Learn the Yoga Sutras in Mysore

At Sachidananda Yoga Shala, Ganesh Bhat teaches the Patanjali Yoga Sutras as part of our 200-hour and 300-hour Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training Course.

The sage Patanjali compiled the Yoga Sutras at least 1,700 years ago. Scholars and practitioners still treat it as one of yoga’s core texts on both practice and philosophy. The Sutras first define the goal of yoga itself, then describe how to reach it — including the eight limbs, which lay out how to live a yogic life, and the results that come from regular, dedicated practice.

“Sutra” means thread. The name reflects how the 196 aphorisms connect: each one builds on the last, tied together like beads on a single thread. Together, they guide the reader through four chapters, or padas:

• Samadhi Pada — the results of yoga practice, and the nature of the goal itself
• Sadhana Pada — the discipline: the practices and methods used to reach that goal
• Vibhuti Pada — the extraordinary abilities, or siddhis, that can arise through sustained practice
• Kaivalya Pada — liberation, the final stage the earlier three padas lead toward