Thought Flow of the Text
The single argument of the Yoga Sūtras
The Yoga Sūtras unfold as a single sustained argument: the blissful Self is already attained — all that is required is to lose interest in what is not the Self. Everything essential is stated in the first three sūtras; the remaining 193 elaborate for the student who does not get it the first time.
Definition.1.1–1.4 Yoga is the stilling of the mind's modifications; then the Seer abides in its own nature. Otherwise, the Self identifies with the vṛttis.
Diagnosis of the mind.1.5–1.11 Five kinds of vṛttis — valid knowledge, error, imagination, sleep, memory — each breeding saṁskāras.
The twin method.1.12–1.16 Abhyāsa (long, devoted practice) and vairāgya (dispassion), culminating in supreme dispassion born of knowing Puruṣa.
Map of samādhi.1.17–1.22 Cognitive absorption (vitarka → vicāra → ānanda → asmitā), then objectless absorption where only burnt seeds remain.
The devotional door.1.23–1.29 Or simply surrender to Īśvara — the special Puruṣa, the timeless Guru, designated by OM, evoked by japa.
Obstacles & remedies.1.30–1.40 Nine distractions and their companions; countered by one-pointed practice, the brahmavihāras, prāṇāyāma, or any elevating focus.
Refinement to the seedless.1.41–1.51 The crystal-mind fuses with its object (samāpatti); memory purifies; truth-bearing wisdom dawns; even that is restrained — nirbīja samādhi.
Practice for the rest of us.2.1–2.16 Kriyā-yoga (tapas, svādhyāya, praṇidhāna) attenuates the five kleśas rooted in avidyā; karma is traced to them; future suffering is avoidable.
Seer & seen.2.17–2.27 Suffering is the confusion of witness with world. The seen exists for the Seer's experience and liberation; unwavering viveka-khyāti is the means of release, unfolding in seven stages.
The eight limbs.2.28–3.8 Yama and niyama purify conduct; āsana stills the body; prāṇāyāma reveals the stillpoint; pratyāhāra withdraws the senses; dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi converge as saṁyama.
Powers — and the warning.3.9–3.56 Saṁyama applied anywhere yields siddhis; they are attainments to the outward mind but obstacles to samādhi. Non-attachment even to omniscience opens kaivalya.
Liberation.4.1–4.34 Mind is a created instrument existing for Another; time is a construct; karma ends when doership ends. Dharma-megha samādhi rains virtue; the guṇas resolve into their source; consciousness stands established in its own nature.
Two practices thread the whole text: vairāgya — welcoming whatever comes and releasing whatever leaves — and viveka — discriminating the mind from the watcher of the mind. Book IV is simply the story of their final outcome.
The Sūtras
Key Points at a Glance
Yoga definedRestraint of the mind's objectification; the state of the undisturbed Seer. 1.2–1.3
The methodPractice and dispassion — meditate daily, cultivate selfless non-attachment. 1.12–1.16
Root afflictionAvidyā — not knowing the Self — is the field where ego, attachment, aversion and fear of death grow. 2.3–2.5
Cause of sufferingThe conjunction of Seer with seen; only the ego suffers — the Self is in bliss all the time. 2.17
The eight limbsAn integrated external–internal discipline culminating in samādhi — a shift of identity, not a technique. 2.29, 3.3
Siddhis are a fork in the roadNotice them, decline to display them, and continue sādhana. 3.38, 3.52
Karma ends with doershipActions performed without burden or drama, as the witness, bear no fruit. 2.12, 4.7
Time is a constructIn inner stillness there is no evidence of sequence — only the eternal present. 3.53, 4.33
KaivalyaThe guṇas resolve into their source; consciousness abides in its own nature — svarūpa-pratiṣṭhā. 4.34
Index of Concepts
Every concept used in this study, with its meaning and the sūtras in which it appears. Click a sūtra number to jump straight to it.