Yogasutra of Patanjali || Sutra 1||
Sutra -1
‘ Atha Yoganushasanam’
Atha – Now
Yoga – practice of yoga
Anushasanam – discipline
So now yoga starts with discipline.
When practicing yoga the most important factor is discipline.
We need to train ourselves to do things that are told in the book without which you will not able to land anywhere. All the practices need disciple of mind, actions and words.
Many books say a different explanation to this sutra but in reality this is what I understand from years and practice of Yoga.
During our course we where thought that this sutra means
‘ Now therefore complete instructions regarding yoga’
This is the widely accepted interpretation of most of the teachers around yoga schools but I always had a problem with this.
I have been talking Marathi all my life its my mother tongue and it is so close to sanskrit that we use most of the words in our daily life. Therefore it was so easy for me to learn all the sanskrit sutras.
Since Maharishi Patanjali has given us sutras ie. Verses and the interpretation is left to us we usually tend to use the known words that we have used in childhood.
Anushasan in most of the Indian languages it means discipline. This is not just discipline of body but of our mind.
In the second sutra of Patanjali Yogasutras it tells us about control of mind in other words discipline of mind.
When we come to kriya yoga of these text we will see that there is swadyaya involved that means self study. For a person to walk on a path of self study tremendous self control and discipline is required.
As we go futher in these text I will be telling you more about the discipline aspect of the text just bear with me.
Having said that please feel free to write to me with your own version of explanation of this text.
Love Light,
Aarti