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 verses¹ (aphorisms to be precise) that were composed more than 2000 years ago by the sage Patañjali. These Sanskrit verses, that essentially fit into two A4 pages, describe an entire philosophy of Yoga. The commentaries on these sutras written by scholars and spiritual masters runs into thousands of pages. 

Here are some reasons for studying them,

§  Yoga Sutras describe the complete yogic path.

While it has become common practice to call the āsanas as "Yoga" (which is a popular usage), āsanas are only one of the eight limbs of Yoga². In the Yoga sutras, āsanas are only a means hold the body still³ for long periods so that to the final goal of Yoga (samādhi - total absorption) can be achieved. Sutra study is therefore beneficial for all practitioners, to understand the full yogic path as they go about perfecting their āsanas.

§  Yoga Sutras are advocated by venerated Yoga teachers and spiritual masters.

BKS Iyengar who popularised Yoga in the western world advocated the study of Yoga sutras⁴. Most Iyengar Yoga studios teach the Sutras. Swami Vivekananda was the first spiritual master to bring the Yoga sutras out of their dormancy and popularise it in the West ⁵. Respected contemporary spiritual masters and Yoga teachers continue to advocate the study of Sutras.

§  Yoga Sutras give us psychological insights.

While our world has changed, psychologists tell us that we still think like our ancient ancestors. Yoga Sutras discuss concepts that have parallels with modern psychology⁶, indicating that the Sutras have a timeless quality. Yoga Sutras describe the progressive states of Samadhi (meditative absorption) which in modern psychological terms could be aligned to "flow" states which lead to an overall state of wellbeing⁷. 

§  Yoga Sutras give us Spiritual insights.

The highest expression of Yoga is Spiritual. Ancient Indian wisdom traditions describe four paths (Paths of Knowledge, Work, Devotion and Meditation) to the ultimate spiritual goal and the Yogic Path described the Yoga Sutra's are one of the four paths^8. 

§  Yoga Sutras teach us the vocabulary of the Yogic path

Unlike a lot of ancient Sanskrit literature which take a more poetic form , Sutra literature is set down in a clear logical order and the entire system of knowledge is densely packed in 195 verses. Sutra's introduce us to a beautiful vocabulary of words like "tapas", "samskara", "vairāgya", "chitta""sādhana""samādhi" and many more, which have deep psychological and spiritual connotations.

§  Yoga Sutras constitute a complete school of Philosophy

Yoga Sutras with commentaries is called PātañjalaYogaśāstra ("The Treatise on Yoga of Patañjali") is considered one of the six schools of Indian Philosophy (Darshana). The practices described in Yoga Sutras are adopted by all the major Indic wisdom traditions^9.

§  Yoga Sutras are written in beautiful language

Sutras are minimal, precise, logical and are composed for transmission across generations (almost like a compressed hard drive that holds vast amounts of information that can be transported from one system to another). In spite of their precision and almost scientific tone, they are also beautifully rendered and can even be set to music.

As you can see, there are many more reasons to take up the Study of Yoga Sutras. It is evident that there are multiple dimensions to the Sutras, we can look at them from Psychological, Philosophical, Spiritual and Linguistical perspectives, but at this point Patanjali, the Author of Yoga Sutras will frown upon us and say that we are indulging in "chitta vrittis” ( whirling’s of the mind) which is what he urging us to avoid in the very first Sutra. 

The most elegant argument however, is made by Patanjali himself. In 2: 28, Patanjali says, the yogic path will lead to purification of mind, spark the light of knowledge and awaken transcendental wisdom¹⁰. Patanjali is thus urging us to follow the yogic path, at the end of which, there is a deep state of flow, in which we realize our true nature, leading us to the transcendental wisdom which will end suffering. During modern times, where there are a million distractions (chitta vrittis), that keep pulling us further away from our true selves, there is an urgent need to re-discover Yoga Sutras, embrace the Yogic path, and find the way…to ourselves.

 

Notes:

1.      Some teachers accept 196 

2.     Refer Sutra 2.29

3.     sthira sukham āsanam - (sutra 2.46)

4.     BKS Iyengar has a translation and commentary on the Sutras, he also wrote a beautiful introduction to Edwin Bryant's compendium of traditional commentaries

5.     Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda is the translation and exposition on Yoga Sutras

6.     Cognitive Behavior Therapy (developed in the 1960s) is surprisingly similar to some of the concepts like "pratipaksha bhavana" outlined in the Sutras. See  https://beckinstitute.org/about/understanding-cbt/  

7.     Flow is neither good nor bad. It simply is. Flow can lead to experiencing life more fully and intensely. We can experience more meaning. It also can strengthen how we define who we are (Cziksentmihalyi, 2009)From <https://positivepsychology.com/theory-psychology-flow/>

An interesting comparison can also be found here https://www.karmukaYoga.com/en/left-right-brain-dharana-dhyana-samahdi-flow/

 8.    While the Gita organizes the Yogas into two categories (Yoga of Action, and Yoga of contemplation – BG 3.3 ), Swami Vivekananda further delineates them into 4 paths. See https://vivekavani.com/four-paths-Yoga-swami-vivekananda/

9.     Ancient religious traditions that originated in India (Hindu, Buddhist and Jain) refer to the yogic path as an important    spiritual practice with minor modifications in some of the steps.

10.   This is a slightly modern, user friendly translation from me