Patañjali’s Theistic Preference, Or, Was the Author of the Yoga Sütras a Vaishnava? Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

The theistic, or îΩvaravada, element in Indic thought stretches back at least to the late Vedic period.1 Of the six schools of traditional
thought that stem from this period, four—Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Yoga and Vedånta—were theistic (and a fifth, Såµkhya had widespread theistic varients evidenced in the Purånas). While the sectarian affiliation of the reputed founders of these schools cannot be ascertained with certainty, the overall Nyaya-Vaiseshika tradition seems to have been exclusively Shaivite, and the Vedanta one, including Shankara, Vaishnava. Patañjali, the author of the Yoga Sütras, the seminal text of the Yoga tradition, like the traditionally recognized authors of the other theistic schools, is not specific about the persona of îΩvara, God.