Suggested Further Resources
The Bhagavad Gita is considered by many authorities to be the most influential text ever composed on yoga. Many translations of this important text exist in English. The following versions are especially recommended:
Swami Sivananda, translator, The Bhagavad Gita, 10th edition (Divine Life Society, 1995). This translation and commentary were written by one of the most influential teachers of yoga of the 20th century.
Eknath Easwaran, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living (Niligri Press, 1985). In this three-volume series, a contemporary teacher of yoga comments verse by verse upon this seminal text to show how its ancient wisdom can help guide us today.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali outline in bare yet clear language the entire system of thought upon which yoga is built. Nearly every major authority on yoga has written commentaries on these sutras that provide great insight into the heart of yoga. Among the best are the following:
Bernard Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga: Reflections on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Rudra Press, 1997). This book offers a commentary on the aphorisms of Patanjali as well as numerous thought-provoking self-study questions for each aphorism. The book contains insights which the author, a Frenchman, gleaned from studies with yoga master T.K.V.
Desikachar in Madras, India. T.K.V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice of Yoga (Inner Traditions, 1995). T.K.V. Desikachar is the son of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, one of India’s greatest yogis, who taught not only Desikachar but also many other living yoga masters,
including B.K.S. Iyengar. This book, which is Desikachar’s general introduction to yoga, contains a section providing concise commentaries on each of Patanjali’s aphorisms.
Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali (Inner Traditions, 1985). These commentaries were written by one of the leading authorities on yoga. Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., is one of the leading scholars conducting research into yoga and presenting the information contained in the ancient scriptures to a Western audience.
He has authored many books, of which the following are particularly recommended: Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga (Shambhala, 1997). This comprehensive encyclopedia of yoga contains more than 2,000 entries on topics related to yoga.
———, The Shambhala Guide to Yoga (Shambhala, 1996). This is an introduction to the principles of yoga that provides particularly valuable information on the historical tradition of yoga and the yogic texts that have helped define it.
———, The Yoga Tradition (Hohm Press, 2001). This is one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the history, literature, philosophy, and practice of yoga.
