The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Translator: Charles Johnston | Published: 1912 Full text: Yoga Sutras - Johnston

Overview

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (~200 BCE - 200 CE) are 196 aphorisms that map the entire arc of meditative practice, from ethical preparation through concentration to samadhi — the direct absorption in which the distinction between knower, knowing, and known dissolves. The text is radically compressed. Each sutra is a seed, sometimes only a few words, designed to be unpacked through commentary and practice. The most famous is the second: “Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah” — Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Everything that follows is an elaboration of what this means and how to achieve it.

The Yoga Sutras systematize what is now known as the eight-limbed path (ashtanga yoga): yama (ethical restraints), niyama (personal observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). These are not eight separate practices but a progressive deepening. The first five are preparation; the last three — dharana, dhyana, and samadhi — form a continuous movement called samyama, the integrated practice that yields direct insight into the nature of reality.

Charles Johnston’s 1912 translation brings a Theosophical sensibility to the text, emphasizing its connections to broader contemplative traditions. Johnston, an Irish-born Sanskrit scholar and student of H.P. Blavatsky, renders the sutras in clear, dignified English and provides substantial commentary. While later translations (particularly those by Swami Vivekananda and I.K. Taimni) are more widely used today, Johnston’s version remains valuable for its readability and its sensitivity to the experiential dimension of the practices described.

Key Themes

• Chitta vritti nirodhah — The cessation of mental fluctuations. The mind in its natural state is still; what we normally experience is the agitation of thoughts, memories, and projections superimposed on that stillness.
• The eight limbs (ashtanga) — A systematic, progressive path from ethical conduct through physical discipline to meditative absorption. Each limb supports the next.
• The kleshas — Five afflictions that bind consciousness: ignorance (avidya), egoism (asmita), attachment (raga), aversion (dvesha), and clinging to life (abhinivesha). Ignorance is the root; the others are its branches.
• Samadhi — Not a trance or altered state but the natural condition of awareness when the obscurations are removed. Patanjali distinguishes several degrees, from savikalpa (with mental content) to nirvikalpa (beyond all distinction).
• Kaivalya — Absolute independence or isolation of pure consciousness from the mutations of nature (prakriti). The final liberation described in the fourth and final book of the Sutras.

Historical Context

The Yoga Sutras emerge from the Samkhya-Yoga philosophical tradition, one of the six orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Samkhya provides the metaphysical framework — the dualism of consciousness (purusha) and nature (prakriti) — while Yoga provides the practical method. Patanjali is traditionally credited as the compiler rather than the inventor of these teachings; he systematized practices and insights that had been developing in Indian contemplative culture for centuries. The text became the definitive reference for classical yoga and has been commented upon continuously from antiquity to the present. It should be noted that the “yoga” described here is primarily a science of meditation and consciousness, quite different from the postural practice that dominates modern Western yoga studios.

Who Should Read This

Anyone with a serious interest in meditation, contemplative practice, or the psychology of consciousness. The Yoga Sutras are not devotional literature or philosophical argument but a practical manual — a set of precise instructions for the transformation of awareness. They are demanding: Patanjali assumes the reader is prepared to undertake sustained, disciplined practice over years. But even for the reader who approaches them intellectually, the Sutras offer one of the most sophisticated maps of consciousness ever produced. Johnston’s translation is a good starting point for its clarity and concision.

Connections

• advaita-vedanta — While classical Yoga and Advaita differ philosophically (Yoga is dualist, Advaita is non-dualist), their practical methods converge. The meditative practices Patanjali describes are the same ones Advaita teachers prescribe for self-inquiry.
• non-dual-recognition — Samadhi in its highest form dissolves the subject-object distinction, arriving at the same recognition the Upanishads describe as Atman-Brahman identity.
• nous — The Greek Neoplatonic concept of Nous (divine intellect) parallels Patanjali’s purusha — pure awareness prior to all mental content.

Further Reading

• Yoga Sutras - Johnston — The full text of Johnston’s translation with commentary
• upanishads — The philosophical tradition from which Yoga draws its understanding of the self
• bhagavad-gita — Krishna’s teaching on yoga as a path of action, devotion, and knowledge
• vedanta-sutras — The systematic Vedantic philosophy that shares Yoga’s concern with liberation