The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali ― The Essential Yoga Texts for Spiritual Enlightenment

Features the practical and philosophical foundations of Raja Yoga, the most important text in Eastern religion, translated by Swami Vivekananda, with his commentary.

Composed by the famous Indian sage sometime between the first and third centuries CE, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali sets forth the practical and philosophical foundations of Raja Yoga. These aphorisms clearly mark out the path to Self-Realization, and their influence has been profound throughout the millennia. They are still regularly used today by those interested in the Yogic approach to self-knowledge and are open to anyone of any religion. The Sutras are presented here in a free form translation, with an insightful running commentary that makes them easily understandable to the modern reader and yoga practitioner.

Swami Vivekananda Bengali: 12 January 1863 - 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.
Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his Guru, Ramakrishna Deva, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind.