Patanjali's yoga sutras

उदानजयाज् जलपङ्ककण्टकादिष्व् असङ्ग उत्क्रान्तिश् च
udānajayājjalapaṅkakaṇṭakādiṣvasaṅga utkrāntiśca

udāna उदान – upward-moving life-wind
jayāj याज् – conquest, victory; triumph; used as a suffix in compound words meaning, one who has achieved a victory or has triumphed over
jala जल – water; dull, stupid, idiotic
páṅka पङ्क॑ – dirt; moral impurity; sin
kaṇṭakā कण्टका – thorn; any source of vexation or annoyance, nuisance; fault, defect
ādiṣv दिष्व् – try
asaṅga असङ्ग – without touching
utkrāntiś उत्क्रन्तिश् – ascend
ca च – and

They say Jesus walked on water. Should we take that literally? Did Jesus conquer and ascend over water, mud, and thorns or human dullness, sin, and faults? In Jesus’s time, to “walk on water” was a commonly used metaphor for doing the impossible, for having the faith and courage to step out where you might not find solid ground.

I imagine the Yoga Sutras as a speech Patanjali gave, a pitch to prospective students on why they should take up yoga. I hear him teasing his audience. They’d probably seen, or at least heard of, yogis doing amazing things and they imagine learning from Patanjali how to stand on their heads or levitate. So, Patanjali fills his talk with double entendres. Do you wish you could ascend over water, mud, and thorns without touching them? How about getting over your own ignorance, sins, or the faults and defects that are a source of so much vexation, annoyance, and nuisance to you?