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Philosophy in India is traditionally divided into two main groups called the orthodox and heretic groups respectively. There are six systems of thought included in the orthodox group, all of whom recognize the authority of the Vedas in philosophical matters. Yoga as a System of philosophy is counted as one of these six orthodox schools with whom it shares some fundamental beliefs. They are: (i) A belief in a permanent soul which is supposed to be the principle of life, (ii) It is supposed to leave one body at the time of death, and enter another in the next birth, (iii) A belief in the law of karma, according to which whatever happens in an individual’s life is supposed to be the outcome of what he did in the previous life or lives, (iv) A belief that the life of an individual is predominantly a matter of misery and sorrow, (v) A belief in the state of mukti or moksha which is a state of eternal freedom from misery and sorrow. Yoga has a dualistic doctrine of explaining the universe of objects and beings. It is supposed that the universe originally comes into existence by a coming together (samyoga) of two eternal realities respectively caned purusha and prakriti. The former is the essence of spirituality, the latter that of everything material. The prakriti and all that emerges from it, is supposed to contain the three gunas in various proportions and combinations. The samyoga of the purusha and prakriti is not real but illusory. The illusion is known as avidya which binds the purusha and makes him transmigrate from one body to another in different births. The cycle of births is supposed to break once for all when avidya is dispelled by a continuous practice of the eightfold path of yoga as described by patanjali in the Yoga Sutra.

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