Within the Yoga Sutras, the Eight Limbs of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) are presented as a complete and graded path whose purpose is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind and the realization of liberation, or kaivalya. They do not stand as isolated techniques, but as an integrated methodology through which ethical conduct, bodily discipline, breath regulation, and meditative absorption converge into a single soteriological vision. The limbs are sequential and interrelated: each one prepares the ground for the next, progressively purifying and steadying the practitioner so that deeper levels of concentration and insight become possible. In this way, the system addresses the whole human being—ethical, physical, energetic, and mental—so that spiritual realization is not merely intellectual assent, but a transformation of consciousness and character.

The first two limbs, yama and niyama, establish the ethical and personal foundation: restraints such as non‑violence, truthfulness, non‑stealing, chastity or moderation, and non‑possessiveness, together with observances like purity, contentment, austerity, self‑study, and devotion to the divine. Upon this moral ground, āsana stabilizes the body in a steady, comfortable posture, while prāṇāyāma regulates the breath and life force, refining the connection between body and mind. Pratyāhāra, the withdrawal of the senses from external objects, turns attention inward and marks a transition from predominantly external disciplines to the inner work of consciousness itself. These preparatory limbs create the necessary conditions for the higher practices to unfold.

The final three limbs—dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi—constitute the core meditative process, sometimes treated collectively as saṃyama. Dhāraṇā gathers the mind onto a single point; dhyāna is the unbroken flow of attention toward that chosen object; samādhi is the absorption in which the apparent distinction between meditator, process, and object falls away. Through this progressive refinement of attention, the mind’s movements are quieted and a discriminative knowledge arises that reveals pure consciousness as distinct from all mental modifications. In Patanjali’s teaching, the Eight Limbs thus function as a carefully ordered path from ethical preparation to meditative absorption, guiding the practitioner toward the isolation of pure awareness and the freedom that accompanies it.