Yamas of the Yoga Sutras

I have been thinking about the yamas, also known as abstentions or ethical restraints. The five yamas are ahimsa (non violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (not taking what is not given to you), brahmacharya (celibacy), and aparigraha (renunciation of unnecessary possessions) (243). Ideally, according to Vyasa (a commentator on the yoga sutras), all other yamas are for “purifying ahimsa” (nonviolence). This first limb, along with the second limb of niyamah (moral constraints) are thought to correspond with karma yoga, says Iyengar in the foreword (ix, directly after table of contents). According to the Bhagavad Gita, any one of the four yogas, karma, jnana, bhakti, and raja, is capable of leading to enlightenment. Karma yoga is the path of action, following your dharma and observing ethical and moral constraints. Through practicing karma yoga, you help everything on the path to peace.

Hindus believe Hinduism is the key to a fulfilling, happy life; so spreading hinduism to as many people as possible seems like a way to fulfill ahimsa. If the whole first branch is a means to the end of nonviolence and love, then it stands to reason that you can break some of the later abstentions as a means to ahimsa. This is the idea behind consequentialism where the ends are said to justifies the means. For example, would it be better to kill one person who is planning to kill five. In the Yoga Sutras, the third chapter is mystical powers,many of which seem to be straight up outrageous and unbelievable. They might be able to be interpreted as symbolic of some deeper truth, but there are many sources which claim outright that these mystical feats are possible. In Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda claims there are hindu saints who can literally materialize a second body, a Christian holy woman who survives without eating or drinking, and reports of instances in his life where yogis communicating directly with God to change the course of events in the physical realm. I do not know for a fact that these are either true or false, but either possibility is likely. If it is the latter, is it justified because it stokes an interest in Hinduism and might cause others to devote themselves more thoroughly or convert? These (possible) lies seem relatively harmless and to serve the purpose of promoting peace and love. This line of logic can extend to both of the karma yoga branches, making Hinduism seem quite consequentialist.