The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali

A Biography

By: David Gordon White

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Consisting of fewer than 200 verses written in an obscure if not impenetrable language and style, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is today extolled by the yoga establishment as a perennial classic and guide to yoga practice. As David Gordon White demonstrates in this groundbreaking study, both of these assumptions are incorrect. 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 - and translated into more than 40 languages - only in the course of the past 40 years.

White retraces the strange and circuitous journey of this confounding work from its ancient origins down through its heyday in the seventh through eleventh centuries, its gradual fall into obscurity, and its modern resurgence since the nineteenth century. First introduced to the West by the British Orientalist Henry Thomas Colebrooke, the Yoga Sutra was revived largely in Europe and America, and predominantly in English. White brings to life the improbable cast of characters whose interpretations - and misappropriations - of the Yoga Sutra led to its revered place in popular culture today. Tracing the remarkable trajectory of this enigmatic work, White’s exhaustively researched book also demonstrates why the yoga of India’s past bears little resemblance to the yoga practiced today.

©2014 Princeton University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Excellent historical context of the Patanjali sutras

I should start with my estimation that I am a partisan of both yoga and serious history.

I have been practicing yoga for 10 years and read a fair amount of books about the history and philosophy behind the physical routines.

Some of the teachers I like enjoy venturing in lengthy dharma talks of various quality, new age style. They have an somewhat amusing somewhat worrisome attitude of deep knowledge of yoga history and philosophy that is full of inconsistencies and makes it sounds like sloganeering that cheapens the practice.

This book helps put the Patanjali sutras in its historical context and details it’s relationship with the yoga practiced in the West today.
Yoga it’s a fantastic practice beyond that most of its adepts understand and this book does not dispute this.

Not sure why many people got personally insulted by this straightening of the record.

Exceptional Scholarship

This is absolute required reading for anyone who has thought to apply Yoga Philosophy and Modern Yoga practice. Sane, rational, and highly discerning undertaking

Very poor - a total waste of money

This book is pure garbage. it might be of interest to history buffs, but has nothing to do with the Yoga Sutras as a practice.

Extremely in-depth analysis

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book goes above and beyond to determine the history of the Yoga Sutra.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali?

No one in particular, but overall was very thought provoking.

What does Peter Ganim bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He pronounces names and words in sanskrit very well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Kind of. It's rather long though, and my brain needed a break to digest the confounding info.

Any additional comments?

While this book left me without an answer, it was certainly an enjoyable ride, analyzing the history of the work.

A compelling historical account of The Yoga Sutras

A very interesting look at how multitudes of cultures in different times and space reinterpret and reinvent textual and intellectual objects from the past to fit current needs and desires.

A different take on Patanjali and Yoga

Thorough research of alternative theories on the origin and significance of Yoga Sutras, from earliest records until recent years.

Plenty of controversy as to the author of aphorysms and commentaries; excellent read for yoga practitioners interested in its philosophy.

Essential study of Yoga without bias.

It is a shame that so many reviewers have dismissed this book because of the challenges it presents to their preconceived beliefs about the history of Yoga. And what an interesting history it has! Did you know that many Indian Yogis were armed ascetics and not quite the peaceful image portrayed in classic stories? Or that the Yoga Sutras fell out of favor for a couple of hundred years and that Tantric Yoga has very little relation to it? Fascinating stuff!
I can sympathize a bit with other listeners who find the tone to be condescending, but that is all the fault of Peter Ganim whose judgmental narration is matched only by his strange pronunciation of Sanskrit words (Bahgvaada Getaaa?).
If you can overlook this fault, you will learn everything about Yoga that is actually worth knowing.

Very Thankful for this Work!

Would you listen to The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali again? Why?

Yes, I plan to listen to it several times. Many yogis use dates and facts that are not supported by the facts. Doesn't mean they are wrong, they just can't be supported. i.e. "Yoga as described in the Sutras goes back 5,000 years." Maybe, but probably not. I'm interested in what is really "known" about the sutras. Let's start with the truth, then build from there. If a yogi is afraid of the truth, I'm not sure that's a good foundation for their practice.

What did you like best about this story?

Historical context & accuracy.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Yoga Sutras Exposed: What We Really Know.

Any additional comments?

It's hard to find a fair, purely academic treatment of Yoga. I'm sorry to see the yoga practitioners who rate this work poorly. One person gave this 1 star because they meant to purchase a traditional commentary, so instead of taking responsibility for their mistake, they took it out on the work. Not a shining example of yogic Ahimsa. The next reviewer found it a hubristic, cynical, sarcastic, and racist diatribe that is "veiled" as academic. So much so that they didn't complete it. Hmmm. No examples provide to support their position, no attempt to illustrate how the work is academically incorrect. If there was ever a need to practice Satya (2nd limb, 2nd observance: truth in thought, word, and deed), this is it. If you feel the work is bad, then state it as a feeling, not as a fact. If you're going to state is a fact, then back it up with examples, so the reader can decide for themselves. While I'm neither a practioner nor an academic, I do find it sad how yogic practitioners can behave so badly when confronted with an academic treatment of the texts they hold dear. It's not a question of intelligence: many of them sound highly intelligent, as the reader above who found the work hubristic. But, instead of attacking back because we feel our beliefs were attacked, we need to meet the academics on their battlefield and engage. Not launch potshots from a safe distance.

Great! But about the sutra in Indian philosophy

I saw where a few reviewers were pretty bitter when, after they bought the book, they found out that it was not a translation and commentary on the Sutra. (One reviewer pretty much called the author a “smarty pants scholar” 🤗) Please note the subtitle — “a biography.” Frankly, I was as surprised as any of those reviewers, so I think the book’s description could very much improved.

If you want to know about the history of yoga philosophy in all its forms, and how and where that philosophy came from, and where the “yoga sutra” fits in that tradition, this is the book for you. If you want a deep dive into how to study and understand a text as old as the “yoga sutra”, this is the book for you. And if you wondered how Indian philosophy fits in with the great Indian epics, this is the book for you. And if you like well-written and well-read books on subjects you never gave too much thought about, this is the book for you.

But, as the author notes early on, the “yoga sutra” means a lot to modern teachers of the discipline of yoga. If he is right about it being required reading for “certified” yoga instructors, and if you like the practice of yoga as it is done today, the author is very blunt or perhaps even insensitive when he makes it clear right from the beginning, that you have been misled about the contents of the “yoga sutra.” Or as one reviewer angrily put it, “it’s clear the writer does not practice yoga.” Yes, I’m afraid that seems to be true. But if you grit your teeth and press on reading the book with an open mind, and I think you’ll like it anyway.

Brilliant. DGW is in top form once again...

Any seeking to get the bearings straight with regards to philosophical and historical yoga would do well to listen to this audio book. kudos!