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Description
The yamas and niyamas are a common-sense code recorded in the final section of the Vedas, called
Upanishads, namely the Shandilya and the Varuha. They are also found in the Hatha Yoga Pra
dipika by Gorakshanatha, the Tirumantiram of Tirumular and in the Yoga Sutras of |Sage Patanjali.
Traditionally, ten yamas and ten niyamas are found mentioned in texts such as
Trishikhibrahmanopanishad (Mantra part), Darshanopanishad, and Yoga Yajnyavalkya. In other
authoritative texts like the Yoga Sutra, Vishnu Purana only five yamas and five niyamas have been
mentioned. On the whole, the yamas may be said to have greater importance. As explained in the
Manusmriti:
"one must always follow the yamas without any exception; one gets ruined if he follows
the niyamas alone, ignoring the yamas."
Yogic scholar Swami Brahmananda Saraswati revealed the inner science of yama and niyama. They
are the means, he said, to control the vitarkas, the cruel mental waves or thoughts, that when acted
upon result in injury to others, untruthfulness, hoarding, discontent, indolence or selfishness. He
stated,
For each vitarka you have, you can create its opposite through yama and niyama, and
make your life successful.
Patanjali does not suggest that we live according to the yamas and niyamas in order to be good
people or to obey God. His moral code describes the qualities we need in order to reach the goal of
yoga: to still the fluctuations of the mind and rest in our true nature. A mind filled with love, truth
and generosity is a mind that can become quiet: no fights, no guilt and no neediness.
To live the yamas and niyamas also demands a radical deepening of commitment. The focus moves
from our actions to our thoughts, which, after all, generate actions.
References
Bibliography
1. Yamas and Niyamas, Courtesy to Himalayan Academy
Glossary of Terms