Yoga

SCOTLAND

MAGAZINE

Issue 49 January 2016

Theme: The Ethics of Teaching Yoga

PUBLISHED BY
YOGA SCOTLAND

www.yogascotland.org.uk
Scottish Charity Number SCO20590

sportscotland

Governing Body for Yoga in Scotland

Yoga SCOTLAND

The Yamas and Niyamas: Patanjalis View

by Jason Birch and Jacqueline Hargreaves1

Like a fence that has been painted and repainted numerous colours
over its lifetime, the 195 aphorisms (stra) of the Yoga Stra have
been interpreted many different ways over the centuries. Such a long
and complex history can make it difficult to understand its ethical
framework, which nonetheless continues to intrigue those interested
in yoga. In seeking a historical understanding of this work, all
commentaries and translations play a valuable role, and the
superiority of one interpretation of an aphorism may give way to
another as soon as the historical context changes.
It seems that very few people are aware that the Yoga Stra is
part of a larger work known as the Ptajalayogastra (4th 5th
centuries CE), which consists of the stras and the insightful
commentary called the Bhya. Philipp Maas groundbreaking work
(2013) proves beyond reasonable doubt that the Ptajalayogastra
is the work of one author.2 The strongest evidence for this is that both
the Yoga Stra and Bhya were quoted as a single work called the
Ptajalayogastra by various medieval authors, the earliest being
the eighth-century poet named Mgha (Maas 2013: 57). Some of
these authors cite Patajali (i.e., iti patajali) when quoting passages
of the Bhya, which indicates that they believed that Patajali was
the author of the entire Ptajalayogastra.3
There is also evidence in the text itself that supports the view that
a single author composed the Ptajalayogastra. For example,
verbs in the first person are sometimes used to introduce new topics.
Also, the Yoga Stra and Bhya often depend on one another
syntactically. In one case, a pronoun in a stra (2.27) refers back to an
earlier passage in the Bhya (Maas 2013: 62-63).
Why has this been overlooked by so many for so long? The
confusion appears to have arisen from the opening verse of

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Vcaspatimiras commentary (10th century) and the chapter

colophons, which mention a Vedavysa as the author of the
commentary. Several centuries later, a doxographer by the name of
Mdhava attributed the Yoga Stra to Patajali and the Bhya to
Vysa in his well-known Sarvadaranasagraha (Maas 2013: 58).
The aim of the first part of this article is to outline how Patajali
might have understood the Yamas and Niyamas in his
Ptajalayogastra. The second part (to be published in the next
issue) will consider a few examples of how the Yamas and Niyamas
have been reinterpreted for different audiences since the time of the
Ptajalayogastra.
The following discussion of the Yamas and Niyamas is limited to
the Ptajalayogastra and any historical information that is
relevant to the time in which it was written (i.e., 4th 5th centuries
CE). Such a discussion would be incoherent if one relied only on the
Yoga Stra, because the stra text does not explain what the words
yama and niyama actually mean. Indeed, any attempt to find
definitions of these behavioural guidelines in the Yoga Stra leads to
disappointment. For the Yoga Stra contains only the names and two
general comments on the Yamas and Niyamas,4 as well as the powers
that await those who succeed in following them.
The Yamas and Niyamas are ten behavioural guidelines that are
intended to aid the yoga practitioner in the attainment of a profound
state of meditation called Samdhi, which leads to freedom from
transmigration (sasra). The intended aim of these guidelines can
be inferred because they are auxiliaries (aga) in an eight-fold system
of yoga (i.e., Agayoga) that culminates in Samdhi.
The term auxiliary (aga) implies that the Yamas and Niyamas are
essential for the success of Agayoga. Therefore, it is inevitable

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that the eager student of this yoga would ask, what exactly must I do
to abide by the Yamas and Niyamas? If one confines oneself to a
literal translation of the Yoga Stra, such a question will remain
impossible to answer.
This is one reason why a commentary on the Yoga Stra is so
important. In fact, all modern publications on this gnomic work
translate and interpret it with a significant amount of additional
explanation. The explanation may derive from a written commentary
on the stra, the spoken views of teachers (often called an oral
tradition if such views transmit the teachings of a lineage of teachers)
or the translators own personal knowledge of yoga. In our opinion, it
is impossible to understand the Yoga Stra without supplying
essential information from elsewhere. Therefore, it is highly unlikely
that the Yoga Stra was ever intended as an independent literary
work.
Some scholars remain unconvinced that one person composed and
compiled both the Yoga Stra and Bhya. The most common
argument against a single authorship of the Ptajalayogastra is
that there are some contradictions between certain stras and the
commentary. Underlying this argument is the question; if one person
wrote the whole work, how could such contradictions exist? However,
it is clear that the Ptajalayogastra is a composite work. In fact,
its author was aware that some stras are older than others (Maas
2013: 62). Therefore, the author most probably composed some stras
and compiled others from elsewhere, weaving them together,
sometimes imperfectly, with the commentary. Nonetheless, it is also
the case that better explanations of these so-called contradictions
will be found when scholars who are historically and philogically
orientated begin to study the Ptajalayogastra as a unified work,
since this was the understanding of its author.
If one accepts that there is a single authorial intention behind the
Yoga Stra and Bhya, then it is clear that the Yamas and Niyamas
have been explained in a well-structured manner within the
framework of the Ptajalayogastra. The discussion proceeds as
follows:
1. The Five Yamas

(2.30 Stra)

2. Definitions of the Five Yamas

(2.30 Bhya)

3. General Comment on the Yamas

(2.31 Stra and Bhya)

4. The Five Niyamas

(2.32 Stra)

5. Definitions of the Five Niyamas

(2.32 Bhya)

Truthfulness is when ones speech and thought agree with reality.

Just as [something] is seen or inferred, so [it is with] speech and
thought. A word that has been spoken in order to convey ones
knowledge to others [is truthful], if it is not deceitful, wrong or
deficient in meaning. It is [truthful when it has been] uttered in
order to help all beings and not to harm them. [...]
Stealing is the unauthorised taking of another persons goods for
oneself. However, the opposite of this is not stealing, in the sense
of not desiring [anothers goods].
Celibacy is the restraint of the genitals, the private organ.
Not possessing is not owning things because one sees the
problems of acquiring, protecting, losing, desiring and harming
[them].
The next stra (2.31) states that the Yamas are a great vow
(mahvrata) so long as they are not modified according to the type of
living being, the location, time or convention. The Yamas are valid for
all stages of the yogins path (srvabhauma). The Bhya uses the
Yama of non-violence as an example. If non-violence could be
modified to exclude some types of living beings, a fisherman might
claim that he is still following non-violence by killing only fish and
nothing else. If non-violence could be modified according to location,
one could say, I will not kill in a sacred place and then delight in
killing elsewhere. In other words, the author seems to have been
aware that people tend to limit the scope of the Yamas to suit their
own personal circumstances and preferences, and this is prohibited if
one is to adhere to the great vow.
This leads to the Niyamas listed in stra 2.32 as cleanliness
(auca), contentment (santoa), asceticism (tapas), ones own study
(svdhyya) and worship of vara (varapraidhna). Once again,
the definitions are contained in the Bhya:
Among [the Niyamas], external cleanliness is produced by [cleaning
oneself with] loamy soil, water etc., and eating pure food, etc.
Internal [cleanliness] is washing away the impurities of the mind.
Contentment is not wanting more than the resources at hand.

6. General Comment on Overcoming Hindrances

(2.33 34 Stra and Bhya)
7. The Benefits of Following the Yamas and Niyamas
(2.35 45 Stra and Bhya)

Stra 2.30 lists the five Yamas as non-violence (ahis), truthfulness

(satya), not stealing (asteya), celibacy (brahmacarya) and not
possessing (aparigraha). The Bhyas explanations of these
guidelines are for the most part as follows:5
Among [the Yamas], ahims is not hurting any being in any way at
any time. It is the foundation of the subsequent Yamas and
Niyamas. Because their chief aim is perfecting [ahis], they are
accomplished for the sake of accomplishing [ahis]. They are
undertaken in order to achieve a purified state of [ahis...]

Asceticism is enduring opposites. The opposites are hunger and

thirst, heat and cold. [Asceticism also includes] standing and sitting
[for long periods of times] and [maintaining complete] silence like
a piece of wood and [partial] silence in speech [only], as well as
periods of observances such as [various fasts called] Kcchra,
Cndryaa and Sntapana,6 according to what is appropriate.
Ones own study is the study of scriptures about liberation or the
repeating of O.
Worship of vara is offering all ones actions to [vara, who is]
the supreme guru.
The next two stras (2.33 34) provide some general advice on
what to do when one is tempted to transgress these guidelines. These
temptations are psychological hindrances (vitarka),7 and it is
suggested that one can overcome them by cultivating the opposite
sentiment. In the case of non-violence, when one has harmful
thoughts, the author recommends that one chastise oneself by
cultivating the following thought:

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Yoga SCOTLAND
Being cooked in the terrifying embers of transmigration, I go to
refuge in the moral code of yoga (yogadharma) by giving to all
beings freedom from the fear [of being harmed]. Having forsaken
[these] temptations and accepting them again, I am the same as
someone who behaves like a dog.
If medieval Indian views on the behaviour of dogs are not clear to the
reader, further clarification is provided:
Just as a dog is a licker of its own vomit, so am I [who] accepts
again [that which] was abandoned.
This poignant image of undignified behaviour is intended to
discourage a person from breaking their resolve to follow the Yamas
and Niyamas. This mental castigation also seems to insinuate that
eating regurgitated hindrances might leave a rather bitter taste in
ones mouth. This simile is not new to our culture, for it is found in the
Old Testaments Book of Proverbs (26.11) in a somewhat similar
context; As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his
folly.
After the advice on how one can overcome hindrances to the
Yamas and Niyamas, the author sets out the powers gained by those
who succeed in upholding these guidelines. One can read the next
eleven stras (2.35 45) and their commentary as a single discourse
on the powers. By way of example, here are the benefits of the first
three Yamas (2.35 37):
If [ones practice of] non-violence is steadfast, hostility is
relinquished in ones presence. [In this case, hostility is
relinquished] by all living beings. If [ones practice of] truthfulness
is steadfast, it unifies ones [verbal] actions with their results. [For
example,] if [one says to someone,] be virtuous, [that person]
becomes virtuous. [If one says,] you will obtain heaven, [that
person] obtains heaven. Ones speech becomes efficacious. If [ones
practice of] not stealing is steadfast, one has access to all riches. [In
fact,] riches everywhere become available to one.
The importance of three of the Niyamas is reinforced at the
beginning of the Ptajalayogastras second chapter in a basic
system of yoga called Kriyyoga (2.1). It consists of asceticism (tapas),
self-study (svdhyya) and the worship of vara
(varapraidhna). The inclusion of asceticism in both systems of
Kriy and Agayoga as well as the prohibitions against sex and
possessing goods in the Yamas denote the ancient world of Indian
renunciation, out of which Buddhism and Jainism emerged. Some
scholars have demonstrated Buddhisms direct influence on the
Ptajalayogastra8 and noted the similarities of the latter with
Jainism, at least insofar as the significance of non-violence and the
description of the Yamas as a great vow.9 However, the
Ptajalayogastra was not composed for Buddhists or Jains, so the
obvious question is, for whom was it intended?
The author of the Ptajalayogastra most frequently addresses
male Brahmins, the priestly caste of India.10 Brahmanical religion
flourished at this time under the rule of the Gupta empire (3rd 6th
CE). At the centre of this religion was the performance of sacrificial
rites in accordance with Vedic scripture. Strictly orthodox Brahmins
censured those who renounced these rites. They believed that their
duty was to be a householder. Social responsibilities and raising a
family were important to them. However, it is clear in two passages of
the Ptajalayogastra that its audience was not Brahmin
householders, but Brahmin renunciants (yati, sannysin), who
renounced social and familial responsibilities in order to pursue the
arduous path of gaining liberation through yoga. The path of this yoga

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was arduous because asceticism was at the heart of it. In fact, the
Ptajalayogastra (2.1) states that its yoga cannot be
accomplished by one who is not an ascetic (tapasvin).
Why might Brahmin householders renounce? Following Vedic
injunctions and performing the required rituals throughout their lives
guaranteed liberation only after death. However, by renouncing and
undertaking Patajalis yoga, those who mastered Samdhi could
attain liberation in this lifetime.
If one reads closely the Ptajalayogastra without a modern
interpretation, the influence of Indian asceticism can be seen
throughout the work, from the definition of yoga (cittavttinirodha) as
a seemingly catatonic state of physical and mental inactivity to the
notion of liberation as a persons true identification with a completely
passive, unchanging and eternally witnessing monad (purua). The
ascetic flavour of Patajalis yoga might seem inappropriate to most of
todays yoga practitioners whose life largely concerns family, work and
coping with the modern economy. In a busy world, many people are
attracted to yogas potential for increasing their physical flexibility,
relieving stress and improving overall health.11 Yet, how many people
might be attracted to yogas potential for attaining a stone-like state
of stillness? Surely the most ambitious marketing guru would struggle
to sell catatonic yoga.
The Yamas and Niyamas seem to appeal to modern yoga
practitioners who seek guidance in a morally ambiguous world.
Nonetheless, a strict interpretation of Ahim is an exacting ideal for
householders, most of whom have little time to pause to think of a
dogs dietary habits when about to displace some ants from the
kitchen sink. And how much more might a householder want to
embrace sustained celibacy (brahmacarya) in any strict sense of the
word?
In the second part of this article (to be published in the next issue),
we will discuss examples of how medieval commentators
reinterpreted Patajalis Yamas and Niyamas for different audiences
such as householders, and how these perspectives can provide some
insight into the teachings of modern gurus.

1 This article was inspired by a number of conversations we had with Philipp

Maas at Vienna University. We thank him for the time he spent with us in
Vienna as well as his insightful comments on this article. Thanks also to James
Mallinson, Mark Singleton, Giles Hooper, Vina Shah, Phil Lemke, Emil Wendel
and Elizabeth de Michelis for their valuable comments. We are grateful to
Dagmar Wujastyk and the ERC-funded Ayuryog Project at Vienna University
for their support during the writing of this article.
2 Philipp Maas, A Concise Historiography of Classical Yoga Philosophy, in
Historiography and Periodization of Indian Philosophy, ed. Eli Franco. De Nobili
Series, Vienna 2013. A pre-print version is available at:
https://univie.academia.edu/PhilippMaas [accessed 5 September 2015].
3 Examples include rdhara, Abhinavagupta, Hemacandra, Viubhata,
ivopdhyya and Devapla (Maas 2013: 57).
4 The terms yama and niyama literally mean a restraint. One might
distinguish the Yamas from the Niyamas by the fact that the former regulate
ones conduct towards all other living beings and the latter, the preliminary
practices more specific to Patajalis yoga. More research needs to be done on
the relationship between the Yamas and Niyamas.
5 Jason Birch has supplied the words and punctuation in square brackets.
These translations are based on the edition by Kintha str ge:
Vcaspatimiraviracitaksavalitavysabhyasametni
Ptajalayogastri, tath bhojadevaviracitarjamrtabhidhavttisametni
ptajalayogastri. straphastravarnukramascbhy ca
santhktni. Pune: nandramamudralaye 1904 (nandrama
Sanskrit Series, 47).

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6 Kcchra, Cndryaa and Sntapana are described as fasts
facts in the book of
Manu (e.g., Manusrti 11.208 13).
7 See Bhojadeva's Rjamrtaa on stra 2.33: the vitarka are obstacles to
yoga ([...] vitark yogaparipanthina [...]).
8 For recent information on this, in particular textual parallels between the
Ptajalayogastra and Vasubandhus Vibh, see Dominik Wujastyks
talks, The Earliest Accounts of sana in the Yoga Literature, Vog, April 2015
and Some Problematic Yoga Sutras and their Buddhist Background, Vienna
2013 (both available on his page at academia.edu).
9 For example, see the crgastra, the first book of which is generally
ascribed to the second or third century BCE and prescribes the proper
behaviour (cra) of a Jain. As far as we are aware, no one has yet found
textual parallels between the Ptajalayogastra and an early Jain text. So,
whether Jainism directly or indirectly influenced Patajalis yoga, as opposed
to some other ramaa tradition whose scriptures are now lost, remains
uncertain.
10 For references and a more thorough discussion on the words Brhmaa,
yati and sannysin in the Ptajalayogastra see Philipp Maas, Der Yogi
und sein Heilsweg im Yoga des Patajali, in Karin Steiner (ed.), Wege zum
Heil(igen). Sakralitt und Sakralisierung in hinduistischen Traditionen.
Wiesbaden 2014: Harrassowitz, 65-90.
11 http://www.yogajournal.com/press/yoga_in_america. Thanks to Phil Lemke
for this reference.

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