Philosophy · reviewed by a teacher
Yoga quotes from two classical texts
The yoga quotes on this page come from two classical texts, the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, in English translations old enough to be in the public domain: Edwin Arnold's 1885 Gita and Charles Johnston's 1912 Sutras. Each is quoted exactly, credited to its translator and chapter, and followed by one line on how it can be used in practice.
About these quotes
Many lines shared online as yoga quotes cannot be found in any yoga text. The ones below can. They come from two classical sources: the Bhagavad Gita, in Sir Edwin Arnold’s verse translation The Song Celestial (1885), and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, in Charles Johnston’s version (1912). Both translations are in the public domain, and each quote is copied exactly from them.
Their English is old, so each comes with a short practical note. If you are starting out, any one of them is enough to carry into your first yoga class.
From the Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold, 1885)
The Gita is a dialogue between the prince Arjuna and Krishna on a battlefield. Its setting and its paths of yoga are explained on the page about the Gita and what it teaches about yoga.
“Let right deeds be / Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them.”
Chapter II
Practical note: practise for the practice itself, not for how the pose will look.
“Make thine acts / Thy piety, casting all self aside, / Contemning gain and merit; equable / In good or evil: equability / Is Yog, is piety!”
Chapter II
Practical note: an even mind on a good day and a bad day is itself the practice.
“Steadfast a lamp burns sheltered from the wind; / Such is the likeness of the Yogi’s mind / Shut from sense-storms and burning bright to Heaven.”
Chapter VI
Practical note: a quiet room and a closed door are part of meditation, not a luxury.
“where one is moderate / In eating and in resting, and in sport; / Measured in wish and act; sleeping betimes, / Waking betimes for duty.”
Chapter VI
Practical note: yoga works best in a life that is not run to exhaustion, so rest counts.
From the Yoga Sutras (Charles Johnston, 1912)
The Yoga Sutras are short, compressed sayings. What the word sutra means, and how the text is arranged, is on the page about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
“Union, spiritual consciousness, is gained through control of the versatile psychic nature.”
Book I, sutra 2
Practical note: the aim is a quieter mind; the postures are one way there.
“This becomes a firm resting-place, when followed long, persistently, with earnestness.”
Book I, sutra 14
Practical note: ten minutes most days does more than an hour once a month.
“By sympathy with the happy, compassion for the sorrowful, delight in the holy, disregard of the unholy, the psychic nature moves to gracious peace.”
Book I, sutra 33
Practical note: how you meet other people shapes how settled you feel on the mat.
“Or peace may be reached by the even sending forth and control of the life-breath.”
Book I, sutra 34
Practical note: an even, unhurried exhale is the simplest place to start, and pranayama, the practice of breath, builds on it.
“Right poise must be firm and without strain.”
Book II, sutra 46
Practical note: if you are straining, the pose has gone too far; come back until it feels steady.
“The fruit of right poise is the strength to resist the shocks of infatuation or sorrow.”
Book II, sutra 48
Practical note: a steady posture is training for staying steady when life is not.
How to use a quote in practice
Pick one line and keep it for a week. Read it before you practise, and notice where it applies, on the mat and off it. One line understood is worth more than a page of quotes.
Two lines to keep close
In most classes these texts stay in the background. The line on posture, firm and without strain, is the clearest test of whether a pose is right for your body today, and the line on steady practice is the honest answer to how anyone improves.
Questions
Why use old translations?
Because they are in the public domain, they can be quoted exactly and in full without borrowing someone else's recent work. Their English is old-fashioned, so each quote here has a plain note beside it.
Are popular yoga quotes online accurate?
Many are not. Lines are often credited to the Gita or to Patanjali that do not appear in either text. Checking a quote against a full translation, chapter and verse, is the simplest test.
Can you share these quotes?
Yes. Arnold's and Johnston's translations are in the public domain. Credit the translator, the year and the chapter, as on this page, so the next reader can find the line in its setting.