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| The '''''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali''''' is a collection of Sanskrit [[sutra]]s (verses or aphorisms) on the theory and practice of [[yoga]]. The text contains 195 sutras according to [[Vyasa|Vyāsa]] and [[Krishnamacharya]] and 196 sutras according to others including [[BKS Iyengar]]. The ''Yoga Sutras'' was compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage [[Patanjali]] in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions.{{sfn|Wujastyk|2011|p=33}}{{sfn|Feuerstein|1978|p=108}}{{sfn|Tola|Dragonetti|Prithipaul|1987|p=x}}
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| The ''Yoga Sutras'' is best known for its reference to ''[[Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)|ashtanga]]'', eight elements of practice culminating in ''[[samadhi]]''. The eight elements are ''[[Yamas|yama]]'' (abstinences), ''[[niyama]]'' (observances), ''[[asana]]'' (yoga posture), ''[[pranayama]]'' (breath control), ''[[pratyahara]]'' (withdrawal of the senses), ''[[Dhāraṇā|dharana]]'' (concentration of the [[Citta|mind]]), ''[[Dhyana in Hinduism|dhyana]]'' (meditation) and ''[[samadhi]]'' (absorption). The main aim of practice is ''[[kaivalya]]'', discernment of ''[[purusha]]'', the witness-consciousness, as distinct from ''[[prakriti]]'', the cognitive apparatus, and disentanglement of ''purusha'' from ''prakriti's'' muddled defilements.
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| The ''Yoga Sutras'' built on [[Samkhya]] notions of ''purusha'' and ''prakriti'', and is often seen as complementary to it. It is closely related to [[Buddhism]], incorporating some of its terminology. [[Samkhya]], [[Yoga]] and [[Vedanta]], as well as [[Jainism]] and Buddhism, can be seen as representing different manifestations of a broad stream of [[Asceticism|ascetic]] traditions in ancient India, in contrast to the [[Bhakti]] traditions and [[Srauta|Vedic ritualism]] which were prevalent at the time.
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| The contemporary Yoga tradition holds the ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' to be one of the foundational texts of classical [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga philosophy]].{{sfn|Whicher|1998|p=49}}<ref name=stuartsarbacker195>Stuart Sarbacker (2011), Yoga Powers (Editor: Knut A. Jacobsen), Brill, {{ISBN|978-9004212145}}, p. 195.</ref> However, the appropriation – and misappropriation – of the ''Yoga Sutras'' and its influence on later systematizations of yoga has been questioned by [[David Gordon White]],{{sfn|White|2014|p=xvi–xvii}} who argues that the text fell into relative obscurity for nearly 700 years from the 12th to 19th century, and made a comeback in the late 19th century due to the efforts of [[Swami Vivekananda]], the [[Theosophical Society]] and others. It gained prominence as a classic in the 20th century.{{sfn|White|2014|p=xvi–xvii}}
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| == Provenance ==
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| {{WPAttribution}}
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| == Notes ==
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| <references>
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| </references>
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