Patanjali's Yoga Sutras says, “Yoga is nothing but anushashan, yoga is nothing but discipline”. This discipline is physical and mental, as well as spiritual. Now, we can understand physical discipline and mental discipline, but what is spiritual discipline? Discipline is not just an imposed routine. Many of us tend to believe that an imposed routine is the right form of discipline, but it is not so. Discipline means knowledge of the self. The word for discipline in Hindi is anushashan – anu + shashan. Shashan means 'to rule, to govern' and anu means 'the subtle aspect, the subtle nature'. When we are able to govern, to harmonize our subtle personality then that is the true concept of discipline.
-Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
