Patanjali's Yoga Sutras Quoted from
Osho: Yoga Alpha And Omega

Book 1

1. atha yoganusasanam
   Now the discipline of yoga

2. yogah cittavrtti nirodhah
   Yoga is the cessation of mind

3. tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam
   Then the witness is established in itself

4. vrtti sarupyam itaratra
   In the other states there is identification with the modifications of the mind

5. vrttayah pancatayyah klista aklistah
   The modifications of the mind are five. They can be either a source of anguish or of non-anguish

6. pramana viparyaya vikalpa nidra smrtayah
   They are right knowledge, wrong knowledge, imagination, sleep and memory

7. pratyaksa anumana agamah pramanani
   Right knowledge has three sources: direct cognition, inference and the words of the awakened ones

8. viparyayah mithyajnanam atadrupa pratistham
   Wrong knowledge is a false conception not corresponding to the thing as it is

9. sabdajnana anupati vastusunyah vikalpah
   An image conjured up by words without any substance behind it is vikalpa -- imagination

10. abhava pratyaya alambana vrttih nidra
    The modification of the mind which is based on the absence of any content in it is sleep

11. anubhuta visaya asampramosah smrtih
    Memory is the calling up of past experiences

12. abhyasa vairagyabhyam tannirodhah
    Their cessation is brought about by persistent inner effort and non-attachment

13. tatra sthitau yatnah abhyasah
    Of these two, abhyasa the inner practice is the effort for being firmly established in oneself

14. sa tu dirghakala nairantarya satkara asevitah drdhabhumih
    It becomes firmly grounded on being continued for a long time, without interruption and with reverent devotion.

15. drsta anusravika visaya vitrsnasya vasikarasamjna vairagyam
    The first state of vairagya, desirelessness -- cessation from self-indulgence in the thirst for sensuous pleasures, with conscious effort.

16. tatparam purusakhyateh gunavaitrsnyam
    The last state of vairagya, desirelessness -- cessation of all desiring by knowing the innermost nature of purusha, the supreme self.

17. vitarka vicara ananda asmitarupa anugamat samprajnatah
    Samprajnata samadhi is the samadhi that is accompanied by reasoning, reflection, bliss and a sense of pure being.

18. viramapratyaya abhyasapurvah samskarasesah anyah
    In asamprajnata samadhi there is a cessation of all mental activity, and the mind only retains unmanifested impressions.

19. bhavapratyayah videha prakrtilayanam
    Videhas and prakriti-layas attain asamprajnata samadhi because they ceased to identify themselves with their bodies in their previous life. They take rebirth because seeds of desire remained.

20. sraddha virya smrti samadhiprajna purvakah itaresam
    Others who attain asamprajnata samadhi attain through faith, effort, recollection, concentration and discrimination

21. tivrasamveganam asannah
    Uccess is nearest to those whose efforts are intense and sincere

22. mrdu madhya adhimatratvat tatah api visesah
    The chances of success vary according to the degree of effort.

23. Isvara pranidhanat va
    Success is also attained by those who surrender to god.

24. klesa karma vipaka asayaih aparamrstah purusavisesah Isvarah
    God is the supreme being. He is an individual unit of divine consciousness. He is untouched by the afflictions of life, action and its result

25. tatra niratisayam sarvajnabijam
    In god the seed is developed to its highest extent

26. sa esah purvesam api guruh kalena anavacchedat
    Being beyond the limits of time he is the master of masters

27. tasya vacakah pranavah
    He is known as Aum.Repeat and meditate on Aum

28. tajjapah tadarthabhavanam
    Repeating and meditating on Aum brings about the disappearance of all obstacles and an awakening of a new consciousness.

29. tatah pratyakcetana adhigamah api antaraya abhavah ca
    Disease, languor, doubt, carelessness, laziness, sensuality, delusion, impotency and instability are the obstacles that distract the mind.

30. vyadhi styana samsaya pramada alasya avirati bhrantidarsana alabdhabhumikatva anavasthitatvani cittaviksepah te antarayah
    Anguish, despair, tremors and irregular breathing are the symptoms of a distracted mind.

31. duhkha daurmanasya angamejayatva svasaprasvasah viksepa sahabhuvah
    To remove these, meditate on one principle.

32. tatpratisedhartham ekatattva abhyasah
    The mind becomes tranquil by cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion towards the miserable, joy towards the virtuous and indifference towards the evil.

33. maitri karuna mudita upeksanam sukha duhkha punya apunya visayanam bhavanatah cittaprasadanam
    The mind also becomes tranquil by alternately expelling and retaining the breath

34. pracchardana vidharanabhyam va pranasya
    When meditation produces extraordinary sense perceptions, the mind gains confidence and this helps perseverance.

35. visayavati va pravrttih utpanna manasah sthiti nibandhani
    Also, meditate on the inner light which is serene and beyond all sorrow.

36. visoka va jyotismati
    Also meditate on one who has attained desirelessness

37. vitaraga visayam va cittam
    The mind becomes tranquil by cultivating attitudes of friendliness towards the happy, compassion towards the miserable, joy towards the virtuous and indifference towards the evil.

38. svapna nidra jnana alambanam va
    Also, meditate on knowledge that comes during sleep

39. yathabhimata dhyanat va
    Also, meditate on anything that appeals to you

40. paramanu paramamahattvantah asya vasikarah
    Thus, the yogi becomes master of all, from the infinitesimal to the infinite

41. ksinavrtteh abhijatasya iva maneh grahitr grahana grahyesu tatstha tadanjanata samapattih
    When the activity of the mind is under control, the mind becomes like pure crystal, reflecting equally, without distortion, the perceiver, the perception and the perceived.

42. tatra sabda artha jnana vikalpaih sankirna savitarka samapattih
    Savitarka samadhi is the samadhi in which the yogi is still unable to differentiate between the real knowledge, knowledge based on words and knowledge based on reasoning or sense perceptions, which all remain in the mind in a mixed state

43. smrtiparisuddhau svarupasunya iva arthamatranirbhasa nirvitarka
    Nirvitarka samadhi is attained when the memory is purified, and the mind is able to see the true nature of things without obstruction.

44. etayaiva savicara nirvicara ca suksmavisaya vyakhyata
    The explanations given for the samadhis of savitarka and nirvitarka, also explain the higher states of samadhi, but in these higher states of savichara and nirvichara samadhis, the objects of meditation are more subtle

45. suksmavisayatvam ca alinga paryavasanam
    The province of samadhi that is connected with these finer objects extends up to the formless stage of the subtle energies.

46. ta eva sabijah samadhih
    These samadhis that result from meditation on an object are samadhis with seed, and do not give freedom from the cycle of rebirth.

47. nirvicara vaisaradye adhyatmaprasadah
    On attaining the utmost purity of the nirvichara stage of samadhi, there is a dawning of the spiritual light.

48. rtambhara tatra prajna
    In nirvichara samadhi, the consciousness is filled with truth.

49. ruta anumana prajnabhyam anyavisaya visesarthatvat
    In the state of nirvichara samadhi, an object is experienced in its full perspective, because in this state knowledge is gained direct, without the use of the senses.

50. ajjah samskarah anyasamskara pratibandhi
    The perception gained in nirvichara samadhi transcends all normal perceptions both in extent and intensity

51. tasyapi nirodhe sarvanirodhat nirbijah samadhih
    When this controlling of all other controls is transcended, the seedless samadhi is attained, and with it, freedom from life and death.

Book 2

1. Kriya-yoga is a practical, preliminary yoga, and it is composed of austerity, self-study and surrender to god.
2. The practice of kriya-yoga reduces misery, and leads towards samadhi.
3. Miseries are caused by: lack of awareness, egoism, attractions, repulsions, clinging to life and fear of death.
4. Whether they be in the states of dormancy, attenuation, alteration or expansion, it is through lack of awareness that the other causes of misery are able to operate.
5. Lack of awareness is taking the transient for the eternal, the impure for the pure, the painful as pleasurable and the non-self for the self.
6. Egoism is the identification of the seer with the seen.
7. Attraction, and through it, attachment, is towards anything that brings pleasure.
8. Repulsion is from anything that causes pain.
9. Flowing through life is the fear of death, the clinging to life, and it is dominant in all, even the learned.
10. The sources of the five afflictions can be abolished by resolving them backwards to their origin.
11. The outward expressions of the five afflictions disappear through meditation.
12. Whether fulfilled in the present or the future, karmic experiences have their roots in the five afflictions.
13. As long as the roots remain, karma is fulfilled in rebirth through class, span of life, and types of experiences.
14. Virtue brings pleasure; vice brings pain.
15. The discriminating person realizes that everything leads to misery because of change, anxiety, past experience, and the conflicts that arise between the three attributes and the five modifications of the mind.
16. Future misery is to be avoided.
17. The link between the seer and the seen that creates misery, is to be broken.
18. The seen which is composed of the elements and the sense organs is of the nature of stability, action, and inertia, and is for the purpose of providing experience and thus liberation to the seer.
19. The three gunas -- stability, action, and inertia -- have four stages: the defined, the undefined, the indicated, and the unmanifest.
20. The seer, although pure consciousness, sees through the distortions of the mind.
21. The seen exists for the seer alone.
22. Although the seen is dead to him who has attained liberation, it is alive to others because it is common to all.
23. The seer and the seen come together so that the real nature of each may be realized.
24. The cause of this union is ignorance.
25. The disassociation of the seer and the seen which is brought about by the dispersion of ignorance is the remedy that brings liberation.
26. The unwavering practice of discrimination between what is the real and what is the unreal brings about the dispersion of ignorance.
27. The highest stage of enlightenment is reached in seven steps.
28. By practising the different steps of yoga for the destruction of impurity, there arises spiritual illumination which develops into awareness of reality.
29. The eight steps of yoga are: self-restraint, fixed observance, posture, breath regulation, abstraction, concentration, contemplation and trance.
30. Self-restraint, the first step of yoga, is comprised of the following five vows: nonviolence, truthfulness, honesty, sexual continence, and nonpossessiveness.
31. These five vows, which constitute the great vow, extend to all the seven stages of enlightenment regardless of class, place, time, or circumstance.
32. Purity, contentment, austerity, self-study, and surrender to god are the laws to be observed.
33. When the mind is disturbed by wrong thoughts, ponder on the opposites.
34. It is necessary to ponder on the opposites because wrong thoughts, emotions, and actions, such as violence, result in ignorance and intense misery whether they be performed, caused, or approved through greed, anger, or delusion in mild, medium, or intense degrees.
35. When the yogi is firmly established in nonviolence, there is an abandonment of enmity by those who are in his presence.
36. When the yogi is firmly established in truthfulness, he attains the fruit of action without acting.
37. When the yogi is firmly established in honesty, inner riches present themselves.
38. When the yogi is firmly established in sexual continence, vigor is gained.
39. When the yogi is firmly established in nonpossessiveness, there arises knowledge of the "how" and "wherefore" of existence.
40. When purity is attained there arises in the yogi a disgust for his own body and a disinclination to come in physical contact with others.
41. From mental purity there arises cheerfulness, power of concentration, control of the senses, and a fitness for self-realization.
42. Contentment brings supreme happiness.
43. Austerities destroy impurities, and with the ensuing perfection in the body and sense organs, physical and mental powers awaken.
44. Union with the divine happens through self study.
45. Total illumination can be accomplished by surrendering to god.
46. Posture should be steady and comfortable.
47. Posture is mastered by relaxation of effort and meditation on the unlimited.
48. When posture is mastered there is a cessation of the disturbances caused by dualities.
49. The next step after the perfection of posture is breath control, which is accomplished through holding the breath on inhalation and exhalation, or stopping the breath suddenly.
50. The duration and frequency of the controlled breaths are conditioned by time and place, and become more prolonged and subtle.
51. There is a fourth sphere of breath control, which is internal, and it goes beyond the other three.
52. Then comes the dispersion of the cover that hides the light.
53. And then the mind becomes fit for concentration.
54. The fifth constituent of yoga, pratyahar -- returning to the source -- is the restoration of the mind's ability to control the senses by renouncing the distractions of outside objects.
55. Then comes the complete mastery over all the senses.

Book 3

1. Dharana, concentration, is confining the mind to the object being meditated upon.
2. Dhyan, contemplation, is the uninterrupted flow of the mind to the object.
3. Samadhi is when the mind becomes one with the object.
4. The three taken together -- dharma, dhyan, and samadhi -- constitute samyama.
5. By mastering it, the light of higher consciousness.
6. Samyama is to be employed in stages.
7. These three -- dharana, dhyan, and samadhi -- are internal compared to the five that precede them.
8. But the three are external compared to seedless samadhi.
9. Nirodh parinam is the transformation of the mind in which the mind becomes permeated by the condition of nirodh, which intervenes momentarily between an impression that is disappearing and the impression that is taking its place.
10. This flow becomes peaceful with repeated impressions.
11. Samadhi parinam, the inner transformation, is the gradual settling of distractions and the simultaneous rising of one-pointedness.
12. Ekagrata parinam, one-pointed transformation, is the condition of the mind in which the object of the mind that is subsiding is replaced in the next moment by an exactly similar object.
13. By what has been said in the last four sutras, the property, character, and condition transformations in the elements and sense organs are also explained.
14. Whether they be latent, active, or unmanifest, all properties inhere in the substratum.
15. The variation in transformation is caused by the variety in the underlying process.
16. By performing samyama on the three kinds of transformation -- nirodh, samadhi and ekagrata -- knowledge of past and future.
17. The sound and the purpose and idea behind it are together in the mind in a confused state. By performing samyama on the sound, separation happens and there arises comprehension of the meaning of sounds made by any living being.
18. By observing past impressions, knowledge of previous births is obtained.
19. Through samyama the image occupying another's mind can be known.
20. But perception through samyama does not bring knowledge of the mental factors that support the image in another's mind for that is not the object of samyama.
21. By performing samyama on the form of the bodyto suspend receptive power, the contact between the eye of an observer and the light from the body is broken, and the body becomes invisible.
22. This principle also explains the disappearance of sound.
23. By performing samyama on the two types of karma, active and dormant, or upon omens and portents, the exact time of death can be predicted.
24. By performing samyama on friendliness, or any other attribute, great strength in that quality is obtained.
25. By performing samyama on the strength of an elephant, the strength of an elephant is obtained.
26. By directing the light of the superphysical faculty, knowledge is gained of the subtle, the hidden, and the distant.
27. By performing samyama on the sun, knowledge of the solar system is gained.
28. By performing samyama on the moon, knowledge concerning the arrangement of the stars is gained.
29. By performing samyama on the polar star, knowledge of the movement of the stars is gained.
30. By performing samyama on the navel center, knowledge of the organization of the body is gained.
31. By performing samyama on the throat, there comes a cessation of the feelings of hunger and thirst.
32. By performing samyama on the nerve called kurma-nadhi, the yogi is able to be completely motionless.
33. By performing samyama on the light under the crown of the head comes the ability to contact all perfected beings.
34. Through pratibha, intuition, knowledge of everything.
35. Performing samyama on the heart brings awareness of the nature of mind.
36. Experience is the result of the inability to differentiate between purusha, pure consciousness, and sattva, pure intelligence, although they are absolutely distinct. Performing samyama on the self-interest brings knowledge of the purusha separated from the knowledge of others.
37. From this follows intuitional hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling.
38. These are powers when the mind is turned outward, but obstacles in the way of samadhi.
39. Loosening the cause of bondage and knowing the channels allows the mind to enter another's body.
40. By mastering the current udana, the yogi is able to levitate and pass without contact over water, mire, thorsn, etc.
41. By mastering the current samana, the yogi is able to cause his gastric fire to blaze.
42. By performing samyama on the relationship between the ether and the ear, superphysical hearing becomes available.
43. By performing samyama on the relationship between the body and the ether and at the same time identifying himself with light things, like cotton down, the yogi is able to pass through space.
44. The power of contacting the state of consciousness which is outside the mental body and therefore inconceivable is called mahavideha. Through this power the covering of the light is destroyed.
45. Performing samyama on their gross, constant,subtle, all-pervading, and functional state brings mastery over the panchabhutas --the five elements.
46. From this follows the attainment of anima, etc.perfection of the body, and the removal of the elements' power to obstruct the body.
47. Beauty, grace, strength, and adamantine hardness constitute the perfect body.
48. Performing samyama on their power of cognition, real nature, egoism, all-pervasiveness, and functions brings mastery over the sense organs.
49. From this follows instantaneous cognition without the use of the body,and complete mastery over pradhana, the material world.
50. Only after the awareness of the distinction between sattva and purusha does supremacy and knowledge arise over all states of existence.
51. By being nonattached to even these powers, the seed of bondage is destroyed. Then follows kaivalya, liberation.
52. There should be an avoidance of any attachment or pride to invitations from the superphysical entities in charge of various planes because this would bring the possibility of the revival of evil. Tad vairagyatapitosh bikshaye kaivalyam.
53. By being nonattached to even these powers, the seed of bondage is destroyed. Then follows kaivalya, liberation.
54. Performing samyama on the present moment, the moment gone, and the moment to come brings knowledge born of the awareness of the ultimate reality. From this comes the ability to distinguish between similar objects which cannot be identified by class, character, or place.
55. The highest knowledge born of the awareness of reality is transcendent, includes the cognition of all objects simultaneously, pertains to all objects and processes whatsoever -- in the past, the present, and the future and transcends the world process.
56. Liberation is obtained when there is equality of purity between the purusha and sattva.

Book 4

1. Now begins the last section of patanjali's sutras, kaivalya pada.
2. The powers are revealed at birth, or acquired through drugs, repeating sacred words, austerities, or samadhi
3. The transformation from one class, species, or kind, into another, is by the overflow of natural tendencies of potentialities.
4. The incidental cause does not stir the natural tendencies into activity; it merely removes the obstacels -- like a farmer irrigating a field: he removes the obstacles, and then the water flows freely by itself.
5. Artificially created minds proceed from egoism alone.
6. Though the activities of the many artificial minds vary, the one original mind controls them all.
7. Only the original mind which is born of meditation is free from desires.
8. The yogi's karmas are neither pure nor impure, but all others are three-fold: pure, impure and mixed.
9. Desires arise from these three-fold karmas when circumstances are favorable for their fulfillment.
10. Because memories and impressions retain the same form, the relationship of cause and effect continues, even though separated by class, locality, and time.
11. And there is no beginning to this process, as the desire to live is eternal. Tatra dhyanajam anasayam.
12. Being bound together as cause-effect, the effects disappear with the disappearance of causes.
13. Past and future exist in the present, but they are not experienced in the present because they are on idfferent planes.
14. Whether manifest or unmanifest, the past, the present and the future are of the nature of gunas: stability, action and inertia.
15. The essence of any object consists in the uniqueness of the proportions of the three gunas.
16. The same object is seen in different ways by different minds.
17. An object is not dependent on one mind.
18. An object is known or unknown depending on whether the mind is colored by it or not.
19. The modifications of the mind are always known by its lord, due to the constancy of the purusa, pure consciousness.
20. The mind is not self-illuminating, because it is itself perceptible.
21. It is impossible for the mind to know itself and any other object at the same time.
22. If it were assumed that a second mind illuminates the first, cognitiion of cognition would also have to be assumed, and a confusion of memories.
23. Knowledge of its own nature through self-cognition is obtained when consciousness assumes that form in which it does not pass from place to place.
24. When the mind is colored by the knower and the known, it is all-apprehending.
25. Though variegated by innumerable desires, the mind acts for another, for its acts in association.
26. When one has seen this distinction, there is a cessation of desire for dwelling in the atma, the self.
27. Then the mind is inclined towards discrimination, and gravitates towards liberation.
28. In breakes of discrimination, other pratyayas, concepts, arise through the force of previous impressions. These should be removed in the same way as other afflictions.
29. One who is able to maintain a constant state of de3sirelessness even towards the most exalted states of enlightenment, and is able to exercise the highest kind of discrimination, enters the state known as 'the cloud which showers virtue'.
30. Then follows freedom from afflictions and karmas.
31. That which can be known through the mind is very little compared with the infinite knowledge obtained in enlightenment, when the veils, distortions, and impurities are removed.
32. Having fulfilled their object, the process of change in the three gunas comes to an end.
33. Kramaha, the process, is the succession of changes that occur from the moment to moment which become apprehensible at the final end of the transformations of the three gunas.
34. Kaivalya is the state of enlightenment that follows the remergence of the gunas, due to their becoming devoid of the object of the purusa.
35. In this state, the purusa is established in his real nature, which is pure consciousness.

The End