Introduction to Yogic Texts
What the exam tests
You must recognise each text's structure, central concepts, and a few exact verses or lists. Questions often ask you to match a term to its text or to distinguish the four pādas of the Yoga Sūtra.
Patañjali Yoga Sūtra
A compilation of 196 sūtras in four pādas: Samādhi, Sādhana, Vibhūti, Kaivalya. Key definitions: YS 1.2 yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ; YS 2.46 sthira-sukham āsanam; YS 2.49 prāṇāyāma as the regulation of inhalation, exhalation and retention. The five kleśas are avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dveṣa, abhiniveśa. The eight limbs are yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi. The five yamas: ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya, aparigraha. The five niyamas: śauca, santoṣa, tapas, svādhyāya, īśvarapraṇidhāna.
Bhagavad Gita
18 chapters, 700 verses. Central yoga teachings: karma yoga - karmāṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana (2.47), do your duty without attachment to results; sthitaprajña (2.54–72), the steady-minded person; yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam (2.50); samatvaṃ yoga ucyate (2.48). Chapters 2, 3, 6, 12 and 17 are frequently examined (chapter 17 covers the three types of food, sacrifice, austerity and charity).
Hathapradipika
By Svātmārāma, 15th century, four chapters (upadeśa, prāṇāyāma, mudrā, samādhi). It lists 15 āsanas, of which four are essential: siddha, padma, siṃha, bhadra. It describes eight kumbhakas and ten mudrās. Its purpose is to prepare the body for rāja yoga.
Worked example
A stem quotes sthira-sukham āsanam. Reasoning: the phrase defines āsana in Patañjali's Sādhana-pāda (2.46). Answer: Yoga Sūtra, not the Gita or Haṭhapradīpikā.
Traps
Mixing verse numbers; saying the Gita has 700 verses but attributing 2.47 to the Yoga Sūtra; forgetting that Haṭhapradīpikā is a medieval text, not a classical one.