Table of Contents

Dramatis Personae vii Preface xv Chapter 1 Reading the Yoga Sutra in the Twenty-First Century: Modern Challenges, Ancient Strategies 1 Chapter 2 Patanjali, the Yoga Sutra, and Indian Philosophy 18 Chapter 3 Henry Thomas Colebrooke and the Western "Discovery" of the Yoga Sutra 53 Chapter 4 Yoga Sutra Agonistes: Hegel and the German Romantics 81 Chapter 5 Rajendralal Mitra: India's Forgotten Pioneer of Yoga Sutra Scholarship 92 Chapter 6 The Yoga of the Magnetosphere: The Yoga Sutra and the TheosophicalSociety 103 Chapter 7 Swami Vivekananda and the Mainstreaming of the Yoga Sutra 116 Chapter 8 The Yoga Sutra in the Muslim World 143 Chapter 9 The Yoga Sutra Becomes a Classic 159 Chapter 10 Ishvara 172 Chapter 11 Journeys East, Journeys West: The Yoga Sutra in the Early Twentieth Century 182 Chapter 12 The Strange Case of T. M. Krishnamacharya 197 Chapter 13 Yoga Sutra 2.0 225 Notes 237 Suggestions for Further Reading 249 Index 261

About the Author

David Gordon White is the J. F. Rowny Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His books include "Yoga in Practice" (Princeton) and "Sinister Yogis".

Reviews

"White's book, a contribution to Princeton's Lives of Great Religious Books series, delves into the short collection of verses that many contemporary practitioners believe--erroneously--to be the original, definitive guide to ancient yoga philosophy. A scholar of comparative religions, White conducted sharp and deep research to tell the story of the rise, fall, and modern-day resurgence of the 195 verses attributed to the author/compiler Patanjali, who lived in either the first century BCE or the fourth century CE."--Publishers Weekly "White's scholarly read is a fascinating presentation of the rise, fall, and rediscovery of the Yoga Sutra... It will appeal to those looking to expand their knowledge. Concise, yet showing fresh research, this book is well suited for academic and comprehensive yoga collections."--Ajoke Kokodoko, Library Journal "Engaging, challenging, myth-busting, and completely au courant, weaving into the debates on cultural appropriation, colonization, and the reinvention of yoga and South Asian spiritual practice in the postmodern west."--Sean Feit, Nadalila.org "A wildly entertaining tour-de-force of deconstructive research."--Matthew Remski, Reality Sandwich "A lively account of this sutra's unlikely history and how it has variously been interpreted, reinterpreted, ignored, and hailed. The colorful characters on these pages include Vivekananda and Krishnamacharya, two giants in modern yoga, as well as literary figures such as T.S. Eliot. There is also Alberuni, a Muslim scientist and scholar who translated a commentary on the Yoga Sutra a thousand years ago, and the outrageous Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, who fused the principles of the Yoga Sutra with Western ideas of the occult."--Shambhala Sun "The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali undertakes an exhaustive, scholarly history of the titular work of ancient Indian philosophy, lightened by author David Gordon White's provocative wit... White's in-depth examination demonstrates how scriptural exegesis often reveals as much about the worldview and priorities of its authors as it does the wisdom of the works they interpret."--Max Zahn, Tricycle "White brings to life the improbable cast of characters whose interpretations--and misappropriations--of the Yoga Sutra led to its revered place in popular culture today. Tracing the remarkable trajectory of this enigmatic work, White's exhaustively researched book also demonstrates why the yoga of India's past bears little resemblance to the yoga practiced today."--RSR, Buddhism Now "[L]ucidly written."--Vithal C. Nadkarni, Economic Times "[A] groundbreaking study."--Apoorva Sripathi, The Hindu