Pata jali's Yogasutra is an ancient canonic Indiantext composed in Sanskrit in the 3rd or 4th century. Belonging to a verydifferent cultural milieu, this multi-layered text is philosophical, psychological and practical in nature. Offering a philosophical reading ofPata jali's Yogasutra, this book discusses themes such as freedom, self-identity, timeand transcendence, and translation - between languages, cultures and eras. Drawing substantially upon contemporary Indian materials, it discussesfor the first time classical yoga as reflected upon by Daya Krishna (1924-2007)with constant reference to Krishna Chandra Bhattacharyya's (1875-1949) studiesin yoga philosophy. The genuine attempt on behalf of these two originalthinkers to engage philosophically with Pata jala-yoga sets the tone of thetextual exploration provided here. This book features a new annotated translation ofthe Yogasutra, and the author provides a useful background to the extensive Samkhya terminologyemployed by Pata jali. Daniel Raveh also offers a close reflection of the veryact of translation, and the book concludes with suggestions for further readingand a glossary of central notions.


Daniel Raveh is Lecturer of Indian and Comparative Philosophy at Tel Aviv University, Israel.