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Yoga is the
steadiness of the mind, with the annihilation of
the mental states, into a particular type of
graduated state leading to Self-realization. The
earliest exponent of this system called Rajayoga,
the highest of all yogas as distinguished from
Hathayoga and Mantrayoga was Patanjali who wrote
Aphorisms on Yoga in 150 B.C.
The present
treatise relates to the system of Rajayoga as
enunciated by Patanjali and explained by his
commentators Vyasa, Vacaspati, Vijnanabhiksu and
others. It deals with the foundation of the yoga
practices - their philosophical, psychological,
cosmological, ethical and religious doctrines. It
compares the essential features of the yoga system
with other systems of philosophical thought and
establishes, in particular, its affinity to the
system of Samkhya.
The work consists
of fifteen chapters divided into two parts bound
in one volume. Part I (Chapters I-VII) deals with
Yoga Metaphysics, delineating mainly the
characteristics and functions of Prakrti and
Purusa the reality of the external world and the
process of Evolution. Part II (Chapters VIII-XV)
expounds Yoga Ethics and Practice with emphasis on
Yoga method, stages of samadhi and kindred topics.
This study is
documented with a preface giving an outline of the
topic, an appendix on Sphota-the relation of words
with their ideas and things, and a general index.
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