Santosha, contentment, is the second niyama in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the discipline of remaining at ease with what comes rather than straining after what does not. Patanjali credits its cultivation with unsurpassed happiness. Commentators read it as an active equanimity practiced alongside continued effort, not a reason to stop striving, distinguishing it from passive resignation.
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 credits its cultivation with unsurpassed happiness (Yoga Sutra 2.42); commentators read it as an active equanimity practiced alongside continued effort, distinguishing it from passive resignation or indifference to outcome. 1 Origins
Place of OriginIndia; nothing internal to the text fixes a specific region of composition. 1 Origin of the NameSanskrit santosha, from sam, complete or thorough, and tosha, satisfaction. 1 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceContentment, the discipline of remaining at ease with what comes rather than straining after what does not; the second niyama. 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
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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