---
type: Concept
bundle: yoga-darshana
bundle_version: "0.2.0"
id: ishvara-yoga
title: "Īśvara (Yoga Darśana)"
iast: "Īśvara"
devanagari: "ईश्वर"
description: "A special ever-unentangled Puruṣa, object of meditation and source of transmission — not a creator God, not Brahman, not Ātman."
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
  - Sāṃkhya
text_source: "YS 1.23-1.29"
tags:
  - Yoga
  - Patanjali
  - ishvara
  - purusha
  - pranava
  - om
  - bhakti
  - ashtanga
not:
  - term: "God (creator)"
    why: "Yoga Darśana's Īśvara does not create the universe; Prakṛti is the material cause and Sāṃkhya cosmology proceeds without a creator; Yoga's Īśvara is a special Puruṣa who is a guide and object of meditation, not a cosmic architect or sovereign who intervenes in Prakṛti's evolution"
    instead: "Keep Īśvara (Yoga Darśana) untranslated; do not substitute the English term."
  - term: "Brahman"
    why: "in Advaita Vedānta, Brahman is the sole reality from which all apparent diversity arises; Yoga's Īśvara is one of many Puruṣa-s — albeit a special one — who has never been entangled with Prakṛti; the non-dual Brahman identification is a cross-darśana error; Yoga Darśana is explicitly dual-ontology"
  - term: "personal God"
    why: "while Yoga's Īśvara functions as an object of devotion (*praṇidhāna*) and is relatable, Patañjali is explicit that Īśvara is a *puruṣa-viśeṣa* — a special class of Puruṣa defined precisely by what Īśvara lacks (kleśas, karma, vāsanā) rather than by omnipotence or will to create"
  - term: "Ātman"
    why: "Ātman in Advaita Vedānta is pure witness-consciousness — not a separate individual self, but the sole reality identical with Brahman; Yoga's Puruṣa-s (including Īśvara) are permanently many and distinct; Yoga has no concept of Puruṣa merging into or being discovered as a non-dual Brahman"
  - term: "Allah / God of theism"
    why: "Abrahamic monotheism holds that God created from nothing, wills events in history, and judges beings; Yoga's Īśvara neither creates, judges, nor intervenes; Īśvara is eternal like all Puruṣa-s but is eternally pure — a model and teacher, not a ruler"
related:
  - /concepts/purusha.md
  - /concepts/prakriti-yoga.md
  - /concepts/avidya-yoga.md
  - /concepts/klesha.md
  - /concepts/vasana.md
  - /concepts/samskara.md
  - /concepts/asamprajnata-samadhi.md
  - /concepts/kaivalya.md
timestamp: "2026-06-20"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Īśvara (Yoga Darśana) — ईश्वर

**Not:** God (creator), Brahman, personal God, Ātman, Allah / God of theism

A *puruṣa-viśeṣa* — a special Puruṣa — who has never been touched by kleśas, karma, vipāka (karmic fruition), or vāsanā-s. Unlike ordinary Puruṣa-s (whose intrinsic freedom is obscured by apparent entanglement with Prakṛti), Īśvara is not now and has never been involved in that confusion. In Yoga Darśana, Īśvara functions as the seed of omniscience, the original teacher of yoga, and an object of *praṇidhāna* (surrender/devotion) that can accelerate the practitioner's path to samādhi. Īśvara does not create, judge, or govern the cosmos.

> **CROSS-DARŚANA NOTE:** Yoga's Īśvara is not Advaita Vedānta's Brahman. Brahman is the non-dual ultimate reality from which all plurality arises as Māyā. Yoga's Īśvara is one of many eternally distinct Puruṣa-s — the eternally pure one who serves as teacher and model. The two cannot be equated without collapsing the dual ontology of Sāṃkhya-Yoga into Advaita's non-dualism.

## Etymology

- *Īś* — from √*īś* (to rule, to be master of, to be capable of); sovereignty, mastery
- *vara* — excellent, best, most eminent
- *Īśvara* — the sovereign excellent one; the supremely capable; the master among Puruṣa-s

The *sovereignty* here is not political or theological in the Abrahamic sense — it refers to Īśvara's unqualified mastery of the Puruṣa-nature: never obscured, never misidentified, never entangled. Īśvara is what every Puruṣa is in its intrinsic nature — but Īśvara has never deviated from that nature.

## YS 1.24 — The Definition

*kleśakarmavipākāśayairaparāmṛṣṭaḥ puruṣaviśeṣa Īśvaraḥ*

"Īśvara is a special Puruṣa (*puruṣa-viśeṣa*) untouched by (*aparāmṛṣṭa*) afflictions (*kleśa*), actions (*karma*), results of actions (*vipāka*), and the repository (*āśaya*) [of vāsanā-saṃskāras]."

The definition is entirely negative — it specifies what Īśvara lacks:

| What Ordinary Puruṣas Appear to Have | What Īśvara Lacks (by Definition) |
|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Kleśas (avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dveṣa, abhiniveśa) | *kleśa-aparāmṛṣṭa* |
| Karma (accumulated action-potential) | *karma-aparāmṛṣṭa* |
| Vipāka (karmic fruition — pleasure/pain) | *vipāka-aparāmṛṣṭa* |
| Āśaya (the stored reservoir of vāsanā-s) | *āśaya-aparāmṛṣṭa* |

This structural purity is what makes Īśvara a reliable object of *praṇidhāna*: unlike a human teacher who may have blind spots, partial realizations, or karmic entanglements, Īśvara's guidance cannot be distorted by kleśas.

## YS 1.25 — Omniscience

*tatra niratiśayaṃ sarvajñabījam*

"In Īśvara is the unsurpassed (*niratiśaya*) seed of omniscience (*sarvajña-bīja*)."

- *Sarvajñatā* (omniscience) in the Yoga context: the fully developed discriminative wisdom (*viveka-khyāti*) extended to all objects; the tāraka jñāna of YS 3.55 generalized without limit
- Ordinary practitioners can develop jñāna; its limit is viveka-khyāti and tāraka jñāna. In Īśvara, this jñāna is at its highest possible degree (*niratiśaya*) — unsurpassed and unsurpassable, since Īśvara has never been occluded
- This is not omniscience in the theological sense (knowing every event that will happen) but omniscience in the Yoga-technical sense: unobstructed discriminative awareness of Puruṣa's distinction from Prakṛti and of the Guṇa-constitution of all objects

## YS 1.26 — The Ancient Teacher

*sa pūrveṣāmapi guruḥ kālenānavacchedāt*

"Īśvara is the guru even of the ancients, not limited by time (*kāla-anavaccheda*)."

- Human lineages (guru-paramparā) stretch back through historical time; at some point one must ask who was the first teacher
- Yoga resolves the infinite regress: Īśvara is the *pūrva-guru* — the original teacher, not bounded by any moment of having-begun
- This is not mythological history but a philosophical claim about the nature of Yoga's authority: the tradition is not self-invented but transmitted from an eternal, unentangled source
- For practice: *Īśvara-praṇidhāna* (surrender to Īśvara) in kriyā yoga (YS 2.1) means aligning with this original transmission-source rather than with one's own ego-project of liberation

## YS 1.27-1.29 — Praṇava (OṂ) as Vācaka

*tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ* (1.27)

"The designator (*vācaka*) of Īśvara is Praṇava (OṂ)."

*tajjapastadarthabhāvanam* (1.28)

"The repetition (*japa*) of it and the contemplation of its meaning (*arthabāvana*)."

*tataḥ pratyakcetanādhigamo'pyantarāyābhāvaśca* (1.29)

"From that comes the turning inward of consciousness (*pratyak-cetanā*) and also the disappearance of obstacles."

### The Praṇava as a Technical Object

The relationship between Praṇava (OṂ) and Īśvara in YS 1.27 is the Sanskrit philosophical relationship of *vācaka* (designator/signifier) and *vācya* (designated/signified). OṂ does not merely *represent* Īśvara symbolically — in the Yoga framework, correct *japa* (repetition) with *artha-bhāvana* (contemplation of meaning) is a direct cognitive engagement with Īśvara's nature.

The practice specified in YS 1.28 is dual:
1. *Japa* — the physical-sonic repetition of OṂ (internally or externally)
2. *Artha-bhāvana* — simultaneous contemplation of what OṂ designates: Īśvara's nature as untouched-Puruṣa

The result (YS 1.29) is *pratyak-cetanā* — the inward turning of consciousness that is the cognitive prerequisite for dhāraṇā-dhyāna-samādhi. OṂ-japa with contemplation is thus a complete preparatory practice.

## Sāṃkhya Without Īśvara

Yoga Darśana's Sāṃkhya foundation (shared with classical Sāṃkhya) does not *require* Īśvara for the cosmological account. Sāṃkhya Kārikā explains the evolution of Prakṛti into 23 evolutes without invoking Īśvara at all. Patañjali adds Īśvara not as a cosmological necessity but as:

1. A pedagogical resource — an object of praṇidhāna that accelerates samādhi
2. An epistemic anchor — the seed of omniscience that grounds the validity of the Yoga tradition
3. A motivational frame — devotional engagement (*praṇidhāna*) as an alternative path to samādhi alongside abhyāsa and vairāgya (YS 1.12)

Critically: **Yoga's path does not require Īśvara-praṇidhāna.** Patañjali presents it as one route, not the only route. The eight-limb path can be practiced without the devotional component by those for whom abhyāsa and vairāgya are sufficient.

## Īśvara-Praṇidhāna in Kriyā Yoga (YS 2.1)

*tapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhānāni kriyāyogaḥ*

"Kriyā yoga is austerity (*tapas*), self-study (*svādhyāya*), and surrender to Īśvara (*Īśvara-praṇidhāna*)."

Īśvara-praṇidhāna appears twice in the Yoga Sūtras:
- YS 1.23 — as an alternative fast-track route to samādhi
- YS 2.1, 2.45 — as a component of kriyā yoga and as the means to samādhi-attainment (*samādhisiddhiḥ Īśvarapraṇidhānāt*, YS 2.45)

The dual appearance suggests Patañjali integrates devotional and systematic approaches rather than treating them as competing schools.

## Cross-References

- [Puruṣa](purusha.md) — Īśvara is a *puruṣa-viśeṣa*; understanding Puruṣa's nature is prerequisite to understanding what Īśvara's "specialness" consists in
- [Kleśa](klesha.md) — the kleśas that Īśvara is defined as lacking; avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dveṣa, abhiniveśa
- [Vāsanā](vasana.md) — the āśaya (reservoir) Īśvara is without; vāsanā-s and saṃskāras are what bind ordinary Puruṣa-s
- [Saṃskāra](samskara.md) — the stored impressions that constitute ordinary Puruṣa-entanglement; Īśvara is *aparāmṛṣṭa* (untouched) by these
- [Avidyā (Yoga)](avidya-yoga.md) — the root misidentification that Īśvara has never been subject to; the contrast illuminates what avidyā is by showing what its absence looks like
- [Kaivalya](kaivalya.md) — the liberation that ordinary Puruṣa-s achieve; Īśvara's permanent state is analogous to kaivalya but was never a departure from it

## Audience Metaphor

Imagine a dojo with an instructor who has never been a beginner — not because they were born perfect, but because they exist outside the category of 'practitioner who started from scratch.' They know every technique because every technique is, in a sense, their nature. They don't grade you, don't reward or punish, don't run the building — but their presence in the dojo makes a different quality of practice possible. Īśvara in Yoga is that instructor: eternally unentangled, eternally available as a model, eternally the source of the tradition's original transmission. Praṇava (OṂ) is their name — a direct channel to their nature.

## Citations

1. [Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali](/references/yoga-sutras.md) 1.23-1.29
2. [Yoga Bhāṣya of Vyāsa](/references/yoga-bhasya.md) on YS 1.23-1.29
3. [Tattvavaiśāradī](/references/tattvavaisharadi.md) of Vācaspatimiśra on YS 1.24
4. [Sāṃkhya Kārikā](/references/samkhya-karika.md) — for context of Sāṃkhya-without-Īśvara contrast
