source : http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/discourse/jun98.htm

Yama means self-restraint, taming the animal within. Patanjali cites five yamas or restrains. They are: (1) abstinence from injury in any form; (2) truthfulness; (3) continence; (4) abstinence from depriving others of anything that is theirs; and (5) abstinence from avariciousness (ahimsa, satya, brahmacharya, asteya, aparigraha).