Yoga Discipline of Freedom The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali [Paperback]

Dating from about the third century A.D., theYoga Sutradistills the essence of the physical and spiritual discipline of yoga into fewer than two hundred brief aphorisms. It is the core text for any study of meditative practice, revered for centuries for its brilliant analysis of mental states and of the process by which inner liberation is achieved. Yet its difficulties are legendary, and until now, no translation has made it fully accessible.

This new translation, hailed byYoga Journalfor its "unsurpassed readability," is by one of the leading Sanskrit scholars of our time, whoseBhagavad Gitahas become a recognized classic. It includes an introduction to the philosophy and psychology underlying theYoga Sutra, the full text with explanatory commentary, and a glossary of key terms in Sanskrit and English.Until her death in 1993, Barbara Stoler Miller was Samuel R. Milbank Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College, Columbia University. A leading translator of Sanskrit literature and well-versed in Indian music and art, Dr. Miller edited and translated numerous works of poetry and drama, including her much-praised translation of theBhagavad-Gita. Dr. Miller studied philosophy as an undergraduate at Barnard College and held a doctorate in Sanskrit and Indic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. She taught at Barnard for twenty-five years.PART ONE
Cessation of Thought and Contemplative Calm
 
THE NATURE OF YOGA
 
This is the teaching of yoga,  (1)
Yoga is the cessation of the turnings of thought.  (2)
When thought ceases, the spirit stands in its true identity as observer to the world.  (3)
Otherwise, the observer identifies with the turnings of thought.  (4)
 
The first four aphorisms define the nature of yoga as a state of mental tranquility and spiritual freedom, as well as the means to achieve this stals&