Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali

From Booklist

The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali is a classic Sanskrit treatise consisting of 195 "threads" or aphorisms describing a process of liberation through yoga. Little is known about Patanjali, although most scholars estimate that he lived in India circa 200-300 B.C., possibly as early as 500 B.C. Patanjali organized the sutras into four parts: Samadhi (absorption), Sadhana (practice), Vibhuti (supernatural powers), and Kaivalya (liberation), and it adds up to a dense, difficult text describing the workings of consciousness and explaining how, through yoga, one can obtain liberation from the suffering caused by fluctuations in the mind. Attempting a new translation and commentary is an ambitious project for a layman like Hartranft, founder of a center dedicated to integrating yoga and Buddhist traditions, and his translation is notable for his attempts to interpret the sutras from a modern American Buddhist perspective. Hartranft occasionally oversimplifies and takes some questionable liberties in his zeal to link Patanjali to the Buddha, but his translation certainly succeeds in making Patanjali's esoteric theories comprehensible to today's readers. Jane Tuma
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Review

"Extraordinarily clear. . . . Hartranft makes Patañjali's complications seem somehow obvious."—Shambhala Sun



"A Yoga Sutra for the twenty-first century . . . translated into plain (but not boring) accessible language. . . . If there's a more succinct explanation of the enduring value of Patañjali's work, I'd sure like to hear it."—Yoga Journal

"Chip Hartranft has given us a fresh, authoritative, and brilliant new translation of and commentary on the Yoga-Sutra, and an entire generation of American yogis should be deeply grateful. His work successfully combines intellectual precision with emotional accessibility—a powerful marriage seldom even attempted with this notoriously difficult text. Hartranft is careful always to leave Patañjali's own genius in the foreground, and as a result the astounding intellectual architecture of the Yoga-Sutra shines through. Bravo!"—Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

"Much of contemporary yoga in the West has emphasized breathing and the body. These invaluable practices have been separated from the comprehensive ethical and meditative approach of the great teacher Patañjali. Recently there has been an increased interest in correcting this limitation. Chip Hartranft's brilliant new translation of and commentary on Patañjali's masterpiece moves interested yogis decisively in this direction. It is a clear and inspiring work of immense value for all serious practitioners."—Larry Rosenberg, author of Breath by Breath and Living in the Light of Death

 

A classic work of Indian philosophy that succinctly spells out how the mind works and what is needed to attain liberation
 
Compiled in the second or third century CE, the Yoga-Sutra is a road map of human consciousness—and a particularly helpful guide to the mind states one encounters in meditation, yoga, and other spiritual practices. It expresses the truths of the human condition with great eloquence: how we know what we know, why we suffer, and how we can discover the way out of suffering.
 
Chip Hartranft's fresh translation and extensive, lucid commentary bring the text beautifully to life. He also provides useful auxiliary materials, including an afterword on the legacy of the Yoga-Sutra and its relevance for us today.