“If Śarīra leads Ātma, there is Kleśa.
The cause of this is Karma Vāsana and Mithyā Indriya.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2

“How we feel during the action is the quality of the action.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 13

“All actions are not rooted in Kleśa.
Those done when Kleśa are subdued produce joy.
Others produce different degrees of agony.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 14

“Svabhava is Karma Vāsana.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Five verse 14

“The mind is an accumulation of actions and memories of actions.
This conditions us to act as we have been acting.
In doing so, we cannot detect that things are changing and therefore,
our actions might go wrong.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Six Page 85

“We must act in life,
but we should not be disappointed
by the results of our actions
for we may often act imperfectly.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘Various Approaches to Yoga’
Chapter Seventeen Page 242

“Another way the mind functions is called Vikṣipta.
We act but we have doubts;
distractions come about,
there are obstacles.
The set direction does not look right
and we don’t know what to do about it.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘The Way the Mind Functions and the Concept of Nirodha’
Chapter Eighteen Page 251

“What we try to do in Yoga is simply to create conditions so
that the mind becomes a most useful instrument for action.
And this can only be done gradually.
Any “short-cut method” is an illusion.
This gradual procedure may involve a number of intelligent means,
all of which come within the realm of Yoga Sādhana.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘The Way the Mind Functions and the Concept of Nirodha’
Chapter Eighteen Page 253

“One’s own actions can develop or make one Guṇa prominent.
Thus we can plan or practice Āsana or Prāṇāyāma to promote one Guṇa.
The practice of Yoga can influence the Guṇa.
the room where you practice can affect the Guṇa
by photographs, colour of paint, smell.
Even Mantra are classified into Guṇa.
This needs to be considered when using Mantra for the individual.
Meditation can be related to the Guṇa.
The object of our inquiry must be related or,
in accordance with what we want to produce.”
– TKV Desikachar on Sāṃkhya and Yoga

Question to TKV Desikachar on Yama and Niyama:
“The idea behind Yama and Niyama is the attitude we have to the inside and outside.
If I don’t know what is true there is no question of telling the truth.
However there is the intention, because one day it may become a reality.
Even though some of these things are not there in the beginning, if the intention is sincere then one day it will become an action if conditions and our psychological state change.
Yama as telling the truth also means discretion.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“The relationship we have developed with the fruits of our actions is Īśvara Praṇidhānā”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“Patañjali says if we fail in our action it is because we started wrong.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“The Hindu Veda classify Dhyāna into three major but not water-tight divisions:

1. Karma – actions, the details, precise actions and results of rituals, such as the how and where you sit; considered most important for  Dhyāna.

2. Jñāna – inquiry, into anything from the lowest to the highest, such as God, myself, Prāṇa, Brahma, etc; recognising absolutely one object of inquiry, not many.

3. Bhakti – trying to connect myself with the highest force; to accept the absolute power of God – that he is Master and Teacher, the only reality.

Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra, the definitive text on Yoga, classifies Dhyāna in different yet similar terms.”

– TKV Desikachar Madras December 20th 1988

“Actions either take us forwards or backwards.”
– TKV Desikachar

“One of the purposes of Yoga is to help us with the challenge of
discerning between what is our Dharma and what is our Karma.”