Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)

Ashtanga yoga (Sanskrit: अष्टाङ्गयोग, romanized: aṣṭāṅgayoga, "the eight limbs of yoga") is Patanjali's classification of classical yoga, as set out in his Yoga Sutras. He defined the eight limbs as yamas (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (posture), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption).
The eight limbs form a sequence from the outer to the inner. The posture, asana, must be steady and comfortable for a long time, in order for the yogi to practice the limbs from pranayama until samadhi. The main aim is kaivalya, discernment of Puruṣa, the witness-conscious, as separate from Prakṛti, the cognitive apparatus, and disentanglement of Puruṣa from its muddled defilements.
Patanjali begins his treatise by stating the purpose of his book in the first sutra, followed by defining the word "yoga" in his second sutra of Book 1:
This terse definition hinges on the meaning of three Sanskrit terms. I. K. Taimni translates it as "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodhaḥ) of the modifications (vṛtti) of the mind (citta)". Swami Vivekananda translates the sutra as "Yoga is restraining (nirodhah) the mind-stuff (citta) from taking various forms (vrittis)." When the mind is stilled, the seer or real Self is revealed:
Patanjali set out his definition of yoga in the Yoga Sutras as having eight limbs (अष्टाङ्ग aṣṭ āṅga, "eight limbs") as follows:
The eightfold path of Patanjali's yoga consists of a set of prescriptions for a morally disciplined and purposeful life, of which asana (yoga posture) form only one limb.
Yamas are ethical rules in Hinduism and can be thought of as moral imperatives (the "don'ts"). The five yamas listed by Patanjali in Yoga Sutra 2.30 are:
Patanjali, in Book 2, states how and why each of the above self-restraints helps in an individual's personal growth. For example, in verse II.35, Patanjali states that the virtue of nonviolence and non-injury to others (Ahimsa) leads to the abandonment of enmity, a state that leads the yogi to the perfection of inner and outer amity with everyone, everything.
The second component of Patanjali's Yoga path is niyama, which includes virtuous habits and observances (the "dos"). Sadhana Pada Verse 32 lists the niyamas as:
As with the Yamas, Patanjali explains how and why each of the Niyamas helps in personal growth. For example, in verse II.42, Patanjali states that the virtue of contentment and acceptance of others as they are (Santosha) leads to the state where inner sources of joy matter most, and the craving for external sources of pleasure ceases.
Patanjali begins discussion of Āsana (आसन, posture, seat) by defining it in verse 46 of Book 2, as follows,
Asana is a posture that one can hold for a period of time, staying relaxed, steady, comfortable and motionless. The Yoga Sutra does not list any specific asana. Āraṇya translates verse II.47 as, "asanas are perfected over time by relaxation of effort with meditation on the infinite"; this combination and practice stops the body from shaking. Any posture that causes pain or restlessness is not a yogic posture. Secondary texts that discuss Patanjali's sutra state that one requirement of correct posture for sitting meditation is to keep chest, neck and head erect (proper spinal posture).
The Bhasya commentary attached to the Sutras, now thought to be by Patanjali himself, suggests twelve seated meditation postures: Padmasana (lotus), Virasana (hero), Bhadrasana (glorious), Svastikasana (lucky mark), Dandasana (staff), Sopasrayasana (supported), Paryankasana (bedstead), Krauncha-nishadasana (seated heron), Hastanishadasana (seated elephant), Ushtranishadasana (seated camel), Samasansthanasana (evenly balanced) and Sthirasukhasana (any motionless posture that is in accordance with one's pleasure).
Over a thousand years later, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika mentions 84 asanas taught by Shiva, stating four of these as most important: Siddhasana (accomplished), Padmasana (lotus), Simhasana (lion), and Bhadrasana (glorious), and describes the technique of these four and eleven other asanas. In modern yoga, asanas are prominent and numerous, unlike in any earlier form of yoga.
Prāṇāyāma is the control of the breath, from the Sanskrit prāṇa (प्राण, breath) and āyāma (आयाम, restraint).
After a desired posture has been achieved, verses II.49 through II.51 recommend prāṇāyāma, the practice of consciously regulating the breath (inhalation, the full pause, exhalation, and the empty pause). This is done in several ways, such as by inhaling and then suspending exhalation for a period, exhaling and then suspending inhalation for a period, by slowing the inhalation and exhalation, or by consciously changing the timing and length of the breath (deep, short breathing).
Pratyāhāra is a combination of two Sanskrit words prati- (the prefix प्रति-, "against" or "contra") and āhāra (आहार, "bring near, fetch").
Pratyahara is drawing within one's awareness. It is a process of retracting the sensory experience from external objects. It is a step of self extraction and abstraction. Pratyahara is not consciously closing one's eyes to the sensory world; it is consciously closing one's mind processes to the sensory world. Pratyahara empowers one to stop being controlled by the external world, fetch one's attention to seek self-knowledge and experience the freedom innate in one's inner world.
Pratyahara marks the transition of yoga experience from the first four limbs of Patanjali's Ashtanga scheme that perfect external forms, to the last three limbs that perfect the yogin's inner state: moving from outside to inside, from the outer sphere of the body to the inner sphere of the spirit.
Dharana (Sanskrit: धारणा) means concentration, introspective focus and one-pointedness of mind. The root of the word is dhṛ (धृ), meaning "to hold, maintain, keep".
Dharana, as the sixth limb of yoga, is holding one's mind onto a particular inner state, subject or topic of one's mind. The mind is fixed on a mantra, or one's breath/navel/tip of tongue/any place, or an object one wants to observe, or a concept/idea in one's mind. Fixing the mind means one-pointed focus, without drifting of mind, and without jumping from one topic to another.
Dhyana (Sanskrit: ध्यान) literally means "contemplation, reflection" and "profound, abstract meditation".
Dhyana is contemplating, reflecting on whatever Dharana has focused on. If in the sixth limb of yoga one focused on a personal deity, Dhyana is its contemplation. If the concentration was on one object, Dhyana is non-judgmental, non-presumptuous observation of that object. If the focus was on a concept/idea, Dhyana is contemplating that concept/idea in all its aspects, forms and consequences. Dhyana is uninterrupted train of thought, current of cognition, flow of awareness.
Dhyana is integrally related to Dharana, one leads to other. Dharana is a state of mind, Dhyana the process of mind. Dhyana is distinct from Dharana in that the meditator becomes actively engaged with its focus. Patanjali defines contemplation (Dhyana) as the mind process, where the mind is fixed on something, and then there is "a course of uniform modification of knowledge". Adi Shankara, in his commentary on Yoga Sutras, distinguishes Dhyana from Dharana, by explaining Dhyana as the yoga state when there is only the "stream of continuous thought about the object, uninterrupted by other thoughts of different kind for the same object"; Dharana, states Shankara, is focussed on one object, but aware of its many aspects and ideas about the same object. Shankara gives the example of a yogin in a state of dharana on the morning Sun may be aware of its brilliance, color and orbit; the yogin in dhyana state contemplates on Sun's orbit alone for example, without being interrupted by its color, brilliance or other related ideas.
Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि; "putting together, joining, combining with, union, harmonious whole") has a broad range of meanings. While often understood as absorption in an object of meditation, it can also be seen as a state of intensified awareness and investigation of bodily and mental objects or experiences.
According to tradition, samadhi is of two kinds, samprajnata samadhi (YS 1.17), which has traditionally been interpreted as describing multiple stages of samadhi, and asamprajnata samadhi (YS 1.18). The Yoga Sutras here show similarities with the four rupa jhanas in Buddhism. These two verses, and the terms vitarka and vicara, have been interpreted in various ways.
The later commentarial tradition interprets YS 1.17, which describes samprajnata, as meditation with support of an object of meditation, and YS 1.18 as describing asamprajnata samadhi (YS 1.18), meditation without support of an object of meditation, though the term asamprajnata samadhi is not used in the Yoga Sutras. Samprajnatah and 1.18 can also be interpreted as 'with and without (four kinds of) cognition', describing a progression of meditative immersion, while in Buddhism the terms also mean 'with or without clear comprehension'.
Samprajnata (YS 1.17; "cognitive,", "known accurately; completely known," 'clear comprehension'), also called savikalpa samadhi and Sabija Samadhi, is accompanied by, or appears 'in the form (rupa) of' vitarka (deliberation), vicara (reflection), ananda (bliss), asmita (I-am-ness).
Vyasa's commentary describes samprajnata as four successive stages of vitarka ("gross thought"), vicara ("subtle thought"), ananda (bliss), and asmita, the sense of "I-am-ness" or mere being, "the perception of an unified self," when vitarka, vicara and ananda have disappeared.
The first two associations, vitarka (deliberation) and vicara (reflection), form the basis of two types of samāpatti (samadhi) which are further detailed in YS 1.42 and YS 1.44:
In Buddhist studies, the interpretation of vitarka-vicara as initial and sustained concentration on a meditation object has been questioned by both practitioners and scholars since the 1980s, noting that vitarka-vicare refers to normal discursive thought, "the familiar but usually unnoticed stream of mental imagery and verbalization," connecting samadhi to mindfulness and awareness of the body. According to Dan Lusthaus, vitarka-vicāra is analytic scrutiny, a form of prajna. It "involves focusing on [something] and then breaking it down into its functional components" to understand it, "distinguishing the multitude of conditioning factors implicated in a phenomenal event." Vitarka-vicara in the Buddhist dhyanas can also be seen as initial inquiry and subsequent investigation of dhammas (defilements and wholesome thoughts.
According to Ian Whicher, the status of ananda and asmita in Patanjali's system are a matter of dispute. According to Feuerstein,
Ian Whicher disagrees with Feuerstein, seeing ananda and asmita as later stages of nirvicara-samapatti. Whicher refers to Vācaspati Miśra (AD 900–980), the founder of the Bhāmatī Advaita Vedanta who distinguishes savitarka-samāpatti and nirvitarka-samāpatti, and divides both in four kinds, based on the meditational object.
Vijnana Bikshu (ca. 1550–1600) proposes a six-stage model, explicitly rejecting Vacaspati Misra's model. Vijnana Bikshu regards joy (ananda) as a state that arises when the mind passes beyond the vicara stage. Whicher agrees that ananda is not a separate stage of samadhi. According to Whicher, Patanjali's own view seems to be that nirvicara-samadhi is the highest form of cognitive ecstasy.
Jnaneshvara Bharati interprets the last two associations, sananda samadhi and sasmita, respectively as a third state of meditation, and as an object of savichara samadhi:
Asamprajnata (YS 1.18, although the term is not used in the Yoga sutras), beyond thought and cognition, in Buddhism "inattentiveness", "non-alertness." Continued practice of dispassion leads to the cessation of pratyaya (perception, thought, intention, but also the 'causes' of rebirth), leaving the mind empty and the samskaras in a latent state. According to the commentarial tradition, YS 1.18 describes asamprajnata samadhi, also called Nirvikalpa Samadhi and Nirbija Samadhi, is meditation without an object, which leads to knowledge of purusha or consciousness, the subtlest element. Chip Hartranft translates YS 1.18 as "after one practices steadily to bring all thought to a standstill, these four kinds of cognition fall away, leaving only a store of latent impressions in the depth memory."
According to Bryant, the purpose of yoga is liberation from suffering, caused by entanglement with the world, by means of discriminative discernment between Purusha, the witness-consciousness, and prakriti, the cognitive apparatus including the muddled mind and the kleshas. The eight limbs are "the means of achieving discriminative discernment," the "uncoupling of puruṣa from all connection with prakṛti and all involvement with the citta." Bryant states that, to Patanjali, Yoga-practice "essentially consists of meditative practices culminating in attaining a state of consciousness free from all modes of active or discursive thought, and of eventually attaining a state where consciousness is unaware of any object external to itself, that is, is only aware of its own nature as consciousness unmixed with any other object."
The Samkhya school suggests that jnana (knowledge) is a sufficient means to moksha, Patanjali suggests that systematic techniques/practice (personal experimentation) combined with Samkhya's approach to knowledge is the path to moksha. Patanjali holds that avidya, ignorance is the cause of all five kleshas, which are the cause of suffering and saṁsāra. Liberation, like many other schools, is removal of ignorance, which is achieved through discriminating discernment, knowledge and self-awareness. The Yoga Sūtras is the Yoga school's treatise on how to accomplish this. Samādhi is the state where ecstatic awareness develops, state Yoga scholars, and this is how one starts the process of becoming aware of Purusa and true Self. It further claims that this awareness is eternal, and once this awareness is achieved, a person cannot ever cease being aware; this is moksha, the soteriological goal in Hinduism.
Book 3 of Patanjali's Yogasutra is dedicated to soteriological aspects of yoga philosophy. Patanjali begins by stating that all limbs of yoga are a necessary foundation to reaching the state of self-awareness, freedom and liberation. He refers to the three last limbs of yoga as samyama, in verses III.4 to III.5, and calls it the technology for "discerning principle" and mastery of citta and self-knowledge. In verse III.12, the Yogasutras state that this discerning principle then empowers one to perfect sant (tranquility) and udita (reason) in one's mind and spirit, through intentness. This leads to one's ability to discern the difference between sabda (word), artha (meaning) and pratyaya (understanding), and this ability empowers one to compassionately comprehend the cry/speech of all living beings. Once a yogi reaches this state of samyama, it leads to unusual powers, intuition, self-knowledge, freedoms and kaivalya, the redemptive goal of the yogi.