<![CDATA[Śaṅkarācārya’s commentary on the definition of yoga in Kaṭha Upaniṣad II.3.10-11 has received limited scholarly attention within the framework of Advaita Vedānta, despite the mantra’s explicit definition of yoga as sthirām indriyadhāraṇām, the steady restraint of the senses. This study employs a qualitative library research method, drawing primary data from Swami Gambhirananda’s English translation of the Śaṅkarabhāṣya and applying K. Satchidananda Murty’s Vedic hermeneutics, which treats Vedic texts as contextual and open to a plurality of interpretations within their respective philosophical frameworks. The analysis shows that Śaṅkarācārya constructs yoga as viyoga, a severance of the senses, mind, and intellect (buddhi) from external objects rooted in ignorance (avidyā), so that the etymological sense of “union” emerges as a consequence of this severance rather than as its literal meaning. The resulting stillness of the senses functions as the ground for the disclosure of self-knowledge (ātma-jñāna), provided that vigilance (apramāda) is sustained, since the state of yoga is described as inherently fluctuating. Yoga therefore occupies the position of sādhana, a preparatory discipline, while final liberation continues to rest on the realization of self-knowledge itself. These findings clarify the epistemological function assigned to yoga within Śaṅkarācārya’s Advaita Vedānta and contribute to the broader academic discourse on the diverse meanings of yoga in Hindu literature.]]>
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