The 10 Yamas & Niyamas — Patanjali's ethics
The 5 ethical restraints toward the world (yamas) + the 5 ethical observances toward the self (niyamas). The first two limbs of the eight-limb path, expanded into the 10 individual ethics they contain. From the Yoga Sutras (c. 200 BCE – 400 CE).
How these work
The yamas (sunrise/saffron) are outward: how you treat the world. Five negative prescriptions — do not harm, do not lie, do not steal, do not exploit, do not grasp — each of which Patanjali says, when established, produces a specific fruit (Yoga Sutra 2.35-2.39).
The niyamas (dusk/indigo) are inward: how you tend yourself. Five positive observances — be clean, be content, be disciplined, study yourself, surrender — each of which produces a deeper fruit (Yoga Sutra 2.40-2.45).
The classical instruction: pick ONE ethic at a time. Sit with it for a month. Watch what changes. The whole path is built from the ground up.
The 5 Yamas यम · outward ethics
Ahimsa अहिंसा
Non-violence
The first ethic. Non-violence toward every being — including yourself, including in thought, including the violence disguised as honesty.
Satya सत्य
Truthfulness
The second ethic. Alignment between what is known, what is said, and what is done — the integrity that makes a word weigh something.
Asteya अस्तेय
Non-stealing
The third ethic. Taking nothing that was not freely given — including time, attention, credit, ideas, and air.
Brahmacharya ब्रह्मचर्य
Right use of energy / sexual integrity
The fourth ethic. The conscious regulation of sexual and life-force energy — not necessarily celibacy, but presence to what is otherwise compulsive.
Aparigraha अपरिग्रह
Non-possessiveness, non-grasping
The fifth ethic. The capacity to hold without owning, to enjoy without possessing, to love without grasping.
The 5 Niyamas नियम · inward ethics
Saucha शौच
Cleanliness, purity
The sixth ethic. Cleanliness of body, space, food, speech, and intention — the substrate that the higher practices depend on.
Santosha संतोष
Contentment
The seventh ethic. The active practice of contentment with what is — not as resignation, but as the strength that does not require external outcomes to settle.
Tapas तपस्
Discipline, ascetic heat, the fire that burns
The eighth ethic. The sustained discipline that burns — the heat the practice generates when it costs you something.
Svadhyaya स्वाध्याय
Self-study, study of self, study of scripture
The ninth ethic. The double practice of studying scripture and studying yourself through it — the discipline of becoming the text's honest reader.
Ishvara Pranidhana ईश्वरप्रणिधान
Surrender to the divine
The tenth ethic. The dedication of all actions and their fruits to something larger than the self — the practice that, alone among the ten, Patanjali says leads directly to samadhi.
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