The Yamas and the Niyamas look a lot like the 10 Commandments to me.

Yama (Restraints)

• Ahimsa (non-harming)
• Satya (truthfulness)
• Asteya (non-stealing)
• Brahmacharya (chastity)
• Aparigraha (non-greediness)

Niyama (Observances)

• Saucha (Cleanliness)
• Santosha (Contentment)
• Tapas (Intensive spiritual effort)
• Svadhyaya (Study of the self and scriptures)
• Ishvara Pranidhana (Complete surrender to God)

The Ten Commandments

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

As you can see, there are similarities particularly in basic ethical conduct of not stealing and not harming. It is also an interesting choice of wording of “You shall have no other gods before Me” opposed to “Complete surrender to God.” I am not here to make any assumptions or commentary aside from just presenting the two side by side.  But is it possible that those of us who believe in God, that we are all worshipping the same God?

On a historical note, Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutras in 400 CE, but used what had been practiced for centuries and simply condensed and refined it. Yama and Niyama are in the second book of the Yoga Sutras.

The Ten Commandments were written around 1500 BCE which makes them older than the yoga sutras. The Bhagavad Gita, which had many concepts that were adapted to the yoga sutras was written at the same time as the Ten Commandments around 1500 BCE. Again, this is not a contest of which is older. So very interesting.  

​Basically what I believe is:  Try not to be an asshole, even when you really want to be.