The Ancient Texts of Yoga - Masterclass

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Patanjala-Yoga-darshana also called as Yogasutras of Patanjali is a collection of 195 sutras written by Patanjali Maharshi on the philosophy of Yoga. It is one amongst the 6 darshanas (षड्-दर्शन). Yogasutras are divided into four parts (पादाः) as Samadhi-pada, Sadhana-pada, Vibhuti-pada and Kaivalya-pada respectively. Patanjali Maharshi  is considered as the proponent (Pravartaka-acharya) of Yoga-darshana. He is the authored the Maha-bhashya (a commentary on sutras of grammar). It is also believed that Patanjali Maharshi  has also written a text of Ayurveda as stated here - ‘योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां मलं शरीरस्य च वैद्यकेन । योऽपाकरोत्तं प्रवरं मुनीनां पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोऽस्मि’ - I bow down to Patanjali, the best among ascetics, who removed the impurities of mind through Yoga, impurities of speech through Grammar, and impurities of the body through Ayurveda. There are many commentaries written on Patanjali’s Yoga sutras, Raajamaartanda Vritti is one of them, which is written by the great King Bhojadeva who has authored more than 16 works.

Hathayogapradipika by Svatmarama is a classic fifteenth-century Sanskrit manual on hatha yoga. It contains nearly 400 verses divided into 4 chapters called upadeshas. Prathama-upadesha (first chapter) – deals with the prerequisites to yoga and some important asanas. Dvitiya-upadesha (second chapter) – deals with pranayama and the six karmas (for cleansing the body). Trtiya-upadesha (third chapter) – deals with the various mudras and their benefits. Chaturtha-upadesha (fourth chapter) – deals with dharana, dhyana and samadhi.