Saucha, purity or cleanliness, is the first of the five niyamas that Patanjali's Yoga Sutras list as the second limb of the eightfold path, covering bodily cleanliness along with purity of mind, food and surroundings. Patanjali links its cultivation to a growing disinterest in the body and a settling of the mind fit for concentration. Classical commentators treat it as both an external observance and an inward discipline, distinguishing it from the outward-facing restraints of the yamas.
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 links its cultivation to a growing disinterest in one's own body and the bodies of others and to a settling of the mind fit for concentration (Yoga Sutra 2.40-2.41); classical commentators distinguish it from the outward-facing restraints of the yamas as an inward discipline paired with an external observance. 1 Origins
Place of OriginIndia; nothing internal to the text fixes a specific region of composition. 1 Origin of the NameSanskrit saucha, cleanliness or purity, from the root suc, to be bright or clean. 1 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourcePurity or cleanliness, covering bodily cleanliness together with purity of mind, food and surroundings; the first of the five niyamas, the second limb of Patanjali's eightfold path. 1 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and CommentaryEdwin F. Bryant
Opposes
Originates in Language
Source The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and CommentaryEdwin F. Bryant
Related To
The five niyamas and the five yamas are taught as one paired set, the first two limbs of Patanjali's eightfold path: the yamas restrain conduct toward others, the niyamas cultivate the practitioner's own observances.
Source The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and CommentaryEdwin F. Bryant
Same As
Hindu Niyama virtue linked to its own doctrine article, matching the Yama pattern above.
Sources
1. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary
Edwin F. Bryant, North Point Press, 2009
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