In translating ancient
documents, particularly in a dead language, the original meaning of
specific words can be easily lost and replaced with distorted meanings
more consistent with the religious or political climate of the time.
It is very easy for a translator to insert his own biases or beliefs
into a translation in a dead language such as Sanskrit.
A very important deviation
of this translation from others is the absence of religious fundamentalism.
By this we mean the absence of interpretation of religious writings
for the stability of a society. Modern religions have two very different
obligations: one is to preserve a social structure with basic morals,
ethics, and rules of social conduct; the other, which is generally esoteric,
is to provide methods for uniting with the Divine. These two obligations
are many times in opposition. The usage of two Sanskrit terms can perhaps
further clarify this. Modern Hinduism uses two important basic religious
terms, tapas, and brahmacharya which are translated as: 'following the
teachings of the church or religion' and 'control of sex'. Both of these
interpretations can be seen to be of great value in stabilizing a religious
community. On the other hand we assume that Patanjali implied the literal
interpretation of the words which are: "to be fervent" (to burn) and
the "path of the Divine" (path of Brahma) which lead to: doing everything
with zeal or fervor rather than limiting one's actions, and following
the direct imminent Divine guidance (rather than the worldly or religious
teachings). It is obvious that one does not want to teach these aspects
of conduct to children or to those who have not first mastered the self
control required to live in a community/society.
Other biases which
have influenced this translation come from experiences of a group of
Westerners exploring the ancient Tantra yoga techniques over many years,
and the assumption that Patanjali was methodical and proceeded logically
step by step from direct experience and not from religious or political
beliefs.
An Appendix is included
which contains notes and comments on the translation of several slokas
where a meaning different from the normal dictionary or other translator's
definition is obtained. These notes are primarily useful for the Sanskrit
scholar to demonstrate the particular roots or word construction assumed
to have been used by Patanjali. A glossary is also included for the
Sanskrit terms used in this text.
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