Patanjali

Patanjali is the father of yoga. He is thought to have lived between 500 and 200 B.C. Although we know very little about the man himself, his yoga sutras – which codify the yoga path in succinct form – are one of the most direct and powerful pathways to enlightenment.
 

Patanjali wrote 196 sutras, which are divided into four chapters. Within this structure are eight practical steps, each one leading to the next, yet entwined and complementing each other. These are known as the 8 limbs of yoga.