Patanjali's Yoga Sutras:
General Introduction to Commentary
My plan is as follows for each sutra:
- to offer meanings for the Sanskrit words (meanings as found in various sources including
Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary, Satchidananda, Taimni, etc. as indicated)
- to give several meanings for the sutra from various translations in the hope that
this will help the reader get closer to the original Sanskrit text.
- to provide commentary, from the YogaBhasya of Vyasa, and from various modern editions
- to add my own thoughts or attempts at interpretation (as much as anything this is
to help me towards an understanding of the text and I may add to or change my thoughts
from time to time, as a result of getting to grips with avidya)!
Abbreviations used in the commentary are as follows:
Col. Dic Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionary (an on-line dictionary currently
containing c. 160,000 entries from the Monier-Williams Dictionary) available for
consultation at:
http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/indologie/tamil/mwd_search.html
B Bernard Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga
D Patanjali's Yogasutras, translated by TKV Desikachar
H Swami Hariharananda Aranya, Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali (translated
by P.N. Mukerji)
S The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, translation and commentary by Sri
Swami Satchidananda
T IK Taimni, The Science of Yoga
V Vyasa's Yoga Bhasya, as translated by PN Mukerji in Swami Hariharananda
Aranya, Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali