---
type: Reference
title: "Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali"
description: "The 196 aphorisms that define classical yoga as chitta-vṛtti-nirodha and lay out the eight limbs (aṣṭāṅga)."
tags:
  - primary-source
  - Yoga
  - Patanjali
  - sutra
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
timestamp: "2026-06-24"
okf_version: "0.2"
---

# Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali

## What It Is

A set of 196 terse aphorisms compiled by Patañjali, the root text of the Pātañjala Yoga darśana. It defines yoga as the stilling of the modifications of chitta and systematizes practice into eight limbs culminating in samādhi.

## Why It Matters Here

The source for the bundle's treatment of Yoga, Dhyāna, Samādhi, Chitta, and Vairāgya.
