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Re-Appraisal of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, A

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Author: Tandon, S.N.
Publisher: Vipassana Research Institute
Publication Date: 1998-01-01
Product Type: Softcover Book
Pages: 142
ISBN 13: 978-81-7414-024-1

ISBN 10: 8174140247

Language: Pāli and Sanskrit (Roman and Devanagari scripts)

SKU:

SKU:140247

Description

Siddhartha Gotama the Buddha, who lived in the 6th century B.C., preceded Patanjali by a few centuries. While Patanjali, the author of the Yoga-Sutras, could draw upon the oral as well as the living tradition of the Buddha's teaching, which were extant in his time, his commentators and sub-commentators remained ignorant of both. This fact itself seems to have resulted in inadequate — and, at times, uncalled for — interpretations being offered by these commentators while explaining the Yoga-Sutras. The flaw can be rectified by attempting a re-appraisal of the Yoga-Sutras in the light of the Buddha's teaching as enshrined in the Pāli Canon.--from the Preface, by S.N. Tandon

Pāli and Sanskrit in both Roman and Devanagari scripts; Yoga-Sutra text included; extensive footnotes; bibliography.

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  • 4 stars: 2 (100%)
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V
Victor van Bijlert
Yoga Sutra and Buddhist influences

First of all, this book is very enlightening (pun intended) regarding the allusions to Buddhist texts and ideas in the Yoga Sutra. Although the book does not present an English translation of the whole text, only the Sanskrit text itself is given for some unclear reason, it certainly elucidates the many allusions to Buddhist terminology and practice in the text. It reads well as a precursor to the very recently published annotated translation of the Yoga Sutra by Pradeep Gokhale who also maintains throughout his work the thesis of Buddhist influence on the Yoga Sutra. One could say that also the present book under review (the second edition apparantly) makes the case of Buddhist influence cogently. Of course, there are questions that are not answered: for instance why does the author of the Yoga Sutra uses so much Buddhist terminology and yet not teach a purely Buddhist technique? Yoga Sutra does not read like a Buddhist text. Another broader question would be: why did Mahayana Buddhist philosophers from the 3rd - 4th century CE start to also use the term 'yoga' as in yogacara, in the same way as Brahmanical sources did like the later Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita? Also the book does not address academic discussion about the authorship of Yoga Sutra and the earliest preserved commentary on it, the Yoga Bhashya. According to some scholars the two texts were written by one and the same author, whereas others maintain that the Yoga Sutra was written by Patanjali and the earliest Bhashya by someone else. Lastly, I find it surprising that this new edition does not mention the name of the author. The first edition mentions S.N. Tandon as author of this book. This new edition doesn't mention any author. So the publication looks like it is anonymous. It is also surprising that in Amazon the book is occasionally offered at an extremely steep price.

R
Ryan
Excellent, but VERY academic

This book is a very heavily cited translation of the Yoga Sutras. I was expecting an easier read. Still, it is very thorough, and for people interested in the language and line-by-line and word-by-word specifics, I'm sure this is invaluable. Five stars because it does that job, but make sure you aren't expecting a flowing, enjoyable narrative or discourse.

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