Virtues
Svadhyaya (Self-Study)
Niyama Virtues
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Svadhyaya, self-study, is the fourth niyama, joining the recitation and study of sacred text with reflective self-examination. Patanjali associates its practice with communion with one's chosen deity. Classical commentary treats it as both textual study, especially of the Vedas and the syllable Om, and introspective observation of one's own thoughts and habits.
Facts
Disputed
Origin PeriodDated by scholars anywhere from the second century BCE to as late as the fourth or fifth century CE, the same span debated for the Yoga Sutras as a whole: an early dating follows the tradition's own attribution to a single ancient sage, while a late dating, argued by scholars such as Philipp Maas, reads the surviving text as a composite assembled together with its own earliest commentary. 1 The Yoga Sutras' date is disputed among scholars, from a single ancient author around the second century BCE to a later compilation as late as the fourth or fifth century CE; the debate turns on whether the text and its earliest surviving commentary were composed together or centuries apart. Attributed Author / CompilerTraditionally attributed to Patanjali, the compiler of the Yoga Sutras; scholarship debates whether this is the same Patanjali credited with the Sanskrit grammatical treatise of that name. 1 Whether the Patanjali credited with the Yoga Sutras is the same figure credited with the Sanskrit grammatical treatise of that name, and whether the text as it stands is the work of one author or a later compilation, are both disputed. Status
Status Within the TraditionStandard teaching, not formally defined 1 Doctrinal Status DetailPatanjali associates its practice with communion with one's chosen deity (Yoga Sutra 2.44); classical commentary treats it as both textual study, especially of the Vedas and the syllable Om, and introspective observation of one's own thoughts and habits. 1 Origins
Place of OriginIndia; nothing internal to the text fixes a specific region of composition. 1 Origin of the NameSanskrit svadhyaya, from sva, one's own, and adhyaya, study or lesson, literally one's own study. 1 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceSelf-study, joining the recitation and study of sacred text with reflective self-examination; the fourth niyama. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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