Yoga School

Historical Background and Texts

The Yoga School (Yoga Darśana) is one of the six classical orthodox (āstika) schools of Indian philosophy, traditionally grouped with Sāṃkhya, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta. While yogic practices are attested in early sources such as the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavadgītā, Yoga emerges as a distinct philosophical system with the codification of the Yogasūtra (or Pātañjalayogaśāstra), conventionally dated between the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE and attributed to Patañjali.

The Yogasūtra is a terse aphoristic work of four chapters (pāda): Samādhi, Sādhana, Vibhūti, and Kaivalya. It is accompanied by an influential early commentary (bhāṣya), traditionally ascribed to Vyāsa, which became the basis for a long exegetical tradition. Later commentators, including Vācaspatimiśra (author of the Tattvavaiśāradī) and Vijñānabhikṣu, further integrated Yoga with Sāṃkhya and broader Hindu theology.

Scholars often distinguish classical Yoga—the philosophical school articulated in the Yogasūtra—from later Haṭha Yoga and modern global yoga movements. While there is continuity of concepts and techniques, the classical school places primary emphasis on mental discipline and liberation, rather than on physical postures as an end in themselves.

Metaphysics and Psychology

The Yoga school adopts a largely dualistic metaphysics closely aligned with Sāṃkhya, though with distinctive theological and practical emphases. Reality is analyzed in terms of puruṣa and prakṛti:

• Puruṣa: a plurality of pure consciousness principles, each immutable, witnessing, and fundamentally distinct from material nature. Puruṣa is neither active nor changing.
• Prakṛti: primordial material nature, composed of three guṇas—sattva (luminosity, clarity), rajas (activity, passion), and tamas (inertia, darkness). From prakṛti evolve the manifold phenomena of the cosmos, including the mind-body complex.

The human individual is understood as the misidentification of puruṣa with the evolutes of prakṛti, especially the citta (often rendered as the mind-stuff or psychical apparatus). The citta comprises functions similar to those elaborated in other Indian systems: manas (sensory coordination), ahaṃkāra (egoity), and buddhi (intellect).

The famous definition in Yogasūtra I.2—“Yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ”—states that yoga is the cessation of the modifications (vṛtti) of the citta. Ordinary experience is characterized by fluctuating mental states that obscure the true nature of puruṣa and produce duḥkha (suffering or dissatisfaction). Through disciplined practice, these fluctuations can be restrained, revealing puruṣa in its isolation and freedom.

Unlike “atheistic” Sāṃkhya, the Yoga school typically admits a special puruṣa called Īśvara, often translated as a “Lord” or “special self.” Īśvara is not a creator-god in a strongly theistic sense in all interpretations but functions as a paradigmatic, untouched consciousness whose contemplation (Īśvarapraṇidhāna) aids the practitioner. Some commentators, particularly in later Hindu traditions, interpret Īśvara in more explicitly devotional terms.

Knowledge (jñāna) in Yoga is both conceptual and supra-conceptual. Ordinary cognition is fallible and mixed with error; liberation requires discriminative knowledge (viveka-khyāti) that clearly distinguishes puruṣa from prakṛti and its guṇas. This knowledge arises in deep meditative absorption (samādhi), especially “seedless” (nirbīja) samādhi, in which even subtle impressions are stilled.

Ethics and the Eightfold Path

Yoga presents a detailed account of spiritual practice in the form of the Eight Limbs (aṣṭāṅga), described in Yogasūtra II.29. This system has become a central organizing framework for classical Yoga:

1. Yama (restraints): ethical prohibitions that regulate one’s relations with others:

   • Ahiṃsā (non-violence)
   • Satya (truthfulness)
   • Asteya (non-stealing)
   • Brahmacarya (sexual restraint or chastity, variously interpreted)
   • Aparigraha (non-possessiveness)

2. Niyama (observances): positive disciplines directed toward self-cultivation:

   • Śauca (purity)
   • Santoṣa (contentment)
   • Tapas (ascetic effort or austerity)
   • Svādhyāya (study, often of sacred texts and self-reflection)
   • Īśvarapraṇidhāna (devotion or surrender to Īśvara)

3. Āsana (posture): originally signifying a stable, comfortable seat suitable for meditation, rather than the elaborate sequences of poses found in many modern forms of yoga.

4. Prāṇāyāma (regulation of breath): control and refinement of the life-force (prāṇa) through various breathing techniques, understood to influence both body and mind.

5. Pratyāhāra (withdrawal of the senses): turning attention away from external objects so that the senses follow the mind inward.

6. Dhāraṇā (concentration): fixing the mind on a single object or point.

7. Dhyāna (meditation): sustained, uninterrupted flow of attention toward the chosen object.

8. Samādhi (absorption): deep meditative unification of the mind with its object, culminating in forms of samādhi that reveal puruṣa’s independence from prakṛti and bring about kaivalya (isolation or liberation).

Ethically, the Yoga school treats yama and niyama not as optional moral adornments but as necessary foundations for higher practices. Moral failings are said to disturb mental tranquility and reinforce karmic bondage. Proponents argue that ethical discipline gradually weakens negative mental impressions (saṃskāras), supporting the overarching goal of freedom from duḥkha. Critics from non-dualist traditions sometimes question the dualism implied in Yoga’s framework, but generally acknowledge the practical efficacy of its ethical regimen.

Relation to Other Schools and Legacy

Historically, the Yoga school maintains the closest philosophical ties with Sāṃkhya, sharing its enumeration of categories and its dualism of puruṣa and prakṛti. Many classical texts speak of Sāṃkhya-Yoga as complementary: Sāṃkhya providing a theoretical map of reality, Yoga offering methods for experiential realization. At the same time, Yoga’s admission of Īśvara and its emphasis on devotion distinguish it from the more strictly rational-analytic Sāṃkhya.

In relation to Vedānta, the Yoga school shares meditative techniques but diverges on metaphysical claims. Non-dualist (Advaita) Vedāntins typically reinterpret the Yogasūtra in light of their doctrine of a single Brahman, challenging Yoga’s commitment to multiple puruṣas and the independent reality of prakṛti. Devotional Vedānta schools, by contrast, have often embraced Yoga’s acceptance of Īśvara and integrated yogic practices into their paths of devotion.

The Yoga school also interacts with Buddhist thought, especially in the area of meditation theory and psychology. Terminological parallels—such as samādhi and analyses of mental factors—suggest shared intellectual milieus and mutual influence, though the systems diverge on issues such as the existence of a permanent self and the ontological status of phenomena.

In later centuries, classical Yoga concepts were incorporated into Haṭha Yoga texts, Tantric traditions, and diverse sectarian movements. Modern global “yoga” often emphasizes āsana and physical health, a development shaped by colonial-era encounters, physical culture movements, and transnational spirituality. Scholars note that this modern emphasis can obscure the distinctive philosophical and soteriological orientation of the classical Yoga school, which centers on liberation from suffering through the stilling of consciousness and discriminative insight.

Despite these transformations, the core ideas of the Yoga school—its analysis of mind, its disciplined path of practice, and its synthesis of ethics, meditation, and metaphysics—continue to inform contemporary discussions in comparative philosophy, religious studies, and psychological theories of contemplative practice.