Yoga Sutras of Patanjali at the same time. The Vedanta-Sramana traditions, iconolatry and Vedic rituals can be identified with the Jnana marga, Bhakti marga and the Karma marga respectively that are outlined in the Bhagavad Gita. The "Yoga Sutras" are built on a foundation of Samkhya philosophy, an orthodox (Astika) and atheistic Hindu system of dualism, and are generally seen as the practice while Samkhya is the theory. The influence of Samkhya is so pervasive in the Sutras that the historian Surendranath Dasgupta went so far as to deny independent categorization to Patañjali's system, preferring to refer to it as "Patanjala Samkhya", similar to
Nirvana appears, which means to be set free or release - such as of a horse from its harness. The traditions within Hinduism state that there are multiple paths ("marga") to moksha: "jnana-marga", the path of knowledge; "bhakti-marga", the path of devotion; and "karma-marga", the path of action. The term Brahma-nirvana appears in verses 2.72 and 5.24-26 of the Bhagavad Gita. It is the state of release or liberation; the union with the Brahman. According to Easwaran, it is an experience of blissful egolessness. According to Zaehner, Johnson and other scholars, "nirvana" in the Gita is a Buddhist term adopted by