Links to Related Resources & Longer Articles:

• 108 Saṃskṛta Key Terms Pointers – Collected and Collated
• 39 – AṢṬĀṄGA YOGA Download all the Glossary Links as a Collated PDF
• All models for meditation have a preliminary step, Pūrva Aṅga……
• Compendium of Quotes from TKV Desikachar on the Yoga of T Krishnamacharya……
• I do feel that verses 10 and 11 Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two offer……
• In exploring the links between Āsana and the Breath and Prāṇāyāma…
• Īśvara Praṇidhānā appears as a Sādhana Upāya at three unique reference points…
• Laṅghana Kriyā has two functional dimensions…
• Nāma, Rūpa, Lakṣana – The Name, Form and Characteristics of Āsana
• The Ten Senses or Das Indriya are the gateway between…….
• Within the Yoga Sutra Patañjali offers numerous lists which can reflect nuances or gradings…

Collated Related Short Posts & Quotes:

“Through devotion and surrender to Īśvara
and by following the eight limbs of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga,
the benefits of Samādhi are realised with as little effort
as it takes to hold a pea in the palm of your hand.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 24

“Can these four Yoga Aṅga – Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma
– be practiced by everyone at every stage of life?
How often and how long should one practice?
How can we adapt our practice to changing circumstances?
These questions and others like them must be answered by a competent teacher,
according to each student’s individual circumstances.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 30

“In introducing the dual Upāya
within the role of the Sādhana Krama
outlined in Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two,
Patañjali introduces Kriya Yoga as a
Śamanam Sādhana, before integrating
its purpose into Aṣṭāṅga Yoga with its
deeper intention as a Śodhanam Sādhana.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“According to Patañjali, we firstly need to appreciate
how we choose to inhabit our inner space, within our
personal world, as in the Niyama within Kriyā Yoga.
Only from there can we more fully appreciate how we
can choose how we inhabit our outer space, within our
interpersonal world, as in the Yama within Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“Can reflection on the relationship
between Svadharma and Dharma
be deepened through the lens of
viewing Niyama within Kriya Yoga,
and Yama as within Aṣṭāṅga Yoga?
This viewpoint, offered by Patañjali, is
one that suggests a preliminary Personal
Svadharma Sādhana, in terms of the three
Niyama introduced as Kriya Yoga in the
opening section in the Sādhana Pādaḥ.
Here, this foundational relationship
offers a Vinyāsa Krama towards how
we can intelligently embrace the more
complex Universal Dharma Sādhana,
in terms of the five Yama within the
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, that follows later in
the Sādhana Pādaḥ of the Yoga Sūtra.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“According to Patañjali, we initiate our
Sādhana by firstly looking at ourselves,
in terms of our Personal Svadharma via
Kriya Yoga. This aspect of our Sādhana
involves the three activities that nurture
a state of Yoga, namely self-discipline,
self–inquiry and self–awareness.
From there we can be clearer about
what is our place and potential within
the role and purpose of the Universal
Dharma inherent within the Bāhya Aṅga
aspect of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga in Chapter Two.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two

“Kriyā Yoga is more about
working with the symptoms.
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga is more about
working with their cause.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2

“Building banks to channel
the flow of the river of
Kleśa is Kriyā Yoga.
Building a dam to block
the flow of Kleśa as
we journey upstream
going back to the source
of the flow is Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 10

“The arrangement of Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two involves four components:
1. Duḥkha – What is it that I want to avoid?
2. Avidyā/Saṃyoga – Association or from where has this come?
3. Kaivalya/Viveka – Where should we be in order to be free from this association?
4. Viveka/Aṣṭāṅga – What is the way?
What is the discipline that will give Viveka, not just for a moment, but there all the time?
This is the place of Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verses 16 – 28

“When approaching  the Bāhya Aṅga
aspects inherent in Aṣṭāṅga Yoga,
we could start by looking at the social
and private indicators  of Yama and
Niyama from a personal starting point,
rather than a universal aspiration point.
This is a concept that can appear to be
contrary to more usual expectations
within the Yoga world whereby we are
often given a set of universal standardised
principles which we are urged to constantly
aspire to and strive towards realising.
A concept, by its very nature, prone to
triggering additional factors such as
personalised self-esteem conflicts, both
overly positive, as well as overly negative,
let alone being, self or other ‘Yoga Judged’,
as the bar that we are often presented
with is seemingly set extremely high.
This can be further blurred by the
issues of judgement from others formed
from inherent expectations based on a
personalised perception of how near to,
and especially how far from, we are to some
internalised judgement of a universal ‘goal’.
Rather than one based on an understanding
of the ‘others’ situation in terms of how far
we have moved from our starting point
relative to our inherent Karma, given our
early life patterns and social upbringing.
This shift of reference point of view was
commented on by Desikachar in 1976:
“Progress must be seen as the
distance from the starting point,
rather than the more usual reference of
the distance from the finishing point.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 30

“The Dasa Indriya or ten senses of experience and action,
whilst seen as belonging to the Bāhya Aṅga or five external limbs
in the eight limb Aṣṭa Aṅga Yoga of Patañjali,
are also the gateway to the Antar Aṅga or three internal limbs.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 54

“The practice which is Śodhana for the Antar Aṅga
is Antaraṅga Sādhana.”
– T Krishnamacharya introduction to Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three

“Dhyānam is the seventh Aṅga of the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga.
In order to experience Dhyānam, the sixth step,
Dhāraṇā, should have been practiced thoroughly.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 1

“Before launching on Antar Aṅga Sādhana,
one should be a Niṣṭhāvān in Bāhya Aṅga Sādhana.
If this earlier stage is very well established,
then only a teacher may teach Dhyāna.”
– T Krishnamacharya 1984

“There are also fundamental differences between Yoga and Vedānta.
And, if at all we can link them, it is as follows:
Yoga is a means towards Vedānta for those who are interested.
Vedānta involves a lot of enquiry and reflection, and also demands the development of Bhakti, and, for both the mind and for the individual, Yoga is the means towards Bhakti.
Also, Vedānta is Jñāna Mārga, and a state of mind that is necessary for Jñāna can only come through the practice of Aṣṭāṅga.”
– TKV Desikachar from lectures on ‘The Yoga of T Krishnamacharya’, given at Zinal, Switzerland 1981.

“Often Dhyāna fails because one is not able to reach the first stage,
the Pūrva Aṅga.
Often one wants to go to the second stage
without going through the first one,
and that is not possible.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988

“The arrangement of Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two involves four components:
1. Duḥkha – What is it that I want to avoid?
2. Avidyā/Saṃyoga – Association or from where has this come?
3. Kaivalya/Viveka – Where should we be in order to be free from this association?
4. Viveka/Aṣṭāṅga– What is the way?
What is the discipline that will give Viveka, not just for a moment, but there all the time?
This is the place of Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar January 9th 1999

“According to Aṣṭāṅga Yoga,
Āsana is a dynamic or static
position of the body and its role
is to prepare for and enhance
the practice of Prāṇāyāma.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“Duḥkha is the starting point for the
Yoga journey of four junctures from:
the symptom, as in Duḥkha or suffering,
to the cause, as in Avidyā or illusion,
to the goal, as in Kaivalya or independence;
via the tools, as in Aṣṭāṅga or 8 limbed path,
for the means, as in Viveka or discernment.
This ancient fourfold process is at the heart of
the teachings in Yoga, Āyurveda & Buddhism.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers

“The First and Second Chapters of the Yoga Sūtra
can be linked to the teaching concepts of
Śikṣaṇa, Rakṣaṇa and Cikitsā Krama.
In that the Samādhi Yoga in Chapter One
can be seen as apt for a Śikṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is discernment, as in
exploring what lies within the sense of I-Am.
Whereas in Chapter Two, the Kriya Yoga section
can be seen as being apt for a Cikitsā situation,
whereby the primary aim is recovering, as in
reducing agitation through lifestyle changes.
and the Bāhya Aṅga section of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga
can be seen as being apt for a Rakṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is establishing stability,
through a formal practice within a Yoga Sādhana.”
– 108 Yoga Teaching Path Pointers

“How do we refocus on the limbs of
Aṣṭāṅga Yoga and the stretching
or strengthening of the Mind,
rather than the more usual focus
we find on the limbs of the Body
and the stretching or strengthening
of the muscles, tendons and joints?”
– 108 Yoga Teaching Path Pointers