The aphorisms collected in this book, first published in 1953, were composed by Patanjali, a great Indian sage, over 1,500 years ago, and here translated into clear English prose. The accompanying commentary interprets the sayings for the modern world, and in doing so gives a full picture of what yoga is, what its aims are, and how it can be practised.

The editor compiled lectures of the translator with the individual verses of the translator's published book "Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God." The Bhagavad Gita is one of the major scriptures of Hinduism.