266. Practice is the path...

This is the sutra that kept Jeff returning to India, year after year, to dive deeper into Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. It was Patañjali’s words here that affirmed the path and ignited the faith to continue. There was something more than just movement—it was a promise that transformation comes through practice.

yogāṅgānuṣṭhānād aśuddhi-kṣaye jñāna-dīptiḥ āviveka-khyāteḥ

Through the sustained practice of the limbs of yoga, the impurities are destroyed, and the light of knowledge shines, leading to discriminative discernment.

This sutra, YS 2.28, is incredibly special because it offers us something so rare: assurance. That if we engage in true practice—not just intellectual study, not just occasional effort—but a committed, steady journey into the eight limbs of yoga, we will experience inner transformation. There is fruit at the end of this path. There is wisdom.

Swami Satchidananda’s translation brings it home with clarity and grace:

“By the practice of the limbs of Yoga, the impurities dwindle away and there dawns the light of wisdom, leading to discriminative discernment.”

The Sanskrit term aṅga (अङ्ग) means “limb,” and refers to the eightfold path laid out by Patañjali: yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi. These limbs are not optional, nor are they a checklist. They are the full-bodied process of purification and awakening.

So the natural question arises: what is blocking the light of wisdom? Patañjali tells us plainly—it is aśuddhi (अशुद्धि), the inner impurities. These aren’t just bad habits or moral failings—they’re the layers of unconscious conditioning, fear, identity, attachment, trauma, distraction, ego, and cultural programming that obscure our natural intelligence.

We often think knowledge comes from books or intellect, but in the Yoga Sūtras, jñāna-dīptiḥ (ज्ञानदीप्तिः)—the illumination of true knowing—comes only after purification. Not before.

And how do we purify? Not by thinking about it. Not by spiritual bypassing. Not by memorizing sutras. We practice. The word anuṣṭhāna (अनुष्ठान) means “repeated and devoted execution of a practice,” often with strong determination and intention. It implies discipline with heart. It’s not casual. It’s commitment.

And the work we are asked to do is the eight-limbed path itself—aṣṭāṅga yoga. Not necessarily the modern, physical series popularized by Pattabhi Jois alone, but the complete yogic path described by Patañjali.

By taking on the aṣṭāṅga path, we gradually remove the aśuddhi, those impurities of mind, emotion, and perception. And in that removal, wisdom doesn’t just drop from the sky—it dawns. It rises slowly, like the sun at daybreak. It reveals. It warms. It clarifies.

Tomorrow, we’ll explore this even further. But for now, let’s sit with this truth:
Practice is the path. Wisdom is the fruit.
Keep going.