Ashtanga Yoga

Man, by nature, wishes to keep away from suffering and attain pleasure, because suffering seems to him antagonistic while pleasure appears favourble to him. This is the reason that the object, person or place etc., that gives suffering to man, he tries to evade those causes which give him suffering. Often he thinks that when pleasures are enjoyed, his eyes and other external sense organs and inner-self feel satisfaction. This satisfaction helps to quench his thirst or desire; this quenching of the thirst or desire is called pleasure or happiness. However, in fact, all these are objects which are replete with mobility and outwardly pleasures, they do not give actual happiness; and if a person feels happy with them, it is only momentary.

Gunavrittivirodhat cha dhukhamev sarva vivekinah.

That is, the qualities (Sat, Raj or Tam), tendencies, interactions, tasks and natures only beget a yogi only suffering though they may appear to be happiness. Sat brings happiness, Raj brings suffering and Tam brings only attachment. These three are in contravention to each other, still when together, they produce different types of knowledge of tranquil happiness, acute suffering and lower desires respectively.

The origin is the cause due to which all sufferings occur. The only measure to prevent these sufferings is to focus the mind and purify the conduct, which can only be realized through Ashtanga Yoga.

Meaning of Ashtanga Yoga

According to Mahrishi Patanjali :

Yoganganushthanadashudwikshaye jnanadiptiravivekakhyateh.

That is, when the organs of Yoga are performed, the impure dirt particles are washed away and knowledge is sprouted from there, and it keeps increasing until it becomes virtuous knowledge, leading to the distinction between Prikriti and Purusha.

Yoga is considered to have eight components, abiding by which the impurities like ignorance, desire, attachment etc., are got rid of. As a practitioner conducts himself with Yoga, the defects of his mind become weak and his Chitta or mind becomes purer.

"Sages, hermits and yogis have mentioned eight types of measures which are used for purification of the body, mind and Prana, and for attainment of God; and these are called Ashtanga Yoga."

It is Yoga through which an effort is made to arrive at the state of Samadhi. In Yoga Darshan, Yoga has been termed as Raj Yoga, and to reach the stage of Raj Yoga, the only means remains Ashtanga Yoga.

With the performance of Ashtanga Yoga, impurity is destroyed and knowledge is illuminated, and this leads to virtue. According to a maxim of Yoga Sutra :

Yamaniyamasanapranayamaprityaharadharana dhyanasamadhayoashtavangani.

That is, the eight components of Yoga are Yam, Niyam, Asana, Pranayama, Prityahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi, and these eight components together are called Ashtanga Yoga.

Of these eight components, five are called external measures, which are Yam, Niyam, Asana, Pranayama and Prityahara; while the other three of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi make the internal measures. It is not possible to attain success in the internal measures without have perfected the external measures. Therefore, a practitioner should at first lay sufficient emphasis on the external measures.

The eight components of Ashtanga Yoga, as discussed above, are as follows :

1.      Yam or abstention.

2.      Niyam or observance.

3.      Asana or posture.

4.      Pranayama or breath control.

5.      Prityahara or sense control.

6.      Dharana or fixing the mind.

7.      Dhyana or meditation.

8.      Samadhi or concentration.