Preamble

The development and inventions in Modern Sciences gave two important gifts to mankind i.e. ‘speed’ and ‘power’. With these two inventions man took a quantum leap in his outer evolution. All the amenities and facilities available today have made life generally comfortable and easier in physical sense. However, ‘speed’ and ‘power’ also brought about a frenetic pace to the life in general. This pace has created a certain imbalance between the body and the mind. The speed of thoughts arising in the mind is so enormous that the physical body cannot keep pace with the mind. Thus, the normal equanimity / homeostasis gets disturbed. The most devastating effect of this disturbed homeostasis is “stress” leading to diseases, misery, pain, unhappiness and various psycho-somatic disorders. Unending desires to achieve success in life, has also led to falling moral and social values. Thus, today though we have everything that we crave for, available to us; the true and eternal happiness still deludes us.

One of the very important quests of human mind is to understand the reasons of miseries of human life. The human life is full of misery. What causes miseries? Can misery be removed? Can life be purely that of bliss? How to alleviate the miseries? What are the ways and means to remove the misery completely? The tragedy of human life is that man is uncomfortable amidst all comforts. What constitutes true knowledge? What is liberation? Mokṣa? or Nirvāṇa? is another such very important aspect that intrigues human mind. There are several theories of Mokṣa that are espoused.

The emergence of six philosophical schools of thought in India, more popularly known as ṣaḍ-darśanas, led to a very systematic, rational and scientific study of man’s inner world. Other Indian schools of thought such as Buddhism, Jainism and Cārvāka have also attempted explanations to these fundamental questions.

In order to, solve the mysteries of this universe, Indian sages and seers turned their focus inwards rather than outwards.

Indian scriptures believe that:

“If one knows the self, everything is known as well, for that which is within is without”.

The essence of Indian Philosophy is—

ātmānam viddhi / ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ / ^[1]

“Know Thy Self”

Thousands of aspirants and spiritual seekers have experimented and experienced with this principle stated in the scriptures. These experiments have been offered in the form of various systems of Philosophy. In India, these philosophies have been adopted as way of life and therefore are also recognized as darśana, which means a doctrine or thought which helps one “see” and experience the reality.

Of the six Orthodox schools of Philosophy, which believe in the authority of Vedas, Yoga Darśana of Patañjali is the most scientific, logical and rational one. Its efficacy is beyond doubt since it is experiential in nature. It is very widely believed that Yogaśāstra (the science of Yoga) does not have a definite origin; neither any one person is credited with the discovery of Yogaśāstra. However, what is generally agreed by eminent scholars and researchers is that, Hiranyagarbha^[2] was the first to expound the science of Yoga and Patañjali was the first to systematically collate all available knowledge and information on the subject and prepare the most comprehensive yet concise treatise (in the form of sūtras, aphorisms) known as Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

The Yogasūtras of Patanjali offer a comprehensive and actionable solution to annihilation of human misery and it is not bound by limitations of interpretations based on any particular time horizon.

In modern times that we live in, general tendency of researchers and scholars and even a common man, is to test any theory, proposal or hypothesis from scientific testing, analysis and inference point of view, before it is accepted. Pātañjala Yogasūtras, even today can be tested through modern scientific methods. There are however limitations to such scientific research. The same has been discussed in Chapter IV of this thesis.

Yogadarśana is conceived in the form of sūtras or aphorisms. Sūtras are akin to scientific formulae where maximum knowledge is condensed and packed into minimum words. In the absence of written texts, perhaps it was essential and thought-prudent to develop the Philosophy through the medium of sūtras. Sūtras facilitated memorizing them by the aspirants without the risk of any dilution, contamination or changes through generations to follow. The aspirants and seekers are therefore required to contemplate and meditate on them to decipher their correct meanings. It is therefore no surprise that volumes of commentaries have been written to-date to explain what Patañjali packed in only 195 sūtras.

The title of the present research work is, ‘Pātañjala Yogasūtras—Interpretations Ancient and Modern—A Comparative Study’

The first commentary of Pātañjala Yogadarśana is by Vyāsa. This Vyāsa is believed to be different than Maharṣi Vyāsa or Veda Vyāsa (who authored Bhagvadgītā) To explain Vyāsa’s commentary, Vācaspati wrote a separate commentary. Generally, both these commentaries are considered standard references to explain Pātañjala Yogadarśana. These commentaries, which were in Sanskrit, were further commented upon by Sāṅkhya Yogācārya, Swāmī Hariharānanda Araṇya -founder of Kapila Monastery. Swāmī Hariharānanda Araṇya’s work is the outcome of his spiritual experiences rather than scholarship. This work which was also in Sanskrit has been rendered into English by P.N. Mukherji. This commentary takes Sāṅkhya Darśana as the basis for interpretation of Pātañjala Yogadarśana.

Here, a brief life sketch of Swāmī Hariharānanda Araṇya will not be out of place. Swāmī Dharmamegha Aranya in the foreword^[3] to the commentary says, “Swāmī Hariharānanda Araṇya forbade his disciples to write his biography. So only a glimpse of his monastic life is available. Swamiji passed his early monastic life (1892-1898) in the caves of Barabar or Pravar hills in Bihar. Barabar caves are over 200 years old and are made of granite boulders. There are inscriptions of Emperor Aśoka on some of these caves which can be seen even today. In those days, that solitary mountainous region was the home of wild animals. Swamiji however never took any special steps for his safety. He lived a very austere life and sustained only on the kindness of a villager who deposited a frugal meal every noon on a stone near the entrance of the cave. Apart from his biography, he also forbade building any monument over the place of his internment.”

Mr. P. N. Mukherji, in the preface of the first edition^[4] says, “Swāmī Hariharānanda Araṇya’s last years were spent in Madhupur in Bihar, where he lived the life of a hermit dwelling in a built-up cave. The only means of contact with him and his disciples was through a window opening on a big hall. He spent the last twenty-one years of his life in that solitary sequestered residence. During this solitary life, he wrote numerous philosophical treaties, the Yogadarśana being his magnum opus. Most of his books, the product of his meditation and realization, were either written in Sanskrit or his native language Bengali. He adds, nothing short of revelation in Samādhi could account for the wonderful insight displayed in the book. Experienced readers will feel that the commentaries in this book are not the elucidation of a writer who is engaged only in a task of explaining the text without seriously following that philosophy”.

Another important text is Patañjali’s Yogasūtras, with the commentary of Vyāsa and the gloss of Vācaspati Miśra translated by Rama Prasad. The present research has referred these two English rendered books as reference texts for the Ancient view of Pātañjala Yogadarśana. In the modern context (20^th and 21^st Century), there are several researchers who have commented on Pātañjala Yogadarśana. For the present research work, the author has mainly studied the commentaries by Osho, who seems to have taken Advaita Vedānta as the basis for his interpretation. Thus, by comparing Aranya’s commentary with Osho’s commentary, we get Sāṅkhya and Vedantic interpretation of Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

Acharya Rajneesh (Osho) was an enlightened soul^[5] of the modern times who brought out his own perspective on Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

Osho says⁶,

I am not an interpreter. Whatsoever I am saying is on my own authority-I am not saying on the authority of Patañjali. Because my experiences and his experiences correspond, that’s why I am speaking on him. But I am not trying to prove the authority of Patañjali. What am I saying then? I am saying this: that I have also experienced the same. And Patañjali has given beautiful language and expression. It is difficult to improve upon Patañjali as far as scientific explanation; scientific expression is concerned.

In fact, Osho has commented on practically every available spiritual scripture such as Bhagavadgītā, Aṣṭāvakragītā, Nārada Bhaktisūtra, Patañjali’s Yogasūtras. He gave extensive discourses, talks and Satsang sessions not only in India but all over the world. He has touched practically every single topic of interest to a spiritual aspirant. He has extensively written on religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Zen and the works of Khalil Jibran, Gurjeef etc. He had a luminosity in his talks and writings. Only a person who has experienced the ultimate truth himself, can write and talk the way Osho did.

Dr. Vasant Joshi an academician while based in USA came across revolutionary works of Osho and was touched by Osho’s insights and vision. He was initiated into saṃnyāsa by Osho himself in 1975 and was named Swami Satya Vedant, who later on went to become Chancellor of Rajneesh International Meditation University, now known as ‘Osho Multiversity’. Swami Satya Vedant served as faculty of University of California, Berkeley and at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Swami Satya Vedant in his book ‘ Osho -The Luminous Rebel (Life Story of a Maverick Mystic)’ describes Osho, ‘A rebel, an iconoclast, an enlightened mystic and an intellectual giant is all this and more. Osho brought about a spiritual revolution in the lives of those who cared to grow intellectually. He spoke fearlessly against orthodox religions, priests, politicians, age old traditions and anything he thought was hindrance to the path of selfrealization.’

Modern thinkers interpreted the sūtras in the context of the society that we live in today, whose problems are quite different than the ancient times. Dr. Taimni, who has based his commentary, ‘ The Science of Yoga ’ on Theosophy, and ‘ Rājayoga ’ by Swami Vivekananda has been referred to wherever significant interpretational variance was observed. These two have been chosen since they were not only scholars in the field but were rich in their spiritual experiences.

Need for the Research:

A question may arise as to why someone would want to add one more thesis on the subject of Pātañjala Yogasūtra especially when there are scores of commentaries by eminent scholars already written, studied and analysed. What new dimensions the author is going to unfold?

The explanation to this question is rather simple. In the ancient times Pātañjala Yogasūtras were commented upon by Vyāsa and Vācaspati Miśra and their interpretation and analysis were relevant to the issues and problems facing the mankind then. Similarly, in more recent times Pātañjala Yogasūtras were commented upon by a theosophist Dr. Taimni and scholars such as Dr. P. V. Karambelkar, Dr. Kolhatkar, Dr. P. V. Vartak, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Ms. Vimala Thakar, and several others and their explanations are relevant to modern times that we live in.

Further, it is observed that some of the fundamental problems afflicting the mankind such as pain, misery, sorrow and alike have remained the same over time, only the apparent reasons for these problems may have changed. Also, the quest to know the inner truth, aspiration to discover the true nature of oneself (curiosity / mumukṣutva) has also remained same irrespective of the period. Therefore, there is a need to study Pātañjala Yogasūtras in both time contexts, ancient and modern.

As the time goes by, the contexts and languages change. Thus, in any interpretational and comparative study, the context of time becomes very relevant. To give an example, the great saint Jñāneśvara wrote a commentary on Bhagavadgītā called Jñāneśvarī. Bhagavadgītā is the essence of all Upaniṣads. It was originally written in Sanskrit. In order to take it to the masses, saint Jñāneśvara wrote a commentary in prākṛta which was common man’s language of that time. Now even Jñāneśvarī is difficult for modern man to understand. So, commentaries on Jñāneśvarī are written in Marathi and now further into several other languages as well. This came about as the languages changed; the masses required the scriptures to be explained to them, in the language that they would understand.

Thus, though Pātañjala Yogasūtra is an ancient scripture describing science of life, the meaning and methods therein are eternally true. Therefore, it should be studied in both ancient and modern contexts. After all, all of us are in one way or the other aspiring to seek inner and higher truth. We all want to live life free of misery and pain and what better way than to study Pātañjala Yogasūtras across a large time frame and compare, assess and find newer explanations and meanings in Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

Pātañjala Yogadarśana, an immortal work by Patañjali has been seen, reflected, contemplated, meditated and commented upon by the above commentators. For them, the reference frame was the time that they lived in and the socio-political, cultural-spiritual environment that prevailed in that era. As the reference frames changed, the interpretations also evolved and varied. Without any change in core meanings of sūtras, their interpretations by hundreds of scholars are mind boggling. We have not yet completely exhausted the potential for further interpretations.

It is in this very interesting context that the researcher felt the need to make a comparative study of ancient and modern interpretations and find a common thread between them as also to evaluate if any new perspective emerges.

Yogadarśana is applied philosophy. It emphasizes on sādhanā (practice) and anubhūti (experience) finally leading to realization of self. It is therefore essential to understand various techniques given in the scripture in the right perspective. The study of ancient and modern commentaries, especially by those who are adept in the field of Yoga, would lead to correct understanding and hence to adopt the right way for one’s spiritual journey. By such comparative study we can grasp the eternal values in changing times. While the ancient commentaries help us understand eternal problems such as misery, ego, liberation etc., the modern commentaries focus on problems peculiar to modern man e.g. cut-throat competition, rat race and stress.

Research Problem:

To verify…

1) Whether Pātañjala Yogasūtra are bound by limitations of interpretations based on any specific time frame.

2) Whether a common thread emerges through comparative study of ancient and modern interpretations of Pātañjala Yogasūtra.

3) Whether any important variance in the interpretation of Pātañjala Yogasūtra by Vyāsa (Araṇya) and that by Osho emerge and whether any new perspectives can be gleaned.

4) Since lifestyles change with changing times, whether any specific solutions can be carved out of Pātañjala Yogasūtra to solve the problems of the modern man.

Research Methodology:

The thesis is conceptual and comparative research based on Literature survey method. The research methodology adopted is as follows:

1. Literature Survey of Various commentaries and interpretations of Pātañjala Yogasūtras made in ancient and modern times.

2. The focus however, will be on the commentary by Vyāsa, as interpreted by Swāmī Hariharānanda Araṇya and translated into English by P.N. Mukherji and commentary by Osho in The Alpha and the Omega lecture series on Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

3. Commentaries or research works done by Non-Indian scholars and authors is excluded from the purview of the present research.

4. A Comparison of interpretations made by the selected commentators on the main conceptual aspects contained in Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

5. As the context would demand, references are also made to other Indian Schools of Philosophies both Orthodox and Heterodox.

6. Footnotes are numbered chapter wise.

Delimitations:

1. This research does not intend to be a Commentary on the Pātañjala Yogasūtras.

2. Though several other commentaries may have been refereed by the researcher in the course of the work, the Comparative Study of Pātañjala Yogasūtras is limited mainly to ancient and modern commentaries as described above.

3. Rather than discussing all sūtras individually, salient features of each of the four chapters ( pādas) of Pātañjala Yogasūtras have been compared in the light of ancient and modern commentaries.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, II.4-5

[2]:

Yājñavalkya Smṛti, 12.5 U

[3]:

Dharmamegha Aranya Swami, Foreword to First edition 1963, ‘ Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali with Bhāsvatī ’ by Swami Hariharananda Aranya, University of Calcutta, reprinted fourth edition, 2012

[4]:

P. N. Mukherji, Preface to First edition 1963 ‘ Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali with Bhāsvatī ’ by Swami Hariharananda Aranya, University of Calcutta, reprinted fourth edition, 2012

[5]:

Vasant Joshi, Osho -The Luminous Rebel, Wisdom Tree, New Delhi, 2010, p.9,11⁶ Osho, Yoga the Alpha and the Omega, Vol. VIII, Rajneesh Foundation Pune,1976, p.66