 Yoga stands for the union of the self with ultimate reality.

It is
to be achieved through the cessation of the transitory,
relative and limited activities of body, mind and ego. It is to
be understood as Cittavrittiniordha.

 Once cessation of mental activities is attained, the real nature

of the self shines forth. The individual experiences the self-
luminosity of the soul.

 A man cannot realize spiritual truths so long as his mind is

tainted with impurities and his intellect is vitiated by evil
thoughts.

 It is in the pure heart and clear understanding that the truth

of the spirit is revealed and directly experienced.

 Liberation is to be attained by means of spiritual insight into

the reality of the self as the pure immortal spirit which
distinct from body and mind.

 This spiritual insight can be had only when the mind (citta) is
purged of all impurities and rendered perfectly calm and
serene.

 In order to arrive at that stage Yoga philosophy prescribes

eight-fold path. Out of the eight paths, the first two paths
―yama and niyama― are predominantly ethical. They help us
to put a restraint on our desires.

 Out of ‘yoganga’s the first two (yama and niyama) represent

moral activities. The next two (asana and pranayama) stand for
activities mainly physical and the last four are mainly
intellectual in nature
 For spiritual realization apart from yama (restraints and
restrictions) we need to cultivate some virtues. These virtues
are Niyamas. Here some regular code of conduct is enjoined
upon the yogin to form good habits. This cultivation will lead to

1. integrated development of personality,

2. will infuse spiritual longing into the mind of the aspirants, and

3. expedite his march towards Moksha.

For example, Śauca, one constituent of niyama, which stands

for bodily and mental purity helps us in keeping the body clean
by washing and taking pure food and also purification of mind
by the cultivation of virtues of love, brotherhood, compassion,
meekness, and so on and indifference to the vices of others.
The importance of these virtues is recognized not only by other
schools of Indian philosophy, but also by many western
thinkers.

Again, cleanliness has spiritual as well as aesthetic value.

Emphasis on the purity of mind by cultivation of benevolent
habits, fellow-feeling, love and compassion has great ethical
significance. The Indian ethics puts premium to love and
humanitarian feeling over self-aggrandizement and economic
gain. In India universal brotherhood and love for man are
regarded as prerequisites for spiritual realization.

So long as the mind or the intellect of a man is impure and

unsettled, he cannot understand anything profound and
spiritual. We must have a pure heart and a tranquil mind if we
are to know and realize the truths of philosophy and religion.
The practice of yoga is the best way of self-purification, i.e
purification of body and intellect. That is why all the systems of
 Indian philosophy insist on the practice of yoga as the
necessary practical side of a philosophy of life.

Yoga holds that liberation is to be attained through the direct

knowledge of the self’s distinction from the physical world
including our body, mind and the ego. This can be realized only
if we can manage to suppress and terminate the functions of
the body and the senses, the manas and the intellect and finally
the ego and yet have self-consciousness or experience of the
transcendent spirit (purusa). This would convince us that the
self is above the mind-body complex, the senses, the intellect,
the ego. The Yoga system and its eight-fold paths lays down a
practical path of self-realization for the religious aspirant and
the seeker of truth.

 Patanjali has described ‘yoga’ as the suppression of all psychic

changes connected with affective experience or ‘bhoga’. For
attainment of this end, certain recipes are laid down. There are
three sets of prescriptions. The first two sets are preparatory
and are conducive to ‘the cleansing of psyche’ (citta-
parikrama). The third set lays down the practices known as the
‘Eightfold Yoga’ (astanga-yoga).