Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras - A Theosophical Bibliography

One of the great accomplishments of the Theosophical Society was to help popularize Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Gordon White observes: “In spite of its founders’ misadventures, the Theosophical Society may be credited with having projected yoga onto the magnetosphere of the late nineteenth- century Indian and Western consciousness” (The "Yoga Sutra of Patanjali": A Biography. Princeton University Press, 2014, p 105). Indeed, from 1885 to 1912, the Theosophical Society was virtually the lone publisher of English translations of the Yoga Sutras (with the exception of  Swami Vivekananda, Raja Yoga, 1896) releasing six versions, and have published at least a dozen translations over the years. Below are a selection, all still well worth investigating, with a few recent translations from other publishers, which are recommended.

A First translation of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in English containing the first two chapters by J.R Ballyntyne was published by the Benaras College in 1853. In 1872 Govind Deva Shastri completed the remaining two chapters. The complete book was published in 1883 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

1- 1885. A revised edition, of the J.R Ballantyne, Govind Shastri Deva translation, edited by Tookaram Tatya, The Yoga Philosophy with comments of Bhojaraja, was published by the Bombay Theosophical publication fund. Bhoja (reigned c. 1010–1055 CE) was a monarch from the Paramara dynasty. 

https://blavatskyarchives.com/theosophypdfs/tatya_the_yoga_philosophy_of_patanjali.pdf#

2- 1889. William Quan Judge published The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali in New York, using the Ballantyne/Shastri Deva translation, with occasional comments by Judge, which although short, remain relevant for their unique practical understanding. 

https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/patanjal/patanyog.htm#

3- 1890. Manilal N. Dvivedi. The Yoga-sūtras of Patanjali.Sanskrit Text and English Translation Together, with an Introduction and an Appendix, and Notes on Each Sutra Based upon Several Authentic Commentaries. Bombay Theosophical publication fund.The first original theosophical translation with  original commentary in a popular style. 

https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/dvivedi1890?sid=e0ac846ebef9dee4518981fa37fe8818&ui_lang=eng

4- 1910. Rama Prasad. Patanjali Yoga Sutras with commentary of Vyasa and gloss of Vachaspati Mishra.  Vachaspati Mishra was a ninth or tenth century Indian Hindu philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, who wrote bhasya (commentaries) on key texts of almost every 9th-century school of Hindu philosophy.  Also wrote "Self-Culture of the Yoga of Patanjali" in 15 parts, "The Theosophist", 1906-1907.

https://archive.org/details/PatanjalisYogaSutraswithTheCommentaryOfVyasaAndTheGlossOfVachaspatiMisraRamaPrasadTranslation

5- 1907. GanganathaJha (translator) The Yoga Darśana: The Sutras of Patañjali with the Bhāṣya of Vyāsa. With notes from Vācaspati Miśra's Tattvavaiśāradī, Vijnana Bhiksu's Yogavartika and Bhoja's Rajamartanda. Rajaram Tukaram Tatya: Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund.

Probably the first edition that is both popular and of scholarly quality. It establishes the importance of Vyasa's commentary and gives a straightforward modern commentary.   

https://archive.org/details/yogasutrasofpatanjalibhashyaofvyasaganganathajha1907_202003_737_f

6- 1912. Charles Johnston. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. New York: Quarterly Book Department. A solid, practical translation from a good Sanskrit scholar.

https://universaltheosophy.com/cj/yoga-sutras-1909/

7- 1914. Daniel R. Stephen. Patañjali for Western Readers. London: Theosophical Publishing Company, The Yoga Aphorisms of Patañjali Paraphrased and Modernised from Various English Translations and Recensions.

8- 1948. Ernest Wood. Practical Yoga, Ancient and Modern. New York: E. P. Dutton, A New and Independent Translation of Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms, Interpreted in the Light of Ancient and Modern Psychological Knowledge and Practical Experience.

http://digital.march.es/cortazar/fedora/repository/cortazar:1735/PDF 

9- 1961. I.K. Taimni. "The Science Of Yoga". Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, IL. Translation and commentary from Advaita Vedanta perspective using modernized Theosophical terms. 

https://www.yogastudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Science_of_Yoga-Taimni.pdf#

10- 1963. Hariharananda Aranya. Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali: Containing His Yoga Aphorisms with Vyasa's Commentary in Sanskrit and a Translation with Annotations Including Many Suggestions for the Practice of Yoga (1882), trans. into English by P.N. Mukerji. State University of New York Press, Albany.  Swami Hariharananda Aranya (1869–1947) was a yogi, author, and founder of Kapil Math in Madhupur, India, which is the only monastery in the world that actively teaches and practices Samkhya philosophy.

11- 1989. Georg Feuerstein. The Yoga-Sutra of Patañjali: A New Translation and Commentary. Dr. Georg Feuerstein Ph.D (27 May 1947 – 25 August 2012) was a German Indologist specializing in the philosophy and praxis of Yoga. Feuerstein authored over 30 books on mysticism, Yoga, Tantra, and Hinduism. He translated, among other traditional texts, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita. 

12-1990. Sankara on the Yoga Sutras: Vivarana Sub-commentary to Vyasabhasya on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Trevor Leggett. First printed in 1952, some think that this text is by the great Advaita Vedanta teacher, but most think otherwise. Nonetheless, it is an interesting commentary by an experienced Vedanta philosopher.

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/SankaraYogaSutras.pdf 

 

For an esoteric perspective on the Yoga Sutras, see: 

https://universaltheosophy.com/jwf/patanjali/