Bhagavagd Gita - Session 5- Track 510

You will see that in this Yoga there is not merely discrimination between Purusha and Prakriti as in Sankhya, there is much more. In the pure Sankhya, there is only a perception by Buddhi, a distinction between Prakriti and Purusha, and when you discriminate between the two, you arrive at a perception of Purusha, that is the method of Sankhya, in the ordinary Sankhya, not the Gita’s Sankhya.

In Yoga, this process of discriminating between Purusha and Prakriti is not exactly by Buddhi Yoga, we may do it, but it is not necessary, you still can concentrate upon any object, that is enough and then you can go by Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi. Secondly, Pratyahara has to be preceded by Pranayama and Asana. In the Sankhya as properly known today these two processes are not there at all. Nor is in the Sankhya the prescription of Yama and Niyama. In Yoga there is both Yama and Niyama. In Sankhya there is no īśvaraḥ praṇidhāna, but in Yoga, yoga īśvaraḥ praṇidhāna. You can see that Yoga known today is quite different from Sankhya known today; and you will see that Yoga is much larger a process than the process that is proposed in Sankhya.

If you want to summarise what is the distinction? You will find that there are three distinctions: one is Yama and Niyama is largely connected with action. Yama and Niyama, both of them are to be applied in daily life, daily life of activity. Therefore you might say that there is a lot of Karmayoga in what is known as Yoga today. Secondly, there is also the process of concentration, which is also in Sankhya; in Sankhya there is no Karmayoga at all, in Yoga, there is Karmayoga. In Sankhya there is a process of concentration, here also there is a process of concentration; so, in this respect, it is very similar to Sankhya. In Sankhya there is no īśvaraḥ praṇidhāna, but here there is īśvaraḥ praṇidhāna, therefore lot of devotion. Yoga, as we know it today, has these three elements of Karmayoga, Jnanayoga and Bhaktiyoga, all the three are present, but the Karmayoga is greatly subordinated; Bhaktiyoga is optional (Svadhyaya or īśvaraḥ praṇidhāna). The main emphasis is upon concentration, upon Dhyana. Therefore, Yoga today as known today is largely a process of Jnanayoga, also other elements are present, but the word Yoga used by Sri Krishna…He Himself says that Yoga is primarily Karmayoga, this is fundamentally Karmayoga…