Niyama (Limb 2)
śauca-santoṣa-tapaḥ-svādhyāyeśvara-praṇidhānāni niyamāḥ
śauca = purity
santoṣa = contentment
tapaḥ = austerity, penance, self-challenge, unconservatism
svādhyāya = (literally) ‘self-study’, self-determination
Īśvara = the Lord, Sovereignty
praṇidhānāni = to place in front of, devotion to
niyamāḥ = observances
The five observances are purity and contentment in the practice of self-challenge, self-determination, and devotion to Sovereignty.
(YS II.32)
Translation by Dr. Shyam Ranganathan. All Rights Reserved.
The second limb concerns the commitment to the basic practice of Yoga as outlined in the start of book II of the Yoga Sūtra. This is the three part practice of challenging ourselves (unconservatism), self-governance and devotion to Sovereignty (the ideal of persons that is unconservative and self-governing). But with this limb, we commit to engaging in that with satisfaction and purely, that is without mixing Yoga with other incompatible commitments.
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