The Yoga Sutra's according to Shri Yogacharya Ajita

529 Pages·2007·2.78 MB·English

RAJA YOGA
The Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali
according to Shri Yogacharya Ajita
This book is the basis of the age old, classical Yoga. It describes this whole science in an
astonishing brief way: there are only 195 Sutra’s or verses. Up until now the translations and
interpretations were incomplete or simply wrong. With the help of his soul Shri Yogacharya
Ajita explains all Sutra’s for the first time clearly. You feel as if you are in his class room. You
are carried away by his enthusiasm. His hands on approach let your Yoga practice make a leap
forward. You quickly understand the enormous importance of Yoga in our overheated world.
Introduction
Dear Yoga friend,

It is with pleasure that I offer you this work as an inspiration tool for your Yoga practice. It
contains, as far as I can see, the highest knowledge about Yoga, and complements my earlier
books, Subtle Anatomy, Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Science of Soul.
The basis of this book consists of my comments of the book “Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali,
translated and commented by I.Q. Taimni” during my classes of the Yoga Teachers Training
Course 2003-2006 on the Monday evening. Ester Eriksen has recorded my comments and
made the transcription, for which she has my eternal gratitude.
This book contains the inspired lectures and all discussions which happened in the group. The
tone is therefore often very lively.
Since 1984 this book has been an important part of my Professional Yoga Training, which
consists of a Basic-, a Teacher- and a Master Training Course, as described in my website
www.xs4all.nl/~rajayoga/EN or www.raja-yoga.org
It is funny that even before editing this book Swami Maitreyananda Sarasvati, President of the
World Yoga Council, has already asked me permission to translate it in Spanish.
May this book help you reach Enlightenment.
May this book contribute to the spreading of Yoga in the world.
Yours friendly,
Shri Yogacharya Ajita
(Philippe Barbier)
Honorary Secretary of the International Yoga Federation for the European Union
President of the European Yoga Council of European Yoga Alliance
Honorary Life Member of the World Yoga Council
Member of the International Yoga Therapy Council
Member of the Coregroup of the Samenwerkende Yogadocenten Nederland
Director of the Raja Yoga Institute
Ilpendam, Holland, July 30th 2007
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Content
Page Subject

2 Introduction
3 Content
4 Preface
11 Chapter I : Samadhi Pada
144 Chapter II : Sadhana Pada
338 Chapter III : Vibhuti Pada
461 Chapter IV : Kaivalya Pada
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Preface
It is a remarkable book indeed.
Once I started a collection of all possible versions of the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali from diverse
sources (comments/translations). The version written by Taimni is the last and only one that
remains. Among all versions it proved to be the least poor.
It is horrifying what you find in all those books. Written by people who know nothing about
this business, but still find they ought to add their cent’s worth. In Yoga, if you have some, if
any ambition, I think that as a matter of habit one should write his own comment on these
Yoga Sutra’s …
Characteristic of a good edition is that it does not only contain the original Sanskrit text in
transliteration (in letters that we can at least understand a little), but also a literal translation,
which means word by word, followed by a normal translation that reflects the meaning in daily
language and a comment on it.
It would be truly perfect when the curly characters of the Nagari-script would be added. That
of course would be very nice, were it not that most of us are not able to read Nagari-script
anyways. For that matter, Sanskrit can be put down in various styles of script of which only
one is Nagari. There are many other styles of curly characters of which one is Brahmi.
What kind of scripture is this and who is the author?
It is not possible to determine how old this scripture is and where it came from, as nothing is
known about the author Patanjali. All we know is that his name is Patanjali. What is known,
however is that the basis of Yoga science lies here.
Was this the first Yoga scripture in history?
Probably not, but it seems to match with other very old scriptures. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika
on the other hand is clearly from a later era.
This one has most likely been written somewhere before Christ.
One can only admire the geniality of this fairly short scripture that exists only out of 195
verses, cryptic verses or formulas as it were.
In former times they were written down on a palm leaf by the Yoga practitioners and rolled up
in the form of a scroll, tied with a cord and carried on the back. It was their most precious
possession. An example of this can nowadays still be seen in the British Museum in London.
In the Yoga schools of former times these 195 Sutra’s were memorized, so it was only normal
that the students could recite them by heart.
The Sutra’s are probably reminders that were specifically designed to help the teacher as a
leading thread running through the lessons. He and his pupils used them as a kind of
compendium, a reminder like “oh yeah, that’s what it was about!”
Remarkably enough only 500 different words were used in these 195 verses. This is typical for
Yoga: to tell the issues with a minimum of words.
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The Sutra’s thus are very concise in structure, very short. It is for this reason that they are often
very difficult to understand. That is the reason why there are so many interpretations of them.
Sutra’s have a magical value and are used as Mantra’s because they awaken information in the
super-consciousness as well as in the sub-consciousness. This is difficult to explain but let’s
say I take the book, I open it, I read a Sutra, give it some time to sink in, and immediately it
evokes certain things. Then I can talk about it with a wisdom that perplexes me. Really, no
kidding, often I just listen to myself, hearing what a wonderful story it is I’m telling. It is funny
for sure, because just a moment ago I didn’t have the slightest clue.
Sutra’s also have a kind of prophetic power, or an explanatory power:
When you put the Sutra’s on your night table, and at a certain moment you just don’t know
what to do with your life, or certain questions arise, you just open the book, at any given page,
and you will see, the answer is right there in front of you. I have done it like this many times
and it works.
The Sutra’s are the basis of what we call classical Yoga, also called Ashtanga Yoga of
Patanjali. Ashtanga means 8 steps. Classical Yoga is the first, original Yoga, from which all the
later forms of Yoga have originated.
The ancient quality test for any form of Yoga practice is: “Does your Yoga practice consits of
the 8 steps of Patanjali?”
You can bring up Karma Yoga, or Bhakti Yoga or Tantra Yoga or Kundalini Yoga or name
any kind, but it should always contain the 8 steps of Patanjali.
If that is not the case, it is not Yoga. This is the present standard of the International Yoga
Federation.
Yoga cannot be explained in any other way, because then it is wrong. Just keep it professional,
as it was meant to be from the beginning. If the commentator/author of the sort of Yoga in
question wants to do right to Yoga, the original Yoga, he considers all 8 steps. From the
moment he deviates from this, he is not doing it right.
Why not?
Because the 8 steps deal with the whole human being: emotional, moral, physical, mental,
spiritual. That is what those 8 steps are for. And it is impossible to make man develop properly
if you take only one or some of the steps and leave some of the others out. If you want to help
people develop you must deal with the whole, because it is a closed circuit.
If for example you take Bhakti Yoga, and you say: “Look, I refer to the Narada Bhakti Sutra’s”
(Narada = author who plays the most important role in Bhakti Yoga). But the Narada Bhakti
Sutra’s do not mention the 8 steps of Yoga, well, then it is time to watch your steps, because
something is not right.
In many of the Yoga forms the 8 steps are not mentioned. How do we have to perceive this?
This means that problems have occurred.
For example in Bhakti Yoga, in which Mantra’s are used.
The Narada Bhakti Sutra’s - which are a very short scripture - are to be observed when you
focus on the practice of Mantra. This scripture describes that when practicing Mantra there are
2 parts: Bhava – mood, and Shabda – sound. Especially Bhava is important. You have to put so
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much emotion into the sound that tears are rolling down your cheeks. That is a technique, it
works perfectly, and it is okay to use it, but you are putting an accent on one aspect only. But
the rest of Yoga also has to be regarded when you do that. If you only focus on just one aspect,
you are in danger. And that is exactly what happens so often. One plunges into Bhakti and
creates an overdose of Shiva within. This creates increasingly Tamas. As a result emotions are
not under control. The principle of Pratyahara is ignored. That is when things go wrong, with
whole groups of people at once. Because everybody thinks he is doing things right. In India it
is even worse than here because Bhakti Yoga has many followers there.
Also in Bhakti Yoga one needs to learn the techniques of Samadhi. That means all of them, and
not just one technique of meditation or contemplation. So all 8 steps, and not to forget the
Yama’s and Niyama’s.

How do you think about the T.M. movement?
The Maharishi respects the 8 steps, so that is a valuable example. I don’t care what they do or
how they do it, if only they would respect the ground rules. We are awaiting their results. They
are not as good as ours, but anyways …
A lot of people of the Maharishi come here to receive extra training. What we do qualitatively
is incomparable. Even for those who have followed their Siddhi program.
In Yoga you always have to respect the 8 steps. You can directly dive into a step of Yoga and
enjoy, but keep in mind that it is part of the totality. When you read a novel, you have to have
learned something about grammar. The Sutra’s of Patanjali are like the grammar of Yoga, and
no less.
Often the 8 steps are all taken into account, but then Pranayama practice is wrong, doing
breathing techniques instead of mental energy control
Very often that is indeed the case. From the moment they practice Pranayama as breathing it is
wrong, even when they say they practice correctly.
In such cases I always think: “Let’s talk about it, and compare the results we achieved, how we
got there, and no hard feelings”.
I have tried that several times, but the problem is always that I feel as if I am standing in front
of a brick wall. They don’t want to talk about it. They don’t want to compare. They don’t want
to check. They just accept it dogmatically: “This is how it is and that’s it.” With such an
attitude, whether they are right or wrong, I am out of there!
It is because it’s not fair. It is not open. Still I think that we are seriously proving that our
approach is the right approach.
Take the technique of Pratyahara for example.
The technique of Pratyahara is not being taught anymore – not in the whole wide world! We
have adopted this technique from Swami Yogeshvarananda Sarasvati. Pratyahara is described
in his first book: “First steps to Higher Yoga”.
A lot of people in the Yoga-world know this author, know the school he directed, and respect
him very much, but Pratyahara is hardly taught anywhere.
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I think that he was one of the top Swami’s of this time.
I don’t understand that this doesn’t get any attention, except for Buddhism, in which they do
clearly explain about this matter, but in other Yoga forms there is hardly any mention of it.
Just remember: if you want to seriously practice Yoga you have to know that it exists out of 8
steps, as Patanjali one day established it.
Yoga has an alternative name, which is Raja – royal. This is not a different kind of Yoga. It is
Yoga, described by admirers as being royal, a title that was given to it later because it was so
venerable, so brilliant. But it was also a basic ingredient of the training of kings. You could say
a course for top managers.
In the same vein you find the famous book of Sun-Tzu, The Art of Warfare, in military
academies.
Princes, future kings got this on their plate.
There are examples of kings who were completely trained and educated on this basis, like king
Janaka from the Mahabharata.
Do you actually feel like being a king?
Probably not. In each case not the kinds of king as we know them nowadays in the Western
world. “King” in fact is a term used to name a master, a person who is fully awakened. The
Buddha has probably received this as study material.
There are many similarities between his teaching and the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali.
We learned about the philosophy of the Klesha’s. They are the same as in Buddhism.
Some people take offence with what I am saying: Buddha is a great Yogi who received Raja
Yoga training. It took 7 years to reach enlightenment with Raja Yoga. Indeed he may have
developed his own style or form of Yoga, in which he has overlooked a couple of steps.
Does this mean that Buddhism is actually a part of Yoga?
Yes, but be careful when you mention this to Buddhists. Obviously they don’t agree.
From the moment that you talk with a Buddhist about the fact that you practice Yoga, he looks
at you disapprovingly or immediately starts a discussion with you. And rightly so. At least
when you practice the usual Yoga, as most people know it these days. Because he doesn’t
know that you learned Yoga in this school. And with the material that you have learned in this
school you will wash the ears of the Buddhist with his own doctrine. And he will be baffled
and say to you: “Yes, but what you are telling me now, that is Mahayana Buddhism”.
There are 2 directions in Buddhism: the Hinayana and the Mahayana – the lower path and the
higher path.
What can you tell us about Hinduism?
Yoga is the basis of Hinduism. There are about 240 million Hindus. From the moment that you
follow the Hindu religion you automatically become a Yoga practitioner.
All the gods have been added later. It has become an immense hodgepodge.
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Hinduism is based on the original Yoga with its 8 steps. After Yoga, the Sankhya philosophy
came into being. The book “Science of Soul” with Manas, Buddhi, Citta, Ahamkara and
Antahkarana has been largely inspired by it.
The Sankhya philosophy tries to explain al the phenomena that we come across in Yoga.
After that 4 more philosophical trends followed, making it all increasingly difficult to
understand. In the end the cat cannot find its kittens anymore.
That is what happened to Hinduism. The Hindus walk around, but have lost their way
completely. I mean, the way to heaven. They have so much information, and so many gods,
and so many rituals, and so many different insights that they don’t see it themselves anymore.
You can compare their Pandits or scribes with the scribes with whom Jesus had so much
trouble.
What we are trying to do, and what we can do – because we are totally independent from the
Hindu culture – is to go back to the roots, without outside influences. We feel much freer. It is
like a re-discovery trip by an independent third person.
You may by now realize that it is very difficult in the Yoga-world to find a version of the Yoga
Sutra’s with some value. Fortunately there is the Theosophical Society, for which I have a lot
of respect. Already for more than 100 years this organization tries to translate the original
scripts and spread them among the people.
Theosophy means “Love for the Divine”. Theo – sophy.
Taimni was a member of the Theosophical Society, professor at the University of Allahabad in
India and above all he was a Yoga practitioner.
You will see that his endeavors are praiseworthy. At a number of points I will tell you my
interpretation. Then you can compare yourself with what we have learned so far. Especially in
the field of Samadhi he completely misses the boat. The entire 3rd chapter, therefore should be
re-written.
Yoga has many similarities with Christianity
Certainly, and this is quite remarkable indeed. It is therefore that Yoga is called the Mother of
all religions. It is very likely that Jesus was educated in the original Yoga. Because the things
he tells are so strikingly similar to the contents of this book; in it the miracles or Siddhi’s that
he performed are explained.
What is the cause of this growing so far apart?
People have different opinions, different interpretations and different interests. Throughout the
ages the Church has made a monster out of original Christianity, that does not resemble at all
the descriptions in the Bible.
Christianity actually is Yoga. It is indeed a form of Yoga that goes in the direction of Bhakti,
the Yoga of devotion.
What about the Incas, the Aztecs and the shamans?
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That is very much related with Yoga too. You could say that the Rishi’s or seers of Yoga were
a kind of shamans. In other religions/cultures they were medicine men and the likes. But also
here we see similarities arising.
Everywhere, in Australia, North America, South-America: it all looks very similar to each
other.
When you study Yoga and the interpretations that are given about it, you will be able to much
better understand the religion of the Incas and the Aztecs.
Some students have traveled to Mexico and as a matter of test they performed meditation on
top of one of the pyramids. Their findings were fantastic:
“This is it! We had a mystical experience there that is incomparable!”
So if ever you have a chance you should try this for your self!
It is truly a pity that it is not allowed anymore to climb the pyramids of Egypt. That is officially
prohibited because tourists have caused too much damage.
But whenever you find yourself a pyramid somewhere …
Then you will realize: “Yeah, this is indeed why they built this”.
They are there to help raise spirituality.
Why are there so few people who know about this?
People tend to be dogmatic.
So always keep the door or window open towards the other. Keep discussing with one another.
But the understanding of all this stands or falls with your own understanding of Yoga. If you
yourself haven’t finished your Yoga education yet, it is difficult to talk. So first try to finish
your training and especially study this scripture.
Should we make reading the Yoga Sutra’s compulsory in school?
That wouldn’t work. Reading of this scripture is only reserved for those people who have gone
through a considerable preparation. This really is literature for specialists. That is the reason
why it took so long for us to start with it. First we went through the Hatha Yoga Pradipika,
Science of Soul and the likes. The Yoga Sutra’s are the main course. When you are finished
with this you can enter the gates of paradise.
The Yoga Sutra’s contain only 195 formulas/verses
There are many underlying connections. Still it is a tight fitting whole. It is as if you receive a
kind of a program. It is almost like computer science.
What you receive here is not mine.
Everybody thinks something like “Ajita is just telling us some stories …”.
It is not mine. I only got it myself.
What is the value of the book Conversations with God?
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I strongly recommend these books. There is a 1st, 2nd and 3rd part, which are all good books.
Personally I think the Celestine Prophesies are very beautiful too.
But the Conversations with God are of considerable higher level than Celestine Prophesies.
But at the very highest level we find this: Patanjali.
It contains only 4 chapters!
1st: Samadhi Pada
2nd: Sadhana Pada
3rd: Vibhuti Pada
4th: Kaivalya Pada
The 1st chapter – Samadhi Pada – deals with the definition of Samadhi.
The 2nd chapter –Sadhana Pada - deals with how you can come to Yoga.
Sadhana – practice.
What does it require education-wise to come to Samadhi?
There are 7 steps to help you to eventually come to the 8th step, Samadhi.
The 3rd chapter – Vibhuti Pada deals with super-natural powers.
In this chapter Patanjali explains concentration, meditation and contemplation, and Samyama
(a combination of the 3) from which, if performed properly, astonishing powers arise, known
in Yoga as supernatural powers and in Christianity as miracles.
The 4th chapter concludes with the part about Kaivalya or Liberation.
1st chapter = Samadhi Pada.
Yoga? Yoga is Samadhi.
The simpletons here in the West say: “Yoga and meditation. Today we have Yoga and
meditation scheduled: Yoga and meditation”. Fools!
Haven’t they ever read Patanjali?
Yoga is Samadhi
Yoga and meditation! Get out of here!
“Yes, but Yoga, that is just a physical exercise” most of them say.
As happened one day in the Bharata-school in Amsterdam. This guy still doesn’t get it.
Their so-called teacher said to me: “I have no idea of what you are doing, you know!” So I told
him: “Well, I have no idea what it actually is that you are doing!”
“But, but … I know what Yoga is, and I just let people come into a posture or turn themselves
into a knot and so … That is Yoga!” he said.
I said: “What you are doing is not Yoga, because Yoga deals with Samadhi!”
Sorry … had to get this of my chest …
May all, who want it, receive the light of knowledge on Yoga.
From here, let’s get really started with the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali.
One by one we are going to try to get to the bottom of them, and follow the thread (Sutra), to
try to understand the leading thread of the story.
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