'The text translated here is an historical find: an unknown commentary on the Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali by Sankara, the most eminent philosopher of ancient India. Present Indications are that it is likely to be authentic, which would date it about AD700. The many references to meditation in his accepted works have sometimes been regarded as concessions to accepted ideas of the time , and not really his own views. If he has chosen to write a commentary on Yoga meditation, it must have been a central part of his own standpoint, although he was opposed to some of the philosophical doctrines of the official Yoga school. One would expect a tendency to modify these unacceptable doctrines if this text is really by Sankara. This turns out to be the case'. T.P.Leggett - Introduction for the general reader - 1990 '.....Leggett's translation of the Vivarana did not receive the attention it deserved when it first came out. Some of the points that he raised are well worth consideration in the context of the authorship problem, and his contribution to the debate should be recognised..... Dr Kengo Harimoto in his Foreword to the e-book edition - 2017 'When enthusiasm flags, read sutras 11.15 - 17; look around you and see how anxiety, pain and death are rushing towards us like an express train. Yoga is a way to escape them'. T.P.Leggett - How to use this book for Yoga Practice - 1990 Excerpts from 'The Complete Commentary by Sankara on the Yoga Sutra-s' by Trevor Leggett

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.

This collection of original essays provides fascinating insights into yoga as a historical and pluralistic phenomenon flourishing in a variety of religious and philosophical contexts. They cover a wide variety of traditions and topics related to Yoga: Classical Yoga, Sāṃkhya, Tantric Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, the Guru, Indic Islamic traditions of Yoga, Yoga and asceticism in contemporary India, and the reception of Yoga in the West. The essays are written by eighteen professors in the field of the history of religions, most of them former graduate students of Gerald James Larson, Larson is Rabindranath Tagore Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, Bloomington, Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, an internationally acclaimed scholar on the history of religions and philosophies of India, and one of the world's foremost authorities on the Samkhya and Yoga traditions. The publication is in honour of him.

Karen O'Brien-Kop's introduction to the Yogasutra highlights its status as a significant work of philosophy. Approaching the Yogasutra as living philosophy, this book elucidates philosophical conceptions of yoga, recognises the logical structure the sutras follow and explains the rules and principles that have sustained Patañjali's system of thought for centuries. Moving beyond standard interpretations of Patañjali's text and commentary as an aphoristic practice manual, O'Brien-Kop uses branches of philosophy to read the Yogasutra. Covering reality, self, ethics, language and knowledge, Patañjali's philosophies come to the fore. The book introduces his reasoned positions on dual and nondual metaphysics, the relationship between mind and body, the qualities of consciousness, the nature of freedom, and how to live ethically. Carefully-selected extracts from the primary text are translated for those unfamiliar with Sanskrit and commentaries run throughout. A glossary provides definitions of key concepts with useful translations. Accessible and up-to-date, this introduction broadens our understanding of Indian philosophical thought and explains why the Yogasutra deserves to be read alongside Parmenides' 'On Nature' and Plato's Phaedo as a classic of world philosophy.

Patañjali's Yogasutra is an ancient canonic Indian text composed in Sanskrit in the 3rd or 4th century. Belonging to a very different cultural milieu, this multi-layered text is philosophical, psychological and practical in nature. Offering a philosophical reading of Patañjali's Yogasutra, this book discusses themes such as freedom, self-identity, time and transcendence, and translation - between languages, cultures and eras. Drawing substantially upon contemporary Indian materials, it discusses for the first time classical yoga as reflected upon by Daya Krishna (1924-2007) with constant reference to Krishna Chandra Bhattacharyya's (1875-1949) studies in yoga philosophy. The genuine attempt on behalf of these two original thinkers to engage philosophically with Patañjala-yoga sets the tone of the textual exploration provided here. This book features a new annotated translation of the Yogasutra, and the author provides a useful background to the extensive Samkhya terminology employed by Patañjali. Daniel Raveh also offers a close reflection of the very act of translation, and the book concludes with suggestions for further reading and a glossary of central notions.