Aṣṭāṅga Yoga in the Garuḍa Purāṇa

Aṣṭāṅga yoga means “yoga with eight limbs,” the classical step-by-step path of yoga. The Garuḍa Purāṇa gives two linked teachings on yoga. The first is the eight-limbed yoga taught by Dattātreya to King Alarka. The second is a shorter ṣaḍaṅga yoga (“six-limbed yoga”) taught by Sūta to the ṛṣis gathered at the forest of Naimiṣāraṇya.

Together these chapters trace the whole inner journey: from moral restraint, through praṇava japa (repeating Oṃ), to the final realisation of the self as Parabrahman, the Supreme, beyond all qualities (nirguṇa) and full of bliss (ānandamaya).

Aṣṭāṅga Yoga: Dattātreya’s Teaching to Alarka

In Chapter 226, Dattātreya explains the eight limbs of yoga to Alarka in their classical form.

The Eight Limbs

1. Yama (moral restraints):

  • Ahiṃsā: not harming
  • Satya: truthfulness
  • Asteya: not stealing
  • Brahmacarya: self-restraint in sexual life
  • Aparigraha: not being possessive

2. Niyama (personal disciplines):

  • Śauca: purity, inner and outer
  • Santoṣa: contentment
  • Tapas: austerity
  • Svādhyāya: self-study and study of the sacred texts
  • Īśvara-cintana: keeping the mind on Īśvara (Parameśvara)

3. Āsana: a steady, comfortable posture of the body that allows long meditation.

4. Prāṇāyāma (control of the breath), at three levels:

  • Laghu (light): lasting 10 mātrās (units of time)
  • Madhyama (middle): lasting 20 mātrās
  • Uttama (highest): lasting 30 mātrās

Prāṇāyāma is also divided into two kinds:

  • Sagarbha: done together with japa (repeating a mantra) and dhyāna (meditation); this has the stronger effect
  • Nirgarbha: done without japa

5. Pratyāhāra: drawing the senses back from their objects and turning the attention inward.

6. Dhāraṇā (concentration). The text names ten places in the body where the mind may be fixed:

  1. Nāḍī (the subtle channels)
  2. Hṛdaya (the heart)
  3. Kaṇṭha (the throat)
  4. Mukha (the mouth or face)
  5. Nāsikā (the nostrils)
  6. Bhrū-madhya (the point between the eyebrows)
  7. Mūrdhā (the crown of the head)
  8. Ātman (the self, perceived directly)
  9. and 10. Two further points of concentration on the inner light

7. Dhyāna: an unbroken flow of attention toward the chosen object of meditation, as dhāraṇā deepens into steady absorption.

8. Samādhi: the state in which the meditator, the act of meditating and the object of meditation become one. The one who sees disappears into what is seen.

Praṇava Japa and the Nature of Brahman

The Garuḍa Purāṇa gives special weight to praṇava japa, meditation on Oṃ, as the highest form of sādhanā (spiritual practice) within aṣṭāṅga yoga. The text records that even Indra reached his status as a deva through praṇava japa. This shows the power open to any sādhaka (practitioner) who takes up this practice sincerely.

The liberating realisation to which this yoga leads is expressed in a statement much like the mahāvākyas (great sayings) of the Upaniṣads:

Nityaśuddha-buddha-mukta-ānandamaya-advaita-jñānasvarūpa-jyotirmaya parabrahma am I.

This means: “I am the Parabrahman who is always pure, always awake, always free, full of bliss, one without a second, whose nature is consciousness, and whose form is light.”

Ṣaḍaṅga Yoga: Sūta’s Teaching to Śaunaka

In Chapter 235, a shorter six-limbed yoga is taught to the ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya:

  1. Prāṇāyāma: control of the breath, the basic practice
  2. Japa: repeating a mantra, especially Oṃ
  3. Pratyāhāra: drawing the senses back
  4. Dhāraṇā: concentration
  5. Samādhi: absorption
  6. Dhyāna: meditation (placed here as the highest point)

Sabīja and Nirbīja Dhyāna

The Garuḍa Purāṇa describes two kinds of meditation:

  • Sabīja dhyāna: meditation “with a seed,” with a particular form, mantra or sacred image as its object
  • Nirbīja dhyāna: meditation “without a seed,” pure absorption without form and without any object

Nirbīja dhyāna leads to the citta (mind) dissolving into Brahman.

The Point Between the Eyebrows as the Seat of Buddhi

The bhrū-madhya (the point between the eyebrows, the ājñā cakra) is named as the seat of buddhi, the power of clear judgement and direct knowing. Steady dhāraṇā at this point reveals an inner light (antar-jyoti) and opens the door to nirbīja samādhi.

Obstacles in Yoga and Their Remedies

The text names four main obstacles that stop yoga from deepening:

  1. Aśvastirta: restlessness; not being able to stay still
  2. Bhrānti: delusion; mistaking the path or misunderstanding the self
  3. Daurmanasya: low spirits; heaviness of mind; despair
  4. Pramāda: carelessness; lack of watchfulness in practice

The remedy for all four is the same: steady effort, sat-saṅga (the company of good and holy people), and surrender to Parameśvara as both the means and the goal.

The Final Realisation

The two chapters point to one single realisation. When the citta becomes saṅkalpa-rahita (free from all mental constructions), it dissolves in brahma-laya, absorption in Brahman. The text gives an illustration: just as the flame of a lamp merges into the greater fire when the wick is taken away, the individual mind merges into universal consciousness when mental activity stops.

The example of Śiśupāla is given. He kept his mind fixed on Kṛṣṇa, but out of hatred (dveṣa-smaraṇa, “remembering through hatred”). Even so, the strength of that constant smaraṇa (remembrance) brought him liberation. This shows that the kind of bhāva (feeling) matters less than how constant and deep the mind’s attention to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa is.

Sources

  • Garuḍa Purāṇa, Ācāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 226
  • Garuḍa Purāṇa, Ācāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 235–236