BTI Consortium  |  Last Updated April 21, 2026 - 6:00PM

The brief Yoga Sutras (only 195 sutras) of Patanjali (c 100 BCE-100 CE) is a vastly influential and fundamental text of yoga. It is the focus of the course, along with its primary commentary (Vyasa's Bhasya) in several translations, and with the 20th century commentator of Swami Hariharananda, a mystic practitioner. What was Patanjali up to? What are the Sutras for? What do the Sutras tell us about the meaning and purpose of yoga then and now? We will both stress the importance of the Yoga Sutras and be mindful that the Sutras are not the only normative authority regarding yoga. Though not a course about the practice of yoga or yoga in the modern world, it is always attentive to the implications for practice, and thus potentially of great use for practitioners and teachers today. Apt comparisons will be made with ancient Hindu and Buddhist parallels, other syntheses of yoga, Al-Biruni's 11th c. Arabic translation, and modern Christian interpretations of the Sutras. Weekly written responses, plus two twelve-page course papers. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1661.