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squid_vicious 's review for:
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra
by Patanjali
My Penguin Classic edition of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra begins with a long introduction, by translator Shyam Ranganathan, about the many challenges faced when translating philosophical texts, especially when you are trying to make them clear and accurate to an audience that comes for a completely different cultural background as the person who wrote the original text, many centuries later. While that 60 odd pages can seem boring at first glance, as a bilingual person (and as someone interested in very old Asian philosophy), I find this sort of thing fascinating, because the choice of words can affect the reader’s interpretation to an incredible level. It is, therefore, an incredibly daunting and nuanced task to try to bring the meaning to life in a way that will be understood by an audience that might as well be from a different planet as the person who came up with the original words.
The translation and commentary on the Yoga Sutra I had read before this one were Desikachar’s, in “The Heart of Yoga” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3141447777). His version was concise, but it also was simply meant as an introduction, and not a deep dive into the text. Ranganathan’s version, on the other hand, is much more fleshed out. And while a bit long and scholarly, his introduction is actually not be skipped, as it serves as a reading guide for the rest of the text. For each line of the Sutra, he offers the Sanskrit, the phonetic pronunciation, then several potentially correct English equivalencies for the Sanskrit words used in the original, followed by his rephrasing – and finally, his commentary and interpretation of the Sutra. Whew!
His commentary is obviously the bulk of the book, and they are extremely informative, as he uses them to give the reader plenty of context (historical, social, philosophical) and to de-mystify the short sentences that make up the Sutra. But his tone and style is very academic, so while I found it clear and straightforward, I can see how it might be a bit ponderous to some readers.
I was not surprized to find a fair amount of overlap between the philosophical and moral aspect of the Sutra and the Buddhist Precepts and Zen philosophy: the systems obviously run along very similar lines, though they are not identical.
While I am not sure reading the Yoga Sutra is necessary for everyone interested in practicing yoga (I mean here the physical exercise version of yoga, which the Sutra actually refers to as tapa), they are a very interesting text of Indian philosophy, and for people looking to deepen their tapa/asana practice and approach yoga a holistic way, this translation is clear, accessible and the commentary informative and inspiring. I do plan on reading a few different translations and commentaries: I think this is the sort of text that definitely deserves multiple readings and perspectives.
The translation and commentary on the Yoga Sutra I had read before this one were Desikachar’s, in “The Heart of Yoga” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3141447777). His version was concise, but it also was simply meant as an introduction, and not a deep dive into the text. Ranganathan’s version, on the other hand, is much more fleshed out. And while a bit long and scholarly, his introduction is actually not be skipped, as it serves as a reading guide for the rest of the text. For each line of the Sutra, he offers the Sanskrit, the phonetic pronunciation, then several potentially correct English equivalencies for the Sanskrit words used in the original, followed by his rephrasing – and finally, his commentary and interpretation of the Sutra. Whew!
His commentary is obviously the bulk of the book, and they are extremely informative, as he uses them to give the reader plenty of context (historical, social, philosophical) and to de-mystify the short sentences that make up the Sutra. But his tone and style is very academic, so while I found it clear and straightforward, I can see how it might be a bit ponderous to some readers.
I was not surprized to find a fair amount of overlap between the philosophical and moral aspect of the Sutra and the Buddhist Precepts and Zen philosophy: the systems obviously run along very similar lines, though they are not identical.
While I am not sure reading the Yoga Sutra is necessary for everyone interested in practicing yoga (I mean here the physical exercise version of yoga, which the Sutra actually refers to as tapa), they are a very interesting text of Indian philosophy, and for people looking to deepen their tapa/asana practice and approach yoga a holistic way, this translation is clear, accessible and the commentary informative and inspiring. I do plan on reading a few different translations and commentaries: I think this is the sort of text that definitely deserves multiple readings and perspectives.