Publisher's Synopsis
This excellent translation, including line drawings and charts, a glossary of technical terms, and a complete translation of the Yoga Darshana Upanishad, begins with a brief description of the metaphysical and religious history on which Yoga is based. Varenne discusses the theoretical conception of Yoga as the search for liberating knowledge, concluding with a brief indication of the physical practices and extra Yogic themes such as Kundalini and Tantrism. It is the author's hope that "those who read [this book] will come to realize that it is in fact dishonest to reduce Yoga to some sort of physical training, or to just an occult doctrine; it is a 'world view' a Weltanschauung that comprehends reality in its totality."
"The straightforward, well-organized presentation makes the book itself a microcosm of what Varenne singles out as a dominant feature of classical Hindu thought-a bringing of the complex and multitudinous into a unity."-Judith Guttman, Yoga Journal