The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation and Commentary

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: Criticizing other's interpretations of the sutra is not the way to expound your own understanding (or lack of it) of this classic yoga text. Yoga is a practical science, not an academic exposition of your point of view. If you want to gain a working, practical understanding of the sutra to deepen your own personal practice, try a translation by one of the Indian interpreters such as I.K. Taimni.

Rating:
Summary: Fearless Rendering
Review: Eminent scholar Georg Feuerstein offers an incredibly lucid, thorough rendering and commentary on Pantanjali's opaque Yoga Sutras. The introduction to the book is particularly useful to the newer student of yogic philosophy as it offers a historical context to situate the philosophical paradigms of Classical Yoga. As a teacher of yoga, I suggest that all my students read the book to familiarize themselves with the true essence of the yoga practice. However the most important contribution of Dr. Feuerstein's translation of the Yoga Sutras is his faithfulness to the dualist ideology indicated by Patanjali. There is some contemporary scholarly debate whether Patanjali indicates the necessity to leave the body in order to find true liberation, and Feuerstein fearlessly translates the ideas set forth in the scripture. According to Feuerstein's translation (and others) it is undoubtedly suggested that Pantanjali indicates the necessity for the advanced practioner to relieve him or herself from the suffering induced by the clinging to life (Sutra 2. 3) and so it is a logical and philosophically sound conclusion to understand that Patanjali indicated a full cessation of the physical body in order for the aspirant to realize true liberation. Facing this clinging to life (abhinivesa) or will to live as a source of suffering can induce a kind of denial, even on the scholarly level. Yet Feuerstein, as in all of his other books, investigates the subjects with compassion and without trepidation. Feuerstein's contributions to the study of yoga are of inestimable wealth to 21st century yoga practioners and scholar. One certain point to start the deep study of authentic yoga philosophy is with his transformational rendering of Pantajali's Yoga Sutras.

Rating:
Summary: A lucid, approachable commentary
Review: Georg Feuerstein is one of the great scholar/practitioners of our generation, and he has done tremendous service in the transmission of authentic yoga from India to the West. In the "Yoga Sutra of Patanjali" He shines the sun of his intellect and the moon of his devotion on one of the principle yogic texts. This light has produced an important book which I highly recommend. It is obvious that Feuerstein has studied Patanjali's work extensively, and he shares the results of his labors in a lucid, approachable manner. He reviews the history of the Yoga Sutra and the significant commentaries that have shaped the structure of Classical Yoga. Feuerstein's translation is penetrating and rings with the honesty of a scholar, while his commentary is infused with the insight of a yogi who has struggled with the labors of spiritual growth. I think anyone wishing to deepen his or her knowledge of the yogic tradition will enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: I am presently studying Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras with about sixteen other students. The fact that Patanjali's sutras are, by there very nature, brief to the extreme (sometimes only sentence fragments) presents a real challenge and a dilemma for the student. What is the real meaning of these sutras as intended by Patanjali and how is this meaning to be understood in the larger context of yoga philosophy and practice? One has only to see the large number of translations available in the market, all differing on key points of philosophy and understanding, to experience this dilemma. In Georg Feurstein's book "The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali" I found the translation and commentary to be straight to the point and very useful. In his book,, Feurstein first examines and exposes the philosophical ground of Yoga philosophy thus helping the student to build a basis on which to understand Patanjali's sutras. Then Feurstein, prior to beginning the translation of the sutras, presents an overview of the topics discussed by Patanjali. And then, in translating and commenting on the sutras, Feurstein first presents the sutra in transliterated Roman script and then gives a word by word translation along with the Sanskrit breakdown and derivation, if important. He then translates the sutra and offers a detailed commentary. At the end of the book he offers two appendices which I found quite useful; "Continuous translation" of the sutras; and Word Index of the Yoga-Sutra. Feursteins understanding of the "language of yoga" is apparent. With confidence, Feurstein easily guides us through bumpy and difficult terrain which are the Yoga Sutras. His translations of the sutras were perceptive and understandable and his commentary was illumined. I continue to find this book to be very helpful in my yoga studies and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interesting in understanding Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

Rating:
Summary: Among the best - still missing somethings
Review: I have looked at atleast 8 translations of Patanjali. Dr. Feurstein's is among the best. Particularly appealing is his defining Sanskrit roots, however, I wish he would have had the text in Sanskrit as well as transliteration. At times he gets overly pedantic and I believe misses the meaning of the sutra. It is the problem with all the available translations. Some of his translations don't make sense. Once again a common problem. At times he comes forth with very astute observations. It is not easy to get to Kaivalya from here.

Rating:
Summary: can't say good or bad, depends on your interest, who you are
Review: what's so opaque about the aphorisms that writers start to pre-interpret them for you, invariably tinted with their own precepts and ideas? It's a little like somebody chewing your food for you. The aphorisms are not that opaque and its an enjoyable and useful excercise to read them in their simple, bare and clear form, until the understanding comes - your own realizations rather then someone elses. You could read a book like this over the weekend, but I'm not sure it's supposed to be read like that. It seems better you should do the mental work yourself, aphorism by aphorism. There is an effect to this, which could be lost if it's all been solved and explained for you. Therefore I prefer authors that appeared to be going to great lengths to avoid adding too much of their own coloring, like William Q. Judge's interpretation from 1914. That is regrettably only available from Kessinger in bound photocopy format. I wish somebody would make a decent new print of it.

Anyways, Patanjali's aphorisms are worth the time in any form and I shall thank any author who spent his time to bring them to more of us, different introductions will appeal to different people.