The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: A Biography

by David Gordon White

Overview

The rise, fall, and modern resurgence of an enigmatic book revered by yoga enthusiasts around the world

Consisting of fewer than two hundred verses written in an obscure if not impenetrable language and style, Patanjali's Yoga Sutra is extolled by the yoga establishment as a perennial classic and guide to yoga practice—except it isn't. Virtually forgotten in India for hundreds of years and maligned when it was first discovered in the West, the Yoga Sutra has been elevated to its present iconic status only in the course of the past forty years. David Gordon White retraces the strange and circuitous journey of this confounding work from its ancient origins to today, bringing to life the improbable cast of characters whose interpretations and misappropriations of the Yoga Sutra led to its revered place in contemporary popular culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691197074
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Series:	Lives of Great Religious Books , #43
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Gordon White is Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, emeritus, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His books include Yoga in Practice (Princeton) and Sinister Yogis.

Table of Contents

Dramatis Personae vii

Preface xv

Chapter 1 Reading the Yoga Sutra in the Twenty-First Century: Modern Challenges, Ancient Strategies 1

Chapter 2 Patanjali, the Yoga Sutra, and Indian Philosophy 18

Chapter 3 Henry Thomas Colebrooke and the Western "Discovery" of the Yoga Sutra 53

Chapter 4 Yoga Sutra Agonistes: Hegel and the German Romantics 81

Chapter 5 Rajendralal Mitra: India's Forgotten Pioneer of Yoga Sutra Scholarship 92

Chapter 6 The Yoga of the Magnetosphere: The Yoga Sutra and the TheosophicalSociety 103

Chapter 7 Swami Vivekananda and the Mainstreaming of the Yoga Sutra 116

Chapter 8 The Yoga Sutra in the Muslim World 143

Chapter 9 The Yoga Sutra Becomes a Classic 159

Chapter 10 Ishvara 172

Chapter 11 Journeys East, Journeys West: The Yoga Sutra in the Early Twentieth Century 182

Chapter 12 The Strange Case of T. M. Krishnamacharya 197

Chapter 13 Yoga Sutra 2.0 225

Notes 237

Suggestions for Further

Reading 249

Index 261

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Wildly entertaining."—Matthew Remski, Reality Sandwich

"Engaging, challenging, myth-busting, and completely au courant."—Sean Feit, Nadalila.org

"A lively account of this sutra's unlikely history and how it has variously been interpreted, reinterpreted, ignored, and hailed."—Shambhala Sun

"An exhaustive, scholarly history of the titular work of ancient Indian philosophy, lightened by author David Gordon White's provocative wit."—Max Zahn, Tricycle

"A rich and elegant account."—Peter Valdina, Journal of Hindu Studies

Editorial Reviews

"A lively account of this sutra's unlikely history and how it has variously been interpreted, reinterpreted, ignored, and hailed. The colorful characters on these pages include Vivekananda and Krishnamacharya, two giants in modern yoga, as well as literary figures such as T.S. Eliot. There is also Alberuni, a Muslim scientist and scholar who translated a commentary on the Yoga Sutra a thousand years ago, and the outrageous Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who fused the principles of the Yoga Sutra with Western ideas of the occult."

Shambhala Sun

"White's scholarly read is a fascinating presentation of the rise, fall, and rediscovery of the Yoga Sutra. . . . It will appeal to those looking to expand their knowledge. Concise, yet showing fresh research, this book is well suited for academic and comprehensive yoga collections."—-Ajoke Kokodoko, Library Journal

"Engaging, challenging, myth-busting, and completely au courant, weaving into the debates on cultural appropriation, colonization, and the reinvention of yoga and South Asian spiritual practice in the postmodern west."—-Sean Feit, Nadalila.org

"A wildly entertaining tour-de-force of deconstructive research."—-Matthew Remski, Reality Sandwich

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
The four books of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra contain 196 sutras (aphorisms) that many believe to be the theoretical and philosophical basis of modern-day yoga. However, White (Yoga in Practice) shows how the work in its original form is not the basis of today's teachings. White explores its development, from Patanjali's esoteric Sanskrit text through its innumerable interpretations and translations. He clearly demonstrates the evolution of the works through a long line of commentaries and manipulations. In fact, the original text only has four verbs and is virtually incomprehensible to those who do not know Sanskrit. White discusses renowned and lesser-known progenitors, gurus, and disciples who made the ancient work accessible. Key figures covered include British orientalist Henry Thomas, who "discovered" the sutras in the early 1800s and made them palatable to Western civilization; Swami Vivekananda, whose English-language commentaries and book Raja Yoga (1896) ignited a U.S. passion for yoga; and Tirumalai Krishnamachrya, the "father of modern yoga." VERDICT White's scholarly read is a fascinating presentation of the rise, fall, and rediscovery of the Yoga Sutra. Though not essential for yoga practioners, it will appeal to those looking to expand their knowledge. Concise, yet showing fresh research, this book is well suited for academic and comprehensive yoga collections.—Ajoke Kokodoko, Oakland P.L.

Library Journal