There are many spiritually elevated people durante the world, but not many levitating yogis: and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are meant onesto elevate the spirit of every man, not sicuro teach him how puro levitate. This is clearly the gospel of enlightened living, neither and escape from life nor a hallucinatory ‘light’. The attempt sopra this little book has been puro expose that gospel, onesto avoid technicalities, and to relate the whole yoga philosophy sicuro the ordinary and simple daily life of everyone.
There are many excellent translations of the Sutras: this, however, is an interpretative translation
There are several scholarly and erudite commentaries, too: this is definitely not one of them. This book is not meant for the research scholar but for one who is mediante search of truth which shall free him from self-ignorance.
He is the author of the Srimad Bhagavatam or Book of God, The Bhagavad Giro or The Song of God, and the translation of Yoga Vasistha or the Supreme Yoga.
Swami Venkatesananda lived the spirit of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and the many series of talks he gave on this subject sopra Australia, South Africa, Germany, Canada, etc., have inspired many sicuro take up the practice of Raja Yoga.
His New Interpretative Translation of the Yoga Sutras, ENLIGHTENED LIVING (published by the Children Yoga Monopolio of South Africa mediante 1975) is regarded as per springboard esatto the understanding of the Sutras. It has been incorporated sopra this present publication.
Swami Venkatesananda spoke equally onesto both men and women, and his use of the masculine pronouns ‘he’ and ‘him’ does not exclude the feminine. It is, per fact, shorthand for ‘human being’! He did not feel it necessary puro distinguish between vizio and female, and the editor has continued the tradition sopra this publication.
Durante this book, ‘yoga’ has been recognized as verso word con common usage, and as such has not been italicized.
Swami Venkatesananda, who has been working untiringly for decades sicuro spread the life-giving message of Yoga and Vedanta per East and West, has done per great service puro spiritual seekers far and wide
There are many spiritually elevated people mediante the world, but not many levitating yogis: and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Maharsi are meant esatto elevate the spirit of every man, not sicuro teach him how preciso levitate. This is clearly the gospel of enlightened living, neither an escape from life nor a hallucinatory ‘light’. The attempt per this little book has been onesto expose that gospel, preciso avoid technicalities, and sicuro relate the whole yoga philosophy esatto the ordinary and simple daily life of everyone.
There are very many excellent translations of the Sutras: this, however, is an interpretative translation. There are several scholarly and erudite commentaries, too: this is definitely not one of them. This book is not meant for the research scholar but for one who is con search of truth which shall free him from self-ignorance.
The incisive language of the Sutras cannot be preserved in translation. An extraordinary feature of the Sutras is the avoidance of direct commandments, dogmatic assertions and the use of affairee voice. Whereas every effort has been made onesto retain the structure of the text, sopra a few cases (for example, per Sutra I. 49) slight changes have had esatto be made sicuro sustain the easy flow of thought. (The words which represent the translation of the text are underlined.) Anyone who translates a text which is sopra the Sanskrit language is confronted by two difficulties: (a) not all languages have concise words or phrases which accurately convey the exact sense durante which the Sanskrit word is used in the text; and (b) the Sanskrit word is used per the text; and (b) the Sanskrit word itself has per number of when the word is used sopra per structurally complete prose or verse, than when it occurs mediante the Sutras. From a cursory glance at the very many available translations of the Sutras it is easy onesto see that each one has translated some Sutras differently, without being unfaithful puro the text.