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" A sutra is, so to speak, the bare thread of an exposition, the absolute minimum that is necessary to hold it together, unadorned by a single "bead" of elaboration. Only essential words are used. Often, there is no complete sentence-structure. There was a good reason for this method. Sutras were composed at a period when there were no books. The entire work had to be memorized, and so it had to be expressed as tersely as possible. Patanjali's Sutras, like all others, were intended to be expanded and explained. The ancient teachers would repeat an aphorism by heart and then proceed to amplify it with their own comments, for the benefit of their pupils. In some instances these comments, also, were memorized, transcribed at a later date, and thus preserved for us. "
― Prabhavananda , How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
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" A sculptor decides to make a figure of a horse. The idea of this horse-the form of it which he sees in his imagination-is inspired by sattwa. Now he gets a lump of clay. This clay represents the power of tamas-its formlessness is an obstacle which has to be overcome. Perhaps, also, there is an clement of tamas in the sculptor's own mind. He may think: "This is going to be a lot of trouble. It's too difficult. I'm tired. Why should 1 make the effort?" But here the force of rajas comes to his aid. Rajas, in this instance, represents the sculptor's will to conquer his own lethargy and the difficulties of his medium; it represents, also, the muscular exertion
which he puts forth in order to complete his work. If a sufficient amount of rajas is generated, the obstacle of tamas will be overcome and the ideal form of sattwa will be embodied in a tangible clay object. From this example, it should be obvious that all three gunas are necessary for an act of creation. Sattwa alone would he iust an unrealized idea, rajas without sattwa would be mere undirected energy, rajas without "
― Prabhavananda , How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
