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( Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)
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Hindu scriptures The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are an ancient, foundational text of Yoga. In Indian philosophy, Yoga is the name of one of the six orthodox philosophical schools.[1][2] Though brief, the Yoga Sutras are an enormously influential work on yoga philosophy and practice, just as relevant today as when first composed. The Sanskrit word yoga, as used in the work, refers to a state of mind where thoughts and feelings are suspended or held in check (Sanskrit nirodha), and sutra means "thread". This is a reference to the thread of a Japa mala (Hindu prayer beads), upon which the aphorisms that make up the work are strung like beads. The title is sometimes rendered in English as the Yoga Aphorisms. The Sutras are ascribed to Patanjali, who, may have been, as Max Müller explains, "the author or representative of the Yoga-philosophy without being necessarily the author of the Sutras."[3] Radhakrishnan and Moore attribute the text to Patanjali, dating it as 2nd century BCE.[4] Scholars such as S.N. Dasgupta[5], claim this is the same Patanjali who authored the Mahabhasya, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar[6].
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