The Yoga-System of Patañjali
By Patañjali
Translated by James Haughton Woods
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1914
First written c. 325–425 CE (debated)
In the public domain
About this text
Woods’s scholarly translation of the Yoga Sūtras together with the commentary attributed to Vyāsa and Vācaspati Miśra’s sub-commentary, the Tattvavaiśāradī. It remains a standard English rendering of the classical commentarial tradition of Yoga.
How to cite
Patañjali. The Yoga-System of Patañjali: Harvard Oriental Series, vol. 17. Translated by James Haughton Woods. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1914.
Cite this entry
“The Yoga-System of Patañjali.” Source. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/sources/yoga-sutras-woods.
“The Yoga-System of Patañjali,” source, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/sources/yoga-sutras-woods.
“The Yoga-System of Patañjali.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/sources/yoga-sutras-woods.
@misc{sources-yoga-sutras-woods, title = {{The Yoga-System of Patañjali}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Source. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/sources/yoga-sutras-woods} }
Traditions
Concepts
- SamādhiMeditative absorption, in which the mind is wholly one with its object or wholly still.
- PuruṣaIn Sāṃkhya and Yoga, pure consciousness, distinct from all of nature.
- PrakṛtiIn Sāṃkhya and Yoga, nature or matter, including the mind.
- ĪśvaraThe Lord: God as personal creator and ruler of the world.
- AvidyāIgnorance: not a lack of information, but a misapprehension of what one is.