1.1 · Casting Off

Now, the teaching of yoga.

Word by word

atha

now; here begins (an auspicious opening word)

yoga

yoga; joining, absorption

anuśāsanam

teaching, instruction (anu-, 'after'; Vācaspati Miśra reads it as re-teaching what was taught before)

Where it fits

The colophon names this the pāda on samādhi. It defines yoga (1.2–1.4), lists what yoga stills (1.5–1.11), sets out the means and kinds of absorption (1.12–1.39), and follows absorption to its seedless end (1.40–1.51). Here 'now' opens the teaching, and Vyāsa at once glosses yoga as samādhi, of two kinds (Woods pp. 3–4).

Reading

The text opens with atha, 'now'. Vyāsa reads it as marking the start of a new subject, and many also hear an auspicious first sound. Anuśāsana means instruction. Vācaspati Miśra hears in anu- a teaching handed on: Patañjali sets out what was already taught. Vyāsa names five states of mind: restless, dull, distracted, one-pointed and stilled. Yoga is a quality of mind found in all of them, he says, but only the last two can properly be called yoga. Many teachers also hear a readiness in 'now': the teaching begins when the student does.

Vyāsa

“The word 'now' marks the start of a new subject. The treatise that teaches yoga should be understood as beginning here. … The states of the mind are these: restless (kṣipta), dull (mūḍha), distracted (vikṣipta), one-pointed (ekāgra) and stilled (niruddha).”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 3.

Practice

Before you sit, walk or work today, pause for three breaths and notice which of Vyāsa's five states you bring: restless, dull, distracted, one-pointed or stilled. Name it without judging. Then say quietly 'now', and begin from exactly there.

A question to sit with

What are you ready to begin now?

Where commentators disagree

Does anuśāsana mark a teaching handed on from earlier teachers, or simply an exposition?

Vyāsa

'Now' marks the start of a distinct topic: the authoritative treatise on yoga begins here. He then gives a provisional definition: yoga is samādhi, a quality of the mind found in all its states. (Woods 1914, p. 3)

Vācaspati Miśra

Answers an objector who cites the tradition that Hiraṇyagarbha, and no one else, first taught yoga. The prefix anu- shows that Patañjali is expounding what was expounded before, so he is not claiming to be the founder. He also derives 'yoga' from yuj in the sense of samādhi, not yuj in the sense of joining. (Woods 1914, p. 5)

Bhoja

Takes anuśāsana as an exposition that sets out yoga through its marks, nature, divisions, causes and effects, and says this is the topic to the end of the work. He says nothing of an earlier teacher, and adds that atha also serves as a blessing. (Tatya 1885, p. 2; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 1.1)

Ganganatha Jha

Notes that Mitra read Vyāsa's gloss as making 'Yogānuśāsana' the name of the book, and that Vācaspati rejects that reading, using the root sense of anuśāsana to point to Hiraṇyagarbha's prior authorship. (Jha 1907, p. 2)

Key ideas

samādhi (absorption), citta (the mind-field)