Disciplines

Yamas and Niyamas

Five restraints and five observances forming the first two limbs of Patañjali's eight-limbed Yoga.

Tradition or school
Hinduism
Framework type
Disciplines
Authority classification
Philosophical
Observance
Recommended
Research status
Published and reviewed
Origin period
Classical Yoga period; Yoga Sutras commonly dated to the early centuries CE
Origin region
Indian subcontinent
Attributed origin
Patañjali's Yoga tradition
Intended audience
Practitioners of classical Yoga, with later application in wider Hindu and modern yoga traditions
Published constituent items
10
Last reviewed
28 June 2026

Primary texts and authority

Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, Book II.

Rules, principles or steps

  1. Ahimsa — Nonviolence

    Avoid causing injury to living beings through conduct, intention and preventable neglect.

    Prohibition · Strong duty

  2. Satya — Truthfulness

    Align speech and thought with truth while considering the effects of communication.

    Virtue to cultivate · Strong duty

  3. Asteya — Non-Stealing

    Do not take what has not been freely given, including property, credit, labour or opportunity.

    Prohibition · Strong duty

  6. Saucha — Purity

    Cultivate cleanliness and clarity in body, environment and mental life.

    Practice or observance · Recommended

  7. Santosha — Contentment

    Cultivate contentment without allowing it to become indifference to preventable injustice.

    Virtue to cultivate · Recommended

Historical development

Later Hindu and global yoga traditions interpret these disciplines in diverse devotional, ascetic, psychological and ethical ways.

Variations

They are not a single universally binding Hindu code. Brahmacharya may mean celibacy, sexual restraint or wise use of energy. Ishvara-pranidhana is interpreted differently by theistic and non-theistic practitioners.

Traditional interpretation

The restraints regulate conduct toward others, while the observances cultivate personal discipline and orientation toward liberation.

Controversies and disputes

Modern wellness presentations may detach the disciplines from their philosophical and liberation-oriented context.

Truth By Reason analysis

The framework includes broadly defensible principles such as nonviolence and truthfulness alongside ascetic and devotional practices whose value depends on context.

Ethical themes

  • Nonviolence
  • Wisdom
  • Worship
  • Honesty
  • Non-stealing
  • Sexual conduct
  • Self-control
  • Purity

Explanations, comparisons and discussions

Ethical analysis

War, Defence and Nonviolence

How commitments to non-killing and non-injury confront aggression, defence, war and protection of vulnerable people.

Comparison

Wealth, Charity and Poverty

What ethical codes say about property, generosity, non-possession, honest work, poverty and economic justice.

Explanation

What Is an Ethical Code or Path?

Why commandments, vows, virtues, practices and paths belong in one comparative catalogue without being treated as identical.

Sources