When Patanjali wrote this sutra, he must have experienced the basic human need to quiet the mind. Even the machinery around us, although they are inanimate, need to be shut off for a bit, so they last. Although he must have been surrounded by less noise pollution, the frenzy of daily living must not have been alien to him even in 3rd century A.D. He must have sighed, and in that sigh he must have felt the slow quieting down of the body and the mind. And this first epiphany of how vrtti (movement) of citta (thought) can indeed be nirodh (controlled) must have made him utter this sutra, the lynchpin of the entire philosophy in Yoga Sutra.
When I begin my yoga practice for the day with adhamukhasvanasana, my legs are stiff and my hands begin to feel tired. But as the turnings of my thought are quieted into the breathing, then each time I come into this asana, the limbs feel lighter and lighter, the back gets straighter, and my asana looks as effortless as my dog makes it seem. Breathing is the key to get the monkey mind tethered. Once quieted, for half hour or so, then the world looks newer and we feel glorious.
Patanjali found this jewel of peacability lies within us.
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