The Niyamas are first given in Sutra II.32 and elaborated in Sutras II.40-45. They do not describe what is to be done (as do the yamas), but rather how it is to be done by the yoga practitioner.

Mr. Iyengar’s translation of sutra II.32 is:

“Cleanliness, contentment, religious zeal, self-study and surrender of the self to the supreme Self or God are the niyamas.”

Bryant renders II.32 similarly as:

“The observances are cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study… and devotion to God.”

In other words, the guides for personal practice are:

saucha (cleanliness)

santosha (contentment)

tapas (determination/zeal/austerity)

svadyaya (study of self and scriptures/teachings)

ishvara pranidhana (devotion to the supreme soul or God)

The niyamas describe the qualities of practice to which practitioners should aspire.  This begins to answer the reaction of the practitioner to the high standards of the yamas and the immediate question: “How can I possibly do all that?”  The niyamas do not prescribe morality, but rather describe the attitudes an behavior that help along the path.

Their importance is clear when we look at the first two sutras in Sadhana Pada (Bryant translation):

II.1 Kriya-yoga, the path of action, consists of self-discipline, study, and dedication to the Lord.

The path of  meditation is laid out in Chapter I, Samadhi Pada, but Chapter II lays out the path of action which Patanjali calls “kriya-yoga.”  Its key elements are the last three of the niyamas — tapas (zeal/determination/self-discipline), svadyaya (study), and ishvara pranidhana (dedication to the Lord).  In other words, the entire practice of the yoga of action is vitally supported by the last three niyamas.

What is kriya yoga, and why practice it?

Simply enough kriya yoga is Patanjali’s term for the yoga of action.  It can be contrasted with the yoga of meditation and study (jnana yoga) or of devotion (bhakti yoga).  It encompasses physical postures and breath work, and in the older practices may include various complex cleansing practices.

Many such practices might be considered “extreme” to Western practitioners, but in the broadest sense they might be considered part of kriya.  For most of us, kriya means the active steps for achieving clarity and enlightenment.  Chapter II of the sutras is devoted to this path, but the goal is the same as in Chapter I — it is samadhi which is achieved through the weakening or attenuation of the afflictions (kleshas).

II.2 “[The yoga of action] is for bringing about samadhi and for weakening the afflictions…”

The goal of practice is thus the same as that described for advanced spiritual yogis in Chapter I — to achieve the highest stage of concentration, absorption, and clarity known in yoga as samadhi.  Nowhere does it say that the goal of yoga is longer hamstrings or flexibility of the body — those are physical elements along the path that support the higher goal of mental clarity, concentration and spiritual peace.

The ensuing twenty-five or so sutras detail the afflictions (kleshas) and the path to eliminating them and their influence on the fluctuations of the mind.  Only then do we reach the moral steps of yama.  Thus, the steps of morality and personal behavior are inextricably intertwined in the definition of the practice path.

Saucha (cleanliness, purity) refers to both external and internal physical practices, and to internal spiritual practices.There are many unusual cleansing practices in the old hatha yoga texts for cleansing the body.  Many have lapsed or are rarely practiced in the West.

Cleanliness remains an important practice, and includes not only external physical cleanliness but also internal physical cleanliness related to nutrition and medicine.  A vegetarian diet is often included in this category, as is the traditional Indian form of Ayurvedic medicine which contains a variety of practices, remedies and treatments designed to promote internal physical cleanliness.  These physical practices provide a basis for cleansing the mind and spirit.

On internal spiritual practice, “saucha is purification of one’s sentiments and emotions.” (Swami Rama, p. 494).

Mr. Iyengar (p. 144-145) describes cleanliness as a “spiritual exercise”, even though some of Patanjali’s sutras express a hostility to the physical body:

II.40. By cleanliness, one [develops] distaste for one’s body and the cessation of contact with others.(Bryant translation)

This negative view of the body is echoed in many religious traditions, but it is not unchallenged within the broader diversity of yoga.  Hatha yoga sees the healthy, trained body as an essential factor in reaching higher levels of spiritual development.  The Iyengar tradition is within this broader, body-positive orientation that gives priority to physical practice.

Without expressing direct opposition to Patanjali on this point, Mr. Iyengar expresses a quite different belief that gives importance to the care the body:

…the sadhaka does not regard [the body] with disgust or distaste, but keeps it clean and pure out of respect for the dweller, purusa, within.  To that extent [the practitioner] respects the body as a temple.

For Mr. Iyengar essential elements of cleanliness are asana and pranayama which “cleanse the body physically, physiologically and intellectually.”

There are varieties of yoga that see the body as a barrier to enlightenment, but hatha yoga views the body as a vehicle for practice and evolution to higher spiritual levels.

Sutra II.41 elaborates the connection between cleanliness and purity/clarity of thought:

II.41 When the body is cleansed, the mind purified and the senses controlled, joyful awareness needed to realize  the inner self, also comes. (BKS Iyengra translation). 

Bryant gives a more literal translation as:

II.41. “Upon the purification of the mind, [one attain] cheerfulness, one-pointedness, sense control, and fitness to perceive the self.”

In either translation, internal purification of the mind is the path to deeper spiritual growth.

Santosha is translated as contentment.

In Sutra II.42 : “From contentment, the highest happiness if attained.” (Bryant).

But does santosha mean being complacent and foreign to the mundane world?

Complacency and detachment may be one version of the monastic path.  However, for most of us it cannot mean being oblivious or detached from the world, or being unaware of injustice or mundane matters. It may seem that monastics and sannyasi sometimes have gained contentment at the cost of withdrawing from meaningful engagement with the world.  However, the sutras of Patanjali, and socially- engaged aspects of Buddhism recognize the importance of living in the world.  In the Five Mindfulness Trainings of Thich Nhat Hanh, the passage on “True Happiness” (another translation of santosha) is that

I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy.

In the yoga sutra commentaries this is sometimes given in the simple sentiment that “this is enough.”

“Contentment means being satisfied.. the absence of the desire to grasp.”

And  quoting a classic commentary:

When a person always says “enough” to whatever [is gained], that resolute adherence, marked by happiness (sukha) the sages call contentment.

However this sounds like a conflict between worldly yoga (e.g., karma yoga),  and “engaged Buddhism” on the one side, and the full realization of the yogi in Patanjali’s sutras.  I think there is no way to negotiate around this conflict for people who are engaged in the mundane world and have the tasks of living in a family, making a living, and fighting for their values in the broader society.  In yoga terms this may be the engagement of the householder, whose tasks gradually give way to spiritual life and withdrawal.  In “engaged Buddhism” there is no such life-phase distinction and the path is to be active in the world even while drawing spiritual nourishment from the dharma.

Tapas

II.43 states that

Self-discipline (tapas) burns away impurities and kindles the sparks of divinity. (BKS Iyengar)

Bryant’s translation if II.43:

From austerity, on account of the removal of impurities, the perfection of the senses and body manifests.

Mr. Iyengar speaks of “burning zeal and austerity, a sort of unflagging hardness of attitude towards oneself…”  (p. 147).

In the older yoga commentaries tapas is often taken to mean “austerities,” as in the chilling phrase “practicing austerities.”  This usually refers to extreme exertions and practices.  In Iyengar yoga, and for most modern practitioners, a more attainable definition is the zeal and determination required to make progress along the path.  A milder, but still demanding notion of “austerity” implies sacrifice and dedication to improvement.

Svadyaya

The term seems literally to mean “self-study” in the sense of self-awareness, but its older meanings included study of scriptures and japa (the repetition of mantra or the sound of OM).  Bryant connects this with ishvara pranidhana. and  allies the concept more with scriptural study than with the more modern meaning of self-study and understanding in the course of one’s yoga practice.  A modern, but still rigorous, is to tapas as constant, unstinting practice of yoga.

Mr. Iyengar acknowledges the older meaning of svadyaya criptural studh when he says

Traditionally, svadhyaya has been explained as the study of he sacred scriptures and the recitation of mantra, preceded by the syllable AUM, through which the sadhaka [practitioner] gains a vision of his tutelary or chosen deity, who fulfils all his desires (p. 148).

Nevertheless, the most common meaning in the Iyengar approach, and perhaps in the broader hatha yoga tradition, is zeal and determination in sadhana, the yoga of practice and action.

Ishvara Pranidhana

Note: For this, see the earlier posts on the role of God or a Supreme Being in Patanjali’s sutras.