Yoga: Discipline of Freedom. The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali [Hardcover]

Barbara Stoler Miller (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 11, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0520201906 | ISBN-13: 978-0520201903

The Yoga Sutra, dating from about the third century A.D., distills the essentials of a complex system of physical and spiritual discipline into 200 brief aphorisms. Yoga is at the heart of all meditative practice in Asia, yet until now there has been no first-rate English version of this primary text. Barbara Stoler Miller's translation admirably fills that gap--her clear, strong style and sensitive phrasing convey every nuance of Patanjali's words, and her commentary offers invaluable guidance to anyone seeking to understand Indian philosophy or the practice of yoga.
The Yoga Sutra does not propose to offer new knowledge but rather a new perspective on the nature of knowing. As a method of achieving insight, the discipline of yoga is far from mystical ecstasy or ritual trance. Its goal is a contemplative intensity that can unbind the constraints of everyday experience, and that goal helps explain Americans' growing interest in yoga in recent years.
This interest has been most widely expressed in the physical dimension of yoga--the postures known as hatha-yoga--but attention is increasingly being directed at the philosophy and psychology that define the discipline. Here the Yoga Sutra shines most brightly; in a world of bewildering complexity and seductive material culture, this centuries-old text offers powerful techniques for countering private mental chaos and moral confusion. The Yoga Sutra has great relevance today, and thanks to Barbara Stoler Miller it is now truly accessible.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

From the Inside Flap

"A text that is really essential to anyone's understanding of Indian philosophy or the practice of yoga. Barbara Stoler Miller's translation is her masterpiece, a great swan song. It is a most extraordinary translation, a great translation."--Wendy Doniger, University of Chicago Divinity School

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (December 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520201906
• ISBN-13: 978-0520201903
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism > Sutras

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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for a first reading, October 19, 2003

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Dennis Littrell (SoCal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali (Paperback)

The main strength of this book is in the late Professor Miller's Introduction which is lucid and insightful in identifying and placing Patanjali's Yoga Sutras for the general reader. The weakness is in Miller's use of certain non-yogic and sometimes misleading terms in her translation, usage which stems from her position as an academic of yoga and not a practitioner. Sometimes she translates words that probably should not be translated since there are no real English equivalents--for example, "samadhi" itself. And sometimes she uses what I would consider not the most agreeable English equivalent.

Her use of the word "spirit" in the third aphorism is an example: "When thought ceases, the spirit stands in its true identity as observer to the world." The Sanskrit word she is translating is "drashtri" which is usually "seer" although it can also mean "soul," according to B.K.S. Iyengar. When one reads the next aphorism, "Otherwise, the observer [seer] identifies with the turnings of thought" it becomes clear that the seer is not spirit; indeed "spirit" is a confusing word in this context since it has no clear cognate in the dualistic yoga philosophy. The closest equivalent would be "purusha" but that would be inappropriate since that refers to the entire non-material consciousness (as opposed to "prakriti," which is what is manifested). Perhaps I should simply say that "soul" in yogic philosophy is not the same thing as "spirit."

Another example would be her translation of vairagya in I.15 as "dispassion" which is technically correct but misses the larger meaning of the non-attachment that comes from renunciation, which is the point of the aphorism.

I could also quibble with her use of the word "contemplation" as the equivalent of the Sanskrit "samadhi." But it is really impossible to translate the last three limbs of yoga: dharana, dhyana, and samadhi into English, and the contemporary practice is to simply use the Sanskrit terms themselves. And, at any rate, there is considerable controversy about the experience of these states. Miller follows the established practice of rendering them respectively as concentration, meditation, and contemplation. Yet it is clear that samadhi, especially "nirbija samadhi" or seedless samadhi, is beyond contemplation. Georg Feuerstein actually defines samadhi as "ecstasy."

Another strength of the book is the translation itself--once one puts aside the quibbles about some of the terms and looks at the forest, as it were, of the entire expression. Miller has worked hard to make the text readily accessible to the general reader by using familiar terms in familiar sentence structures. She also groups several related aphorisms together and comments on them as a whole, giving each group a title. For example, aphorisms I.17 - I.22 are labeled, "Ways of Stopping Thought." This organization works well in helping the reader to a good overall understanding of Patanjali with only a first reading. Miller has not simplified the text or dumbed it down in any sense. What she has done is to give the pithy statements a sort of liquidity that makes for easy reading.

Her subtitle: "Discipline of Freedom" is an apt description of Patanjali's yoga in the sense that this yoga employs technique and practice to reach liberation whereas other yogas might employ faith and devotion, selfless service, or knowledge as ways to transcend this earthly existence.

I would recommend that this text be studied in conjunction with Iyengar's Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (1993) since that book contains a more detailed exposition of Patanjali's text and has more extensive commentaries.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless wisdom made available to the modern reader, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali (Paperback)

The *Yoga Sutras* is an ancient Indian text attributed to the sage Patanjali. They discuss "yoga" in the deep spiritual sense-- not the physical exercises of Hatha Yoga, but the essential techniques of stilling the mind and achieving spiritual illumination. The objective, almost scientific, treatment of *Yoga Sutras* presents the reader with an anatomy of consciousness itself, as well as an atlas of the highest human possibilities. Prof. Miller's translations make this esoteric text readily available to the modern reader. Her translation is lucid and easy to read, without sacrificing any of the wisdom or precision of the text itself. I would recommend this book to any one who takes seriously the idea of spiritual work and the goal of spiritual transformation.

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, August 21, 2011

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Bertron Hill (Rottenschwil, CH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yoga: Discipline of Freedom: The Yoga Sutra Attributed to Patanjali (Paperback)

In a time when we should recognize the whispers of past genius in order to make our journey into the future, tis book is one of many helping me to make my way to Divinity!