Patanjali Yoga Sutra — Chapter 1 Samādhi pāda— समाधि पाद — Sutra 1

atha yogānuśāsanam (1.1) अथ योगानुशासनम्॥१.१॥

The consecrated exposition on Yoga begins now.

It is observed that all the scriptures were written in the form of sūtrās namely, Nārada Bhakti Sūtrās, śāndilya Bhakti Sūtrās, Brahma Sūtrās and these Yoga Sūtrās start with the word ‘Atha’. This single word could mean and include, ‘Now’, ‘Here’, ‘Thus’, ‘Therefore’, ‘Accordingly’, ‘Auspicious’, ‘Divine’, ‘Good’, ‘sacred’, ‘sanctified’, ‘holy’, ‘detailed discussion starts’.

Having derived from the root saṁskr̥ta word ‘Yuj’, meaning, to join, unity, Yoga means and includes realization and experience of unity of Jīvātma (Microcosm: Consciousness + Ego) with Paramātma (Macrocosm: Consciousness Absolute), i.e., Individual soul (vyaṣṭi) with the Supreme soul (samaṣṭi) — ‘The Real (सत्)’ and ‘Eternal’.

The Upaniṣads declare authoritatively, the difference between ‘The Real (सत्)’ and ‘The unreal (असत्)’. ‘That which was not in the past and which will not be in the future, but, seemingly exists only in the present is said to be ‘unreal’. Naturally, ‘The Real’ is that which defies all changes and remains the same forever.’ Thus, the ultimate goal of Yoga is absorption with ‘The Real — The Eternal’.

‘śāsana’ literally means an austere, authoritarian and detailed body of code of conduct, rule, law, legislation, command, and direction imposed on us and ‘anuśāsanam’ means, “adherence to code of conduct” which is strongly imposed on us. It implies, we should observe the codes without an escape or excuse, as these form the foundation of the Yoga practice.