True the Hathapradipika does not teach the yamas or niyamas...but it does interestingly mention mitahara as the best yama and ahimsa as the best niyama (I.38). It would seem its readers were expected to already be well versed in a system of yamas and niyamas that is distinct from Patanjali's. Patanjali's yamas almost seem like an attempt to appropriate the older Jain vratas from the Acaranga Suttas or the Buddhist precepts from Buddhaghosa's Visuddhi Magga. Perhaps that's why the brahminization of yoga led away from these original yamas that were seen as non-brahmanical because of their sources.
True the Hathapradipika does not teach the yamas or niyamas...but it does interestingly mention mitahara as the best yama and ahimsa as the best niyama (I.38). It would seem its readers were expected to already be well versed in a system of yamas and niyamas that is distinct from Patanjali's. Patanjali's yamas almost seem like an attempt to appropriate the older Jain vratas from the Acaranga Suttas or the Buddhist precepts from Buddhaghosa's Visuddhi Magga. Perhaps that's why the brahminization of yoga led away from these original yamas that were seen as non-brahmanical because of their sources.
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