The 8th century ''Pātañjalayogaśāstravivaraṇa'' (Sub-commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Commentary), also called the ''Yogasūtrabhāṣyavivaraṇa'' (Sub-commentary on the Commentary on the Yoga Sutras) is Ādi Śaṅkara's commentary on

Patanjali Patanjali (, , ; also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the name of one or more author(s), mystic(s) and philosopher(s) in ancient India. His name is recorded as an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these a ...

's own commentary, the ''

bhāṣya Bhashya () is a "commentary" or "exposition" of any primary or secondary text in ancient or medieval Indian literature. Common in Sanskrit literature, ''Bhashyas'' are also found in other Indian languages such as Tamil language, Tamil. Bhashyas are ...

'', on his ''Yoga Sutras''. As well as remarking briefly on each sutra, it gives descriptions of the 12 seated

asana An āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and late ...

s named in the ''bhāṣya'', including

Dandasana Pashchimottanasana (), Seated Forward Bend, or Intense Dorsal Stretch is a seated forward-bending asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise. Janusirsasana is a variant with one knee bent out to the side; Upavishthakonasana has the legs stra ...

, Svastikasana, and Virasana. The text was rediscovered in the 20th century, published in Madras in 1952, and partly translated into English by Trevor Leggett (Book 1 in 1961, Book 2 in 1983), completed in 1990. The full translation of all four books by T. S. Rukmani was published in 2001. The ascription of authorship to Śaṅkara has been debated.

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* * * * {{yoga-stub 8th-century Sanskrit literature Adi Shankara Ancient yoga texts