This is a complete English translation of a highly significant Sanskrit sub-commentary vivarana purporting to be by Sankara, on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The vivarana is written with great originality. The long commentary on God completely jettisons the narrow sutra definition in favour of a supreme Creator, as evidenced by many ingenious arguments on the lines of the present-day cosmological anthropic principle. The doctrine that the future already exists, and that time is purely relative, anticipate the Einstein era.

The Yogasutra is one of the most important works of Indian culture. The present book is an attempt of interpretation of the Yogasutras based on some special criteria adopted by the authros: (1) To use the traditional commentaries as auxiliaries, not as guides, with prudence and freedom, (2) To interpret those Sutras, in which Patanjali analyzes real phenomena, as what they actually are: descriptions of facts of experience. To such an end the authors have tried to have a clear idea of the phenomena to which Patanjali refers, and in this task they have found extremely useful the descriptions of their mystical experiences by Yogis of India and Christian mystics. The book includes the Sanskrit text of the Sutras and an English translation by the authors.

Maintains that the Yoga-Sutras do not advocate abandonment of the world, but rather support a stance that enables one to live more fully in the world without being enslaved by worldly identification.