The philosophical views of Swami Vivekananda in the commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Zhukova Liubov Evgen'evna ORCID: 0000-0001-6188-7643 PhD in Economics Postgraduate student, the department of History of Philosophy, Russian Christian Humanities Academy 107061, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. 2-Ya pugachevskaya, 6b, of. str.1 zhukowa@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Patanjali's theory is the only theory, which, I think, a reasonable person can accept

Swami Vivekananda

Introduction

Interest in the creative heritage of the world–famous Indian philosopher and public figure Swami Vivekananda (worldly name - Narendranath Datta) (1863-1902) has not faded to the present time both in his homeland and around the world.

The deep and versatile nature of Vivekananda's works allows us to rethink the philosopher's theses and endow them with a new interpretation corresponding to modern social processes. One of Vivekananda's most popular publications was a commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, published by the author as an appendix to the book Raja Yoga (1895).

Yoga, which is considered to be the birthplace of India, has become widespread around the world in the form of an effective wellness system. The process of its popularization was accompanied by the development of a trend for a healthy lifestyle, which has intensified in recent years due to the impact of the pandemic. People who choose yoga as a means to maintain health are more or less interested not only in its physical, but also in its spiritual component, which affects their worldview. For this reason, the study of the commentary of the famous Indian philosopher to the basic text of yoga seems very relevant.

The scientific novelty of this work is due to the fact that Vivekananda's commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali has not been practically studied by domestic orientalists. Meanwhile, this text is one of the few Indian commentaries on the Yoga Sutras translated into Russian. The purpose of this work is a hermeneutic and comparative analysis of Vivekananda's commentary on the reliability of the transmission of the content of the ancient text and the reflection of the teachings of the Indian thinker.

The first translation of Vivekananda's work under study was made and published by Ya. K. Popov in 1906. Despite the fact that since then the works of the Indian thinker have been published in our country many times, professional indologists have not translated the Yoga Sutras and comments on them in Vivekananda's presentation. The interpretation of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali Vivekananda has not been practically studied by domestic orientalists. Thus, the indologist V. S. Kostyuchenko, the author of the works most widely covering the work of the Indian thinker, casually mentions this text in his monograph on the activities of the Indian thinker, pointing out the insignificance of the attention paid by Vivekananda to the details of the yogic technique ^{[1, p. 123]}. The attention of foreign scientists is mainly focused on the social and religious-philosophical views of Vivekananda, and his commentary on the Yoga Sutras attracts the interest of students of yoga philosophy. In this regard , it is necessary to note the works of the British orientalist E. De Michelis, devoted to the history and philosophy of yoga and containing an in-depth analysis of the influence of Vivekananda's creativity on the transformation of yoga, as well as Canadian researcher L. McGregor and British scientist M. Singleton. However, the diverse studies of the commentary to the Yoga Sutras are unknown to us. 

The Ukrainian researcher of yoga philosophy A. G. Safronov convincingly demonstrated the shortcomings of the translation of the sutras performed by Vivekananda from Sanskrit, but noted that because of the simple English in which the philosopher's work was written, it was translated quite accurately by Ya. K. Popov into Russian ^[2]. Due to the wide distribution of this text in our country, as well as the lack of its academic translation, we will analyze the translation of Ya. K. Popov, published by Russian indologists in 1992.

In the introduction to Raja Yoga, Vivekananda considers it necessary to warn the reader that his translation of the Patanjali sutras is quite free. He emphasizes that when presenting this text, he tried to "avoid formalities and adhere to a free and relaxed style of conversation" ^{[3, p. 122]}. Indeed, when getting acquainted with the translation of Vivekananda, its extreme brevity catches the eye, and also the fact that the thinker does not deign to explain all the sutras. The capacity and the paucity of the author's judgments will allow us to draw conclusions about the most significant aspects of the Yoga Sutras for the commentator, as well as about his views on the yoga practice popular today.

The wisdom of the East versus the science of the WestOne of the integral aspects of Vivekananda's philosophical and religious teaching was a clear orientocentrism, which V. S. Kostyuchenko considers a completely natural reaction to the onslaught of the Eurocentric theories of the colonizers of India ^{[1, p. 154]}.

The commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, like most of Vivekananda's works, is replete with indications of contradictions in the views of representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations. These contradictions are especially clearly expressed in the explanations of sutras 2.9, 2.19, as well as 4.2 and 4.3. For Sutra 2.9, which states that "the self-existent thirst for life arises even in the wise" ^{[4, p. 117]}, Vivekananda significantly expands Vyasa's commentary, which provides proof of the theory of reincarnation through the presence of fear of death in living beings.

The thinker tries to justify the past existence of a person, citing attachment to life as arguments, as well as the action of instincts. At the same time, he claims that "in the language of yoga, instinct is a collapsed mind" ^{[5, p. 119]}, in other words, instinct is the result of previous experience. As an example, Vivekananda cites playing the piano, in the process of mastering which there is what is called instinct in the West. In an effort to point out the advantage of ancient Indian yoga knowledge over Western science, Vivekananda mistakenly calls instinct a reflex that is obtained as a result of piano practice.

Criticism of the Western worldview is heard in Vivekananda's indication of the absurdity of Western beliefs that the possibility of a future life due to attachment to the current life "applies only to people, but does not apply to animals" ^{[5, p. 119]}. Most likely, we are not talking here about the posthumous existence of the human soul in the Christian view, but the theory of reincarnation, since the thinker clarifies that in India attachment to life has always been a strong argument for proving past existence. This phrase may contain an attack towards the Theosophical Society, whose rejection of the ideas of Vivekananda is noted by V. S. Kostyuchenko, who notes that Vivekananda's struggle with theosophists was long, hard and persistent, and lasted until the end of the thinker's life ^{[1, p. 99]}. It is worth clarifying that this struggle was not of an open and permanent nature. Thus, in correspondence with compatriots, the thinker advises avoiding conflicts with theosophists and ignoring their actions, since suspicion of his connection with theosophists can spoil his work both in America and in England ^{[6, p. 379]}. At the same time, he gives lectures to members of the Theosophical Society and notes its small number in the West: "According to the latest census, the number of theosophists in the whole of America is only 625 people" ^{[6, p. 320]}, which indicates the weakness of their influence. But it was the theosophists, along with other occult groups, who acted as sources of the idea of the transmigration of souls for the West. Therefore, in the commentary to the Yoga Sutras, Vivekananda attributes the theory of reincarnation, which contradicts the Christian worldview of the West, with the probable purpose of criticizing competing communities.

Researcher E. De Michelis believes that the interest of the West in Indian religions, which Vivekananda "took advantage of", was caused mainly by the popularization of Eastern ideas by the Theosophical Society ^{[7, p. 154]}, and the teachings of the Bengali philosopher were successfully assimilated into a mixture of theosophy, occultism, Mesmerism and other alternatives to traditional religions. Indeed, the Theosophical Society in the second half of the XIX century played a leading role in the turn of the West to the East, which indicates the injustice of its criticism by Vivekananda.     

One of the most significant ideas, which, according to Vivekananda, testifies to the advantage of the knowledge of the East over the knowledge of the West, which he learned from the sutras of Patanjali, was a special concept of evolution. It repeatedly appears in his works in one context or another. For example, in the series of lectures "From Colombo to Almora", delivered by Vivekananda after returning to India from the USA and Europe in 1897, this idea sounds like a kind of interpretation of Sutra 4.2 about the transition of beings from one form of existence to another. "Even in the lowest worm that crawls under your feet, all the eightfold forces of Yoga already exist" ^{[8, p. 232]}, the thinker declares, explaining that these forces have the potential to manifest themselves in the future birth of a person.

In the commentary to Sutra 4.3, Vivekananda reveals the essence of the concept of evolution, following the idea of Patanjali and contrasting it with Darwin's theory. According to him, sexual selection and the struggle for survival, which are the main driving forces in Darwin's theory, cannot underlie evolution. The true meaning of evolution, which consists in "discovering the perfection that already exists in every being" ^{[5, p. 150]}, was revealed by Patanjali, who was endowed with the epithet "great evolutionist" by the thinker for this. The perfection inherent in each being, or "endless stream", the image of which Vyasa carefully draws in his commentary, describing the process of irrigation of fields with the help of "destruction of earth bridges" between them ^{[4, p. 183]}, is none other than "a hidden God, held by locks and barriers of ignorance" ^{[5, p. 150]}. Of course, in this statement Vivekananda explicitly introduces the Advaitist understanding of being, which we will return to later.

It is noteworthy that in Darwin's theory Vivekananda tends to see the support of the ruling class, "oppressors" who, under the guise of the goal of preserving the human race, seek to destroy non-viable people ^{[5, p. 149]}. Vivekananda contrasts the immoral Western theory based on "getting food and finding a girlfriend" with the ethical teaching of Patanjali, where the main role is played not by overcoming obstacles, but by improving it through "education and culture, through concentration and meditation and, above all, through self-sacrifice" ^{[9, p. 153]}. Despite the fact that such an opposition looks very advantageous for the achievements of the East, it is worth noting that the Yoga Sutras do not contain moral instructions, except for the principles of the first stages of yoga, yama and niyama, but even in these stages, according to the apt instructions of the Romanian philosopher M. Eliade, "morality is also affected: purity kindness is not spiritual qualities, but "purified", "subtle" matter in the form of consciousness" ^{[10, p. 89]}. Thus, the moral content of the commentary on the Yoga Sutras is characteristic of a number of commentators, among whom Vivekananda belongs, rather than the compiler of the sutras.

Vivekananda's lively and critical mind finds in Patanjali's evolutionary concept the basis for an even deeper conclusion. In one of his speeches in 1896, he spoke about the unacceptability of the idea of competition as an engine for the development of society, calling it terrible and wrong. Going further, recognizing the change in his views, the thinker proclaims wars as an undoubted evil for humanity, since "every war threw human progress back fifty years instead of moving it forward" ^{[11, p. 205]}. During this period, according to the studies of orientalist E. V. Volgina, Vivekananda's correspondence shows concern about the armament of European countries and a premonition of a near and destructive war ^{[12, p. 171]}. Vivekananda believed that intelligent people can only accept Patanjali's theory to understand evolutionary processes ^{[11, p. 205]}, otherwise it will be difficult for humanity to avoid incorrigible mistakes, and these mistakes, as we can see, our author managed to foresee.

Vivekananda finds another opportunity to highlight the superiority of Oriental knowledge when commenting on Sutra 2.19. Revealing to readers the basics of the ontology of Sankhya, the thinker provides solutions to the question of the primacy of mind and matter offered by religion and science. "Sankhya and all religions put reason first" ^{[5, p. 128]}, says Vivekananda, apparently meaning the religions of the East and West. Science, according to his remark, asserts the primacy of matter. This contradiction is completely removed by Indian philosophy, which considers Purusha to be above all reason, in relation to which the mind is endowed with only reflected light ^{[5, p. 128]}. It must be assumed that under the concept of "Indian philosophy" in this context, Vivekananda sounds not only yoga-darshana, the fundamental text of which he comments on, but also Vedanta, which is not in disagreement with yoga. On the side of the West in the dialogue with Patanjali, our thinker this time has Kant, who tried to prove "that we cannot penetrate the terrible dead wall called reason" ^{[5, p. 92]}. Patanjali, according to Vivekananda, actually offers the idea of unlimited expansion of human capabilities, which is completely devoid of Western knowledge. 

When reading Vivekananda's commentary on the Yoga Sutras, the reader may have an opinion about the inferiority of scientific achievements of the West in comparison with the East, which supposedly has long known many truths. The text is created by the thinker 2 years after the World Parliament of Religions, and by the time it is written, Vivekananda, forced to constantly speak to a Western audience, has time to study her moods and expectations. The philosopher sees both the religious crisis of the West and its steady interest in the "mystical East". The Western listener, especially from a non-church or Christian environment that disagrees with the views of the official church, seems to us ready and receptive to criticism of the values of their civilization.

In our opinion, criticism of Western civilization is not appropriate for commenting on an ancient text with a purely practical content, however, the oppositions given by Vivekananda could partly be illustrative in nature, facilitating the understanding of Eastern ideas by a Western reader.

Desacralization of "Yoga Sutras"Despite the criticism of the scientific knowledge of the West, Vivekananda does not detract from the importance of scientific and technological progress for all mankind.

Orientalist V. S. Kostyuchenko notes this circumstance, saying that the educational trend in Indian philosophy of the second half of the XIX century was most clearly expressed in the activities of Vivekananda ^{[1, p. 68]} and played an important role in the historical perspective of public life in India. In his speeches to his compatriots, the thinker repeatedly emphasizes the need to adopt many of his achievements from the West. "We must learn from the West its arts and sciences" ^{[8, p. 341]}, he declares, not forgetting, however, to point out those achievements that only India possesses.

"Yoga Sutras" in Vivekananda's eyes appear to be one of such priceless legacies of Ancient India. Along with emphasizing the superiority of the ideas contained in them over the ideas of the West, the thinker seeks to reconcile the provisions of the sutras with Western scientific discoveries, with the aim of giving Eastern wisdom credibility in the eyes of a Western audience. Thus, in the commentary to sutra 2.12, explaining the mechanism of action of the karmic law, Vivekananda speaks about the possibility of a person to change the material of his body and gain immortality. To substantiate this statement, he draws a parallel between the knowledge of yoga practitioners and natural science knowledge: "Science says that we take a lot of energy from the sun and make it a part of ourselves, <...> yogis say that they have the ability to absorb energy with one force of consciousness" ^{[5, p. 122]}. The thinker is convinced that man has become "automatic, degenerate", has lost the understanding of his abilities.   

The book "Raja Yoga" contains similar parallels. For example, explaining the effects of the pranayama technique, Vivekananda draws an analogy between controlling the will and the movement of an electric current, when the body of a practitioner of breathing exercises can become a "giant battery of will" ^{[3, p. 162]}. Although V. S. Kostyuchenko claims that Vivekananda was far from a scientific interpretation of the essence of psychophysical yoga training, and considers the thinker's comparisons to be "a rationalization of pre-scientific ideas arising from magic" ^{[1, p. 125]}, it is worth noting that Vivekananda's beliefs were consistent with the scientific thought of the XIX century. So, in 1896, the philosopher met with the world-famous inventor N. Tesla (1856-1943) and in one of his letters reported that Tesla was so inspired by Vedantist ideas about prana, akasha and kalpas that he called them "the only theories that modern science can accept" ^{[13, p. 78]}. Tesla said he plans to mathematically demonstrate how force and matter are reduced to potential energy. Inspired by the hope that Vedanta cosmology will be put on a solid foundation, Vivekananda builds a parallel between akasha, prana and the Universal Mind (mahat) that produces them, on the one hand, and matter, force and primary energy, on the other. Canadian researcher L. McGregor showed that the idea of ether (akasha), which Vivekananda considered the most important scientific principle, was inherent not only in ancient Indian cosmology, but also in the physical science of the XIX century ^{[14, p. 50]}. This idea was abandoned only after Vivekananda's death, when in 1905 A. Einstein (1879-1955) created a special theory of relativity. Therefore, the Bengali thinker built the provisions of the doctrine within the scientific paradigm of his time.

It is worth noting that in "Raja Yoga" Vivekananda periodically calls yoga a science, calling for the exclusion of all "mysterious and secret" from contemporary descriptions of the yoga system ^{[3, p. 134]}. Although in his speeches the philosopher was always reluctant to talk about phenomena acquired through the practice of yoga, he did not deny their possibility. In an interview, Vivekananda even calls on scientists to investigate these phenomena and criticizes materialists who claim that such "miracles" are impossible ^{[15, p. 228]}. At the same time, according to the fair remark of researcher L. McGregor, the philosopher does not offer any evidence of these phenomena, nor ways in which they can be obtained ^{[14, p. 98]}, which devalues his statement in the scientific nature of yoga. However, Vivekananda's ideas about the connection between Western science and Eastern philosophical and religious knowledge are gaining popularity today, as evidenced by the works of scientists of the late XX century. Fritjof Capra "The Tao of Physics" (1975), Paul Davis "The Mind of God" (1992), Leon Lederman "The God Particle" (1993).

A Look at Yoga PracticeIn the preface to the book "Raja Yoga" Vivekananda states that the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are "the highest authority in Raja Yoga and constitute its textbook" ^{[3, p. 122]}.

It is to this text and its comments that yoga practitioners primarily turn these days in search of clarification of the practical aspects of yoga. The Indian philosopher's commentary contains indications of these aspects.

In the interpretation of sutra 1.34, Vivekananda reveals the essence of the technique of breath control. Knowing that neither the author of the sutras nor their traditional commentators paid attention to this technique, he explains that "later yogis" made a science out of it ^{[5, p. 108]}. Indeed, Vyasa speaks of breath control only as a means of achieving mental stability ^{[4, p. 102]}, and Vivekananda gives this process the function of controlling "all the various movements in the body and various nerve currents passing through the body" ^{[5, p. 109]}. The book "Raja Yoga" contains a more detailed description of the technique of breath control, which indicates that Vivekananda introduced practical guides to achieve certain goals in the interpretation of the Yoga Sutras. Obviously, his offer of specific practices to the Western audience becomes a response to the demands of the society of the era of technological growth and utilitarianism, whose members are in search of methods to obtain practical and rational results.

Vivekananda mentions the transformation of the body, getting rid of anxiety, and gaining a "joyful feeling" as the effects of the proposed practices ^{[5, pp. 109, 108, 135]}. In the commentary to sutra 3.47, he talks about one of the simple ways to concentrate attention while reading a book, thereby demonstrating the accessibility of yoga techniques for ordinary people. Vivekananda makes an indication of the practical aspect of the sutras by commenting on Sutra 2.28 on yoga aids. According to the thinker, at the initial stages of yoga practice, the management of the body and mind are of paramount importance.

For Vivekananda's brief comment, the emphasis on the acquisition of health by yoga practitioners is noteworthy: "Unhealthy people cannot be Yogis" ^{[5, p. 106]}. In this context, the interpretation of the ancient text seems to contain the emerging healing techniques underlying modern yoga. For example, Vivekananda talks about the "matter of consciousness", which draws prana from the environment and produces various vital forces from it, preserving the integrity of the body, mind and will ^{[5, p. 108]}. In the philosopher's exposition, yoga becomes a science based on natural laws, and "Yoga Sutras" turn into a practical guide to yoga.  

Recall that V. S. Kostyuchenko considered it appropriate to point out the thinker's belittling of the bodily practice of yoga in favor of presenting its "internal means", which include pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. However, the very content of the Yoga Sutras and the traditional commentaries to them do not contain detailed practical recommendations for working with the body. For example, in the commentary of Vyasa (4-5 centuries AD), only 12 yoga asanas (poses) are listed ^{[4, p. 143]}, recommended, in his opinion, for improvement in practice. Indeed, the emphasis on working with the body in yoga was shifted much later than the time of Vivekananda's commentary on the sutras, and in the commentary to the Yoga Sutras he speaks of asana only as a stable body position necessary for practice. But our author draws readers' attention to the importance of maintaining the health of the body as a means of working with consciousness, saying that "the first big obstacle is illness, a healthy body is the best tool" ^{[16, p. 62]}. At the same time, the thinker asserts that health is not the goal of yoga, and if it were the goal, "we would be like animals, animals rarely become unhealthy" ^{[3, p. 139]}, which indicates that Vivekananda urges to seek a delicate balance between complete disregard for the body and excessive care for it in damage to the highest goal of yoga practice.

Despite the fact that the philosopher does not attach much importance to the bodily aspect of yoga, his expressions on this subject are very close to the description of the forms of modern yoga defined by the researcher E. De Michelis as "somatically oriented" forms ^{[7, p. 164]}. Thus, revealing the content of the third stage of ashtanga yoga in the book "Raja Yoga", Vivekananda says: "A series of exercises, physical and mental, should be performed every day until certain higher states are reached" ^{[3, p. 137]}.

The thinker asserts the possibility of knowing God not through sensory perception and reason, but going beyond the senses and reason. In the commentary to sutra 1.49, Vivekananda says that "listening to lectures, reading books or reasoning is only preparing the ground" ^{[5, p. 114]}, and true religion, which presupposes the comprehension of God, is realized in the process of yogic practice that overcomes the boundaries of one's mind.

Thus, Vivekananda postulates the truth of only the knowledge that is obtained in a state of yogic "concentration". This epistemological aspect of the Yoga Sutras runs through the thinker's other works like a red thread. "Blessed is he who cannot read – he moves away from God less" ^{[16, p. 15]}, says Vivekananda, at first glance, contradicting the educational appeals in his speeches. The thinker is not against book knowledge, but against considering it superior to other cognitive sources. The knowledge gained from books must necessarily be verified by experience. In addition, Vivekananda warns about the danger of accumulating unused knowledge: "The more books we read, the more confused our thought becomes" ^{[16, p. 48]}. To illustrate the insufficiency of book knowledge for comprehending religious truths and to emphasize the need for experienced knowledge, the thinker gives an example of getting to know a country on a map, without visiting this country. "I have to see the country itself" ^{[3, p. 185]}, he says, thereby equalizing the stages of ordinary (vyavahariki) and spiritual (paramarthiki) 3nani.

It is important to note that the main epistemological prerequisites of modern yoga are also based on the experience of practitioners. E. De Michelis notes the fact that from a doctrinal point of view, modern yoga is limited to "very simple and ambiguous sentences concerning the religious and philosophical foundations of practices" ^{[7, p. 187]}. It is implied that the understanding of these practices should come through direct experience, and not as a result of intellectual reflection. Modern yoga inherits this assumption from Vivekananda's Raja Yoga. 

Vivekananda, in turn, borrows the idea of the superiority of experienced knowledge from two of his spiritual mentors at once. A negative attitude to book learning is declared in the sermons of the Bengali reformer of Hinduism Ramakrishna (1836-1886), whose teachings were popularized later by Vivekananda. According to the Indian preacher, books are useful, but only in order to "find ways by which Absolute Brahman can be achieved" ^{[17, p. 81]}. In this statement, Ramakrishna essentially hints at the image of a map of an unknown country, which Vivekananda also speaks about. According to orientalist T. G. Skorokhodova, criticism of scholarship in Ramakrishna's views sounds in line with anti-dogmatism in traditional Hinduism and Brahmo ^{[18, p. 318]}. The idea of the primacy of experiential knowledge is no less clearly manifested in the lectures of the Indian reformer Keshobchondro Sena (1838-1884), the leader of the Brahmo Samaj organization, of which Vivekananda was a member before meeting Ramakrishna. "Books, teachers, examples are useful tools, but they help us only to a limited extent" ^{[19, p. 40]}, says Sen. According to the philosopher, religious knowledge is "potentially embedded in the human mind and needs to be awakened" ^{[19, p. 190]}, and the primary source of this knowledge is intuition. Since Sena's religious beliefs had a Christian orientation, as well as the environment in which Vivekananda acted, it is possible to recognize the opinion of researcher Ye. De Michelis says that the basis of modern yoga is the concept of the "intuitive" vision of the God Hay ^{[7, p. 181]}, refracted through the views of Vivekananda. But most likely, both of Vivekananda's mentors contributed to the formation of his interpretations of the epistemological foundations of yoga.      

Ishvara as the Absolute of AdvaitaVivekananda devotes a very detailed commentary to the disclosure of the semantic content of the word "Om", which is first mentioned in sutra 1.27 as a verbal expression of Ishvara.

According to him, all Indian religious ideas converge on this word, moreover, "dualists, monodualists, dissidents and even atheists have accepted Om" ^{[5, p. 105]}. Comparing the universal word "Om" in terms of the designation of God of any religion with the English word "God", limited, according to Vivekananda, by the requirement to add a clarifying epithet of God, the thinker calls for accepting Om as "the only symbol for religious aspiration" of believers of all religions of the world ^{[5, p. 105]}. This commentary convincingly illustrates Vivekananda's intention to declare Ishvara "Yoga Sutras" the Absolute of Advaita.

The analysis of Vivekananda's works makes it possible to notice the thinker's tendency to appeal to the "Yoga Sutras" of Patanjali when mentioning the concepts of Advaita in one context or another. In this regard, it is indicative of the enumeration by modern Indian researchers of Vivekananda philosophy as the two fundamental foundations of education in India, according to the thinker, namely yoga and Advaita ^{[20, p. 8]}. In one of his letters of 1895, Vivekananda speaks of the superiority of Advaita, "the noblest philosophy of unity", over other religions of the world. His observations of the struggle of religious movements in the West, as well as trends in the spread of confessions in India, convince the thinker of the imminent victory of Advaita, which will undoubtedly become "the future religion of thinking humanity" ^{[6, p. 358]}. It is noteworthy that Vivekananda considers it appropriate to cite as an argument the idea of the "father of yoga" Patanjali: "When a person rejects all superhuman powers, then he reaches the cloud of virtue" ^{[6, p. 359]}. Continuing the thought of Patanjali, Vivekananda asserts that a person who has reached such a state becomes able to see God and becomes God himself, thereby harmoniously integrating the provisions of yoga into the teaching of Advaita. 

            In the commentary to the Yoga Sutras, attention is drawn to Vivekananda's interpretation of Ishvara, which is defined in sutra 1.24 as "a special Purusha, not affected by affects, karma, its maturation and hidden "traces"" ^{[4, p. 96]}. Explaining this sutra, the thinker considers it necessary to note one of the main differences between the philosophy of Sankhya and the philosophy of yoga, pointing to the presence of God in the latter. At the same time, he emphasizes the diminution of the role of Ishvara by yoga, which does not recognize the function of creation of the Universe for him. Thus, Vivekananda shares the critical view of yoga set forth in his highly appreciated treatise "Vedanta-Sutra" by Badarayana ^{[21, p. 55]}. In the matter of creation, the thinker calls for the help of the Vedas, according to which Ishvara acts as the creator of the Universe. Orientalist T. G. Skorokhodova sees the reason for the connection of Vedanta in Vivekananda's view with the Vedas, and not with the darshan of the same name, the authority of sacred tests, their recognition as eternal, as well as a freer association of various beliefs in them than in the Vedanta school ^{[22, p. 20]}. However, Vivekananda seeks to smooth out the contradiction between yoga and the Vedas. 

Commenting on sutra 1.24, he presents a teleological proof of the existence of God: "Since the universe is harmonious, it must be a manifestation of one will" ^{[5, p. 103]}. Vivekananda then asserts that yoga-darshana avoids the question of the creation of the world, but comes to its understanding in its own special way, which does not contradict the Vedantist understanding. This is the first assumption of the thinker to reconcile the idea of yoga with his own vision of God. The second assumption follows from the endowment of God with the ability to be both personal and impersonal, as Vivekananda says after his mentor Ramakrishna.

It is significant that Ramakrishna mentions in one of his sermons the peculiarity of the representation of God in yoga: "The same being that followers of the monistic Vedanta system call Brahman, or Absolute, yogis call Atman (the supreme Self), and bhaktas consider a personal God with all Divine attributes" ^{[17, p.99]}. As an analogy, Ramakrishna gives the example of a brahmin called a priest in the service of God, and a cook when he cooks food in the kitchen. In calling God Atman by yogis, Ramakrishna sounds rather the impersonal aspect of God, whereas Vivekananda emphasizes the personal aspect of Ishvara. Thus, at an 1895 lecture in the Thousand Islands Park in the USA, dedicated to explaining certain provisions of the Yoga Sutras, Vivekananda states that "Ishvara is Atman in the sense in which our mind is able to see or comprehend It" ^{[16, p.62]}.

In the same cycle of lectures, he declares Ishvara "separation from the Absolute" and therefore acquired certain properties ^{[16, p. 67]}. At the same time, Vivekananda does not consider yoga-darshana limited in understanding God, since "a personal God is the last generalization of the universe, but the generalization is unclear, vague, philosophical" ^{[16, p. 51]}. It is noteworthy that the multidimensional nature of God in Ramakrishna, according to orientalist V. V. Brodov, served as an indication of the "senselessness and harmfulness of the sectarian struggle" waged by numerous confessions of India ^{[23, p. 116]}. The assumption of Ishvara as the personal God Vivekananda carries a different context. Probably, the thinker believes that for the purposes of yogic concentration it is necessary to honor the personal God, whereas at the highest stage of yoga practice, the impersonal essence of God will be revealed to the practitioner.

In the commentary to Sutra 1.34, dedicated to the essence of prana and the possibility of controlling it, the thinker embeds an excursion into the ontology of Advaita Vedanta. He claims that the whole world is only a "projection of an Infinite Essence on the plane of consciousness" ^{[5, p. 110]}. At the same time, only a small part of the Infinite Universe is projected into our consciousness, which perceives the world very narrowly. Thus, the world that we are able to see will not be comprehended by an ordinary person due to his state of a certain "myopia".

            Vivekananda reveals the means of getting rid of this "myopia" in another ontological scheme, which he gives not in the commentary to the Yoga Sutras, but in the book "Raja Yoga". The thinker proposes to imagine the Universe as "an ocean of Akasha, oscillating under the influence of Prana" ^{[3, p. 158]}. This imaginary ocean has a center in which the Absolute Spirit is located, and around the center there are layers of Akasha that differ from each other by different vibrations within them. A person who has mastered the management of prana can get the ability to see what is happening not only in his layer, but also in others. Thus, the ability to control prana, acquired as a result of mastering yogic techniques, not only harmonizes the physical and mental state of a person, but also makes it possible to understand the structure of the universe and God himself. Yoga becomes, in the philosopher's view, a technique for regulating the inner settings of a person, bringing him closer to the Divine.

            In the commentary to sutra 3.38, Vivekananda asserts that the yogi's consciousness is "a particle of the universal consciousness" ^{[5, p. 144]}, and by tuning into it, the yogi can act according to laws that have not yet been discovered by Western science. In this context, yoga allows you to join the perfection and powers of the universal mind. Yoga is presented by the thinker as a deeply transformative practice leading to the achievement of a person's highest potential, which in terms of the New Age religion e. De Michelis considers it appropriate to the concept of "personal growth" ^{[7, p. 174]}.   

            Vivekananda offers a Vedantist interpretation of the yoga philosophy in the introduction to the Yoga Sutras. Through the postulation of circular motion as the only possible kind of motion in the universe, the thinker tries to convince the reader that man, being "a product and manifestation of the absolute beginning" ^{[5, p. 89]}, must inevitably return to this beginning. The beginning is called Vivekananda Absolute, God or nature. At the same time, the state of returning to the Absolute, according to Vivekananda, is the highest state of a person, as "yoga philosophers categorically say" ^{[5, p. 91]}, and the current state is degeneration. Thus Vivekananda gives a special meaning to human life, claiming that "man is essentially God and becomes him again" ^{[3, p. 197]}, and must go through "higher processing", like a grain decomposing in the soil, which turns into a beautiful tree. The only way to go through this "higher processing" is to practice yoga.

Conclusion

            So, Vivekananda's commentary on the Yoga Sutras places emphasis on the peculiarities of his philosophical teaching. The explanations of the ancient text, created 2 years after Vivekananda's legendary speech at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, bear the imprint of communication with representatives of the West and clearly demonstrate the Orient-centric position of the author. The thinker seeks to convince the reader of the scientific nature of both the Yoga Sutras and the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta in general.      In addition, in the mouth of Vivekananda, the commentary on the Yoga Sutras acquires a Vedantic sound. Thus, the philosopher declares Ishvara Patanjali to be a personal aspect of the God-Absolute of Advaita Vedanta, draws ontological schemes that are not characteristic of yoga darshana and at the same time do not contradict it. In the development of Patanjali's thought, Vivekanda presents the idea of Advaita about the identification of man with God at the highest stage of yogic concentration. Despite the fact that yoga, as a teaching in which many theoretical issues are not considered at all, allows itself to be included in other philosophical systems, Vivekananda's commentary obscures the true content of the ancient text with the provisions of the philosopher's teaching.

            The commentary anticipates the ideas that underlie modern yoga. Anticipating the shift of emphasis in the West towards the importance of maintaining good physical shape and youthful appearance, Vivekananda mentions the healing possibilities of yoga practice gained through prana management. The same mechanism, according to the thinker, contributes to the stabilization of the mental state of practitioners, which is currently expressed in the popularity of yoga as one of the most effective methods of dealing with stress. The epistemological aspect of yoga in Vivekananda's interpretation is based on gaining direct experience of God. Modern yoga is also aimed not at the development of rational means of cognition, but rather at the competent mastery of specific effective techniques. Finally, Vivekananda declares yoga to be the only means for experiential access to the Divine, which becomes one of the many aspects of New Age religion using the concepts of personal growth and self-realization.

            The commentary of the Bengali thinker corresponds to the needs of the audience for which it was created, but significantly simplifies the complex ancient Indian text to a narrow set of Hatha yoga practices. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the author's predictive talent, which reflected the main trends of yoga transformation for a century to come.