“Depending on whether the mind is in a state of Samādhi or not,
the person enjoys permanent happiness or
successive chains of unhappiness and happiness.
Those who accept nothing short of Samādhi,
freedom from the suffering of disease is realised.
After all, the root cause of disease is the disturbed mind,
when we cannot distinguish right from wrong or good from bad.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 34

T Krishnamacharya Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated

“Draṣṭṛ is one who initiates
and follows what is initiated.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 20

T Krishnamacharya Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated

“What is the nature of the Dṛśya or what can be perceived?
It has three qualities; it reveals, it acts, it has substance.

It has many components, the objects known and the means to know them.
They serve two roles.
When in strong association with the perceiver they produce pleasure or pain –
when this association is absent they let the perceiver visualise its own nature.

Experience of pleasure or pain is by the perceiver.
Freedom from them is also its fundamental situation.
This freedom is no different from Mukti.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 18

T Krishnamacharya Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated

“What causes Duḥkha?
In the school of Sāṃkhya it arises from within, or from external influences,
or from extraordinary phenomena such as drought, storm, earthquake.
However, the experience of Duḥkha is not the same for everyone.
The same circumstance may not bring Duḥkha in everyone.
Hence the cause of Duḥkha is association. Association implies “two”,
that which is “associated to” and that which is the “cause of association.”
In Yoga they are known as Draṣṭṛ and Dṛśya;
that which perceives and that which is perceived.
The next three Sūtra describe them.
How these two get associated is a subject matter of great debate.
Suffice it to say that this mystery is the Lord’s will.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 17

T Krishnamacharya Yoga Sūtra Study Quotes Collected and Collated

“Without Rajas Guṇa
there can be no Pariṇāma.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 16

“Working together with and directed by past impressions,
the three Guṇa, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas determine
whether the mind is calm, agitated or dull.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 4

“Good habits can be as enslaving as bad ones
and can also lead to Duḥkha.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 15

“During such a moment, without distractions,
the power of the source of perception,
full of clarity and completeness, shines forth.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 3

“This Sūtra introduces
what Patañjali calls Kriyā Yoga.
Kriyā in the sense of action.
Take the first step.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 1

“The mind acts in countless ways and all of them
stem from the power of past Karma Vāsanā.
This is why individuals differ from one another.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 6

“Nidrā or deep sleep is the state in which the
mind’s link with external stimuli is cut off.
In this state, Tamas is dominant.
Although in deep sleep the mind
has no link with anything external,
this does not exclude all links,
which is why we are often able to recall
whether our sleep was sound or disturbed.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 10

“Abhiniveśā is the extra-ordinairy
instinctive urge to survive at any cost.
No one is spared. In a way,
it is a dislike about one’s death.”
– T Krishnamacharya’s commentary to
Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 9