Patanjali
Yoga means calming the restless activity of the mind until consciousness recognises itself as something distinct from body and thoughts.
Placement
Compiler of the Yoga Sutra (date disputed, probably around 400 CE): on a Samkhya basis, yoga is the stilling of the mind’s fluctuations, which lets consciousness recognise itself as distinct from nature.
Key ideas
- Yoga as stilling of the mind (citta-vritti-nirodha)
- The eight limbs
- Discrimination of purusha and prakriti
Influence
Influenced by 1
Kapila
influenced by
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra takes over the Samkhya ascribed to Kapila, the dualism of conscious self (purusha) and nature (prakriti) with its three gunas, adding a special self, Ishvara. Patanjali, Yoga Sutra; G. J. Larson, Classical Samkhya (1969); E. F. Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (2009)
Evidence: AI draft
Kapila › legendary figure
Influenced 3
al-Biruni
influenced
Al-Biruni translated Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra with a commentary into Arabic (Kitāb Bātanjal) and quoted it in his India (1030) as an authority for Hindu doctrines of the soul and liberation. S. Pines and T. Gelblum, “Al-Bīrūnī’s Arabic Version of Patañjali’s Yogasūtra”, BSOAS 29 (1966) – 52 (1989); al-Bīrūnī, Taḥqīq mā li-l-Hind (1030)
Evidence: AI draft
al-Biruni › 973–1048
Swami Vivekananda
influenced
Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga (1896) translated and commented on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, presenting it as an experimental science of the mind. Swami Vivekananda, Raja Yoga (1896); E. De Michelis, A History of Modern Yoga (2004)
Evidence: AI draft
Swami Vivekananda › 1863–1902
C. G. Jung
influenced
In his ETH lectures of 1938–40 Jung commented on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra as a model of meditation and compared it with his own method of active imagination. C. G. Jung, Psychology of Yoga and Meditation: Lectures Delivered at ETH Zurich, vol. 6, 1938–1940 (ed. M. Liebscher, 2021)
Evidence: AI draft
C. G. Jung › 1875–1961
Works
- c. 400Yoga Sutra
195 aphorisms: yoga as the stilling of the mind’s fluctuations, the eight limbs, and the isolation (kaivalya) of pure consciousness.
Position
The Yoga Sutra defines yoga as the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind (citta-vritti-nirodha). It builds on Samkhya: suffering stems from confusing the seer, pure consciousness (purusha), with the seen – mind and nature. Practice and detachment loosen this confusion; the eight limbs lead from ethical restraints and observances, posture and breath control, through withdrawal of the senses, concentration and meditation, to absorption (samadhi). The goal is the isolation (kaivalya) of consciousness. Unlike classical Samkhya, the text admits a special self, Ishvara, untouched by affliction, as an object of devotion; its vocabulary shows close contact with Buddhist thought. Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga made it the canonical text of modern yoga.
Life & context
Patanjali is known only as the compiler of the Yoga Sutra. Tradition identifies him with the grammarian Patanjali of the 2nd century BCE and even with an incarnation of the serpent Shesha; most modern scholars reject the identification with the grammarian. The date of the text is disputed: estimates range from the last centuries BCE to the 5th century CE, and many scholars now favour about 325–425 CE.
Further main works
- Yoga Bhashya (commentary traditionally ascribed to Vyasa; some scholars think Patanjali composed it together with the sutras)
As of November 2026 · Sources · Improve this page · How Agora is made