Most people meet yoga as a set of postures. Behind them stands one of the oldest philosophies in the world, a careful account of why the mind suffers and how it can become free. You do not need to accept all of it to benefit from the practice, but knowing it explains why yoga is taught the way it is. This guide covers the ideas, the schools and the texts that matter most.
What "philosophy" means in yoga
The Sanskrit word is darshana, "a way of seeing". A darshana is not only a theory to be argued but a view to be tested in experience. Yoga philosophy asks practical questions: what am I, why am I restless and unhappy, and what can I do about it? Its answers are meant to be lived on the mat, on the cushion and in daily life.
The six classical schools
Indian tradition recognises six orthodox darshanas, usually taught in three pairs:
- Nyaya and Vaisheshika: logic and the analysis of the physical world.
- Samkhya and Yoga: Samkhya explains the structure of reality; Yoga gives the practice for realising it.
- Mimamsa and Vedanta: the interpretation of the Vedas; Vedanta, based on the Upanishads, became the most influential school of all.
Yoga is closest to Samkhya, and most of its vocabulary comes from there.
Samkhya: purusha, prakriti and the three gunas
Samkhya describes two principles. Purusha is pure awareness, the witness that never changes. Prakriti is nature: everything that changes, including the body, the senses, thoughts and emotions. Suffering comes from confusing the two, from taking the changing mind for who we are.
Prakriti is made of three qualities, the gunas: sattva (clarity, balance), rajas (activity, restlessness) and tamas (inertia, heaviness). Everything mixes them in different measure. Much of yogic lifestyle, from the sattvic diet to early rising and regular practice, aims to increase sattva so the mind becomes clear enough to see itself.
The Yoga Sutras: the path in practice
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras turn this view into a method. Yoga, they say, is the stilling of the movements of the mind, and it is reached through steady practice and non-attachment. They name five causes of suffering, the kleshas: ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion and the fear of death. And they set out the eight limbs, from ethical restraint to meditation and absorption, as the way to remove them.
Karma, dharma and liberation
- Karma means action and its consequences. Every action leaves an impression (samskara) that shapes future tendencies.
- Dharma is right conduct: the duty that fits your nature and situation.
- Moksha, or kaivalya in the Yoga Sutras, is liberation: freedom from the cycle of compulsive action and its suffering.
The Bhagavad Gita joins these ideas in its teaching of karma yoga: act fully, as your duty, without clinging to the result. It also describes the paths of knowledge, devotion and meditation, which our guide to the types of yoga explains.
The texts to read first
- The Upanishads, especially the Katha and Mandukya, for the oldest teaching on the Self.
- The Bhagavad Gita, for yoga in action and in daily life.
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, for the systematic method.
- The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, for how body and breath practice serve the same goal.
Read a translation with commentary, a few verses at a time, and come back to them as your practice grows.
How philosophy changes the way you practise
Philosophy turns exercise into yoga. The yamas and niyamas shape how you treat yourself and others; non-attachment changes how you meet a posture you cannot yet do; the idea of the witness makes meditation possible. Teachers who understand the philosophy can explain why a practice exists, not just how to do it.
Studying yoga philosophy with us
Yoga Darshana, the philosophy of yoga, is a daily subject on our 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training, covering the history and branches of yoga, Samkhya, the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and the Hatha texts, with evening satsang for questions. The 500 Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training studies the texts in more depth.
