Introduction

If one distinguishes broadly between three types of the discipline of Yoga—body-centric, mind-centric and God-centric—then the Yoga system of Patañjali belongs to the second category. The chapter points out how the popular understanding of Patañjala-yoga confuses it with HaǦDhayoga and a theistic-non-dualistic form of Yoga. The traditional and popular understanding of Patañjala-yoga neglects the influence of Buddhism on Patañjali completely. The Introduction brings this aspect to forefront.

While periodizing Yogasūtra, the Introduction accepts the modern view that Patañjali belongs to the second half of the fourth century CE. But it disagrees with the view of some scholars that Yogasūtra and its earliest commentary, c, form a single text called Pātañjala-Yogaśātra. While acknowledging the views of scholars such as Erich Frauwallner, de La Vallée-Poussin and Gerald Larson regarding the influence of Buddhism on Pātañjala-yoga, particularly the Buddhist Abhidharma, the Introduction takes a few steps further by (1) asserting the possibility that Yogasūtra is a response to Asaṅga’s Yogācārabhūmi; (2) claiming that more than 50 per cent of the aphorisms from Yogasūtra are influenced by the Buddhist background; and (3) claiming that the commentator Vy?sa many times deviates from the original content of the Yogasūtra due to neglect of the Buddhist background.