Yoga, this book, written almost 4,000 years ago by Patanjali, has been a time-tested classic on the theory and practice of Yoga. Translated by Swami Vivekananda, this edition of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras includes the Sanskrit text and an in-depth commentary on each sutra. If you are one who is seeking the spiritual path, then this book, with its timeless wisdom, is perfect for you. The classic sutras cover yogic teachings on topics like ethics, meditation and physical postures. They provide the reader with directions on how one can deal with situations in their everyday life. This book, by decoding the sutras or the thought-threads, will help in mastering the mind to achieve physical, mental and emotional harmony.
- GenresSpiritualityNonfiction
136 pages, Paperback
Published January 5, 2022
About the author
Vivekananda
1,876 books1,609 followers"Arise Awake and Stop not til the goal is reached"
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical works (see Vivekananda's complete works). His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas (Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga) are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. His letters are of great literary and spiritual value. He was also considered a very good singer and a poet.By the time of his death, He had composed many songs including his favorite Kali the Mother. He used humor for his teachings and was also an excellent cook. His language is very free flowing. His own Bengali writings stand testimony to the fact that he believed that words - spoken or written - should be for making things easier to understand rather than show off the speaker or writer's knowledge.
Swami Vivekananda [ স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ ] (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
Born in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical works (see Vivekananda's complete works). His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas (Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga) are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. His letters are of great literary and spiritual value. He was also considered a very good singer and a poet.By the time of his death, He had composed many songs including his favorite Kali the Mother. He used humor for his teachings and was also an excellent cook. His language is very free flowing. His own Bengali writings stand testimony to the fact that he believed that words - spoken or written - should be for making things easier to understand rather than show off the speaker or writer's knowledge.
Swami Vivekananda [ স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ ] (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
Born in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 5, 2026
• If the water is clear, and there are no waves, we shall see the bottom. That bottom of the lake is our own true Self; the lake is the Chitta, and the waves are the Vrttis.
• When you are going to be angry or miserable, reason it out, how it is that some news that has come to you is throwing your mind into Vrttis. When they first began to abuse me I still thought “I am going to be angry.” Anger was one thing and I was another, but when I became angry, I was anger.
• We say “I am the mind, I am thought; I am angry, or I am happy.” How can we be angry, and how can we hate? We should identify ourselves with the Self; that cannot change. If it is unchangeable, how can it be one moment happy, and one moment unhappy? It is formless, infinite, omnipresent. What can change it? Beyond all law. What can affect it? Nothing in the universe can produce an effect on it.
• Knowledge is power, and as soon as we begin to know a thing we get power over it; so also, when the mind begins to meditate on the different elements it gains power over them.
• The low vibration of light is darkness, and the very high vibration of light is darkness also, but one is real darkness, and the other is really intense light; yet their appearance is the same. So, ignorance is the lowest state, knowledge is the middle state, and beyond knowledge is a still higher state. Knowledge itself is a manufactured something, a combination; it is not reality.
• Soul is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. By giving up all powers it has become omnipotent, by giving up all life it is beyond mortality; it has become life itself. Then the Soul will know it neither had birth nor death, neither want of heaven nor of earth. It will know that it neither came nor went; it was nature which was moving, and that movement was reflected upon the Soul.
• A little of the Infinite is projected into consciousness, and that we call our world. So there is an Infinite beyond.
• Realisation is real religion, and all the rest is only preparation - hearing lectures, or reading books, or reasoning, is merely preparing the ground; it is not religion.
• Egoism is the identification of the seer with the instrument of seeing.
• As a spider makes his net out of his own substance, and becomes bound in his net, and cannot go anywhere except along the lines of that net, so we have projected out of our own substance this network called the nerves, and we cannot work except through the channels of those nerves.
• The Purusa, when it identifies itself with nature, forgets that it is pure and infinite. The Purusa does not live; it is life itself. It does not exist; it is existence itself. The Soul does not know; it is knowledge itself. It is an entire mistake to say that the Soul lives, or knows, or loves. Love and existence are not the qualities of the Purusa, but its essence.
• Thus with us all in this Māyā, this dream world, where it is all misery, weeping, and crying, where a few golden balls are rolled, and the world scrambles after them. You were never bound by laws, Nature never had a bond for you.
• Who is free? That free one must certainly be beyond cause and effect. If you say that the idea of freedom is a delusion, I will say that the idea of bondage is also a delusion. Two facts come into our consciousness, and stand or fall by each other. One is that we are bound. If we want to go through a wall, and our head bumps against that wall, we are limited by that wall. At the same time we find will, and think we can direct our will everywhere. At every step these contradictory ideas are coming to us. We have to believe that we are free, yet at every moment we find we are not free. If one idea is a delusion, the other is also a delusion, because both stand upon the same basis—consciousness.
• Perception of time is always in the memory. This is called succession, but for the mind that has realised omnipresence all these have finished. Everything has become present for it; the present alone exists, the past and future are lost. This stands controlled, and all knowledge is there in one second. Everything is known like a flash.
• There is no such thing as motion in a straight line. Every motion is in a circle.
• When you are going to be angry or miserable, reason it out, how it is that some news that has come to you is throwing your mind into Vrttis. When they first began to abuse me I still thought “I am going to be angry.” Anger was one thing and I was another, but when I became angry, I was anger.
• We say “I am the mind, I am thought; I am angry, or I am happy.” How can we be angry, and how can we hate? We should identify ourselves with the Self; that cannot change. If it is unchangeable, how can it be one moment happy, and one moment unhappy? It is formless, infinite, omnipresent. What can change it? Beyond all law. What can affect it? Nothing in the universe can produce an effect on it.
• Knowledge is power, and as soon as we begin to know a thing we get power over it; so also, when the mind begins to meditate on the different elements it gains power over them.
• The low vibration of light is darkness, and the very high vibration of light is darkness also, but one is real darkness, and the other is really intense light; yet their appearance is the same. So, ignorance is the lowest state, knowledge is the middle state, and beyond knowledge is a still higher state. Knowledge itself is a manufactured something, a combination; it is not reality.
• Soul is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. By giving up all powers it has become omnipotent, by giving up all life it is beyond mortality; it has become life itself. Then the Soul will know it neither had birth nor death, neither want of heaven nor of earth. It will know that it neither came nor went; it was nature which was moving, and that movement was reflected upon the Soul.
• A little of the Infinite is projected into consciousness, and that we call our world. So there is an Infinite beyond.
• Realisation is real religion, and all the rest is only preparation - hearing lectures, or reading books, or reasoning, is merely preparing the ground; it is not religion.
• Egoism is the identification of the seer with the instrument of seeing.
• As a spider makes his net out of his own substance, and becomes bound in his net, and cannot go anywhere except along the lines of that net, so we have projected out of our own substance this network called the nerves, and we cannot work except through the channels of those nerves.
• The Purusa, when it identifies itself with nature, forgets that it is pure and infinite. The Purusa does not live; it is life itself. It does not exist; it is existence itself. The Soul does not know; it is knowledge itself. It is an entire mistake to say that the Soul lives, or knows, or loves. Love and existence are not the qualities of the Purusa, but its essence.
• Thus with us all in this Māyā, this dream world, where it is all misery, weeping, and crying, where a few golden balls are rolled, and the world scrambles after them. You were never bound by laws, Nature never had a bond for you.
• Who is free? That free one must certainly be beyond cause and effect. If you say that the idea of freedom is a delusion, I will say that the idea of bondage is also a delusion. Two facts come into our consciousness, and stand or fall by each other. One is that we are bound. If we want to go through a wall, and our head bumps against that wall, we are limited by that wall. At the same time we find will, and think we can direct our will everywhere. At every step these contradictory ideas are coming to us. We have to believe that we are free, yet at every moment we find we are not free. If one idea is a delusion, the other is also a delusion, because both stand upon the same basis—consciousness.
• Perception of time is always in the memory. This is called succession, but for the mind that has realised omnipresence all these have finished. Everything has become present for it; the present alone exists, the past and future are lost. This stands controlled, and all knowledge is there in one second. Everything is known like a flash.
• There is no such thing as motion in a straight line. Every motion is in a circle.
November 7, 2024
A powerhouse of knowledge! That’s the first phrase that comes to mind. The work of the genius mystic Patanjali, who probably lived around the 2nd century BCE, has been passed down through the centuries, benefiting countless souls and eventually reaching us in the form of a translated book. This edition has been simplified for us by none other than Swami Vivekananda, the great philosopher, author, and monk from India, who introduced the knowledge of Yoga and Vedanta to the West.
It is crucial to understand Yoga before diving into its practice, and this book facilitates that understanding. It addresses the what and the why, clarifying the theoretical concepts behind Yoga. The foundational ideas about Samadhi, Chitta, and Vritti need to be clear before moving on to the practical aspects, and this book provides that clarity.
If it weren’t for Swami Vivekananda, who revived the Yoga Sutras in the late 19th century, the original text might have been lost forever. This book not only includes the original Sanskrit text but also offers transliterations and translations, along with in-depth commentary that makes the material accessible. The countless possibilities Yoga offers, if followed diligently, are enough to inspire awe.
The book is divided into four sections:
• Samadhi Pada
• Sadhana Pada
• Vibhuti Pada
• Kaivalya Pada
These sections mirror the progressive stages of Yoga practice, each building on the last. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras guide the reader step-by-step, while Swami Vivekananda’s brilliant explanations help clarify the meaning of the original Sanskrit text. Without his commentary, one could easily get lost in the complexities of the Sutras.
However, this book may not be suitable for everyone, as it might confuse readers unfamiliar with basic concepts like Samyama, Purusa, or Vritti. Although these terms are thoroughly explained, they can be challenging to understand without a foundational grasp.
The greatest strength of the Yoga Sutras is that they prepare you mentally for meditation. You feel motivated and ready to bring positive change within yourself. If not becoming a Yogi, you will at least be inspired to incorporate beneficial practices into your life. This book is highly recommended for anyone practicing Yoga or captivated by its teachings.
As they say, this is the OG—where it all began.
It is crucial to understand Yoga before diving into its practice, and this book facilitates that understanding. It addresses the what and the why, clarifying the theoretical concepts behind Yoga. The foundational ideas about Samadhi, Chitta, and Vritti need to be clear before moving on to the practical aspects, and this book provides that clarity.
If it weren’t for Swami Vivekananda, who revived the Yoga Sutras in the late 19th century, the original text might have been lost forever. This book not only includes the original Sanskrit text but also offers transliterations and translations, along with in-depth commentary that makes the material accessible. The countless possibilities Yoga offers, if followed diligently, are enough to inspire awe.
The book is divided into four sections:
• Samadhi Pada
• Sadhana Pada
• Vibhuti Pada
• Kaivalya Pada
These sections mirror the progressive stages of Yoga practice, each building on the last. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras guide the reader step-by-step, while Swami Vivekananda’s brilliant explanations help clarify the meaning of the original Sanskrit text. Without his commentary, one could easily get lost in the complexities of the Sutras.
However, this book may not be suitable for everyone, as it might confuse readers unfamiliar with basic concepts like Samyama, Purusa, or Vritti. Although these terms are thoroughly explained, they can be challenging to understand without a foundational grasp.
The greatest strength of the Yoga Sutras is that they prepare you mentally for meditation. You feel motivated and ready to bring positive change within yourself. If not becoming a Yogi, you will at least be inspired to incorporate beneficial practices into your life. This book is highly recommended for anyone practicing Yoga or captivated by its teachings.
As they say, this is the OG—where it all began.
February 27, 2026
Very challenging book. I learned what it really means to become a yogi, that Jesus meets the description perfectly, and that the path for becoming a yogi is through the renunciation of all desire and pleasure, in a way that is reminiscent of Buddhist teaching. This books says little about the techniques of yoga and more about its philosophy. There are numerous typos in the English commentary which made the already challenging content harder to follow.
April 4, 2025
It is a good read about spiritualism from the Vedic perspective and is logical enough to be absorbed by most people even today. However, there are certain aspects of yogi and samyam which talk of unheard capabilities, beyond science.
May 3, 2026
First read of a yoga sutra interpretation. It’s great these things exist as the original text is very hard to understand.
New language for me. a lot washed over. Some landed. Maybe after more reads of texts like this it sticks easier.
New language for me. a lot washed over. Some landed. Maybe after more reads of texts like this it sticks easier.
December 8, 2025
Vivekananda is always a joy to read in his calm, confident clarity.
April 18, 2026
Wonderful book and some extremely interesting ideas about the mind and who we truly are.
I found it hard to absorb the real meaning of some of the sutras/teachings, but I will hazard a guess that it has more to do with my ignorance as a beginner to these higher-level concepts.
A great experience for a first read, and will definitely keep dipping into this and other versions in the future.
I found it hard to absorb the real meaning of some of the sutras/teachings, but I will hazard a guess that it has more to do with my ignorance as a beginner to these higher-level concepts.
A great experience for a first read, and will definitely keep dipping into this and other versions in the future.
February 2, 2023
Awesome read
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews