Why Study the Yoga Sutras?
A few years ago, my Yoga practicing friend asked me why he should read the Yoga Sutras when so much modern information was available about Yoga. He was learning the āsanas from a teacher, and having heard about the Sutras from me asked me why does he need to learn a bunch of Sanskrit verses written more than 2000 years ago? My immediate answer to him that Sutra's are an "exercise for the mind" just as āsanas are the "exercise for the body" didn’t seem to satisfy him. I searched for better answers and came up with several arguments to counter all the busy people and sceptics. I hope one or more of these will resonate with you. Before I launch into the reasons, a brief history on the Sutras. Yoga Sutras are 195 verses 1 (aphorisms to be precise) that were composed more than 2000 years ago by the sage Pata ñ jali. These Sanskrit verses, that essentially fit into two A4 pages, describe an entire philosophy of Yoga. The commentaries on these sutras written by s...