Aśvaghoṣa twice refers to a story in which the ṛṣi Vyāsa was kicked by a prostitute…

Yoga is now explained.

According to contemporary scholarship, this Sanskrit classic, and foundational text for many contemporary Yogis, was originally written in the Fifth Century CE with more Buddhist ideas than “Hindu” ones, pace the protestations of later pundits and, indeed, most modern translations.

This new translation of Patañjali’s text presents it through Buddhist eyes, without recourse to its traditional, Hindu commentaries. It presents a fascinating snapshot of early, medieval Indian religion and shows how hegemonic (yet increasingly contested) Buddhist soteriology was. Yet its value is not strictly historical, as the text remains an inspiring guide to spiritual development and practice today.

Buddhist tantric traditions were strongly influenced at their inception by preexisting Śaiva Hindu traditions, but they also drew on a growing body of ritual and magical practices that had been developing for several centuries in Mahāyāna Buddhist circles. The spread of tantric traditions quickly followed their development in India.

A very brief introduction to tantra.

… the major focus of each chapter is the attempt to broadly interrelate the political, economic, social and religious aspects of a period with the intention of showing where and why changes have occurred

An excellent introduction to early Indian history and the setting in which the Buddha and his Religion grew.

There are a few English translations of this classic of world literature. Steven Bachelor has a free translation (linked above), but I strongly prefer the Padmakara translation published by Shambhala in 1999 for its unparalleled accuracy and force.

Notice especially how the Westerner philosophers tie themselves into knots trying to classify Buddhist Ethics according to their inferior theories and dogmatic rejection of karma.