White retraces the strange and circuitous journey of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra from its ancient origins to today, bringing to life the improbable cast of characters whose interpretations and misappropriations led to its revered place in contemporary popular culture.

Contributed articles presented at the fourth Biannual International Conference on Dharma and Abhidharma at University of Mumbai, held in March 2006.

Aphoristic work, with commentary, of the Yoga school in Indic philosophy.

"The book presents an edition, English translation and study of the Dharma Pātañjala, a previously unpublished Old Javanese-Sanskrit Śaiva scripture transmitted through a single palm-leaf codex of West Javanese origin dating back to the 15th century AD. The cultural and doctrinal background of the text, as well as its codicological and philological aspects, are introduced in Part I. Part II presents an annotated diplomatic edition of the text with facsimile reproductions of the codex on facing pages, followed by a critical edition with English annotated translation. Part III is a systematic study focusing on the interpretation of the doctrines taught in the Dharma Pātañjala in comparison with related Sanskrit texts from the Indian Subcontinent and Old Javanese scriptures from the Indonesian Archipelago.

This study of traditional literature in Pakpak-Dairi, an endangered North Sumatran language, is based on written and oral versions of stories. Discussing the views of well-known scholars of Sumatran languages, the book includes the texts of seven stories which were collected in North Sumatra by the well-known linguist Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk (1824-1894) and are kept in Leiden University Library. The book also contains a story performed in the village of Sukarame by Sonang Sitakar, who may well have been one of the last Pakpak-Dairi storytellers. Presenting unique information on an endangered literary genre from North Sumatra.

This book differs from other studies of Patanjali's Yoga-Sutra in that it places it in its original context and sees it as the source of the whole edifice of classical yoga and not just as a summary of previous developments. An essential reference for students and practitioners of yoga's philosophical foundations.