Whicher- Nirodha Yoga Praxis Mind

IAN WHICHER

NIRODHA, YOGA PRAXIS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OFTHE MIND

INTRODUCTION TO NIRODHA: THE FOUNDATION OF YOGIC PRAXIS

The sam. s�aric identity of self – ineluctably locked into an epistemologicaland ontological duality with the objective world – is ingeniously capturedby Pata~njali (the reputed author of (the Yoga-S�utras, ca second-thirdcentury CE) in the expression cittavr. tti. Being by nature an extrinsicidentity of self and fraught with affliction (kle�sa), cittavr. tti is rooted inignorance (avidy�a) and as such can be characterized as impermanent(anitya), impure (a�suci), dissatisfaction (duh. kha) and non-self (an�atman)(YS II, 5).1 Clearly then the yogin must learn to distinguish betweenextrinsic and intrinsic identity of self, between cittavr. tti and purus.a. Bylocating the cause and functioning of affliction within the mind (citta)itself, Yoga asserts that there is a way to overcome misidentificationwith the modifications (vr. tti) of the mind and “achieve” emancipationfrom the afflictions which permeate our everyday modes of perception,experience (bhoga) and livelihood. For example, Pata~njali tells usthat the modifications arising from the afflictions are overcome troughmeditation (dhy�ana).2 Our true nature, form (svar�upa) and identity(purus.a) are not intrinsically predisposed to the influences and affectsof habit patterns (v�asan�as), latent impressions (sam. sk�aras) and afflictedmental processes or modifications (vr. ttis) which perpetuate actions(karma) based on ignorance (avidy�a).

How is the purpose of Yoga – the very ending of suffering anddissatisfaction (duh. kha)3 – to be brought about? The cessation ofsuffering and its concomitant misidentification is effected through aprocess of purifying and mastering the vr. tti-generating complex: themind and the activity to which it gives rise. The foundation of yogicpraxis, the mastery of mind, takes place through the process of nirodhaas stated in YS 1, 2: “Yoga is the cessation of [the misidentificationwith] the modifications of the mind.”4 Through a study of the meaningof “cessation” (nirodha), the theory-praxis unity so central to Yogaphilosophy can be better understood and appreciated. The process of“cessation” takes many forms depending on the needs of the practitioner

Journal of Indian Philosophy 25: 1–67, 1997.c 1997 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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and includes the physical, moral, psychological and spiritual dimensionsof our being. As the foundation of all Yoga practice nirodha can beseen to encompass a wide range of methods – cited throughout theYS – which can be applied in a variety of situations.5 In comparison,Classical S�am. khya prescribes essentially one practice for the releasefrom suffering: the cultivation of knowledge (j~n�ana). In contrast, Yogaoffers over twenty practices that can be undertaken to prepare the mindfor the event of spiritual liberation wherein purus.a is allowed to shineforth in its pristine purity.6

However, rather than being “any ascetic technique or any method ofmeditation”7 (as in M. Eliade’s broad definition of Yoga), Pata~njali’sYoga involves a serious inquiry into the structures and contents of themind along with an analysis of how the mind – including the empiricallyrooted sense of self – differs from purus.a. The human dilemma ofmisidentification is such that with each vr. tti the consciousness reflectingin the mind becomes that vr. tti and identifies with it, just as the sumreflected in a lake appears to be modified according to the nature ofeach wave in the water. To whatever takes place in the mind, thereflected I or ego says, “I am this wave, I am this experience,” or “Thisis me, this is my experience.” The vr. ttis of the ordinary person carrywith them the influence or “colouring” and “seed” of misidentification(vr. tti-s�ar�upya, YS I, 4) in the perceptions and experiences taking placeresulting in a confusion of identity in the condition of sam. yoga, the seerbeing mistaken for the seeable. Vy�asa gives a dramatic portrayal of theunderlying process of misidentification involving the empirical self andthe way out of this dilemma through right vision (samyag-dar�sana):

: : : that other [i.e. empirical identity] is subjected again and again to dissatisfactionbrought on by [it]self, casting it off and then subjected again to what has been castoff : : : with the mental processes from beginningless time infected so to say withthe various habit patterns, taking on what should be avoided, namely ‘I’ and ‘mine’,born again and again – [on that empirical self] the three-fold suffering, with causesboth objective and subjective, flood down. Seeing that other one, and himself, andall beings, carried away by the beginningless stream of pain, the yogin takes refugein right vision, destroyer of suffering.8

Vy�asa’s above description notwithstanding, it is essential to notehere that in Yoga the power of identification with the mind and vr. ttiis not intrinsically problematic and without purpose. Identificationinvolves potentialities of power (sva-sw�ami-�saktyoh. , YS II, 23). Whenit is misdirected and misappropriated, identification remains confinedto a particular person and what that person calls “I” and “mine.” Fromthis egoic perspective, the world and other persons are viewed as beingseparate from oneself. However, when the power of identification is

NIRODHA, YOGA PRAXIS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND 3

properly directed and concentrated through Yoga, it can be transformedinto illuminating and expanding states of consciousness and one canultimately know one’s identity as purus.a. Identification is thus a powerto be accessed and harnessed in Yoga discipline (s�adhana). The averageperson is born with a limited power of identification. It is, as it were, aconstitutional defect (dos.a) caused by avidy�a and is not one’s “personal”fault; nor is it ultimately the fault of one’s parents, teachers, education orsociety as a whole. For Yoga, the human dilemma of mistaken identity(s�ar�upya) is generated by ignorance or a profound misconception ofauthentic identity (purus.a). This impure consciousness or confused stateof selfhood is actually “built into” the unenlightened human apparatus,is a congenital infection located within our psycho-physical being. Yetas the vehicle or catalyst which ousts one from one’s complacencyin the condition of ignorance by the sheer uneasiness or affliction itcreates, it can be said to be purposeful. Moreover, Pata~njali informs usthat wrong cognition or error is a momentous problem which must betackled if one is to be free from ignorance and the turmoil it creates. Ourauthentic nature is purus.a, pure consciousness. As a reflection of purus.a,however, consciousness has two basic modes in which it can function:(1) as the consciousness (mind) that is under the sway of ignorance andis propelled in the direction of affliction; and (2) as the consciousness(mind) which due to increasing purification and illumination is propelledin the direction of liberation from ignorance. As will be later argued,“cessation” (nirodha) can be understood: (1) as a process that counteractsignorance, temporarily preventing the afflictions’ domination over themind and thereby correcting the wrong functioning of vr. tti, i.e. vr. ttisas appropriated in the condition of sam. yoga; and (2) as a process thatreveals knowledge (j~n�ana) or insight (praj~n�a), which can be called the“sattvification of consciousness,” and which grounded in knowledgeof purus.a (purus.a-j~n�ana) allows for the right functioning of vr. tti, i.e.vr. ttis as appropriated through the illumination and purification attainedin the practice of Yoga. The latter process culminates m the goal ofYoga – kaivalya.

NIRODHA (“CESSATION”): ANNIHILATION/NEGATION ORTRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND?

Nirodha (“cessation”) is one of the most difficult terms employed inthe YS and its meaning plays a crucial role for a proper comprehensionof Pata~njali’s system of Yoga. The “attainment” of liberation is basedon the destruction of impurity (a�suddhiks.aya, YS II, 28) leading to

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the progressive purification of the body-mind (sattva�suddhi) and theincreasing light of knowledge (j~n�ana-d�ıptir, YS II, 28) that takes place inthe process of nirodha. Since, as I shall now argue, the misunderstandingof this process has been fundamental to the misapprehension of themeaning of Pata~njali’s Yoga, there is a need to clarify it.

The word “nirodha” is derived from ni (“down, into”) and rudh:“to obstruct, arrest, stop, restrain, prevent.”9 In some well-knowntranslations of YS I, 2 (yoga�s cittav. rttinirodha) nirodha has beenrendered as “suppression,”10 “inhibition,”11 “restriction,”12 “cessation,”13

“restraint”14 and “control.”15 These meanings,16 I submit, are highlyproblematic, erroneous or misleading if understood, as is often thecase, with a view which emphasizes nirodha as an ontological negationor dissolution of the mind and its functioning. I am suggesting thatany attempt to interpret Pata~njali’s Yoga as a practice which seeks toannihilate or suppress the mind and its modifications for the purposeof gaining spiritual liberation grossly distorts the intended meaningof Yoga as defined by Pata~njali. In regard to the process of nirodha,the wide range of methods in the YS indicates an emphasis on theongoing application of yogic techniques including meditation, not adeadening of the mental faculties wherein the operations of conscious-ness, including our perceptual and ethical natures, are abandoned orswitched off. By defining nirodha as “cessation,” I mean to imply the“undoing” or “dissolution”17 of the conjunction (sam. yoga) betweenpurus.a – the “seer” (dras. t.r. ) – and prak. rti – the “seeable” (dr. �sya),the conjunction which Vy�asa explains as a mental superimposition(adhy�aropa) resulting in the confusion of identity between purus.a andthe mental processes.18 Our intrinsic nature as purus.a becomes as ifmisidentified with the mental processes (vr. ttis) thereby creating, inthe words of Vy�asa, “a mental self out of delusion.”19 Nirodha, I amsuggesting, refers to the cessation of the worldly, empirical effects of thevr. ttis on the yogin’s consciousness, not the complete cessation of vr. ttisthemselves. Nirodha means to cease the congenital, epistemologicalpower of the vr. ttis over the yogin, i.e. nirodha is the epistemologicalcessation of vr. ttis in the form of the congenital ignorance (avidy�a, YSII: 3–5) of our true spiritual identity and ultimate destiny.

To understand nirodha one needs to comprehend the entire Yogascheme of evolution and involution, especially the latter. The last s�utra ofthe Kaivalya-P�ada (YS IV, 34) defines the liberated state of “aloneness”(kaivalya) as: purus. �artha�s�uny�an�am. gun. �an�am. pratiprasavah. kaivalyam.: : : , “Aloneness is the return to the origin of the gun. as, now withoutany purpose for purus.a. : : : ”20 The important term, pratiprasava, stands


for the “involution” or “counterflow” of the gun. as into their sourceor state of equilibrium. It is of interest to note the one earlier context(only) in which Pata~njali uses this term. YS II, 10 states: “In theirsubtle form, they [the kle�sas] are to be overcome by a return to theorigin or source.”21 In the above s�utra the term pratiprasava refersto the dissolution of affliction in the mind implying a purification andillumination of consciousness. Scholars have often interpreted prasavawith an ontological emphasis signifying the “streaming forth” of theultimate building blocks (tattvas) of prakr. ti into the myriad forms ofthe cosmos in all its dimensions, including the human organism.22

Pratiprasava, by the same token, is often understood to denote theprocess of the dissolution of those forms relative to the microcosm ofthe yogin who is about to win liberation.23 Is this ontological dissolutionof manifest existence – where the gun. as are recalled back to theirunmanifest condition of equilibrium – the intended meaning in the YS?Koelman refers to pratiprasava as the “inverse generation,” the definitereturn of a given prakr.tic organism to its ultimate substrative cause.24

He goes on to describe this process as follows:

Everything has been exhausted or burnt out so that no living seed is left to enablea new energisation in the shape of a living prakr.tic organism.25 Like a tree thatslowly withers away for want of any moisture or contact with the soil, however richthat soil may be, the prakr.tic organism tends to dissolution, to the disintegrationand suppression of our empirical personality. [The yogin] has induced a state ofpsychomental anaemia by starving his psychical life : : :

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These are, according to Koelman, some of the effects of Yoga discipline,and obviously imply the decomposition or death of the psycho-physicalorganism of the yogin.

I would like to suggest that the term pratiprasava can be moreappropriately rendered with an epistemological emphasis rather than(as in the above) an ontological one. Epistemologically, pratiprasavadenotes a return to the source, withdrawal or dissolution of the afflictedstate of the gun. as, i.e. insofar as the constituents of matter/naturehave been under the influence of avidy�a (ignorance) and have fulfilledtheir purpose for purus.a in the context of sam. s�aric experience andliberation from the bondage of the afflictions, karmas and their fruition.Purus.a is therefore “disjoined” or “disengaged” from the gun. as inthe condition of sam. yoga implying here a state in which there is nolonger misidentification of authentic identity with the mind and itsmodifications as in the empirical mode of selfhood.27 Pratiprasava canbe understood further as “withdrawal from the epistemological powerof the gun. as over the yogin.” Vy�asa uses the term pratiprasava in thecontext of the elimination of the kle�sas (afflictions)28 which involves a

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cognitive and moral cleansing process or purification of the body andmind (i.e. prakr. ti) allowing for a state of liberating knowledge. Thisneed not imply the ontological negation or dissolution of prakr.tic ormanifest (e.g. human) existence. YS IV, 3229 also supports the viewthat the ultimate state of the gun. as arrives when the tripartite process(trigun. a) has already served its purpose for experience (bhoga) andliberation (apavarga) and is of no further use soteriologically. By thisis meant that the causative operations of the afflictions come to an endand there is the cessation of afflicted action.30 The eternality (�anantya)of knowledge (j~n�ana-sattva) is no longer veiled31 or concealed.

What has been stated as the final goal in the s�utra explaining theculmination of Yoga (YS IV, 34) is linked to and supported by Pata~njali’scentral definition of Yoga (YS I, 2). Part of the intent of this study is toshow how YS I, 2 can be seen as ‘threading together” and integrating thetext of the YS as a whole. The “cessation of the misidentification withthe modifications of the mind” (cittav. rttinirodha) integrates the alreadyinterrelated concerns in Yoga of practice (s�adhana), the “return to theorigin” (pratiprasava) and the highest state of sam�adhi where the yoginembodies a state of equilibrium, equipose and freedom (kaivalya). Inthis, nirodha can be seen to encompass a plurality of practices as wellas descriptions of culminating states of Yoga providing a “thread” ofcontinuity throughout the YS in which theory and practice are unified,of a piece.

The mind (citta), which incorporates the entire ‘inner instrumentality”(antah. karan. a), is the “substratam” or arena of the vr. ttis and sam. sk�arasin which all the modifications arise, all the cognitive, affective andemotive processes take place. It is also that very “substratam” intowhich the yogin’s misidentification with the mind dissolves, that is,where sam. yoga, for that particular yogin, goes into permanent dissolution(laya). Such dissolution (laya) is considered to be Yoga. Vij~n�ana Bhiks.uis correct to point out that Yoga does not result in the non-existenceof vr. ttis because that does not fit the idea of the special state of the“substratam” in yoga.32 Unlike Ny�aya philosophy, for example, Yogadoes not admit of the existence of a special category called “absence”(abh�ava), “absence” referring to the special state of the “substratam”itself. In Yoga philosophy, dissolution means that the karmically bindingeffects (and affects) of the vr. ttis dissolve, not the existence of vr. tti,i.e. all vr. ttis, in total. The state of nirodha or laya need not imply theontological negation of vr. ttis.33 Bhoja R�aja comments: “Yoga means‘cessation’, that is their [vr. ttis] dissolution (laya) into their cause whentheir outward transmutation ceases and the process of mutation is


reversed.”34 Bhoja appears to give an ontological emphasis to themeaning of nirodha, thereby implying a definitive dissolution of theexistence of the modifications in total. Our understanding sides morealong the limes of Vij~n�ana Bhiks.u’s interpretation which alludes to theprocess of the effects of the gun. as (all vr. ttis being composed of thethree gun. as) in the form of misidentification are dissolved back intotheir cause – ignorance (avidy�a); and ignorance, no longer having ahold on the mind, disappears from the yogin’s view, ceases to functiondue to the enlightened state of consciousness. The gradual processof nirodha leads the gun. ic-identified consciousness of self toward astate of dissolution into the original pure sattva of the mind – a stateof utter lucidity or transparency of consciousness (mind) wherein noepistemological distortion can take place, yet vr. ttis (e.g. valid cognition,memory, etc.) can still arise, can still function.

A word of caution must be given in order to avoid confusing theconcept of “cessation” or “dissolution” of vr. ttis (in the sense that wehave used it in the above) with the idea of rendering the vr. ttis non-existent. The key to understanding the dissolution of vr. ttis into theircause lies in the S�am. khyan theory of causation known as satk�aryav�ada.In this foundational theory all states of matter-energy including ourpsycho-physical being are transformed according to the attributes withinthem, but there is never any amount of energy or material existencemore or less than there was or will be. Nothing that ever exists goesinto non-existence;35 it simply becomes unmanifest, the form returningto dwell as an attribute hidden in its cause, where it originally aroseand from which it may emerge again. The temporary disappearanceof any “entity,” form, thought or idea is not its extinction. Pata~njaliwould not accept that whatever disappears is ontologically destroyed.Manifest existence does not become merely empty or extinct (�s�unya),but identification with it is temporarily suspended, submerged, dissolvedor absorbed (laya). Modern interpreters of Yoga, however, often speakof the non-existence or deadening of the vr. ttis in nirodha, implying, asit were, an anaesthetization of human consciousness, the view whichis here being countered.

The meaning of nirodha as the cessation of the misidentification withthe modifications of the mind (or the dissolution of the misperceivedidentification with the vr. ttis of the mind) is confirmed by the intentimplicit in statements throughout the YS and more explicitly in Vy�asa’sBh�as.ya. For example, YS II, 27 mentions seven “grounds” or “stages” ofknowledge which the yogin attains. This “sevenfold-insight” (saptadh�a-praj~n�a) is described as following from the unwavering discriminative

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discernment (vivekakhy�ati), the means whereby the misalliance or dis-torted conjunction (sam. yoga) of the seer and the seeable is progressivelyended.36 YS II, 27 states: “Therein [for the one who possesses the unfault-ering discriminative discernment] the last stage of transcendent-insight(wisdom) is sevenfold.”37 Pata~njali does not explain what is meant bythe “sevenfold-insight,” however, Vy�asa offers a very probable elucida-tion. Summarizing Vy�asa, the first four stages or “fourfold release” are:(1) that which is to be prevented (duh. kha, sam. yoga) has been identi-fied, known; (2) that which is to be discarded [i.e. the cause of duh. khaor dissatisfaction] has been abandoned; (3) through the attainment ofunification (in sam�adhi) also termed “cessation” (nirodha), freedom hasbeen attained; (4) the means of discarding the conjunction (sam. yoga),i.e. the practice of discriminative discernment, has been perfected.38

Vy�asa tells us that the last three stages of the “sevenfold-insight” areknown as “release of the mind” (cittavimukta). Vy�asa informs us thathaving attained the fifth stage, described as the intellect having fulfilledits role of providing experience and liberation, a sixth stage ensueswhereby: “The gun. as, like rocks dislodged from the top of a mountainpeak finding no more resting place, are inclined toward dissolution(pralaya) into their own cause. Together with that cause (sam. yoga,avidy�a) they are no longer produced into effects again since there is nofurther purpose for them.”39 The mind has accomplished its purposeof providing experience and liberation resulting in the cessation ofmistaken identity. By this Vy�asa means that the gun. as are of no furtherpurpose insofar as they have fulfilled their purpose as a vehicle forthe yogin’s liberation.40 Thus, the seventh and final stage takes place– the stage of the “aloneness” of the pure identity of purus.a which isbeyond any superimposed connection with the mind.

For the sake of clarity, however, we must attempt to pinpoint whatVy�asa means when he asserts that the gun. as are no longer produced intoeffects. Discriminative discernment, the nature of which is sattva-gun. a,41

is the expedient by which the discarding or abandonment (h�ana, YS II,26) of sam. yoga and ignorance is brought about. As YS II, 25 makesclear, without ignorance (as cause) there is no conjunction (sam. yoga);the overcoming of misidentification brings about the freedom of pureidentity as purus.a, the “aloneness” (kaivalya) or “goal” of yoga.42

Vy�asa asserts that ignorance specifically refers to the complex networkof habit patterns (v�asan�as) and personality traits based on erroneousor misconceived knowledge (viparyaya-j~n�ana) and its sam. sk�aras:

Under the influence of the habit patterns based on erroneous knowledge (misidenti-fication of self), the mind does not attain fulfillment of what it has to do, namely


“to know” purus.a. While it [the mind] has that involvement, continuously it [themind in its afflicted nature] revives. But in the culminating knowledge of purus.a itattains fulfillment of what it had to do. With its [former] involvement at an end, andthe failure-to-see terminated, there is no cause of bondage and it [the mind underthe influence of avidy�a] does not revive again.43

Vy�asa’s statement (see n. 39 above), that the gun. as are no longer pro-duced into effects, can be understood to mean that the mind has beenreleased from the binding effects (sam. yoga) or hold of ignorance, thecause; the mind does not revive or generate vr. ttis in the former afflictedand misappropriated mode of mistaken identity (asmit�a), i.e. as self-referenced to an egoic sense of self. The mind is no longer anchored inthe epistemological distortion of the failure-to-see (adar�sana), and thisremoval of ignorance results in the yogin’s release from bondage, dissat-isfaction and further suffering. Purus.a, thus, is said to be established inits “own form” or nature (svar�upa).44 Unlike the changing, ego-centredworld of empirical selfhood, purus.a, whose nature is uncaused, is nolonger misconstrued as being under the influence of or subservient tothe three gun. as as mental consciousness and whose nature is cause andeffect,45 i.e. changing. Based on our interpretation given in the aboveand as evidenced by other statements in Vy�asa’s Bh�as.ya, it seemsreasonable to suggest that Vy�asa’s description (in YB II, 27) of thedissolution of the gun. as refers to the dissolution of the gun. as in theform of ignorance or affliction, i.e. of the worldly, empirical effects ofthe gun. as on the yogin’s consciousness thereby altering self-identity.“Dissolution” or “cessation” in Yoga need not be understood to meanthe “disintegration and suppression of our empirical personality.”46

Rather, “dissolution” is of the (mis)perceived identification with thevr. ttis of the mind. Yoga involves a radical deconstruction of a positivemisconstruction of self and world caused by avidy�a.

For the sake of clarification, I will now take issue with what Iconsider to be a popular misconception centred around the intent of Yogapraxis. In Swami Vivek�ananda’s (late nineteenth century) philosophicalperspective,47 nirvikalpasam�adhi – understood by Vivek�ananda to bethe spiritual goal of Ved�anta – is equated with the goal of liberationas experienced in Pata~njali’s Yoga. The system of R�aja-Yoga, basedprimarily on Pata~njali’s YS, is proposed by Vivek�ananda as a method forenabling one to attain direct perception of religious truths. In particularhe contends that sam�adhi, as the culminating experience of Pata~njali’ssystem, is the self-valid and only satisfactory authoritative source ofall religious knowledge or brahmaj~n�ana.48

Vivek�ananda contends that nirvikalpa-sam. adhi, resulting in theliberating realization of the Self (�atman), finds its equivalent meaning

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in Pata~njali’s central definition of Yoga (YS I, 2). He often describesthe goal of R�aja-Yoga as the total suppression of all thought forms.49

Since he understands that the prerequisite for nirvikalpa-sam�adhi is aninactive mind, the aim of Yoga is defined by him as follows: “Yoga isrestraining the mind-stuff (citta) from taking various forms (vr. tti).”

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“Yoga is the science in which we stop citta from assuming, or becomingtransformed into several faculties : : : only when the ‘mind-stuff,’ thecitta is controlled to absolute calmness is the Self to be recognized.”51

Vivek�ananda speaks of the necessity to curb each thought as it enters intothe mind, thereby making the mind a kind of vacuum,52 and repeatedlyasserts that the knowledge of the Self (�atman) spontaneously followsthe extinction of the mind. In the above quotation he actually presentsSelf-knowledge (�atmaj~n�ana) as being dependent on this extinction;sam�adhi is characterized by the definitive or final absence of all mentalmodifications.53 Vivek�ananda therefore proposes that the goal of spiritualpractice (s�adhana) is attained by the complete cessation of mentalmodifications. On this basis he has put forward several noteworthyinjunctions regarding the aspirant’s attitude and efforts in relation tothe mind:

We have to exclude all thoughts from the mind and make it blank; as fast as thoughtcomes we have to banish it.54 Control the mind, cut off the senses, then you are ayogi.55 The mind has to be killed.56 The rascal ego has to be obliterated.57 So whenthe mind will end, be broken into pieces entirely, without leaving any sam. sk�ara, weshall be entirely free, and until that time we are in bondage.58

One can seriously question the logic behind this approach to humanconsciousness and the mind as it relates to Yoga philosophy.

One will naturally ask how practitioners who attempt to obey anyteachings resulting in death to their minds would have the capacityto comprehend or carry out any further instructions. Perhaps, moreimportantly, how could one function practically as a human beingwithout the faculties of thinking, memory, discernment and reason, andan individual sense of self with which one can distinguish oneself fromother people and the world? Surely such a person would have to be mador unconscious. If all the great Yoga masters of the past had obliteratedor so thoroughly suppressed their minds in order to attain spiritualliberation, how did they speak, teach, reason, remember, empathize, oreven use the word “I”? The mind and the body are the only vehicles inwhich to attain liberation. It is the mind, as Yoga readily admits, thatmust be utilized for study and to listen to the spiritual adept or guru; itis the mind that is needed to follow a spiritual path to liberation; and it


is equally the mind that is required by the aspirant in order to functionas a human being in day to day life.

By advising or explaining that the mind and its various faculties areto be negated, suppressed, abolished or severed from consciousness,scholars, teachers and writers on Yoga have, I would like to suggest,missed the point of practising Yoga. For, in Yoga philosophy, it is notthe mind, but rather the exclusive identification with material existence –including our various forms of egoity – as one’s true identity which is thesource of all human difficulties, sorrow, frustration and dissatisfaction(duh. kha). It is a specific state of consciousness or cognitive errorevidenced in the mind and not the mind itself which is at issue. In otherwords, it is the condition of misidentification (s�ar�upya) – the sam. s�ariccondition of self and world – and not the mind in total which must bediscarded in Yoga. Any advice or teaching which suggests the destructionor negation of the mind in Yoga is, it seems to me, detrimental to ahuman being and to the practice of Yoga and is representative of afundamental and pervasive misunderstanding and misinterpretation ofPata~njali’s Yoga. How could progress on the path of Yoga be made withsuch an approach? What would the ethical ramifications be? The beliefthat mental annihilation or negation leads to spiritual emancipation hasbecome a popular and unfortunate teaching of modem representativesor interpretations of Yoga. Despite the fact that it is neither truly yogic,practical, logical nor appealing, and furthermore may be destructive foraspirants, recent teachings and works on Yoga have often prescribedor assumed the negation or suppression of the mind, ego and thoughtsas the primary means to self-emancipation.59 This stance, I submit,is a gross misrepresentation of Yoga; a confused, misleading and, atbest, na�ıve attempt at conveying the depth and profundity of the yogicprocess which Pata~njali refers to as nirodha. Yoga does involve statesof consciousness where there is a temporary suspension of the mentalprocesses and identification with vr. tti which culminates in enstasy(asam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi): a state where the pure experiencer or knower– purus.a – is left alone with nothing more to experience or know for“its” liberation. This advanced and crucial stage of yogic practice isfor the purpose of the final elimination of ignorance; but it need notbe understood as a definitive or permanent cessation or suspension ofthe mental processes of the mind in total.

I am arguing that it is misleading to view nirodha as a process ofrepression, suppression or inhibition. Nirodha does not refer to a forcedcessation, coercion or restriction nor to the non-existence of vr. ttis asmany modern translators seem to imply.60 I am suggesting that Yoga

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(YS I, 2) is not such a manipulation or control of the mind, nor is it a“blank” or unconscious state of mind or a “thoughtless” or “mindless”state of being. One recent commentator on the YS aptly writes:

Nirodha does not mean and imply a wilful control of vr. ttis, or their suppression orrepression. Wilful control, suppression, and repression must necessarily result in aderangement, if not the destruction of the human psyche. Because any egocentricact of [a human being], already caught in vr. ttis�ar�upya [“conformity” of self-identityto the nature of vr. tti], which has conditioned [one’s] mind, will be tantamount toexercizing [one’s] mind in the same old way : : : . This can never bring about nirodha,but only the death of the psyche, if the pressure of wilful control, suppression orrepression is persisted beyond the point of endurance.61

Could efforts to achieve a wilful control of the mind (as mentioned inthe above) be the result of a fanatical, ascetical, imbalanced approachto Yoga, a misguided attempt to transcend ego and to go beyond theenterprise of dissatisfaction and affliction? Does psychic closure – acompulsive shutting out/down or switching off of the psyche, constitutean authentic opening to true identity? A careful examination of the mindand its functioning in the context of Yoga philosophy suggests that anyform of psychic suppression or repression is not true to Yoga theoryand practice. Ego-transcendence is not something that can be forcedor ultimately willed. The ego itself must give way or let go into theilluminating power of sattva which, located in a subtler dimension ofthe mind (the buddhi), eludes the ego’s grasp and its self-centred effortsas well as other afflicted modes or attitudes generating action or inertia(stasis) as mediated through rajas and tamas respectively. In short,self-transcendence is only possible as a voluntary gesture, a gesturewhich is often misunderstood by seekers resulting in a perversion ofpraxis leading to forms of self-denial or self-indulgence and whichcan surreptitiously inflate the ego and even cause harm to the psycho-physical organism and to others.

The “wilful control” referred to in the above quotation (n. 61) must,therefore, be qualified in the context of those personality types in whichrajas and tamas are predominant and sattva-knowledge is covered over(�avaran. a, YS IV, 31). Such wilfulness leading to suppression, etc.,is simply a form of misguided effort based on rajasic and tamasicvr. ttis and predispositions in the form of aggressive (ghora) or deluded(m�ud. ha) ideas62 (pratyaya) or intentions – in order to achieve a stateof nirodha. For example, nirodha cannot be equated with a state ofinertia or stasis (tamas) wherein the mind and its modifications aresuppressed or forcibly stopped, rendered inoperative. It is misleadingto assert, as has S. Dasgupta,63 that nirodha is a complete (final)stopping of the movements of the mind. According to Vy�asa (YB I, 2),


such an inert state of the mind, far from being an experience of yogicillumination, merely constitutes a state of tamas64 implying a confusionof or delusive identity highly prone to non-virtue, impotence, dullness,etc. The disempowerment of avidy�a over the mind is not to be confusedwith the gun. a of tamas! The mind’s highest disposition is sattvic, sattvaor “illumination” (prak�a�sa)65 being the purest and most lucid aspectof prakr. ti. Sattva is inclined to ideas of a peaceful (�s�anta) nature66

and supportive of the practice of Yoga. As a moral, psychological andepistemological state, tamas is not supportive of the practice of Yoga, isnot Yoga proper. The non-afflicted (aklis. t.a) vr. ttis, intentions and ideas(pratyaya) pertaining to a sattvic nature are morally and cognitivelydrawn upon or attuned to, serve the soteriological dimension of Yogaand are part and parcel of the sattvification of the will or intellect –the faculty of determinism and decision making. Vr. ttis return to theirsource of pure sattva and can then arise in a purified and illuminatedmode when that purpose is fulfilled, as for example, in the form ofyogic perception and moral virtues. Thus the cessation of vr. ttis in theprocess of nirodha refers to the “undoing” or dismantling of purus.a’smisidentification with vr. tti in sam. yoga wherein avidy�a – the cause ofthe erroneous appropriation of vr. tti – is dispelled, and the mind, restingin its subtlest nature as pure sattva – can then give rise, following fromthe exercise of discriminative discernment, to the right functioning ofvr. tti in that vr. ttis are no longer appropriated by a mistaken identity ofself.

Explaining the S�am. khyan view of causation in terms of yogic praxis,Pata~njali shows how, through direct experience and perception (yogi-pratyaks.a), we can see that our mind and sense of self continuouslychange depending on the nature and type of vr. ttis, cognitions and ideas(pratyaya), in the process of apprehension, that we are entertaining atany given moment. This changing sense of identity, which continuouslywavers from authentic identity, must be transcended in Yoga. Thus, Yogadiscourages any clinging to ideas or perceptions of purus.a experiencedalong the way; whatever idea one arrives at through the process ofvr. tti will never be the actual liberated state itself. Only by breakingthrough the barriers imposed by the relative states of consciousness orthe mind can one enter into the domain of the knowledge of purus.a(purus.a-j~n�ana) and experience life in the light of yogic awareness ratherthan the limited awareness in the situation of sam. yoga. The S�am. khyantheory of satk�aryav�ada takes on a highly experiential dimension in theactual practice of Yoga. The experiential element consists of: (a) puttinginto practice a method or methods which lead one to experience yogic

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perception in sam�adhi wherein cittavr. ttinirodha will be “attained” andmatured; and (b) the processes – including the physical, ethical andpsychological – which occur while the process of “cessation” is takingplace.

Primarily, Pata~njali takes the S�am. khyan theory of causation andapplies it to understanding states of mind or “shapes” the mind takeswhen left to its own karmically derived momentum. The modifications(vikr. tis) of the mind are its vr. ttis, all the mental functioning, processesand content. Insofar as we are ensconced in a world-view generatedby avidy�a and are ineluctably programmed within the circumscribedpatterns of afflicted identity (asmit�a) – a mere product of the gun. as inthe form of misidentification – our self-referential centre of awarenessand its compulsive attachment to vr. tti must be severed in order for themind to be transformed into finer states of perception and understanding.What is pralaya or prati-sa~ncara (the dissolution of the universe and itsphenomena) in the cosmological context of S�am. khya67 becomes in theYS respectively nirodha or pratiprasava (the cessation or dissolutionof the misperceived identity with gun. as as they manifest in the formof vr. ttis). This can only happen through the experiences in sam�adhiand which culminate in “aloneness” (kaivalya).

In the YS the principles (tattvas) of existence are of special relevancewith regard to their relation to the individual yogin, including theintellect, ego, mind-organ, senses and body. One needs to know theirorigin and processes of manifestation and actualization so as to ceasefrom any misidentification with them. Not only does the empiricalsense of self identify with the body and the nature of the mind andeverything about which one says “I am”; it even becomes identified withthe objects and persons one calls “mine,” and experiences dissatisfactionor enjoyment according to the changes that take place in relation to theobjects of experience, including our vr. ttis. Pata~njali asks us to learnto discern the difference between our true identity as Self (purus.a)and our self as a mistaken identity – the congenital conflation ormixture/conjunction (sam. yoga) of the “seer” and the “seeable” – byobserving the processes of identification and cognition taking placewithin our own minds. Thus Pata~njali describes the nature of the“seeable” (dr. �sya) with an epistemological emphasis focusing more onits manifestations as psychological and cognitive phenomena rather thanas ontological essences (as in S�am. khya). Purus.a appears to take on orconform to (s�ar�upya) an identity based on the changing the nature ofthe gun. as and functioning within the mind as its modifications (vr. ttis).This reflected albeit deluded I-consciousness, as human consciousness,


appears in the form of a body-mind and in the nature of the elements(bh�utas) and the sense-organs (indriyas), and is for the purpose ofexperience (bhoga) and eventual emancipation (apavarga).68

In Yoga, even ignorance and misidentification ultimately serve thehighest purpose of liberation through a fundamental transformation ofthe mind. The various categories of the “seeable” (dr. �sya, prakr. ti) shouldnot be reified,69 but rather should be understood as interconnected andinterdependent dimensions of human experience. The descriptions of the“seeable”70 can be understood as descriptions of the situation of purus.aas if misidentified with prakr. ti. Prakr. ti’s various levels of manifestationare correlated in the YS with states of consciousness, self-understandingand identity analogous to purus.a, and, I submit, are to be understood withan epistemological emphasis; through prakr. ti, purus.a comes to knowits true form and identity. The ultimate significance of prakr. ti is seen invery definite, positive terms, wherein, from at least a provisional pointof view, prakr. ti has meaning, metaphysically speaking, in the serviceof soteriology: The metaphysical dualism of purus.a and prakr. ti can betaken as a provisional perspective and as one that has been abstractedfrom yogic experience. This provisional approach to the existences ofpurus.a and prakr. ti can serve important pedagogical purposes. In fact,the whole concept of the mind (citta) in Yoga can be seen primarily asa heuristic device, rather than as a substance per se, whereby the yogincomes to understand the functioning of consciousness and discernsthe difference between it and purus.a. The essence of the “seeable” towhich Pata~njali refers and whose reality is for the purpose of purus.a

71

becomes a vr. tti of self-understanding or identification referenced to anegoic centre of consciousness based on mental content in the form ofthoughts, intentions or ideas (pratyaya) in the mind. Ego-identity isessentially a vr. tti-accumulated sense of self, which as a false “centre”of consciousness, has become dependent on the activity of vr. tti forits existence. Ego is thus an activity constituted of the three gun. as.The yogin must ultimately be identified as the auto-transparent knower(YS IV, 18) or seer of vr. ttis – free from any misidentification withand misappropriation of vr. tti – in order to discern permanently thedifference between mistaken identity in sam. yoga and pure identity inYoga. It is here that a clear understanding of the difference betweenpurus.a or pure consciousness (our intrinsic nature of Self) and prakr. tior matter (including all modifications of consciousness which form anextrinsic nature and identity of selfhood) is essential.

In his commentary on YS I, 1 Vy�asa defines Yoga as sam�adhi (yogah.sam�adhih. ).72 He goes on to state the two divisions of that Yoga as: (1)

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sam. praj~n�ata, the sam�adhi of cognition consisting of four types (outlinedin YS I, 17), and in which sattvic vr. ttis persist and can still arise inthe context of s�ar�upya, purus.a’s “conformity” or misidentification;and (2) asam. praj~n�ata, the supra-cognitive sam�adhi in which all thevr. ttis, including the sattvic ones, are mastered and any attachmentto them is overcome (i.e. all their effects are transcended). In (2),ignorance no longer masks authentic identity for the yogin. The powerof misidentification has been temporarily removed and purus.a, left“alone,” abides in its true form (svar�upa) and identity.73 Vy�asa elaborateson the meaning of Pata~njali’s definition of Yoga (YS I, 2) pointing outthat because the word “all” is not included to suggest the “cessation” ofall misidentifications with vr. tti – which reduce purus.a to some form ofprakr.tic existence, however subtle, thus reifying purus.a – it implies thatsam. praj~n�ata is also included in Yoga.74 In sam. praj~n�ata or cognitivesam�adhi the rajasic and tamasic vr. ttis – all of which are of an afflicted(klis. t.a) nature – are mastered by resorting to the sattvic, nonafflicted(aklis. t.a) vr. ttis.75 If YS I, 2 had said all vr. ttis in total, then the definitionwould have been limited to asam. praj~n�ata – the supra-cognitive sam�adhi– and the cognitive sam�adhi would not be included in Yoga. The termnirodha is therefore ambiguous. It means both the process of cessationof the misidentification with the modifications of the mind and theculmination or “goal” of Yoga, that being spiritual liberation. There isa similar ambiguity in the terms sam�adhi and Yoga.

If nirodha were seen as the restriction, suppression, repression or theontological negation of vr. ttis, then Yoga would have to be defined asa particular condition of the substratum of those vr. ttis, the substratumbeing a state somewhere within the mind. But sam�adhi, it must beemphasized, is not such a state within the mind. As I later argue,in the actual experience of sam�adhi the mind is not made blank oris not in a state of void, nullification or the permanent absence ofvr. tti. The mind may continue to function according to its own naturebut as a purified instrument of sattva-intelligence which is capable ofperfectly reflecting the light of purus.a. The vr. ttis of the mind becometransparent to the Self (purus.a), whereas in sam. yoga they are “coloured”in affliction – egoity, attachment, aversion, etc. – constantly alteringone’s sense of self. Nirodha means to take away or discard the empiricallimitations, including all “restrictions” and suppressions inherent in themind; nirodha is the removal of the kle�sas and karmic barriers onlyto reveal the full-blown nature of purus.a. The yogin therefore is not amindless, inactive being. Rather, the mind has become an instrumentof consciousness under the yogin’s direction. The modifications of the


mind may continue in day to day life but they no longer enslave theyogin, no longer divert the yogin’s attention from authentic identity.Ultimately the yogin attains to the status of a j�ıvanmukta – one whois liberated while yet embodied76 – and can use the body and mindout of benevolence and compassion for the spiritual benefit of others.The presence of the enlightened being, adept or spiritually wise personis confirmed in the historical tradition of Yoga through the guru-�sis. yarelationship, a relationship made possible by the grace of the guru orliberated being.

What therefore is the ‘cittavrtti’ which must cease through thediscipline of Yoga? Based on the argument put forward in this study –that mental activity, cognition, feelings, emotions and thoughts are notincompatible with Yoga praxis or the final goal of purus.a-realization– I will now attempt to clarify Pata~njali’s definition of Yoga. Nodoubt addressing an audience primarily composed of Yoga aspirants,it seems logical to suggest that Pata~njali defined Yoga in YS I, 2 witha strong pedagogical intent so that his listeners would be able to grasp(and be sufficiently disillusioned with) their present understanding ofthemselves and the world. Nirodha implies that it is the world-viewborn of ignorance “located” within one’s own psycho-physical beingwhich is to be abandoned or discarded, not prakr. ti herself. YS I, 2 isin part a teaching and heuristic device aimed at devaluing the levelof understanding based on misidentification with the body and mentalprocesses and which sees identification with thought constructs ormental content as bringing ultimate satisfaction. Nirodha is not thedenial or renunciation of prakr. ti in total; it is a negative affirmation ofthe reality of purus.a. Initially one could say that nirodha actually is arecommendation for the practitioner to develop meditational practice. Yeton the other hand, Pata~njali had to inform seekers who had incorrectlyassumed a subjectively idealist viewpoint that the mind and the objectsperceived through it are real and are not to be negated or denied.As noted earlier, many people see the external, “objective” world andtherefore it is does not arise from the mind itself (YS IV, 15–16). Prakr. tiis real; the external world is not denied or extricated. All effects arepre-existent in their cause. However, the concern of Yoga is not merelyto describe, categorize or explain the “outside” world, but rather is toshow various means by which the practitioner may obtain direct accessto empirical reality without the interference of avidy�a’s network ofconfused and impure identity patterns which veil our direct perceptionof the world. Yoga “undoes” the world of misidentification, cittavr. ttior fractured selfhood and corrects a basic misalignment between the

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seer and the seeable so that life as a whole, and on the basis of anunfractured self-identity, is revealed. Clearly, cittavr. tti does not havethe capacity to see and experience life from the perspective of Yogadar�sana which discloses the full integrity of life. The cultivation ofan ever-deepening process of “cessation” in Yoga serves to dismantlethe habitual tendency to reify one’s self and the world by unfolding anawareness which reveals the trasnscendent yet immanent seer (purus.a).

The yogin does not need to force, struggle with or push away the mind,vr. ttis and thoughts as is usually recommended in discussions on nirodha.Any attempt at a forced removal of vr. tti or coerced “identification” withpurus.a is merely a perpetuation of the rajasic and tamasic tendenciesor habit patterns (v�asan�as) of the mind. The yogin’s need is to contactmore sattva-intelligence which is concealed in the mind. However, dueto the afflictions present along with their karmic investment, this innatesense of sattva is covered over77 and obscured from entering fully intoconsciousness. Through Yoga discipline, one learns to recognize andidentify with purer, sattvic and subtler forms of vr. ttis and is relievedfrom the former identification with vr. ttis of a rajasic and tamasic naturewhich previously were predominent. The mind can then more easilysettle into its finest nature of sattva; the yogin’s understanding becomessattvified. Similarly, by identifying as purus.a, in asam. praj~n�ata, theyogin overcomes the need to identify with sattvic vr. ttis for the purposeof steadying and stabilizing self-identity. Cessation (nirodha) impliesa process of “subtilization”78 or sattvification of consciousness, of agradual de-identification with vr. ttis to the point of being unmistakablyone-in-identity as purus.a.

Thus the cessation of the misidentification with the modificationsof the mind involves a progressive “interiorization,” “subtilization” or“sattvification” of consciousness, of one’s focus of attention, whereininitially the congenital perceived misidentification with the tamasicand rajasic (klis. t.a-) vr. ttis constituting one’s mental apparatus ceases(in sam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi). Eventually (in asam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi) thecongenital perceived misidentification with sattvic (aklis. t.a-) vr. ttis alsoceases. Yet vr. ttis themselves do not cease to exist. Even in the enlight-ened yogin there are tamasic, rajasic and sattvic dimensions constitutinghis or her prakr.tic apparatus but these gun. ic qualities no longer obscurethe yogin’s perception of reality. The yogin is, however, detached(vair�agya, YS 1, 15–16) from any identification with the gun. as, is nolonger enslaved to the vr. tti-generating complex of the mind.

Summarizing this section, it has been strongly suggested that nirodhadenotes an epistemological emphasis and refers to the transformation


of self-understanding, not the ontological cessation of prakr. ti (i.e. themind and its modifications). Nirodha is not, therefore, as many haveexplained, an inward movement that annihilates or suppresses vr. ttis andthoughts, nor is it the non-existence or absence of vr. ttis; rather, nirodhainvolves a progressive expansion of perception which eventually revealsour true identity as purus.a. Taking another angle and clarifying furtherour interpretation of the central definition of Yoga (YS I, 2), I suggestthat cittavr. tti (from the definition of Yoga as cittavr. ttinirodha) describesthe very basis of all the empirical selves: under the influence of avidy�athe unenlightened person’s mental processes (vr. tti) both generate andare ineluctably driven by79 deeply rooted impressions (sam. sk�aras80)and habit patterns (v�asan�as81) sustaining a sense of I-am-ness or egoity(asmit�a) which is by definition afflicted (YS II, 6). If cittavr. tti meantall the mental processes in total, Pata~njali could have used the pluralform of vr. tti rather than the compound cittavr. tti-(from which cittavr. ttican be taken in the plural and/or the singular). Seen in the abovecontext, cittavr. tti can be understood as a generic term standing for amisconceived knowledge (viparyaya-j~n�ana82) which, although seekingto ground empirical selfhood, amounts to no more than an error whichis structured in the network of our psychological makeup and veils ouridentity as purus.a. The epistemic distortion or erroneous knowledge(mithy�a-j~n�ana83) functioning as the vr. tti of viparyaya (YS/YB I, 8) acts asthe basis for all misidentification with vr. ttis in the unenlightened mode(vyutth�ana, YS III, 9) of perception and “being.” Thus, after questioningwhy the knower is released while still alive, Vy�asa tells us: “Becauseerroneous cognition (viparyaya) is the cause of rebirth. When viparyayahas vanished no one is ever seen to be born anywhere.”84 That is, theliberated yogin does not see purus.a as an entity misidentified as body,mind, intellect, ego, etc., that is reborn or comes into being. Unlikeordinary, empirical identity, the yogin’s identity is no longer divertedinto the prakr.tic dynamic of cause and effect including birth and death.Purus.a is never born and as such is not subject to death; purus.a isimmutable, immortal. Ignorance claims its foundational support or agent(asmit�a) in the mind and forms a mind of its own kind85 through thevr. tti of viparyaya. Vy�asa (YB I, 8) treats viparyaya as a synonym forthe term avidy�a (ignorance), avidy�a being the principal among the fiveafflictions (kle�sa). The vr. tti of viparyaya is the fundamental error dueto which we misinterpret or misconceive existence itself! Vy�asa writesof viparyaya:

Why is this not valid cognition? Because it is sublated by valid cognition. The objectof valid cognition is a thing as it is, and the fact of not being valid cognition is

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shown by the fact that valid cognition cancels it. For example, seeing the moonas double is refuted by seeing that it is in fact a single moon. This ignorance isfivefold, namely the afflictions (kle�sa): ignorance, I-am-ness, attachment, aversion,desire for continuity.86

In short, our afflicted identity rooted in spiritual ignorance functionsthrough viparyaya. Oddly enough, this fundamental insight, which canbe attributed to Vy�asa, has not been clearly noted by scholars. I haveattempted to clarify Vy�asa’s position, and furthermore suggest thatVy�asa’s insight into the nature of viparyaya has profound implicationsfor our understanding of Pata~njali’s whole system.

Accordingly, cittavr. tti does not mean all modifications or mentalprocesses in the mind – cognitive, affective or emotive – but is thevery seed (b�ıja87) mechanism of purus.a’s misidentification with prakr. tiand from which all other vr. ttis, thoughts, intentions or ideas ariseand are misappropriated in the unenlightened state of mind. Thereare therefore many vr. tti-identifications (YS 1, 6) that can come fromand modify the seed mechanism of cittavr. tti.

88 Cittavr. tti’s nature isdualistic and functions as a polarization within prakr. ti: a masqueradingconsciousness of selfhood conceived as being separate from the world.It is this dualistic, afflicted sense of self or ego as separate fromthe world and other human beings which must, according to Yoga,“dissolve” or “cease.” The yogin learns to witness this subject-objectdichotomy within prakr. ti (or world-view born of avidy�a) as constitutingthe “seeable” (dr. �sya). Spiritual ignorance gives rise to a malfunctioningor misalignment of vr. tti – as appropriated or referenced to egoity –which in Yoga can be corrected or properly aligned thereby allowingfor the right functioning of vr. tti. Vr. tti will then function as subordinateto the knower (purus.a) of vr. tti rather than the sense of self in effectremaining subordinate to vr. tti. Cittavr. tti is an analogical understandingof consciousness in that the consciousness which has become the mindas a reflected state of (purus.a’s) consciousness is analogous to pureconsciousness, purus.a. It is the cittavr. tti as our confused and mistakenidentity of authentic selflhood (purus.a), not our vr. ttis, thoughts andexperiences in total which must come to a state of definitive cessation.

The pivot of the predicament of purus.a’s “entanglement” withinprakr. ti is epistemological and it is here that we should look for anopening into the meaning of Pata~njali’s Yoga. Our analysis thus farviews the conjunction (sam. yoga) of purus.a and prakr. ti much as a stateof epistemic distortion, a mental superimposition (adhy�aropa, YB II,18) caused by ignorance (YS II, 24) and resulting in the confusion ofidentity between purus.a and the mind. There is no real evidence to the


effect that sam. yoga (YS II, 17) constitutes a definitive association orontological alliance between purus.a – the seer – and prakr. ti – the seeable– or that any direct or truly aligned association of purus.a and prakr. tiis intrinsically binding. A closer examination of the YS and Vy�asa’scommentary suggests that sam. yoga involves a misalliance betweenspirit and matter, a misalignment which, as the cause of sufferingand dissatisfaction (duh. kha), needs to be corrected. The condition ofignorance “creating a mind of its own kind” and the resulting mistakenidentity in sam. yoga, which fundamentally is a misguided relationshipto and misappropriation of the world, does not grant direct insight intothe nature of the perceived world. This in turn leads to problematic,obfuscated or karmically binding involvements in the world. Sam. yoga isa failure to gain sufficient access to the world of the “seeable,” in short,a “failure to see” (adar�sana), an alienation from authentic identity whichalone has the power “to see.” Yoga corrects the misalliance inherent inthe condition of sam. yoga and allows for a full participation in the worldto the point of “uniting,” in sam�adhi, with the objects of experience.Sam. yoga is an incorrect way of viewing the world. Yoga is clear seeing(YS II, 20) of the true nature of Self and world; Yoga purifies andestablishes our identity and the mind in a state of equilibrium, balance– a “sameness” of purity between purus.a and the mind89 – which is“aloneness” (kaivalya) or freedom as a state of embodied knowledgeand non-afflicted action.

Through Yoga, the mind can be transformed, purified and liberatedfrom the bound state of affairs in sam. yoga. Nirodha is to be soughtbecause its pursuit implicates the yogin on a path of liberating knowl-edge or “right vision” (samyag-dar�sana, YB II, 15) which ultimatelyculminates in the realization of our true identity as purus.a. The cessa-tion of the misidentification with cittavr. tti in our day-to-day existencedoes not, however, imply the cessation of our personal identity: mind,body, personality, relationships, career, etc.; rather, “cessation” resultsin our consciousness remaining unbound, non-enslaved and transparentto things of a worldly nature while yet being thoroughly engaged inpractical life.

ABHY�ASA (PRACTICE) AND VAIR�AGYA (DISPASSION)

The central means given in the Sam�adhi-P�ada for the attainment ofnirodha are practice (abhy�asa) and dispassion (vair�agya). Pata~njalistates: “Cessation arises through practice and dispassion.”90 This s�utrarefers to the cessation of the vr. ttis insofar as they arise from the

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seed mechanism (cittavr. tti) of ignorance (avidy�a) and misidentificationwith prakr. ti (vr. tti-s�ar�upya). Cittavr. tti is an analogical understanding ofconsciousness and is our primary analogue of empirical discourse where-in purus.a and the mechanism of cittavr. tti become indistinguishableresulting in the misappropriation by ego-consciousness of those vr. ttiswhich, Vy�asa tells us, basically consist of pleasure, pain and delusion.91

The yogic “path” formulated by Pata~njali can be (and has been) appro-priately described as a bi-polar process of gradual “interiorization”92

resulting in an expansion and liberated state of self-identity. Vy�asaillustrates the functional interdependence of abhy�asa (the positive poleof “practice”) and vair�agya (the negative pole of “dispassion”) in ahelpful metaphor:

The stream of the mind flows both ways. It flows to the good and it flows to evil.The one commencing with “discrimination” and terminating in aloneness flows to thegood. The one commencing with failure to discriminate and terminating in conditionedexistence flows to evil. Through dispassion the current towards conditions/objects[extrinsic identity] is dammed, and by practice of the discriminating vision the currentof “discrimination” is made to flow. Thus the cessation [of the misidentification with]the modifications of the mind depends on both [practice and dispassion].93

The “stream” metaphor used by Vy�asa helps us to understand how closelythe psychological, ethical and soteriological aspects are interwoven intothe Yoga view of the incessant modifications of the mind. The imageryof “both ways” (i.e. “two directions”) transforms the flow of mental lifeinto something more than a mere psychological description. “Both ways”are initially characterized as flowing toward all that is: (1) good, beautifuland benevolent (kaly�an. a), and (2) evil/‘dementorious’ (p�apa), which inHindu thought has both a naturalistic and moral dimension. Later, Vy�asaspecifies that the direction which flows toward “discrimination” andemancipation is “to the good,” whereas the direction commencing with afailure to discriminate resulting in an afflicted identity of selfhood is “toevil,” clearly indicating a soteriological concern. The metaphor acquiresa specific technical significance in the YS as the stream of modifications(vr. ttis) which can flow in both directions are, as we have already seen,classified as being either afflicted (klis. t.a) and leading to further sufferingand dissatisfaction (duh. kha) in the condition of sam. yoga, or nonafflicted(aklis. t.a) and leading to discernment (khy�ati)94 and the liberated state of“aloneness” through Yoga. The stream of the mind – encompassing thenature and functioning of vr. tti – refers to the movement (of attention)either towards liberating knowledge in the process of nirodha or towardsignorance in the process of misidentification. “Both ways” have notonly a cognitive direction denoting what is good and bad epistemically,but also have a moral direction.95 The term ‘vr. tti’ incorporates both


cognitive and moral content and refers to cognitive and moral conditionsas interrelated aspects of our being. As well as referring to moral ends(i.e. of good and evil), liberating knowledge (j~n�ana) and ignorance(avidy�a) are also value terms and point to the moral condition of theyogin or knower. The moral and epistemological dimensions are thusinterrelated in Yoga. It is crucial to take note of this integral aspectof Yoga. Feeling, emotion and volition are intimately bound up withour modes of cognition. Liberating knowledge “flowing to the good”implies purity and clarity of mind and is a condition arising from sattva,the illuminative constituent or power of the mind. Spiritual ignorance“flowing to evil” implies a confused or delusive sense of identityrooted in various impurities of mind (and body) and is predominatelya condition arising from tamas – seen here as the deluding constituentor power of the mind. Such a range of qualities constitutes the moraland cognitive extremes of the mind and indeed our empirical identity.There is, I submit, no need in Yoga to divorce cognition from ethics andthe world of human relations. For example, the “inner” illuminativeexperiences which can take place in Yoga are indeed related to the“outer” world. They inform the nature of our relationships (cf. YS I, 33)by purifying/sattvifying them and serve to illuminate our understandingof and participation in the world.

The practitioner is being advised to choose not just one of the twomethods, either practice or dispassion, but the two together. Each of thetwo fulfills an essential part of the purpose of Yoga, as Vy�asa makesclear. Unless practice is accompanied by an attitude of dispassion, thewhole enterprise of Yoga, which implies a balance, will be offset – theyogin therefore inflating rather than transcending the egoic modes ofconsciousness. Furthermore, dispassion without practice is as well ineffi-cacious for self-transcendence: “The psychosomatic energies releasedthrough dispassion are not channelled appropriately and thus may leadto confusion and possibly delusion instead of liberation.”96 Both meansare interdependent in Yoga. Practice and dispassion transform randomlygenerated thoughts or distracted states of mind (see next section below)into one-pointed, concentrated states or responsible intentions and ideasthus propelling one on in the process of “cessation” (nirodha). Practiceincludes a wide range of techniques to stabilize the mind, while thecultivation of dispassion prevents the yogin from misappropriating theresults of such practice, i.e. in an egoic, selfish or irresponsible manner.The bi-polarity of the yogic path is already highlighted in the BG (VI,35) which uses the same terms adopted by Pata~njali to designate the twopoles. Kr.s.n.a tells his disciple, Arjuna: “Doubtless, O mighty-armed,

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the mind is unsteady and difficult to restrain; but O son-of-Kunti, it[the mind] can be held (mastered) through practice and dispassion.”97

Even though in YS I, 2 nirodha has already been defined, the termoccurs again in YS I, 12 as the stated result of practice and dispassion. YSI, 13–l4 assert: “Practice is the effort towards stability in that [process ofnirodha].”98 “That practice, however, is firmly grounded when properlyattended to for a long time and without interruption.”99 Yoga practiceneeds the three qualifications stated above. It must be observed: withproper attentiveness (i.e. care), for a long time, and without interruption.In other words, the practice must be consistent, regular and persistentover a long time and with careful attention, and one might add, a positiveand devout attitude. The above qualifications are supplemented by Vy�asawith the cultivation of austerity (tapas), sexual restraint (brahmacarya),knowledge (vidy�a100) and faith (�sraddh�a).101 When practice becomesfirmly established, the yogin cannot be swayed from it even by thestrongest adversity (dves.a) or pain, nor can the yogin be allured awayfrom practice by the subtlest pleasures or attractions (r�aga). The yoginmust have the necessary vigour, enthusiasm and willpower to undertakethe discipline “to the end” in order to realize its spiritual effects and“attain” fulfillment.102 In short, the yogin must be utterly committedto practice.

It is noteworthy that Vy�asa qualifies the word sthiti (stability) in YS I,13 to mean the tranquil flow of the mind, the ordinary patterns of vr. ttishaving subsided.103 Practice is the effort towards stability or steadinessof mind. This does not mean, however, a complete transcendence ofvr. ttis. As Vij~n�ana Bhiks.u surmises, the usage of the term sthiti in YS I,13 implies that the mind is free of any kind of vr. tti other than that whichis involved with the object in a state of one-pointed contemplation.One does not begin even the practice of the lower forms of cognitivesam�adhi until after this stability is established.104 In the context ofYS I, 13 V�acaspati Mi�sra asserts that “stability” here means a statefree of the rajasic and tamasic vr. ttis implying a one-pointedness ofmind wherein sattvic vr. ttis alone remain.105 Certainly in the context ofpractice (abhy�asa), sthiti could not refer to a delusive state of tamas:a dullness of mind, or an overall lack of mental alertness. Accordingto Bhoja R�aja (RM I, 13), sthiti refers to a mental state which takesplace when the mind is without vr. ttis and dwelling in its own nature.106

However, Bhoja’s definition would raise the meaning of sthiti to a statebeyond the experience of cognitive (sampraj~n�ata) sam�adhi; the pathwould then come after the goal, the effort would supersede its ownpurpose. The intent of the s�utra seems to be to state implicitly that


the effort towards abhy�asa or meditational praxis denotes bringing themind to stillness or stability, which implies freedom from the rajasicturbulences or tamasic delusions, the mind’s one-pointedness on asingle sattvic vr. tti remaining uninterrupted so that it flows in a calm,smooth stream “towards” liberation. Moreover, it can be suggested that,epistemologically, stillness or stability of the mind means that the formertype of functioning of the mind (i.e. individual identification takingplace exclusively in its rajasic or tamasic modes) has been “stilled”and the transformation into sattvic understanding has dawned. Again,the important theme in Yoga of the “sattvification of consciousness” isbeing underlined.

Vy�asa states that the purpose behind the effort to be firmly groundedin practice is that the yogin is then “not suddenly overpowered by asam. sk�ara of extraversion or emergence (vyutth�ana)”107 which wouldexacerbate affliction and lead to further dissatisfaction (duh. kha). In itsfull-blown sense, perhaps Dasgupta is not far off the mark when hewrites: “Practice stands for the concentrated inner application to therealization of the [transcendent] being which constitutes the essence ofall yogic operations. It consists of the careful discrimination betweenthe real and the wholesome on the one hand and the transient and allthat is unworthy of human motivation on the other. It is the inwardnessand unification resulting from this enlightened discernment.”108 But onemust be careful not to overemphasize the method of practice (abh�yasa)for it has intrinsic value in Yoga only in relation to dispassion (vair�agya),the meaning of which we will now examine.

Turning to the second method mentioned above to bring about“cessation,” namely dispassion (vair�agya), Pata~njali states: “Dispassionis the knowledge of mastery in one who does not thirst for any objecteither seen i.e. of an earthly nature] or heard of [i.e. of the subtleworlds].”109 The word vair�agya is derived from the verb root ra~nj “tocolour.” Literally, vair�agya means the state of being devoid of, or freefrom r�aga, the attachment that accrues, as it were, from the objects ofattraction reflecting in and colouring or influencing the mind. Yet this isnot a complete definition of vair�agya for the purpose of Yoga. Vij~n�anaBhiks.u tells us that merely the absence of the “colouring process” orconditioning of the mind will not suffice, nor will even the freedom fromattractions that is gained from seeing their faults; this form of vair�agyais not conducive to the goal that is implicit in the process of nirodha.Mere disinterest in or indifference towards objects of experience whetherenjoyable or painful can be of no value for this purpose, as for example, adisinterest in “objects” or conditions which may bring about the event

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of an illness. Bhiks.u points out110 that often an attraction towardsobjects remains even after one becomes aware of their attendent faultsor imperfections. Therefore dispassion as defined by Pata~njali in YS I,15 does not imply a simple turning away from a craving and becomingindifferent in an apathetic or suppressive way through some form ofintermittent withdrawal; rather, dispassion means a knowledge (sam. j~n�a)of mastery (va�s�ık�ara). Mastery – breaking free from the movement ofmisidentification with vr. tti – is an essential part of dispassion. If thiswere not so one might mistakenly think one had attained vair�agya whenone simply had not acknowledged and found the objects of one’s desireor lacked the capacity to enjoy them. Seen here, the normally upheldtranslation of duh. kha as “suffering” in a way leaves much to be desired.In the present context under discussion, duh. kha, which can be translatedas “dissatisfaction,” refers to an inability to be satisfied. In Yoga (andS�am. khya, see SK 23) such a state of powerlessness or impotence refersto a state of tamas. Duh. kha is a state of dissatisfaction brought on byinner, psychological, subjective causes at least as much as external,objective causes. Nor could vair�agya entail a superficial abandonmentof one’s aversions (dves.a) towards the world, other persons and things.Any literal (physical) discarding of objects implying an outward modeof renunciation of what is essentially an inner afflicted condition ofmind would simply result in the avoidance of, or inability to dealwith, real life situations thereby perpetuating the original affliction. Forexample, being attached to a state of impotence or helplessness (tamas),one could easily develop an aversion or negative attitude towards theworld internalizing one’s anger or pain. Thus, having “given up” theworld, perhaps including one’s family and relationships, one has merelydisempowered oneself from working through one’s deep-seated pain.The ego-mechanism closes in on itself with nothing to blame but theworld. The result of such an aversion or negative attachment may takethe form of a compulsive struggle to “give up” or escape from the worldby “practising” aloofness or indifference towards it. But Yoga is notabout the cultivation of amoral attitudes, nor does it imply an escapefrom one’s own sam. sk�aras, v�asan�as and mental-emotional tendencies.To withdraw from the world out of a sense of fear, anger, greed or pride,or simply to avoid social interaction with others as if such interactionswere of little or no importance in Yoga, is to misunderstand profoundlythe meaning and purpose of Yoga. To anesthetize our feelings, to failto be responsible or accountable for our actions, intentions or attitudesto others111 and the world, is a sign of hubris rather than illumination.


Va�s�ık�ara (“mastery,” see n. 109 above) is the capacity for directperception of an object devoid of attachment or aversion.112 Both r�agaand dves.a are based on a superimposition which incorrectly attributesor seeks for permanent happiness or fulfillment in either the attachmentor aversion to objects including other persons. It is not, however, thesheer presence or absence of objects that releases one from attachmentor aversion; one is released through the transformation of one’s presentstate of understanding. The issue here is really epistemological (ratherthan ontological) and has to do with a metaphorical and attitudinalrather than a literal understanding of vair�agya – often understood as a“physical” detachment or movement away from the objects of experi-ence. Dispassion is a knowledge of mastery wherein the yogin becomesincreasingly disengaged from misidentification with the “seeable,” i.e.attachments and aversions based on a mistaken identity of selfhood(asmit�a). Mastery is not mastery over nature or the world, is not ulti-mately purus.a’s mastery over prakr. ti, but as I will later argue, implies aharmony with our embodied, relational existence, nature and the world.Dispassion removes our self-inflicted forms of conflict and imbalance.Through dispassion, the gun. as are allowed to function in harmony withself-identity resulting in a non-enslavement to things prakr.tic, e.g. vr. tti.The path of Yoga is not to be reduced to a master-slave mentality,of “spirit” triumphant over matter/nature/energy. The knowledge ofmastery implied in vair�agya corrects all former life-imbalances, allenslavement to prakr.tic existence. Thus, dispassion is an irreplaceablemethod for the removal of ignorance (avidy�a) which, as we have seen,is the cause, in Yoga, of all dissatisfaction (duh. kha).

Vair�agya is not so much an act of dispassion or detachment as it isa state of understanding and insight, dispassion being for Pata~njali aknowledge of “mastery” resulting from a genuine persistence on the partof the yogin to disengage the mind from everything that is inimical toits steadiness in practice thereby generating purification from affliction.Normally, the ordinary person’s “mindstream” and thought patterns flowin the “outward direction” (vyutth�ana) extrinsically motivated towardsworldly experience in sam. s�ara. The yogin breaks the momentum of thatflow through dispassion and makes the stream progressively more subtleor sattvic through the practice of Yoga leading to the discriminativediscernment between the pure purus.a and the mistaken sense of self thathas become sedimented within the mind and which, due to ignorance,masquerades as true identity until all attachment to the gun. as includingsattva is transcended.113

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Using Vy�asa’s metaphor, it is through practice that the stream ofdiscriminative discernment is opened up, releasing its flow from thesam. s�aric blockages and "knots" of empirical self-identity. The predis-position of the vr. ttis to flow sam. s�arically in the direction of extrinsicidentity and fuel the seed mechanism of cittavr. tti is checked or prevented,at least temporarily. Through this bi-polar methodology, the conjunction(sam. yoga) between the seer and the seeable, as if manifesting a realcreation in the form of a polarization or bifurcation of the subject or“experiencer” (empirical selfhood) and the object or “experienced”(world), gradually ceases and ignorance loses its hold or sway over themind.

Pata~njali knows of two levels of dispassion. He asserts: “That superior[dispassion] is the thirstlessness for the gun. as [which results] from thediscernment of purus.a.”114 As we shall see, the lower or preliminarystage of dispassion (apara-vair�agya) defined in YS I, 15 above fallswithin the practice of cognitive sam�adhi (sam. praj~n�ata, YS I, 17), but itis external to the higher stage of dispassion (para-vair�agya) which isassociated with the supra-cognitive sam�adhi (asam. praj~n�ata, YB I, 18).Vy�asa informs us: “One who sees the defects in objects perceptibleand heard about is dispassionate. But one who from practising thediscernment of purus.a has one’s mind purified and strengthened indiscriminating knowledge is dispassionate towards the gun. as whetherwith manifest or unmanifest qualities.”115 Through the lower formof vair�agya the yogin develops dispassion towards the objects andconditions of this world as experienced through the senses, such as thecompulsive need or craving for sensual enjoyment (e.g. food, drink,sex) as well as worldly affluence, success, possession and power.116

The yogin develops dispassion towards: (a) the manifest attributes ofthe gun. as, those that constitute knowledge of, and consequent activityin, the gross (sth�ula), visible world as well as the attainment of heavenlyrealms or the subtle (s�uks.ma), invisible worlds; and (b) the unmanifestattributes as experienced by the the videha (“bodiless”) yogins, andprakr. ti-laya yogins – those “absorbed” or “merged” in unmanifestprakr. ti.

117 It is this lower-level vair�agya that is said to be the means ofreaching the prakr. ti-laya state in the S�am. khya-K�arik�a.118 The yogins ofthe above categories do not go beyond the lower stage of dispassion tothe higher form of dispassion; they have not mastered the higher levelof vair�agya by attaining dispassion towards the unmanifest qualities ofthe gun. as. They continue to seek permanence, happiness, purity andauthentic identity within prakr. ti’s domain and remain under the spell ofignorance and its network of deeply rooted impressions (sam. sk�aras),


habit patterns (v�asan�as) and modifications (vr. ttis), the basic fabric ofafflicted selfhood.

Vy�asa continues: “Of these two [levels of vair�agya], the latter isnothing but clarity of knowledge.”119 V�acaspati Mi�sra understands thehigher vair�agya as eliminating the effects of rajas, the mind now beingclear and in a state of discriminating knowledge or sattva. On this basisV�acaspati Mi�sra states that the mind now requires no external objects,not even as objects of concentration.120 This explanation is misleading.No matter how much the clarity of sattva may be emphasized, Vy�asa’spassage cannot refer merely to a state of mind or gun. ic consciousness,but rather it fits the definition of higher dispassion in which the effectsor influences of all three gun. as, including sattva, have been transcendedand any dependence on prakr. ti has ceased, at least temporarily. Theknowledge contained by the primary constituents (gun. as) is certainlynot indicated here. A more accurate reading, it would appear, is that thepassage refers to the pure state of Self-knowledge which is synonymouswith that freedom from all craving (vaitr. s.n. ya), the definition of higherdispassion given by Pata~njali. This clarity of knowledge constitutesfreedom from any compulsive attraction or enslavement to the manifestor unmanifest aspects of the gun. as. When the purity of knowledge orhigher dispassion unfolds, the yogin contemplates and observes thus:“Whatever was to be attained has been attained. The afflictions whichwere to be eliminated have been eliminated. The continuous chain ofthe cycle of being has been broken, without the breaking of whichone is born and dies, and having died will be born again. The ultimatelimit of knowledge is dispassion [italics mine]. After this very state ofdispassion aloneness follows.”121

It appears to be the case that without the higher dispassion libera-tion cannot be attained, at least not by discriminative discernment(vivekakhy�ati) in itself. As Pata~njali states: “Through dispassion towardseven this [discernment of the distinction between purus.a and thesattva of consciousness], the seeds of impediments are destroyed, andthere is aloneness.122 Attachment to the knowledge of the differencebetween purus.a and sattva – the discernment (khy�ati) which provides theyogin with omniscience (sarvaj~n�atr. tva) and supremacy over all statesof being (adhis. t.h�atr. tva)123 – can yet bind the yogin to phenomenalexistence and misidentification. Here it can be said that Yoga’s higherdimension of vair�agya goes beyond the Classical S�am. khyan (SK)adherence to discrimination (viveka) as the final means to liberation.An ongoing purification of the mind from ignorance takes place forthe embodied yogin until kaivalya ensues. Para-vair�agya transcends

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discriminating knowledge and enables the yogin to achieve a clear,direct knowledge of purus.a. It represents an act of will – along with itsown transcendence – subsequently leading to asam. praj~n�aata-sam�adhi,the state of supracognition through which avidy�a and its effects (e.g.sam. sk�aras) and affects (duh. kha) are finally laid to rest. As it is directknowledge of purus.a, Yoga’s higher dispassion, by constituting a totaldisengagement from the superimposed condition of sam. yoga, is the finalmeans to liberation. There must develop in the yogin an equanimity(upeks.a

124) towards even the highly advanced stage of discriminativediscernment (vivekakhy�ati); a non-aquisitive attitude (akus�ıda) musttake place at the highest level of yogic practice.125 Vy�asa emphasizesthat the identity of purus.a is not something to be acquired (up�adeya) ordiscarded (heya).126 The highest state of dispassion concerns knowledgeof purus.a itself. Any dependency on or attachment to Yoga methodsand techniques and the functioning of the mind for the purpose ofexperience and the pursuit of liberation is ultimately a bondage orform of enslavement to ignorance. Through para-vair�agya the yogin,as it were, becomes aware of knowledge of the knower-of-discernment(vivekin) which is revealed when no other thoughts or ideas arise in themind because the coverings of impurity which veil true identity havebeen “washed away.”127 This transcendent knowledge arises becausethe mind has become detached even from its power of discernment;128

all attachment to power including attachment to the (supreme) powerover all beings as well as omniscience is finally discarded in Yoga.

It is of interest to note that the higher dispassion alone transcends thevr. tti-mechanism of empirical identity: its activities and appropriationincluding the various means of Yoga, which as W. Halbfass observes:“: : : may even turn into obstacles if the seeker becomes attached to theirpursuit and believes that such ‘result-oriented,’ inherently dualistic andsam. s�aric activities can bring about final liberation.”129 As has becomeevident by now, Yoga is acutely aware of the danger referred to in theabove, namely that the yogin may remain only within the sphere of themind (citta) or three gun. as while making efforts to transcend the mindand “acquire” freedom or true identity. One is struggling to attain afreedom which one already intrinsically is and as such can never reallyacquire. This paradoxical situation can only be fully resolved throughsam�adhi.

The three fulfillments or accomplishments given in Vy�asa’s Bh�as. ya(YB I, 16; see n. 121 above) appear to be a general summary of theseven-fold (saptadh�a) wisdom or insight (praj~n�a)130 which follows fromvivekakhy�ati and culminates in the knowledge that purus.a is “the light


of its own form only, alone and pure.”131 It is purus.a and not the mindor empirical sense of self which “sees” this knowledge in its seven-foldfinal stage.132 This knowledge is “known” or “seen” only by purus.a andcan be claimed only by purus.a. Moreover, though it is the mind that hasbeen transformed and liberated through knowledge and the cessationof the seed-mechanism (cittavr. tti) of misidentification and ignorance,it is purus.a which is said to be skilfull and free because purus.a has“become what it always was and is beyond the three gun. as.”133 Whattakes place after this awareness of the ultimate limit of knowledge(i.e. dispassion) is the abiding of identity in its true form (svar�upa) aspurus.a, and this realization provides a foundational grounding for thepermanently liberated state of “aloneness” (kaivalya).

A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT THE MEANING AND PRACTICE OF SAM�ADHI

A careful examination of the concept of sam�adhi is essential for under-standing Pata~njali’s philosophical perspective for it is based upon themeaning of sam�adhi that the arguments of Yoga, and in particular,Pata~njali’s soteriological methodology, derive their greatest strengthand value. In Classical Yoga, the term sam�adhi is generally conceivedas being the last member and the consummation of the yogic path ofself-transformation, referring to the eight-limbed (as. t. �a _nga) Yoga out-lined in the S�adhana-P�ada (chapter two) of the YS.134 Sam�adhi, and themeditative discipline that accompanies it, are the sine qua non in Yogafor the realization of the truth of existence. The importance of this stageis expressed in Vy�asa’s definition (YB I, 1) of Yoga: yogah. sam�adhih.(“Yoga is sam�adhi”). In effect, much of the first chapter (Sam�adhi-P�ada)of the YS constitutes a definition of the stages of sam�adhi in Pata~njali’sthought. A special feature of the YS, therefore, is the detailed analysisPata~njali proffers of different kinds of sam�adhi which has often beenmisinterpreted and rarely done justice to. Pata~njali’s distinct stress onsam�adhi shows a deep insight of his own into the phases of meditationalpraxis that are encountered by earnest practitioners of Yoga. Through-out our study of the concept of sam�adhi it will become apparent justhow closely Yoga theory and practice are intertwined and how theculmination of Yoga – “aloneness” (kaivalya) – is made possible. Inthe experiences of sam�adhi the types of knowledge which arise andthe methods by which that knowledge takes place form, as it were, an“inner” core of Yoga soteriology and inform us of the metaphysicalbasis of Yoga praxis as viewed in its pedagogical context.

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Etymologically, “sam�adhi” is an abstract noun derived from theverb root dh�a: “to put, place or hold” (in its feminine, nominal formdhi) and joined with the verbal prefixes sam (“together”) + �a (“unto”)to form the stem sam�adh�a which literally means “putting together”:“to place or put or fix together : : : ; to compose, set right, : : : put inorder, : : : restore : : : , to add,” are a few of the meanings given for theterm sam�adh�a.135 Some of the meanings cited for the term sam�adhiare: “joining or combining with,” “union,” “a whole,” “bringing intoharmony,” “intense application or fixing the mind on,” “attention,”“completion,” “profound or abstract meditation,” “intense absorptionor contemplation.”136 Yet, as is evident from even a cursory look atvarious translations of the term, it may be misleading to translate theword sam�adhi, as it is used in the context of the YS, according to anyone specific meaning as given in the above or elsewhere.

Suggested renderings of the term sam�adhi are: “trance,”137

“meditation,”138 “concentration,”139 “absorption”140 and “enstasy.”141

“Ecstasy”142 or “rapture,” terms often used to convey a sense of exaltedfeeling, are also cited as general meanings for sam�adhi. But despite themultitudinous ways of construing the term, most attempts are either toorestricting or too vague to be acceptable. For example, “trance” canrefer to states of mind which are: half-conscious, sleeplike, catalyptic,hypnotic or morbid – states of mind which are more indicative of apredominance of tamas rather than sattva. “Rapture” can convey thesense of being carried away by something or someone through a pro-found attraction or attachment to the desired object and having moreto do with a state of mind in which rajas is predominant. “Concen-tration” can be interpreted to mean an exclusively mental process offixing one’s mind on something external to or utterly separate fromoneself. “Meditation” is, from a yogic perspective, often misunderstoodto mean the act of “thinking” or “pondering over.” In fact, the terms“concentration” (dh�aran. �a) and “meditation” (dhy�ana) are used as thesixth and seventh “limbs” (a _ngas) respectively of the “eight-limbed”(as. t. �a _nga) Yoga (YS II, 29) and are preliminary stages to the eighth limb– sam�adhi. Therefore, to describe or explain sam�adhi only in termsof “concentration” or “meditation” is to miss the intent of Pata~njali’susage of the term which, technically speaking, designates the higheststage of practice and awareness in a semantic “hierarchy” of yogicdiscipline.

M. Eliade uses the Greek term “enstasis” or “enstasy”143 whichattempts to clearly demarcate the phenomena of sam�adhi from that of“ecstasy,” a term frequently confused or conflated with “enstasy.” R.


C. Zaehner144 observes that enstasy “is the exact reverse of ecstasy,which means to get outside oneself and which is often characterised bya breaking down of the barriers between the subject and the universearound him.” Pata~njali does include �ananda (YS I, 17), meaning “bliss”or “joy,” as a state of cognitive sam�adhi. The Greek-derived wordecstasy means to stand (stasis) outside (ex) the ordinary (empirical) self,whereas sam�adhi ultimately signifies one’s “standing in” (en) the Self –one-in-identity as purus.a – as one’s authentic being or intrinsic identity.In ecstasy, the experience entails at least a partial transcendence of thelimited ego-identity or cittavr. tti mechanism accompanied perhaps by asense of wellbeing. As normally conceived, ecstasy can refer to states ofemotional rapture and mental exaltation. Since these characteristics donot appear to apply to or fully capture the typical yogic state of “mind-transcending” consciousness, Eliade and Feuerstein145 have proposed torender the term sam�adhi as “enstasy.” But the distinction is not alwaysclear cut. Both interpretations are correct according to the stage or levelof sam�adhi being experienced. There are, in Pata~njali’s YS, sam�adhi-experiences that resemble more ecstasy than enstasy. These refer tothe stages of sam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi (YS I, 17), the object- or content-oriented sam�adhis of cognition which are accompanied by degreesof mental “refinement” (in vitarka- and vic�ara-sam�adhi), or perhapsintense joy (�ananda), or a subtler and more lucid sense of self-identityin asmit�a-sam�adhi. By ordinary standards these states are extraordinaryand constitute a significant shift in one’s sense of self. They are ecstaticin that they shift one’s normal focus of attention “outside of” or beyondthe empirical self as it is normally experienced and perceived in thestate of “emergence” (vyutth�ana, YS III, 9 and 37) or extrinsic self-identity, i e. sam. s�aric existence. The above stages constitute part of theunfoldment of the “sattvification” of self-awareness in the process ofnirodha. However, the experiences in ecstasy can be said to take place“outside” purus.a in that they are associated with the subtler objectsof prakr.tic existence as perceived in the mind and do not directly orconsciously involve purus.a as the pure, knowing experiencer; theyare not purus.a-centred. In this sense they may be understood as beingecstatic. Asam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi – the supra-cognitive sam�adhi – onthe other hand is enstasy or true abiding “in” or rather as the purus.a.It is not, as Zaehner would have it, a complete reversal of ecstasy, atleast not in the context in which this study is proposing to use the termecstasy. Ecstasy and enstasy are not mutually exclusive states. Rather,ecstasy is propaedeutic to enstasy: there is a continuum or continuity ofexperience which links the two in the process of “cessation” (nirodha).

34 IAN WHICHER

Only in enstasy, however, is Yoga discipline fully matured, a maturationmade possible only through the cessation of any tendency to “see” (i.e.misperceive) purus.a “outside” itself or to mistake or misidentify purus.afor prakr.tic existence.

Therefore I will refer to sam�adhi as meaning both “ecstasy” (as incognitive or sam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi, YS/YB I, 17) and “enstasy” (as insupra-cognitive or asam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi referred to by Vy�asa in YBI, 18) bearing in mind the above distinctions and carefully noting thatecstasy is propaedeutic, and not inimical, to enstasy. Ecstasy refers tothe process of sam�adhi in its cognitive stages and results in illuminatingexperiences of sattva for the purpose of purus.a, namely experience andliberation. Enstasy is the realization of purus.a in its true form (svar�upa,YS I, 3) and transcends all sam. s�aric experience or misidentification withand identity-dependency on prakr. ti’s realm. Enstasy is the awareness ofone’s experiencer as purus.a, utterly “alone” and with nothing (or no-thing) left to experience for the sake of liberation. Positively conceived,enstasy is a state of supra-cognition as the ever-free knower of vr. tti(YS IV, 18); or, negatively conceived, enstasy is the “a-cognition” of“seeing,” i.e. falsely cognizing, purus.a within prakr. ti, the termination ofthe “failure-to-see” (adar�sana). The yogin is then no longer implicatedin the struggle and dissatisfaction inherent in the gun. ic modes ofconsciousness or sam. s�aric identity of self.

PREPARATION FOR SAM�ADHI

According to Vy�asa, two primary forms of Yoga are outlined by Pata~njali.One, described in the first chapter (Sam�adhi-P�ada), is for the advancedyogin – one with a concentrated, engrossed mind. The other, describedin the second chapter (S�adhana-P�ada), is for one not so advanced inyogic discipline and of an extroverted and distracted mind.146 For onewhose mind is concentrated, the practice of sam�adhi is emphasized.For one whose mind is distracted, the practice of Yoga must involvea preliminary stage of purification. V�acaspati Mi�sra observes that inthe Sam�adhi-P�ada practice (abhy�asa) and dispassion (vair�agya), whichresult in sam�adhi, are stated as the means of Yoga: “However,” he goeson to state, “as these two do not come into being instantaneously forone whose mind is extroverted, that one is in need of the means taughtin the second chapter in order to purify the sattva [of the mind.]”147

So long as the mind is ineluctably activated by inner sam. s�aric drives,functions, disturbances and agitations, it cannot be made pure and attainstability. It flows in the direction of affliction: to all that is evil and


destructive in life. What is needed is a counter-flow (pratiprasava)to the destructive tension of the mind, a return to its intrinsic clarityand purity through the process of nirodha thereby counteracting theoutward flow (vyutth�ana) of worldly identification wholly fixed uponor obsessed by the objects of experience. Vyutth�ana, the extrovertedstate of mind and form of self-identity, is a deluded and extrinsic senseof selfhood that contains an implicit desire to know the nature of anobject which it holds separate from itself and to derive satisfaction oreven permanent happiness through this knowledge. It is a compulsive,extraneous, emerging consciousness rooted in ignorance (avidy�a) andappearing in the form of egoity (asmit�a). The word vyutth�ana can mean“rising up,” “swerving from the right course,” “independent action.”148

A vr. tti of a vyutth�ana-nature, which can arise from or generate avyutth�ana-sam. sk�ara,149 is not merely a mental modification, fluctuation,“wave” or “whirl” of consciousness that goes outward to the world,but signifies the processes of cognition and experience which “arise”from and are appropriated by a mistaken identity (cittavr. tti); in effect,the vr. tti-generating power of vyutth�ana150 leads to a misidentificationof self and misappropriation of the world, self-identity having beenentangled in the network of v�asan�as and sam. sk�aras – the “inner” wheelof sam. s�ara. Thus one is “forgetful” of authentic identity and fails torecognize purus.a as one’s true Self. Due to thoughts and impressionsof a vyutth�ana-nature, one experiences others as separate from oneself,feels possessive and fearful, and is ignorant of the “knowledge” of one’strue nature (purus.a). Moreover, one’s thought patterns are conditionedin terms of a compulsive lack of “some-thing” which one feels oneneeds in order to be fulfilled, yet a “some-thing” which is thoughtto exist “outside” of oneself. The expression vyutth�ana thus carrieswith it the sense of separation or alienation from authentic identity,incompleteness, compulsive desire and dependence on objects. It is onlyby a “reversal” of the usual centrifugal, de-centering or extrovertedimpressions, traits and habit patterns of the mind that influences inthe form of afflictions can cease (nirodha) and the mind and empiricalidentity – through a process of centering or a centripetal movement ofattention – can function correctly and “fit into” their proper place withrespect to purus.a: that of the known or seeable rather than the knoweror seer itself.151 Vr. tti will then be subordinate to the knower (purus.a)of vr. tti rather than our selfhood being contingent upon and a productof the movement or functioning of vr. tti as in the previous condition ofignorance – the vyutth�ana (extrinsic) mode of identity.

36 IAN WHICHER

The ground to be prepared in Yoga is the entire body-mind organismfor it is through the psycho-physical being as a whole that yogic insight(praj~n�a) arises and purus.a “sees.” In the S�adhana-P�ada, it appearsthat Pata~njali offers two main Yogas by which the process of nirodhais effected. The counter-flow to the usual afflicted tendencies (klis. t.a-vr. ttis) of the mind is attained, as indicated in YS II, 1–2, through apractice called Kriy�a-Yoga (the Yoga of “action,” not to be confusedwith Karma-Yoga of the BG) which has as its purpose the attenuationof the afflictions and the cultivation of sam�adhi.152 Kriy�a-Yoga consistsof: austerity (tapas), personal scriptural (i.e. self-) study (sv�adhy�aya, seebelow) and devotion to �ı�svara (�ı�svara-pran. idh�ana).153 Vy�asa qualifiessv�adhy�aya (literally “one’s own going into”) as the recitation of purifyingmantras such as the sacred syllable om, or the study of scriptures onspiritual liberation.154 The second Yoga, the eight-limbed Yoga (as. t. �a _nga,YS II, 29), is the one most commonly identified with Pata~njali155 and ofwhich an overview will be presented in the last section. A comparativeanalysis of these forms of Yoga is not within the scope of this study.156

However, it must be admitted that they both share a common praxis-orientation and purpose: effecting the cessation of afflicted identity –of the misidentification with the cittavr. tti mechanism – thus leading tothe realization of purus.a.

It is noteworthy that Pata~njali includes a section in the Sam�adhi-P�adaon methods for purifying, clarifying and stabilizing the mind prior tothe practice of sam�adhi. YS I, 33–39 give the cittaparikarmas: the waysof refining, purifying and preparing the mind through diligent practice(abhy�asa). Thus the mind may reach a necessary degree of stability andattentiveness so as to be steadied for the attainments of sam�adhi. Forexample, YS I, 34 informs us that by expulsion and retention of the breath(pr�an. a) one attains stability of mind.157 As well, Pata~njali states (YS I,37) that by having as its object of concentration a mind (e.g. of a sage)which is in a condition free from all attachment, one’s mind becomesstabilized.158 Or according to Vy�asa, as in the case of enheightenedsensory awareness (divya-sam. vid159) or directly perceived sensations,there arises the activity of involvement with an object which steadies themind-organ (manas, YS I, 35).160 Another example (YS I, 33) states thatthe mind is made clear and pure by cultivating friendliness, compassion,happiness and equanimity in conditions or objects [persons] be theyjoyful, sorrowful, meritorious or demeritorious.161 Elsewhere (YS I, 36)Pata~njali suggests that one generate mental processes or thoughts whichare sorrowless and illuminating.162 Each of these techniques requires aredirecting and restructuring of the thought process, a transformation


from identification with distracted, afflicted and self-centred mentalactivity in the condition of cittavr. tti to identification with responsiblethought, intentions (pratyaya), attitudes and volitions. All ethical virtuesare explicitly mentioned by Pata~njali with reference to the obtaining ofthe stability of mind for the purpose of furthering the yogin’s practice andawareness. That he has not discussed the social importance does not meanthat he was unaware of their importance for society. His purpose was notto explain the virtues as social virtues, but to point out their significancefor Yoga soteriology. Cultivating the moral attributes in Yoga (as in YSI, 33), one develops a transformed personality in which one’s sattvicnature has increased resulting in a greater propensity towards purer (YSII, 41), nonafflicted and unselfish attitudes and activity. One generatesmorally and cognitively purer virtues including responsible, non-harmfuland creative mental activity (sattvic vr. ttis) which replaces the moreafflicted (klis. t.a) or painful (rajasic) and stagnated (tamasic) types ofvr. ttis. Due to its destructive and delusive nature, identification with theafflicted vr. ttis conceals the possibility for an enriched cognitive andmoral development including the relational sphere of human existence.

When the effort is made to obtain stability of mind, the mind canthen pass through five stages (bh�umis), levels or qualities. Vy�asa163

lists these as:

(1) ks. ipta: impulsive, restless, agitated, disturbed.(2) m�ud. ha: dull, somnolent, stupified.(3) viks. ipta: distracted, changeable.(4) ek�agra: one-pointed, concentrated.(5) niruddha: mastered, nonenslaved, transcendent.

Vy�asa (YB I, 1) has included ks. ipta and m�ud. ha in his enumeration ofthe states of mind but throughout the rest of his Bh�as.ya he has nothingmuch to say about them. These two states are of little practical interestto Pata~njali and Vy�asa in the context of Yoga practice itself. Of thefive states of mind listed in the above, the agitated, impulsive state(ks. ipta) is dominated by rajas and is always unsteady forcing one’smind (attention) to waver, scattering it from one object to another. Thedull, somnolent state of mind (m�ud. ha) is dominated by tamas – a statewhich is also predominate in the state of sleep164 – and is responsiblefor forms of stupor (e.g. as in states of inebriation) and dullness as wellas cowardice, mental confusion and an overall lack of alertness. Thereis not a definite boundary line between ks. ipta and m�ud. ha. Often in awakeful or active state of mind we may consider ourselves to be alert,but under the influence of tamas forget or neglect to do something.

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There are other examples of the alternation between ks. ipta and m�ud. ha,or between the dominance of rajas and tamas. According to Vij~n�anaBhiks.u,165 rajas draws us toward the objects of attraction, causing amood called r�aga in which the mind is coloured or influenced by theobject of attraction. When the desire to enjoy or possess the object ofthat attraction or attachment (r�aga) is thwarted, a disappointment ensues.The mind becomes clouded with tamas, and consequently depression(vis. �ada) begins. One can similarly analyze the fluctuations of varyingmoods and emotional states (which have their cognitive counterparts)by observing the alternating dominance of rajas and tamas. Avidy�a orspiritual ignorance is in its most dense form in the condition of tamaswhich, as a natural ‘staining’ constituent of the mind, dominates theknowing mechanism. Tamas and rajas both, insofar as they veil thesattva component of the mind, lend themselves to immoral and amoralstates which, as we have seen earlier, correlate with delusion, confusionand various forms of selfish behaviour.

Viks. ipta, the third state of mind, is subtler than, and an improvementupon, both ks. ipta and m�ud. ha. On the journey toward clarity of knowledgeand sam�adhi, sattva begins to assert its illuminative power. The mindnow begins to find some sustained concentration, but its former habitpatterns keep propelling it away from sattva. In this condition the mindis still under the influence of rajas and tamas, however sattva hasbegun to make its presence known and felt. When the mind – havingattained a state of concentration – is unable to maintain it, that state iscalled “distraction” (viks. ipta, viks.epa).166 In YS I, 30 the term viks.epais used as a synonym for antar�aya (“obstacle”) and clearly suggeststhat the nine distractions (viks. epas) given by Pata~njali impede onefrom engaging properly in the practice of Yoga. The nine obstacles arelisted as follows: sickness (vy�adhi), languor (sty�ana), doubt (sam. �saya),carelessness or negligence as in the lack of commitment to the meansof sam�adhi (pram�ada), laziness (�alasya), sense addiction (i.e. causedby past addiction to objects) (avirati), false views (bhr�antidar�sana),failure to attain the stages of Yoga (YB I, 30) (alabdhabh�umikatva),and instability – as when a state has been attained but the mind is notable to remain established in it (anavasthitatv�ani).167 All of the aboveimpediments are called viks.epas because they divert the mind fromthe path of Yoga.168 Vy�asa asserts that the nine obstacles appear onlyin conjunction with their corresponding mental processes (vr. ttis), andthat without the obstacles the later do not arise. Only in sam�adhi is themind truly stabilized.169


The natural accompaniments of the above distractions are:pain/dissatisfaction (duh. kha, which Vy�asa170 says refers to the three typesof pain: �adhy�atmika – the physical and mental pain proceeding fromoneself; �adhibhautika – pain caused by other beings; and �adhidaivika –pain proceeding from deities or natural forces), despair (daurmanasya),unsteadiness of the “limbs” of the body (a _ngam-ejayatva), and faultyinhalation (�sv�asa) or exhalation (pra�sv�asa).171 Vy�asa informs us thatthese natural accompaniments accrue to one whose mind is in the dis-tracted state and not to one whose mind is concentrated or harmonizedin sam�adhi. Vy�asa uses the word sam�ahita which is the perfect participleof sam�adh�a and expresses the fact that a harmonizing of the mind orresolution of the conditions of all conflict, including personal conflict,have been accomplished by reaching sam�adhi.172 Only then are the nineobstacles and their five correlates overcome completely. Furthermore,as Vy�asa emphasizes, any state of sam�adhi subordinated and eclipsedby distraction (in the distracted state of mind) is not fit to be includedwithin the category of Yoga.173 The dominance of rajas and tamas inthe first three states of mind implies that one is unable to focus properlyon Yoga discipline; through the various distractions one can easily losethe necessary grounding or traction for further development or growthin Yoga.

Having dismissed the first three states as not being classified as Yoga(i.e. sam�adhi) proper, Vy�asa introduces the fourth state of mind: ek�agra,the one-pointed state of mind which attains its stability and matures inthe practice of sam. praj~n�ata-sam�adhi. Thus begins Yoga proper. Koelmaninforms us that: “The first three psychological dispositions : : : mustfirst undergo the discipline of the Yoga of action [Kriy�a-Yoga]. Onlythe last two psychological states are directly disposed for the purelymental discipline of R�ajayoga.”174

Cognitive sam�adhi has as its foundation the “one-pointed” state orek�agra, which refers to the one-pointedness (ek�agrat�a) of the mind onan object. Vy�asa describes sam�adhi in the one-pointed mind as havingthe power to: (1) fully illuminate an actual object as it is; (2) diminishthe afflictions or impurities; (3) loosen the bonds of karma; and (4)bring about the possibility of total “cessation” (nirodha) into view.175

In the state of niruddha (nirodha) – the most subtle state of the mind– the dependency on an objective “prop” or object of contemplationin sam�adhi comes to an end, and the yogin, liberated from mistakenidentity and thus having transcended the effects (and affects) of vr. ttior cognition, is left “alone” as the auto-transparent knower, no longerunder the influence of avidy�a.

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE AS.T. �A _NGA-YOGA

Here I will follow the more elaborated scheme (YS II, 28–55 and III,1–8) of the “eight-limbed” Yoga (as. t. �a _nga) which consists of: yama(restraint), niyama (observances), �asana (postures), pr�an. �ay�ama (controlof breath, restraint of vital energy currents), praty�ah�ara (withdrawal ofthe senses), dh�aran. �a (concentration), dhy�ana (meditation) and sam�adhi(ecstasy, enstasy).176 Through the practices involved in As. t. �a _nga-Yogathere results the destruction of impurity and an increasing light ofknowledge up to the discriminative discernment between the seerand the seeable.177 The disjunction from, or disengagement with, thecondition of sam. yoga – implying the cessation of the seed-identificationor misidentification with the seeable in the condition of cittavr. tti – canthen take place.

Within these eight “limbs,” the empirical world is dealt with aspectby aspect in a manner similar to the reversal of the S�am. khyan processof world manifestation and actualization. All actions, intentions, voli-tions and thoughts are scrutinized and subjected to a purification orprocess of sattvification in which all attachment and aversion towardsinitially the grosser and later on the subtler manifestations of and iden-tifications within prakr. ti are discarded. One’s actions and interactionsin the world are first brought under control or harmonized throughthe application of ethical restraints and observances. The first limb,yama (YS II, 30),178 means “restraint” and includes five importantmoral obligations. These are: nonviolence (ahim. s�a179), truthfulness(satya180), nonstealing (asteya181), sexual restraint (brahmacarya182),and nonpossessiveness/greedlessness (aparigraha183). As abstinences inthe practice of Yoga, they involve refraining from actions that generatenegative impressions, and constitute the “great vow” which, as YS II,31 spells out, must be practised irrespective of place, time, circum-stances, or a particular person’s social status.184 These moral obligationsare unconditionally valid and demonstrate that moral integrity is anindispensable aspect of successful Yoga practice.

The second limb, niyama,185 requires the observance of partic-ular activities that are conducive to the quest for spiritual liberation.These refer to rules for regulating life and consist in the observance ofmoral, physical and mental purity (�sauca186), contentment (sam. tos.a

187),austerity (tapas188), personal/scriptural (self-) study (sv�adhy�aya189), anddevotion to the ‘Lord’ (�ı�svarapran. idh�ana190). The last three observancesare, arguably, the same that were said earlier to constitute Kriy�a-Yoga.191

Through these regulatory activities, applied in day-to-day life, one


minimizes the distractions that arise due to interacting in the worldthereby stabilizing one’s social intercourse.

If there is any obstruction to the practice of the yamas and niyamasbrought about by the distraction of discursive thought in the formof contrary ideas, such as violence/harming, etc., the yogin must bedevoted to the cultivation of their opposite.192 For, as Pata~njali warns:

Discursive thoughts like violence and the others, done or caused to be done orapproved of, preceded by greed, anger or delusion [whether] mild, medium or intense– all result in endless dissatisfaction/sorrow and ignorance; thus the cultivation oftheir opposites [is prescribed].193

The above practice applies not only to yama/niyama practices but tovarious techniques mentioned earlier194 which prescribe purificatoryand ethical practices.

The first two limbs, yama and niyama, regulate the yogin’s socialand personal life in an effort to reduce the production of unwholesomevolition or intention, which would only add to the binding karmicresidue (karm�a�saya) already stored in the mind. The yogin’s goal is tocease to be under the sway of karma in the form of ignorance includingall the impressions embedded in the depths of the psyche. For thistransformation of consciousness to be successful, the yogin has tocreate the right environmental conditions, within and without. Yamaand niyama can be seen as the first necessary steps in this direction.

In Yoga the social dimension involving our emotive and ethical naturesis seen in the background and attitudes of the yogin and includes aninterpersonal context. The cultivation of positive, virtuous attitudessuch as friendliness, compassion and nonviolence imply a gradualeradication of other attitudes which are the companions of a disturbedstate of mind enveloped in affliction. Obviously, the point of Yoga isnot for the yogin to set herself or himself up in a mode of understandingwhich intentionally conflicts with others and society at large in an attemptto shun or escape from the world or neglect the social implicationsof our human embodiment. The personal soteriological resolve of theyogin incorporates an understanding of person wherein an affective,emotive and moral core involving interaction and relationship withothers is not seen as irrelevant in the pursuit of liberation. Virtuessuch as benevolence and compassion are essential to develop on theYoga path (yogadharma) in order to eradicate any propensity to causefear or harm in others.195 Without the cultivation of higher virtues,one-pointedness or concentration of mind cannot be sustained leavingone unprepared for the refining processes necessary for the arisingof discriminative discernment and therefore incapable of purifying

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the mind of all affliction. To strengthen the aklis. t.a-vr. ttis means toweaken the power of the klis. t.a-vr. ttis. Thus, to describe the yogin’saccomplishment as being “too selfish,” the yogin being one who “usesinsight and discipline to remain self-enclosed,”196 simply ignores or failsto consider the important fact that Pata~njali lists compassion (karun. �a)and friendliness (maitr�ı) as two of the virtues to be cultivated by theyogin.

Once the yamas and niyamas have been sufficiently grasped, practisedand matured, the yogin can focus directly on the body (i.e. the mostobvious aspect of one’s immediate self or identity) through the perfectionof right posture (�asana). According to YS II, 46 one’s posture should befirm and comfortable197 making one both relaxed and alert.198 The properexecution of posture makes the yogin immune to the impact of the “pairsof opposites” (dvandvas199) such as heat and cold, dark and light, quietand noise, i.e. external conflict. From �asana one develops regulationof the breath (pr�an. �ay�ama).200 Pata~njali mentions four movements ormodifications of pr�an. �ay�ama.201 After the successful practice of thefourth form of pr�an. �ay�ama – which transcends the internal and externalconditions of the breath202 – it is said that the “covering” of the innerlight (prak�a�sa) (“covering” referring here to the karmic impulses whichveil discriminative knowledge or sattva) disappears.203 Furthermore,from the practice of pr�an. �ay�ama the mind-organ (manas) is said to attainfitness for concentration.204 Thus the practice progresses inwardly todeal with more subtle phenomena of the mind.

The fifth limb, praty�ah�ara, is when the senses, disjoined fromtheir respective objects, assume as it were the nature of the mind.205

Withdrawn from their objects, the senses are freed of external stimuliand settle in their source, the mind. The mind is no longer distracted byexternal sources. Such an effort does not result in the destruction of thesenses. The yogin is not in a coma nor a catatonic or lifeless state. Onthe contrary, when the senses are inwardly settled the mind generallybecomes very active and it then becomes necessary to tackle the moresubtle aspects of one’s self-identity such as the impressions (sam. sk�aras)and vr. ttis which govern the habituations of the mind. Attention canthen be focused internally: on an internal object. Praty�ah�ara is said toresult in the supreme mastery or “obedience” of the senses,206 whichis the ability to “switch off” at will and allow for a state of inward-mindfulness. Vy�asa gives the following simile: “As when the queen-beeflies up and the (other) bees swarm after it, and when the queen-beesettles and they also settle: similarly, the senses are mastered when the


mind is mastered.”207 The senses, following from the mind’s withdrawalfrom sensory activity, also withdraw.

Dh�aran. �a, the sixth limb, is concentration in which the yogin’sconsciousness as a purely mental process is focused on one place ora single locus208 which may be a particular part of the body (e.g.the tip of the tongue or nose, or a cakra such as the naval circle,heart lotus or the light-centre in the head) or an external object that isinternalized.209 The term dh�aran. �a, which stems from the root dhr. , “tohold, maintain,” refers to the holding of one’s attention which is fixedon an internalized object. The underlying process is called ek�agrat�a(composed of eka: “one, single,” and agrat�a: “pointedness”), whichstands for the singleness of mind or unwavering or purely focusedattention – the very foundation of yogic concentration – which deepensand matures in dhy�ana and sam�adhi.210

Dhy�ana (YS III, 2) – meditation – follows from dh�aran. �a as a linearcontinuation of onepointedness. Pata~njali understands dhy�ana as anunbroken, singular “extension” (eka-t�anat�a211) of one idea (pratyaya),cognition or intention with regard to the object of concentration, anuninterrupted flow of attention from the yogin to the object of con-centration. All arising ideas or cognitions revolve around the object ofconcentration. Meditation (dhy�ana) is, however, a mental state with itsown distinctive properties. T. R. Kulkarni writes:

While in dh�aran. �a the mind remains bound up, as it were, in a restricted space,its continuation in that bound up state in such a way that the experimental statecorresponding to it remains uniformly and homogeneously the same despite variationsin the internal or external perceptual situation, constitutes dhy�ana [: : : ] In the stateof dhy�ana, the indeterminateness of perception disappears with the mind remainingunaffected by distracting stimuli.212

J. W. Hauer, known to have personally experimented with Yoga,describes his insights into the nature of meditation:

(Dhy�ana) is a deepened and creative dh�aran. �a, in which the inner object is illuminedmentally. The strict contemplation on one object of consciousness is now supplementedwith a searching-pensive contemplation of its actual nature. The object is, so to speak,placed before the contemplative consciousness in all its aspects and is perceived asa whole. Its various characteristics are examined till its very essence is understoodand becomes transparent [ : : : ] This is accompanied by a certain emotive disposition.Although the reasoning faculty functions acutely and clearly, it would be wrongto understand dhy�ana merely as a logical-rational process: the contemplator mustpenetrate his object with all his heart, since he is after all primarily interested in aspiritual experience which is to lead him to ontic participation and the emancipationfrom all constructing and binding hindrances.213

The British psychologist, John H. Clark, characterizes dhy�ana as beinga paradoxical process in that meditation “both empties the mind and,

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at the same time, encourages alertness.”214 By adding a depth andlucidity of consciousness in meditation, the yogin’s alertness or senseof wakefulness is enheightened even though there can be very littleif any awareness of the external environment. Dhy�ana is a necessarycondition for sam�adhi to ensue. The definition of sam�adhi in YS III, 3begins “tad eva”215 showing clearly that sam�adhi is not separate fromdhy�ana but is a continuation albeit a deepening/flowering/maturing ofthe meditative process.

In dh�arana and dhy�ana the mind (citta) is involved as a locus ofempirical selflhood or self-appropriation, a cognizer or prakr.tic senseof self which claims to know and see the object and intensify or makesubtle one’s relationship with the object; the distinction between thesubject, object and cognition persists. However, through the practiceof the eighth limb – sam�adhi – the mind of the yogin becomes socompletely absorbed in the object that it appears to become the objectreflecting the object as it truly is: “That [meditation], when it shinesforth as the object only, apparently empty of its own form/nature [asknowledge], is indeed sam�adhi.”216 Sam�adhi refers to the “oneness”or identity we must attain in order to know the true nature of anything.Sam�adhi involves a complete transformation of the usual mode ofknowing or perceiving (pratyaks.a). It is a transformation (parin. �ama)of the mind and consciousness from a state of “all objectivity” or“dispersiveness” into onepointedness (ek�agrat�a).217 Prior to sam�adhithe mind received the impressions of the objects through the senses andimposed its own habit patterns and vr. ttis upon the object. In sam�adhithe mind progressively acts as the arena or medium through which thereis no subjective or egoic centre of consciousness which can introduceany distortion of the object; there is only the pure grasping, knowing.No agency or organ interferes between the object and the knowing.Thus, the insight (praj~n�a) obtained in cognitive sam�adhi is not a mentalprojection, is not a self-referenced, indulgent (i.e. emotive, affective,wishful/imaginative, cognitive) projection onto the object. It is notindividual (i.e. “my”) knowledge nor is it subjective. It refers whollyand exclusively to the object; it is clear insight into the object as itis without any violation or forcing from the yogin (observer), for, atthe moment of the sam�adhi experience of knowing, the observer as asubject separate from the object does not come into play.218

The last three limbs of Yoga, namely: concentration, meditation andsam�adhi, continually practised and cultivated together, constitute whatis called sam. yama (“constraint”).219 It is the application of sam. yamato any object which leads to the yogin’s direct perception (s�aks. �atk�ara,


yogi-pratyaks.a) of it yielding suprasensuous knowledge or insight(praj~n�a).220 The application of sam. yama and its mastery progressesgradually221 wherein the mind becomes like a precious jewel takingon the true “colour” of the object which fuses with it.222 It is a unitivestate of awareness in which the unification (sam�apatti223) of subject,object and means of perception is achieved. The special attention whichprevails in the state of sam. yama can be brought to bear on any aspectof prakr. ti encompassing all that can be known, however subtle, andextending to unmodified or undifferentiated (ali _nga) prakr. ti.

224

Each of the eight limbs, from the yamas – and, for example, thecultivation of nonviolence – to proficiency in sam�adhi, serves to lessenthe influence of the afflictions on the mind and body and cut away atthe root cause of ignorance (avidy�a) that binds one in the condition ofsam. yoga to the sam. s�aric cycle of egoful thoughts, actions, habits andtheir repetition. Of the eight limbs, the last three are said to be “innermeans” (antara _nga225) and the first five are said to be outer or external tothe last three.226 However, by comparison with the “seedless” (nirb�ıja)sam�adhi or enstasy – the perfected state of Yoga – the combined practicesof the latter three limbs, though direct means (in the case of the formertwo limbs) to “seeded” (sab�ıja) or cognitive sam�adhi and (in the caseof the later means) to the discriminative discernment (vivekakhy�ati),are yet “outer” (bahira _nga) means227 on the journey to the realizationof one’s identity as purus.a. The “seedless” sam�adhi (nirb�ıja, YS I, 51)represents the climax of the path of Yoga, the culmination of the processof “cessation” (nirodha). The stages of cognitive sam�adhi are concerned,at very subtle levels of perception, with mistaken identity or selflhoodstill involved in the tripartite relationship of knower-knowledge-knownand, as such, are experienced in the context of the mind (citta) andits modifications (vr. tti). In its supra-cognitive state, however, sam�adhi(asam. praj~n�ata) refers to the “liberated” state of purus.a or inalienableidentity, the intrinsically enlightened Self left alone by itself with nothingfurther to experience (bhoga) or know for its liberation (apavarga).

Throughout the above analysis it can be seen how one “limb” buildsupon and compliments the other, leading from the more everyday,common life of virtuous forms of self-appropriation, restraints andobservances and their social significance to the more uncommon awak-ening to purus.a-realization beyond the ego-personality. In this sensethe “eight-limbed” Yoga can be depicted as a ladder entailing a spir-itual progression which can be looked at from different perspectives.Viewed from one angle, the progression consists of a growing unifica-tion of consciousness or increasing light of knowledge; from another

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angle, it discloses itself as a matter of progressive purification.228 Asa means to spiritual emancipation, the whole system of Yoga takes offand gains, as it were, an effective momentum as the process of thesattvification of consciousness unfolds preparing the yogin for ultimateself-transcendence.

However, it is obvious that not all practices in Yoga fit neatly intoone particular “member” or category. Some of the earlier practicesresult directly in the attainment of as well as preparation for the laterones: “Thus, for instance the practice of purification (�sauca) [one of theniyamas] may comprise a physical cleaning process, a psychic processof catharsis and also a moral act of pure intention.”229 In Hindu tradition,purification emphasizes: natural (physical and mental), moral and ritualpurification. In Yoga the ritualistic emphasis is transcended insofar asthe yogin adopts a more disinterested or detached ethic in relation tothe merit gained by faithfully practising, for example, the yamas andthe niyamas; such attainments would be, from the yogin’s perspective,not unlike the virtues gained through traditional, ritualistic religion.The yogin downplays the importance of outer ritual and focuses insteadon physical, moral and mental purification. As in the early Upanis.adictradition, the earlier Vedic emphasis on the importance on external ritual– often intended for material gain and for selfish purposes – becomes“internalized” or spiritualized and experienced as a sacrifice (yaj~na)of misidentified selfhood or spiritual ignorance. This internalization ofattention allows the yogin to “locate” ignorance within the mind andto sattvify or purify the psycho-physical being as a whole.

Vy�asa distinguishes external (b�ahya) cleanliness from internal(abhyantara) or mental purity. The former is achieved by such means asearthy water (baths) and a pure diet, whereas the latter is brought aboutby a cleaning of the impurities of the mind230 involving concentrationand meditation. Mental purification is essential in order to transcendany self-centred ritualistic mentality. Ultimately, the mind in its sattvaaspect must be so pure so as to flawlessly mirror or receive the lightof purus.a without any distortion.231

Pata~njali also informs us that perfection in sam�adhi can be attainedthrough devotion to �ı�svara,232 another one of the observances (niyama).Vy�asa states that the sam�adhi of one who is fully devoted to �ı�svara isperfect. Through devotion the yogin comes to know unerringly whateverhe/she desires even in other places, times and bodies, and the knowledgeattained from that sam�adhi reflects the object (desired) as it actuallyis.233 Moreover, through this devotional (bhakti) and meditationaldisposition towards �ı�svara, the yogin’s liberation is said to be near at


hand. Vy�asa observes (YB I, 23): “On account of the special devotionwhich is through the love of God, the Lord inclines toward the yoginand rewards the yogin according to his/her meditative and devotionaldisposition. By this disposition [i.e. approach] only, the yogin drawsnear to the attainment of sam�adhi and to its fruit [emancipation].”234

In the above, Vy�asa allows for a psychic component of devotion, ameditative and devotional reorientation of the mind to the Lord (�ı�svara).Later in his commentary, Vy�asa supplements the meaning of devotionto �ı�svara by adding: “Devotion to the Lord is the offering-up of allactions to the supreme teacher, or the renunciation of their fruits.”235

This is practically a restatement of (or at the least is very close to) oneof the fundamental doctrines of the Bhagavad-G�ıt�a, namely, the “Yogaof action” (karma-yoga), where the spiritual practitioner sacrifices everyaction and thought to the Supreme Being by renouncing all selfishnessor attachment to the egoic fruits of one’s actions. Thus niyama impliesmore than self-effort, because it entails the element of �ı�svara’s graceand favour.236 However, according to YS I, 23 devotion to �ı�svara is apossible, not a necessary means to the enstatic consciousness.237

It is also possible that the first five limbs outlined in YS II, 29need not be completely sufficient conditions in determining the lastthree. Cultivating and perfecting physical posture (�asana) or developingmoral conduct may aid meditational practice but does not guaranteeit. Ideally, the external behaviour will reflect the internal development,“inner” and “outer” viewed as being intertwined with each other.For example, one does not necessarily attain to a clarity of mind bybreathing or thinking in a certain way; one breathes and thinks in thatway because one’s mind is clear/pure. Nor does it seem appropriatethat the earlier methods are to be discarded when the later ones arepractised, or that the latter should not be cultivated until the earlier onesare perfected. But some steadiness of mind is presupposed in the earlierstages before initiating the later methods, and the latter help to masterthe former. Meditation (dhy�ana) and sam�adhi do have clear ethicalimplications. By overcoming vr. tti-patterns which arise from the kle�sas(YS II, 11), meditational praxis238 aids the yogin in the cultivation ofvirtues such as compassion, joyfulness, etc. (YS I, 33). Perhaps the mostfundamental of all moral injunctions – nonviolence (ahim. s�a) – denotesmuch more than a physical restraint of “nonkilling”; it can refer tononharming in both thought and action, an attitudinal perspective and“inner” state of nonviolence where one is no longer embedded withinand predisposed to the psychological matrix of inherent dissatisfactionand conflict both in oneself and in the world as was formerly the

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case in the condition of sam. yoga.239 It can also be noted, therefore,that meditational praxis contributes to the “good life.” The state ofattentiveness or onepointedness in Yoga is often overlooked as a virtue;yet it clearly plays a pivotal role in the development of other virtues.Moreover, as I have argue elsewhere,240 there is no sound reasonwhy the virtues attained through Yoga discipline cannot be seen as anintegral component of an embodied state of enlightenment in Yoga.The tendencies of the afflictions to assert themselves (YS II, 10–11) areonly fully recognized and overcome through meditation and sam�adhi.Similarly, the practices of posture and control of the breath241 are notexclusively bodily acts but also have a psychic correlate.

Some of the apparent linear interpretation of the eight-limbed Yogaarises from the tendency to objectify, enumerate and categorize thepractices and attainments in Yoga, a tendency derived no doubt inpart from the analytical and sequential nature of the eight-membereddiscipline. But these eight members could, from a somewhat differentperspective, be seen not only as being complementary, but also as beingintegral, overlapping and sustaining, feeding into each other and givingrise to a transformed sense of identity, a nonfragmented (wholistic)state of being. Having purified, “gathered together” and integratedone’s physical, moral, psychological and spiritual components, theyogin can live in the world not being enslaved by worldly perspectivesand involvements. It is by the combined momentum and power ofthe methods and insight that the yogin progresses along the “path” ofYoga in the process of “cessation” (nirodha).242 It would, however, beincorrect to interpret the “limbs” as definitive stages243 to be surpassedand even discarded along the way. The plurality of practices and stagesof attainment in Yoga as illustrated in the eight-limbed Yoga (therebeing many other methods and descriptions of Yoga given throughoutthe YS) “coexist in complementarity, not competition.”244 Moreover,in the context of Yoga, all practices and perspectives are an integralpart of a continuum or continuity throughout the YS in that they are allsupportive of, and all work towards, a transformation of consciousnessand identity as a whole which alone can bring an end to dissatisfaction,misidentification and ignorance.

To be sure, the disclosure of authentic identity (purus.a) and theestablishment of selfhood in its true form (svar�upa) are dependent uponthe insights which arise in sam�adhi. Without going into detailed aspectsof the various levels of sam�adhi which form the culmination of theprocess of nirodha, this paper has attempted to show how Pata~njali’sdefinition of Yoga in YS I, 2 (yoga�s cittavr. ttinirodhah. ) masterfully


incorporates a sophisticated philosophical theory of Yoga along with arich diversity of practices. This central definition of Yoga can be seenas “threading together” the Yoga-S�utras as a whole as well as skilfullycommunicating the meaning and essence of Yoga as being: (1) processand transformation implying spiritual growth and development, and (2)a culminating state of freedom: of enlightened identity, consciousnessand being.245

NOTES

1 YS II, 5, (p. 61): anity�a�suciduh. kh�an�atmasu nitya�sucisukh�atma khy�atir avidy�a. TheSanskrit text of the YS, the YB of Vy�asa, the Tattva-Vai�s�arad�ı of V�acaspati Mi�sraand the R�aja-M�artan. d. a of Bhoja R�aja is from The Yoga-S�utras of Pata~njali (1904),K. S. �Ag�a�se ed. (poona: �Anand�a�srama) Sanskrit ser. no. 47.2 YS II, 11 (p. 67): dhy�anahey�as tadvr. ttayah. . The afflictions (kle�sas) consist ofignorance (avidy�a), egoity/l-am-ness (asmit�a), attachment (r�aga), aversion (dves.a)and desire for continuity/fear of death (abhinive�sa); see YS II, 3–9. Ignorance is saidto be the origin of the other four afflictions (YS II, 4).3 Seen here, Classical Yoga has the same purpose as Classical S�am. khya and Buddhism.4 YS I, 2 (p. 4): yoga�s cittavr. ttinirodhah. . The modifications or functions (vr. tti) ofthe mind (citta) are said to be fivefold (YS I, 6), namely, ‘valid cognition’ (pram�an. a,which includes perception [pratyaks.a], inference [anum�ana] and valid testimony[�agama]), ‘error’/‘misconception’ (viparyaya), ‘conceptualization’ (vikalpa),‘sleep’(nidr�a) and ‘memory’ (smr. ti), and are described as being ‘afflicted’ (klis. t.a) or ‘non-afflicted’ (aklis. t.a) (YS I, 5). Citta is an umbrella term which incorporates ’intellect’of (buddhi), ‘sense of self’ (aham. k�ara) and ‘mind-organ’ (manas), and can be viewedas the aggregate of the cognitive, conative and affective processes and functions ofphenomenal consciousness, i.e. it consists of a grasping, intentional and volitionalconsciousness. For an indepth look at the meaning of citta see I. Whicher (1997). “TheMind (Citta): Its Nature, Structure and Functioning in Classical Yoga.” in Sam. bh�as. �aVol. 18 (forthcoming). In the first four s�utras of the first chapter (Sam�adhi-P�ada)the subject matter of the YS is mentioned, defined and characterized. The s�utrasrun as follows: YS I, 1: “Now [begins] the discipline of Yoga.” YS I, 2: “Yoga isthe cessation of [the misidentification with] the modifications of the mind.” YS I, 3:“Then [when that cessation has taken place] there is abiding in the Seer’s own form(i.e. purus.a or intrinsic identity).” YS I, 4: “Otherwise [there is] conformity to (i.e.misidentification with) the modifications [of the mind].” YS I, 1–4 (pp. 1, 4, 7 and7 respectively): atha yog�anu�s�asanam; yoga�s cittavr. ttinrodhah. ; tad�a dras. t.uh. svar�upe’vasth�anam; vr. ttis�ar�upyam itaratra.5 ln his open-ended approach to Yoga, Pata~njali offers a diversity of practiceswhich more or less compliment each other. The openness of the YS is expressed,for example, in YS I, 39 (p. 42): yath�abhimatadhy�an�ad v�a, “Or [clarity of mind isachieved] by whatever meditation is desired.”6 Cf. Feuerstein (1980: 109–120), Chapple (1986: 36–37) and Larson (1987: 26–29)for a comparison between the Classical systems of S�am. khya and Yoga.7 Eliade (1969: 4).8 YB II, 15 (p. 76): itaram. tu svakarmopahr. tam. duh. kham up�attam up�attam. tyajantam.tyaktam. tyaktam. up�adad�anam an�adiv�asan�avicitray�a cittavr. ttay�a saman tato ’nuviddhamiv�avidyay�a h�atavya ev�aham. k�aramamak�ar�anup�atinam. j�atam. j�atam. b�ahy�ahy�atmikobhayanimitt�astri parv�an. ast�ap�a �anuplavante. tad evam an�adin�a duh. khasrotas�a vyuhyam�anam

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�atm�anam. bh�utagr�amam. ca dr. s. t.v�a yog�ı sarvaduh. khaks.ayak�aran. am. samyagdar�sanam.�saran. am. prapadyata iti.9 Monier-Williams (1899: 884).10 See, for example, G. Jha (1907: 3), H �Aran.ya (1963: 1), M. N. Dvived�ı (1930:2), M. Eliade (1969: 36).11 See, for example, I. K. Taimni (1961: 6), T. Leggett (1990: 60).12 See, for example, J. H. Woods (1914: 8), G. Koelman (1970: 237), G. Feuerstein(1979a: 26), T. S. Rukmani (1981: 31).13 See, for example, J. Varenne (1976: 87), G. Larson (1987: 28); in a more recentwork (1993: 377), Larson translates nirodha as “cessation” or “restraint.”14 See, For example, Tola and Dragonetti (1987: 5), Chapple and Kelly (1990: 33).15 U. Arya (1986: 93). See also Purohit (1973) who translates nirodha as “control-ling.”16 Other translations of nirodha include: “hindering” (Ballantyne, 1852),“Unterdr�uckung” (Jacobi 1929: 587), and “Zur-Ruhe-bringen” or “Bewaltigung”(Hauer, 1958: 239).17 See J. B. Sykes, ed. (1976), The Concise Oxford Dictionary, (Oxford: ClarendonPress) p. 299 where dissolution can mean the “undoing or relaxing of bond.”18 YB II, 18 (p. 84): etena grahan. adh�aran. oh�apoha tattva j~n�an�abhinive�s�a buddhauvartam�an�ah. purus. e ’dhy�aropitasad bh�av�ah. . YS II, 17 (p. 79): dras. t.r.dr. �syayoh. sam. yogoheyahetuh. . “The conjunction between the seer and the seeable is the cause of whatis to be overcome [i.e. suffering, dissatisfaction (duh. kha)].”19 YB II, 6 (p. 96): tath�a coktam – ‘buddhitah. param. purus.am �akara�s�ılavidy�adibhirvibhaktam apa�syan kury�at tatr�a“tmabuddhim. mohena.’ V�acaspati Mi�sra (TV II, 6,p. 64) tells us that the above quotation used by Vy�asa is by the S�am. khya teacher,Pa~nca�sikha.20 YS lV, 34 (p. 207).21 YS II, 10 (p. 66): te pratiprasavahey�ah. s�uks.m�ah. .22 Cf. Feuerstein (1979a) p. 65; and Koelman (1970) p. 249.23 Cf. Feuerstein (1979a) p. 65 and (1980) p. 36.24 Koelman (1970) p. 249.25 Ibid.26 Ibid.27 See YB III, 50 (p. 168): tadetes. �am. gun. �an�am. manasi karmakle�savip�akasvar�u-pen. �abhivyakt�an�am. carit�arth�an�am. pratiprasave purus.asy�atyantiko gun. aviyogah.kaivalyam. .28 Cf. YB II, 2 and II, 27 as well as n. 27 above.29 YS IV, 32 (p. 204): tatah. kr. t�arth�an�am. parin. �amakramasam�aptir gun. �an�am. . “Then[with that eternality of knowledge] the gun. as have fulfilled their purpose, and thesuccession of their changes is terminated.30 Following from dharmamegha sam�adhi (YS IV, 29: 202) there is the cessationof afflicted action; YS IV, 30 (p. 202): tatah. kle�sakarmanivr. ttih. .31 YS IV, 31 and YB IV, 31 (p. 203).32 YV I, 2 (p. 33): cittam antah. karan. as�am�anyam ekasyaiv�antah. karan. asyavr. ttibhedam�atren. a caturdh�a atra dar�sane vibh�ag�at, tasya y�avallaks. yam�an. �a vr. ttayast�as�am. nirodhas t�as�am. lay�akhyo ‘dhik�aran. asyaiv�avasth�avi�ses.o’bh�avasy�asmanmate’dhik�aran. �avasth�avi�ses.ar�upatv�at, sa yoga ity arthah. . Text is taken from T.S. Rukmani (1981), Yogav�arttika of Vij~n�ana Bhiks.u, Sam�adhip�ada (Delhi: MunshiramManoharlal).33 In Yoga, for example, the “absence” of a clay pot on the “ground” simply pointsto the nature of the clay or “ground” itself (bh�utalasvar�upam); cf. Rukmani (1981)p. 27, n. 2.


34 RM I, 2 (p. 2): nirodho vahirmukhaparin. �ativicched�adantarmukhatay�apratilomaparin. �amena svak�aran. e layo yoga ity �akhy�ayate. While it may not beBhoja’s intention to support the notion of the nonexistence of vr. ttis in nirodha, hiscommentary (the RM) appears to lack the philosophical sophistication required forinterpreting the meaning of nirodha along epistemological lines.35 YB IV, 12.36 YS II, 26 (p. 96): vivekakhy�atir aviplav�a h�anop�ayah. . “The means of abandonment[of sam. yoga] is the unfaultering discriminative discernment.”37 YS II, 27 (p. 97): tasya saptadh�a pr�antabh�umih. praj~n�a.38 YB II, 27 (pp. 97–98).39 YB II, 27 (p. 98): : : : gun. �a giri�sikharatat.acyut�a iva gr�av�an. o niravasth�an�ah.svak�aran. e pralay�abhimukh�ah saha ten�as tam. gacchantina. cais. �am. pravil�ın�an�am. punarasty utp�adah. prayojan�abh�av�ad iti.40 See YS II, 22.41 See YB I, 2.42 YS II, 25 (p. 96): tadabh�av�at sam. yog�abh�avo h�anam. taddr. �seh. kaivalyam.43 YB II, 24 (p. 95): viparyayaj~n�ana v�asanety arthah. viparyayaj~n�ana v�asan�a v�asit�aca na k�aryanis. t.h�am. purus.akhy�atim. buddhih. pr�apnoti s�adhik�ar�a punar �avartate. satu purus.akhy�ati paryavas�an�am. k�aryanis. t.h�am. pr�apnoti, carit�adhik�ar�a nivr. tt�adar�san�abandhak�aran. �dbh�av�an na punar �avartate.44 YB II, 25 (p. 96): tasy�adar�sanasy�abh�av�ad buddhipurus. asam. yog�abh�ava �atyantikobandhanoparama ity arthah. . etaddh�anam. . taddr. �seh. kaivalyam. purus.asy�ami�sr�ıbh�avah.punar asam. yogo gun. air ity arthah. . duh. khak�aran. a nivr. ttau duh. khoparamo h�anam. ,tad�a svar�upapratis. t.hah. purus.a ity uktam.45 Cf. YB II: 2, 27 and IV, 34.46 G. Koelman (1970) p. 249.47 As outlined in (1977) The Complete Works of Swami Vivek�ananda (hereafterabbreviated CWSV) 8 Vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashram).48 For an examination of Swami Vivek�ananda’s understanding of sam�adhi as itrelates to Pata~njali’s Yoga system see A. Rambachan (1994). The Limits of Scripture:Vivek�ananda’s Reinterpretation of the Vedas. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press)pp. 98–112.49 Vivek�ananda also describes sam�adhi as a source of knowledge giving the impres-sion that he identifies the state with a particular level of mental activity (see, forexample, CWSV 1, p. 185 where he describes sam�adhi as a state of mind; see alsoCWSV 2, p. 390; CWSV 4, p. 59). This description is contradicted by several passagesin which he repeatedly affirms that sam�adhi is consequent upon the death of themind and characterized by a total absence of mental functions. There is an obvioustension in his writings in that this portrayal of sam�adhi is seen both as a state inwhich the mind still obtains and as a state where the mind ceases to exist.50 Swami Vivek�ananda, CWSV 1, p. 200.51 CWSV 8, p. 40; see also CWSV 1, p. 234 and CWSV 7, p. 195.52 CWSV 1, pp. 188, 212–213.53 CWSV 8, p. 36; see also CWSV 7, pp. 140 and 196.54 CWSV 8, p. 48.55 CWSV 7, p. 71.56 CWSV 7, p. 195; see also CWSV 2, p. 255.57 CWSV 8, p. 31.58 CWSV 2, p. 256.59 I do not think the issue being raised here is merely one of semantics but ratherreflects a basic misunderstanding of Yoga philosophy itself and the actual processof thought- or mind-transcendence which takes place in Yoga. It is of interest to

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note that the practice of Yoga as usually understood in modern Western contextsis often confined to physical exercises or postures (�asana) perhaps accompaniedby breathing exercises (pr�an. �ay�ama) and techniques for concentration (dh�aran. �a) ofthe mind. The deeper more subtle practice of meditation leading to sam�adhi isoften ignored albeit for good reasons as, is often the case, the Yoga instructors arenot qualified themselves nor are they experienced in higher meditative disciplines.Alternatively, for an inexperienced instructor to teach meditation to students of Yogawould be, from the perspective of the tradition of Yoga itself, pedagogically unsoundand irresponsible. Moreover, if Yoga practice is presented as resulting ultimately inthe annihilation or negation of the mind it would not be unreasonable to presumethat aspirants would resist the serious study and practice of Yoga believing that Yogawould make them incapable of functioning effectively in the world. In an about-turnin his perspective, Vivek�ananda contradicts his more negative approach to the mindwhen (see CWSV 8, pp. 47–48) he appears to instruct his listeners to make no effortto control their thoughts, but simply to watch them. In his authoritative book (1976)entitled Yoga and the Hindu Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), J.Varenne (pp. 6–7) questions the meaning of “cessation” (nirodha) in Yoga and rightlyconcludes that “Yoga is indeed the cessation of agitation of the consciousness.” Buthe later goes on to support a more suppression-like approach to the mind in Yoga.See, for example, where he writes (p. 114): : : : the chitta, whose activity yoga makesit an aim to destroy : : : ‘’60 See the above listed interpretations of nirodha (notes 10–16). The exceptional inter-pretation here is Chapple and Kelly (1990: 8 and 122) who, without “Ved�anticizing”the Yoga system of Pata~njali, imply that Yoga culminates in an embodied state or“experience” of liberation involving nonafflicted action.61 P. Y. Deshpande (1978). The Authentic Yoga. (London: Rider) pp. 22–23.62 See YB Il, 15.63 Dasgupta (1922: 268).64 See YB I, 2 and YS II, 18.65 See YS II, 18 and YB I, 2.66 See YB II, 15 (p. 77).67 See Dasgupta (1922: 247); the term prati-sa~ncara is used in the Tattvasam�asa-S�utra (6); see Larson (1987: 319).68 YS II, 18 (p. 81): prak�a�sakriy�asthiti�s�ılam. bh�utendriy�atmakam. bhog�apavarg�artham.dr. �syam. “The seeable [prakr. ti] whose qualities are of luminosity, activity and inertia,has the nature of the elements and the senses and is for the purpose of experienceand emancipation.”69 As is often the case in the S�am. khya tradition and its interpretations.70 As outlined in YS II, 18–19.71 YS II, 21 (p. 89): tadartha eva dr. �syasy�a”tm�a. “The nature of the seeable is onlyfor the purpose of this [seer].”72 YB I, 1 (p. 2).73 YB I, 2 (p. 4); YS I, 3 (p. 7): tad�a dras. t.uh. swar�upe’vasth�anam.74 YB I, 2 (p. 4): sarva�sabdhagrahan. �at sam. praj~n�ato ’pi yoga ity �akhy�ayate.75 This is easily inferred from YB I, 2; see also TV I, 1 (p. 4): rajastamomay�ı kilapram�an. �adivr. ttih. s�attvik�ım. vr. ttim up�ad�aya sam. praj~n�ate niruddh�a.76 See YB IV, 30 (pp. 202–203): kle�sakarmanivr. ttau j�ıvann eva viddvan vimuktobhavati. kasmat? yasm�ad viparyayo bhavasya k�aran. am na hi ks.�ın. akle�saviparyayahka�scit kenacit kvacijj�ato dr. �syata iti. “On cessation of affliction and karma, the knoweris released while yet living. Why? Because erroneous cognition (viparyaya) is thecause of rebirth [of egoity]. When error has vanished, no one is ever seen to beborn anywhere.” Here again there is room for an epistemological understanding of“reborn,” i.e. one who is said to be reborn is misidentified as a body-self which


takes birth and will eventually perish. The liberated yogin may have a body which issubject to birth and death yet the yogin is no longer misidentified as the body or asany other aspect of changing existence. For more on the implications of Pata~njali’sYoga for an integral, embodied freedom, see I. Whicher (1995). “Cessation andIntegration in Classical Yoga.” in Asian Philosophy Vol . 5, No. 1, pp. 47–58.77 See YS IV, 31; see also YS II, 52 and III, 43 where the expression prak�a�sa-�avaran. a “covering of light” is used. Both s�utras allude to the removal or dwindlingof the “coverings” of rajas and tamas which conceal prak�a�sa – the inner light orilluminating quality of sattva-knowledge (the gun. a of sattva).78 “Subtilization” is a term used by Chapple and Kelly (1990: 4).79 See YB I, 5 (p. 10).80 YS II, 15; YS lV 9–10.81 YS IV, 8 and 24.82 YB II, 24 (p. 95).83 YS l, 8 (p. 12).84 See n. 76 above.85 See YB II, 23 (p. 92): avidy�a svacittena saha niruddh�a svacittasyotpattib�ıjam.86 YB I, 8 (p. 13): sa kasm�an na pram�an. am? yatah. pram�an. ena b�adhyate. bh�ut�arthavis.ayatv�at pram�an. asya. tatra pram�an. ena b�adhanam apram�an. asya dr. s. t.am. tad yath�advicandra dar�sanam. sadvis.ayen. aikacandradar�sanena b�adhyata iti. seyam. pa~ncaparv�abhavaty avidy�a avidy�asmit�ar�agadves. �abhinive�s�ah. kle�s�a iti. Pata~njali understands “error”as being when one’s understanding or a thought does not correspond with reality andthus one apprehends something as other than what it is; YS I, 8 (p. 12): viparyayomithy�aj~n�anam atadr�upapratis. t.ham. “Error is incorrect knowledge not based on the[actual] form [of an object].”87 This correlates well with the term sab�ıja (YS I, 46).88 Vy�asa (YB I, 1) p. 4 refers to the supra-cognitive (asam. praj~n�ata) sam�adhi –wherein all vr. ttis and their effects are transcended – as sarvavr. ttinirodha. There isno reason why sarvavr. ttinirodha cannot be read as the complete cessation of theone seed-vr. tti of error (viparyaya) which, according to Vy�asa (YB I, 8), contains allafflicted identity. The cognitive (sam. praj~n�ata, YS I, 17) sam�adhi is included as Yogabecause it serves to dissolve misidentification with vr. ttis and is propaedeutic to thehigher sam�adhi. The term sarva can refer to all the vr. ttis of identification whichsupport purus.a’s misidentification.89 YS III, 55 (p. 174): sattvapurus.ayoh. �suddhis�amye kaivalyam iti. “In the samenessof purity between the sattva (of the mind) and purus.a, there is aloneness.”90 YS I, 12 (p. 17): abhy�asavair�agy�abhy�am. tannirodhah. .91 YB I, 11 (p. 17): sarv�a�s cait�a vr. ttayah. sukhaduh. khamoh�atmik�ah. . sukhaduh. khamoh�a�sca kle�ses.u vy�akhyey�ah. .92 See C. Pensa in Feuerstein (1980: viii) and also Feuerstein (1980: 78). K. S.Joshi (1965: 60) argues that abhy�asa and vair�agya can be seen as two poles of anyform of Yoga.93 YB I, 12 (p. 17): cittanad�ı n�amobhayatov�ahin�ı vahati kaly�an. �aya vahatip�ap�aya ca. y�a tu kaivalyapr�agbh�ar�a vivekavis.ayanimn�a s�a kaly�an. avah�a.sam. s�arapr�agbh�ar�a’vivekavis.ayanimn�a p�apavah�a. tatra vair�agyen. a vis.ayasrotah.khil�ı kriyate. vivekadar�san�abhy�asena vivekasrota udgh�at.yata ity ubhay�adh�ına�scittavr. ttinirodhah. .94 See YB I, 5 on klis. t.a and aklis. t.a.95 The interrelatedness of knowledge, ignorance and moral aspiration is illustrated,for example, in the Kat.ha Up (1, 2. 1–9) where two paths are outlined: (1) thepath of ignorance and self-indulgence and which falls into the power of the Lord ofDeath (Yama), and (2) the path of wisdom (vidy�a) leading to immortality and which

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is beyond Yama’s grasp.96 Feuerstein (1990: 381).97 BG Vl, 35 (p. 206): asam. �sayam. mah�ab�aho mano durnigraham. calam, abhy�asenatu kaunteya vair�agyen. a ca gr.hyate.98 YS I, 13 (p. 17): tatra sthitau yatno’bhy�asah. .99 YS I, 14 (p. 18): sa tu d�ırghak�alanairantaryasatk�ar�asevito dr.d. habh�umih. .100 It can probably be assumed here that knowledge (vidy�a) presupposes a neces-sary preparation and includes a proficiency in the tradition, in the texts and in thesystematic method of practice.101 YB I, 14 (p. 18): d�ırghak�al�asevito nirantar�asevitah. satk�ar�asevitah. , tapas�abrahmacaryan. a vidyay�a �sraddhay�a ca sam. p�aditah. satk�arav�andr.d. habh�umir bha-vati.102 YB I, 14 (pp. 17–18): tadarthah. prayatno v�ıryamuts�ahah. . tat sam. pip�adayis.ay�atat s�adhan�anus. t.h�anam abhy�asah. . Koelman notes (1970: 257) that while extraordinarywillpower is implied in all prescriptions and exercises in Yoga, nowhere is the word“will” (icch�a) explicitly mentioned in the YS or the YB. It is one of the five activitiesof intelligence mentioned in the Tattva-Sam�asa-S�utras (9).103 YB I, 13 (p. 17): cittasy�avr. ttikasya pra�s�antav�ahit�a sthitih. .104 YV I, 13 (p. 94).105 TV I, 13 (p. 17): r�ajastamasavr. ttir ahitasya pra�s�antav�ahit�a vimalat�a s�attvikavr. ttiv�ahitaik�agrat�a sthitih. .106 RM I, 13 (p. 5): vr. ttir ahitasya cittasya svar�uanis. t.hah. parin. �amah. sthitis tasy�am.: : :

107 YB I, 14 (p 18): vyutth�anasam. sk�aren. a dr�ag ity ev�anabhe bh�utavis.aya ity arthah. .108 S. Dasgupta (1930: 61).109 YS I, 15 (p. 18): dr. s. t. �anu�sravikavis.ayavitr. s.n. asya va�s�ık�arasam. j~n�a vair�agyam.110 YV I, 15 (p. 96): r�ag�abh�avam�atram. dos.adar�sanajanyo r�ag�abh�avo v�a na nirod-hahetur vair�agyam. rog�adhinimittak�ar�ucitto yog�anuday�ad dos.adar�sanajavair�agy�adanantaram api vis.ayas�am. nidhyena citta ks.obhatah. saubhary�aderyog�anis.patte�s ca.“ ‘Vair�agya’ which is [understood as] the absence of attachment or which is theabsence of attachment arising from seeing defects [in objects] is not a cause forcessation. [This is] because Yoga does not come into being based on a dislike ofcauses such as illnesses; [also] even after [achieving a certain] detachment arisingfrom seeing the defects [in the objects], r. s. is like Saubhari failed to attain Yogabecause of the agitation of [his] mind in the presence of the objects [of the senses].”111 YS I, 33 (p. 38) clearly shows the fallacy of developing suchpseudo-notions of “detachment” in Yoga: maitr�ıkarun. �amuditopeks. �an. �am.sukhaduh. khapun. y�apun. yavis.ay�an. �am. bh�avan�ata�s cittapras�adanam. “The mind is madepure and clear from the cultivation of friendliness, compassion, happiness and equa-nimity in conditions or towards objects of joy, sorrow, merit or demerit respectively.”112 YV I, 15 (p. 98): r�agadves.a�s�unyasya vis.ayas�aks. �atk�arasya yogyat�ava�s�ık�arasam. j~n�akhyam. vair�agyam : : :

113 See YS III, 49 and III, 35.114 YS I, 16 (p. 19): tatparam. purus.akhy�ater gun. avaitr. s.n. yam.115 YB I, 16 (pp. 19–20): dr. s. t. �anu�sravikavis.aya dos.adar�s�ı viraktah.purus.adar�san�abhy�as�at tacchuddhi pravivek�apy�ayita buddhir gun. ebhyovyakt�avyaktadharmakebhyo virakta iti.116 See n. 117 below.117 YB I, 15 (pp. 18–19): striyo’nnap�anam ai�svaryam iti dr. s. t.avis.aye vitr. s.n. asyasvarga vaidehyaprakr. tilaya tvapr�apt�av�anu�sravikavis.aye vitr.s.n. asya divy�adivyavis.ayasamprayoge’pi cittasya : : : va�s�ık�arasam. j~n�a vair�agyam. U. Arya (1986: 206) para-


phrases the word “women” (striya) as “the opposite sex” and “out of considerationfor contemporary concerns.” He goes on to write (pp. 206–207): “These texts weretaught in monastic settings by yoga masters for whose male disciples the attractionof women must have been a common problem. Although there have been many greatwomen yog�ıs (yogin�ıs) known to the tradition, it is somehow thought that men arenot as strong an attraction to aspiring women as women are to men.” Arya’s point,I think, is well taken and discloses an unfortunate and already well known bias –certainly present within Hinduism and other religious traditions of the world – whichfocusing on religious literature written from a male perspective, tends to overlookthe intrinsically spiritual nature and identity of women and does not address theissue of life as understood and experienced from a woman’s perspective. If Vy�asawere a woman he undoubtedly would have addressed the issue of sexuality from asomewhat different perspective!118 SK 45: vair�agy�at prakr. tilayah. : : :

119 YB I, 16 (p.20): tatra yaduttaram. tajj~n�anapras�adam�atram.120 TY I, 16 (p. 20): tadeva hi t�adr. �sam. cittasattvam. rajole�samalen�apyapar�amr. s. t.a-masy�a’�srayo’ta eva j~n�anapras�ada : : : khy�ativi�ses.e sati vartam�ana khy�atim�an ity arthah. .121 YB I, 16 (p. 20): yasyodaye sati yog�ı pratyudita khy�atir evam. manyatepr�aptam.pr�apan. �ıyam. , ks. �ın. �ah. ks.etavy�ah. kle�s�ah. , chinnah. �slis. t.aparv�a bhavasam. kramah.yasy�avicched�ajjanitv�a mriyate mr. tv�a ca j�ayata iti. j~n�anasyaiva par�a k�as. t.h�a vair�agyam.etasyaiva hi n�antar�ıyakam. kaivalyam iti.122 YS III, 50 (p. 168): tadvair�agy�ad api dos.ab�ıjaks.aye kaivalyam.123 YS III, 49.124 YV I, 16 (p. 10l).125 YS IV, 29 (p. 202): prasam. khy�anye’py akus�ıdasya sarvath�a vivekahy�aterdharmameghah. sam�adhih. .126 YB II, 15 (p. 78): tatra j~n�atuh. svar�upam up�adeyam. v�a heyam. v�a na bhavitamarhati. “Here, the true nature/identity of the one who is liberated cannot be somethingto be acquired or discarded.”127 YB II, 27 (p. 97): saptadheti a�suddhy�avaran. amal�apag�amac cittasya pratyay�antar�anutp�ade sati saptaprak�araiva praj~n�a vivekino bhavati.128 YB I, 2 (p. 6): : : : viraktam. cittam. t�am api khy�atim. nirun. addhi.129 W. Halbfass (1991). Tradition and Reflection: Explorations in Indian Thought.(Albany. State University of New York Press) p. 227.130 YS II, 27.131 YB II, 27 (p. 98): svar�upam�atra jyotir amalih. keval�ı purus.a : : :

132 Ibid: etam. saptavidh�am. pr�antabh�umi praj~n�amanupa�syan purus.ah. : : :

133 Ibid: pratiprasave’pi cittasya muktah. ku�sala ity eva bhavati gun. �at�ıtatv�ad iti.134 YS II, 29.135 Monier-Williams (1899: 1159).136 Ibid.137 See M. N. Dvived�ı (1930: 52), R. Pras�ada (1912: 31).138 See M. M�uller (1899: 448), G. Jha (1907: 19).139 See S. Dasgupta (1922: 271), Tola and Dragonetti (1987: 74), J. H. Woods (1914:40).140 See H. Zimmer (1951: 435), G. Koelman (1970: 188).141 See M. Eliade (1969: 77), G. Feuerstein (1979a: 37).142 See G. Feuerstein (1989: 195–196).143 See n. 141 above.144 R. C. Zaehner (1969), The Bhagavad G�ıt�a, (Oxford: Oxford Universirty Press)p. 143.

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145 However, in a later work (1989: 183,195) entitled, Yoga: The Technology ofEcstasy (Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Ltd), Feuerstein adopts the term “ecstasy”for sam�adhi (see n. 142 above).146 YB II, 1 (p. 57): : : : sam�ahitacittasya yogah. . katham. vyutthitacitto’pi yogayuktah.sy�ad ity etad �arabhyate.147 TY II, 1 (p. 57): abhy�asavair�agye hi yogop�ayau prathame p�ada uktau. na ca tauvyutthitacittasya dr�ag ity eva, sambhavat iti dvit�ıyap�adopade�sy�anup�ay�a na peks.atesattva�suddhyartham. .148 Monier-Williams (1899: 1040).149 As can be inferred from YB I, 5 and YS III, 9.150 It is of interest to note that the term vyutth�a can mean (Monier-Williams, 1899:1040) “forget one’s self”, and na (Ibid: 523) can mean “unbroken”; thereby vyutth�anacan imply the unbroken forgetfulness or non-recognition of one’s authentic Self,purus.a. Or, taking the term na in its most familiar sense as “not,” vyutth�ana canimply “not to forget the ordinary self” wherein we remain attached and limited toan empirical identity of selfhood.151 See YS IV, 18–22.152 YS II, 2 (p. 58): sam�adhibh�avan�arthah. kle�satan�ukaran. �artha�s ca.153 YS II, 1 (p. 57): tapah. sv�adhy�aye�svarapran. idh�an�ani kriy�ayogah. .154 YB II, 1 (p. 58): sv�adhy�ayah. pran. av�adipavitr�an. �am. japo mok�sa�s�astr�adhyayanam.v�a.155 For a different interpretation of the place of the eight-limbed Yoga in Pata~njali’ssystem see Feuerstein (1979a: 59) and (1979b: 37–104).156 For a comparative study of kriy�a-yoga and as. t. �a _nga-yoga see Feuerstein (1979b:37–104).157 YS I, 34 (p. 39): pracchardanavidh�aran. �abhy�am. v�a pr�an. asya.158 YS I, 37 (p. 41): v�ıtar�agavis.ayam. v�a cittam.159 YB I, 35 (p. 39).160 YS I, 35 (p. 39): vis.ayavat�ı v�a pravr. ttir utpann�a manasah. sthitinibandhan�ı.161 See n. 111 above.162 YS I, 36 (p. 40): vi�sok�a v�a jyotis.mat�ı.163 YB I, 1 (p. 3): ks. iptam. m�ud. ham viks. iptam. ek�agram. niruddham. iti cittabh�umayah. .164 See TV I, 1 (p.3): m�ud. ham tu tamah. samudrek�an nidr�avr. ttimat.165 YV I, 1 (p. 24): ks. iptam. rajas�a vis.ayes. v eva vr. ttimat. m�ud. ham. tamas�anidr�adivr. ttimat.166 Cf. TV I, 1 (p. 3) and YV I, 1 (p. 24).167 YS I, 30 (p. 34): vy�adhisty�anasam. �sayapram�ad�alasy�aviratibhr�antidar�san�alabd-habh�umikatv�anasthitatv�ani cittaviks.ep�as te’ntar�ay�ah. . I have briefly elaborated onsome of the meanings of the above terms as given by Vy�asa.168 TV I, 30; YV I, 30.169 YB I, 30 (p. 34): sahaite cittavr. ttibhir bhavanti. etes. �am. abh�ave na bhavantip�urv�akt�a�s cittavr. ttayah. . : : : sam�adhipratilambhe hi sati tadavasthitam. sy�ad iti.170 YB I, 31 (p. 35): duh. kham �adhy�atmikam �adhibautikam �adhidaivakam. ca.171 YS I, 31 (p. 35): duh. khadaurmanasy�a _ngamejayatva�sv�asapra�sv�as�a viks.epa-sahabhuvah. . See also YB I, 31.172 YB I, 31 (p. 35): ete viks.epasahabhuvo viks. ipta cittasyaite bhavanti. sam�ahitacittasyaite na bhavanti. “Put or held together, joined, assembled, combined, united: : : composed, collected, concentrated put in order, set right, adjusted” are some of themeanings Monier-Williams gives (1899: 1160) for sam�ahita. Sam�adhi and sam�ahitaboth imply a harmonizing of the mind or resolving of the conditions of agitation


and conflict in the mind; see Arya (1986: 332).173 YB I, 1 (p. 3): tatra viks. ipte cetasi viks.epopasar jan�ıbh�utah. sam�adhir na yogapaks. evartate.174 G. Koelman (1970: 161).175 YB I, 1 (pp. 3–4): yastv ek�agre cetasi sadbh�utam artham. pradyotayati ks. in. oti cakle�s�an karmabandhan�ani �slathayati, nirodham abhimukham. karoti sa sam. praj~n�atoyoga ity�akhy�ayate.176 YS II, 29 (p. 101): yamaniyam�asanapr�an. �ay�amapraty�ah�aradh�aran. �adhy�anasa-m�adhayo’st�ava _ng�ani.177 YS II, 28 (p. 98): yog�a _ng�anus. t.h�an�ad a�suddhiks.aye j~n�anad�ıptir �avivekakhy�ateh.178 YS II, 30 (p. 102): ahim. s�asaty�asteyabrahmacary�aparigrah�a yam�ah. .179 YS II, 35 (p. 107): ahim. s�apratis. t.h�ay�am. tat sam. nidhau vairaty�agah. . “When inthe presence of one established m nonviolence, there is the abandonment of enmity.”180 YS II, 36 (p. 107): satyapratis. t.h�ay�am. kriy�aphal�a�srayatvam. “When establishedin truthfulness, [there is] correspondence between action [and its] fruition.”181 YS II, 37 (p. 108): asteyapratis. t.h�ay�am. sarvaratnopasth�anam. “When establishedin non-stealing, all precious things appear for [the yogin].”182 YS II, 38 (p. 108): brahmacaryapratis. t.h�ay�am. v�ıryal�abhah. . “When established insexual restraint, vitality is attained.”183 YS II, 39 (p. 108): aparigrahasthairye janmakatham. t�asam. bodhah. . “When steadiedin nonpossessiveness [the yogin obtains] knowledge of the conditions of birth.”184 YS II, 31 (p. 104): j�atide�sak�alasamay�anavacchinn�ah. sarvabhaum�a mah�avratam.185 YS II, 32 (p. 104): �saucasam. tos.atapah. sv�adhy�aye�svarapran. idh�an�ani niyam�ah. .186 YS II, 40 (p. 109): �sauc�at sv�a _ngajugups�a parair asam. sargah. . “Through purity [theyogin attains] distance towards his own body, and non-contamination by others.” Thiss�utra is not meant to imply an aversion or dislike towards the body but rather a discern-ing and detached attitude based on a healthy respect for the body as a vehicle for thepurification of consciousness; the yogin is no longer enslaved or consumed by a merebody-identification of self and does not pollute the body through unhealthy contact withothers. YS II, 41 (p. 109): sattva�suddhisaumanasyaik�agryendriyajay�atmadar�sanayo-gyatv�ani ca. “[Also:] purity of mind-sattva, cheerfulness, one-pointedness, masteryof the senses and fitness for the vision of the self [are achieved].”187 YS II, 42 (p. 109): sam. tos. �ad anuttamah. sukhal�abhah. . “From contentment, unsur-passed happiness is gained.”188 YS II, 43 (p. 110): k�ayendriyasiddhir a�suddhiks.ay�at tapasah. . “From austerityarises the dwindling of impurity and the perfection of the body and senses.”189 YS II, 44 (p. 110): sv�adhy�ay�ad is. t.adevat�asam. prayogah. . “Through personal,scriptural (i.e. self-) study [the yogin establishes] contact with the desired deity.”See also n. 154 above.190 YS II, 45 (p. 110): sam�adhisiddhir �ı�svarapran. idh�an�at. “Through devotion to�ı�svara arises perfection in sam�adhi.”191 This is, however, a matter for interpretation. See, for example, references toFeuerstein in n. 155 above.192 YS II, 33 (p. 105): vitarkab�adhane pratipaks.abh�avanam.193 YS II, 34 (p. 106): vitark�a him. s�adayah. kr. tak�arit�anumodit�alobhakrodhamohap�urvak�a mr.dumadhy�adhim�atr�a duh. kh�aj~n�an�anantaphal�a itipratipaks.abh�avanam.194 See, for example, notes 111 and 162 above.195 See YB II, 33 (p. 105).196 B.-A. Scharfstein (1974), Mystical Experience, (Baltimore, MD: Penguin) pp. 131–132.197 YS II, 46 (p. 110): sthirasukham �asanam. “The posture should be firm and

58 IAN WHICHER

comfortable.” Vy�asa (YB II, 46) mentions postures such as the lotus position.198 YS II, 47 (p. 111): prayatna�saithily�anantasam�apattibhy�am. “[It is accompanied]by the relaxation of effort and by unification with the infinite.” It appears that theposture can be perfected when the mind is in sam�adhi, i.e. at a later stage; or theposture can be perfected at an earlier stage by the relaxation of effort. See YB II,47 (p. 111).199 YS II, 48 (p. 111): tato dvandv�anabhigh�atah. . “From that [the yogin] becomesimmume to the pairs of opposites.”200 YS II, 49 (p. 112): tasmin sati �sv�asapra�sv�asayor gativicchedah. pr�an. �ay�amah. .“Pr�an. �ay�ama is to be in this [posture] and ‘cut-off’ the flow of inhalation andexhalation.” The breath is only an external aspect or form of manifestation ofpr�an. a which is the “life-force” or “vital energy” that interpenetrates and sustainsthe body and its functions. For more on the term pr�an. a see Feuerstein (1989:258–259).201 The first three as outlined in YS II, 50 (p. 112) are: “external” (b�ahya), “internal”(abhyantara) and “stopped” (stambha).202 The fourth form (YS II, 51: 113) is a withdrawal from the external and internalconditions of the breath: b�ahy�abhyantaravis.ay�aks.ep�ı caturthah. .203 YS II, 52 (p. 114): tatah. ks. �ıyate prak�a�s�avaran. am; YB II, 52 (p. 114): : : : k�s�ıyatevivekaj~n�an�avaran. �ıyam. karma.204 YS II, 53 (p. 115): dh�aran. �asu ca yogyat�a manasah. . This s�utra invites comparisonwith YS I, 34 where it is said the mind is made steady through controlled expulsionand retention of the breath. See n. 157 above.205 YS II, 54 (p. 115): svavis.ay�asam. prayoge cittasvar�up�anuk�ara ivendriy�an. �am.praty�ah�arah. .206 YS II, 55 (p. 116): tatah. param�a va�syatendriy�an. �am. . “From that, the supremeobedience of the senses [arises].”207 YB II, 54 (pp. 115–116): yath�a madhukarar�ajam. maks. ik�a utpatantaman�utpatantinivi�sam�anamanu nivi�sante tathendriy�an. i cittanirodhe niruddh�an�ıty es.a praty�ah�arah. .208 YS III, 1 (p. 118): de�sabandha�s cittasya dh�aran. �a. “Concentration is the bindingof the mind to a [single] place.”209 YB III, 1 (p. 118).210 It appears that ek�agrat�a (YS III, 11–12) is initiated in the practice of dh�aran. �a,deepens in meditation (dhy�ana) and matures in the stages of cognitive sam�adhi.Thus, Vy�asa refers to the fourth state of mind, which matures in sam. praj~n�ata, asek�agra, “one-pointed.”211 YS III, 2 (p. 119): tatra pratyayaikat�anat�a dhy�anam. “The unbroken continuityor extension of one idea with regard to that [object of concentration] is meditation.”Feuerstein (1990: 96) translates “one directional flow” for eka-t�anat�a.212 T. R. Kulkarni (1972), Upanishads and Yoga, (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan)p. 119.213 Quoted by G. Feuerstein (1980: 84–85).214 J. H. Clark (1983), A Map of Mental States, (London: Routledge and KeganPaul) p. 29.215 See n. 216 below.216 YS III, 3 (p. 119): tad ev�artham�atranirbh�asam. svar�upa�s�unyam iva sam�adhih. .217 YS III, 11 (p. 123): sarv�arthataik�agratayoh. ks.ayodayau cittasya sam�adhiparin. �amah. .“When there is the dwindling of all objectivity, and the arising of one-pointedness,there takes place in the mind the transformation of sam�adhi.”218 Undistorted insight (praj~n�a) initially occurs in the nirvitarka and nirvic�ara formsof cognitive sam�adhi.219 YS III, 4 (p. 120): trayam ekatra sam. yamah. .


220 YS III, 5 (p. 120): tajjay�at praj~n�alokah. . “From mastery of that [sam. yama], thelight (illumination) of insight.”221 YS III, 6 (p. 120): tasya bh�umis.u viniyogah. . “Its application is by stages.”222 See YS I, 41.223 See YS I, 41 and YS I, 42–44 where the stages of sam�apatti are outlined.224 YS I, 45. The yogin can merge with unmanifest prakr. ti as in the case of theprakr. ti-layas (YS I, 19).225 YS III, 7 (p. 121): trayam antara _ngam. p�urvebhyah. . “[Distinct] from the prior[five] ones are the three inner limbs.”226 We can infer from YS III, 7 that the first five limbs of as. t. �a _nga-yoga are “external”aids compared to the last three.227 YS III, 8 (p. 122): tad api bahira _ngam. nirb�ıjasya. “Yet these are outer meansin relation to the seedless [enstasy].”228 YS II, 28; see n. 177 above.229 G. Feuerstein (1979a: 80).230 YB II, 32 (p. 104): tatra �saucam. mr. jjal�adijanitam. medhy�abhyavaharan. �adi cab�ahyam. �abhyantaram. cittamal�an�am�aks. �alanam.231 See n. 186 above on YS II, 41 and purity of the mind-sattva.232 See n. 190 above on YS II, 45.233 YB II, 45 (p. 110): �ı�svar�arpitasarvabh�avasya sam�adhisiddhir yay�asarvam�ıpsitamavitatham. j�an�ati de�s�antare deh�antare k�al�antare ca. tato’sya praj~n�ayath�abh�utam. praj�an�at�ıti.234 YB I, 23 (p. 25): pran. idh�an�ad bhaktivi�ses. �ad�avarjita �ı�svaras tamanugrahatyabhidhy�anam�atren. a. tad abhidhy�anam�atr�ad api yogina �asannatamah. sam�adhil�abhah.sam�adhiphalam. ca bhavat�ıti.235 YB II, 1 (p. 58): �ı�svarapran. idh�anam. sarvakriy�an. �am. paramagur�avarpan. am.tatphalasam. ny�aso v�a.236 See YB I, 23.237 YS I, 23 (p. 25): �ı�svarapran. idh�an�ad v�a. The s�utra appears to present a choicebetween (1) the five methods (up�ayas) of YS I, 20: faith, energy, mindfulness, cog-nitive sam�adhi and insight, and (2) YS I, 23: devotion to �ı�svara.238 See n. 2 above. Here I take issue with Feuerstein (1979a: 66) who deduces thatall vr. ttis are “overcome” or restricted in dhy�ana, the stage of practice before sam�adhitakes place, thereby refuting the assertions found in the major Sanskrit commentariesor sub-commentaries that the vr. ttis are ultimately mastered only through sam�adhi. YSII, 11 actually states that the mental processes arising from the kle�sas are overcomethrough dhy�ana. The vr. ttis caused by the kle�sas must be taken here to be of the klis. t.aor afflicted type and dominated by rajas and tamas. All vr. ttis including the sattvic ornonafflicted (aklis. t.a) type are mastered only in sam�adhi. It is the grosser tendenciesand affects of the afflictions which are removed through meditation until having beenmade subtle they (the kle�sas) are dissolved in the process of pratiprasava (YS II, 10),i.e. through sam�adhi. Vy�asa (YB II, 11) includes the practice of prasam. khy�ana, whichrefers to a high-level state in sam�adhi needed to finally eliminate the misidentificationwith vr. tti in its more subtle afflicted seed-form. Feuerstein rigidly separates dhy�anafrom sam�adhi, which Vy�asa does not. Feuerstein also wrongly holds (1980: 74)that pratyayas, since they exist in sam�adhi, are more subtle than vr. ttis. Feuersteinunderstands YS I, 2 as “a preliminary definition of Yoga” (1980 73) “intended tokick off the discussion” (1979a: 26), and that YS I, 3 (“Then there is abiding in theseer’s own form”) does not in fact follow from YS I, 2, there being, according toFeuerstein, an “unexpected hiatus” (ibid: 28) between YS I, 2 and I, 3.239 See YS II, 15–17.240 See Whicher (1995).

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241 See notes 197–204 above.242 Feuerstein (1974: 72) rightly argues for a circular arrangement among the eightmembers where the centre of the circle is the goal of Yoga: kaivalya. G. Koelman(1970: 162–163) takes up “Yoga Technique” discussing Kriy�a-Yoga, Yog�a _nga andthe levels of sam�adhi in terms of a typology of levels: (i) the somatic level (p. 162):which has as its goal the “pacification of the body”; (ii) the ethical level (p. 167):intended for the purification and stabilization of the mind; (iii) the psychological level(p. 182): for ensuring “the liberating disjunction of the Self from its conditioningprakr.tic organism”; (iv) the metaphysical level (p. 247): which is identical withemancipation, the realization of purus.a. Koelman’s model is useful and in a waycomplements Pata~njali’s distinction between the “external members” (bahira _nga) and“internal members” (antar-a _nga) of the eight-limbed path. However, in his analysisit appears that the final stages become incompatible with the earlier ones resulting ina disengagement from or disintegration of human existence rather than an integrationand engagement of the liberated identity of the yogin with empirical reality.243 This is, unfortunately, what has often been done.244 See Chapple and Kelly (1990: 15).245 This paper has not made an attempt to explore the embodied implications ofenlightenment in Yoga. I have done this to some extent in a larger work (soon tobe submitted for publication) entitled, Disclosing the Integrity of the Yoga Dar�sana.This study examines Yoga as a theory-practice unification and looks at metaphysics,epistemology, ethics and Yoga discipline from an integral perspective.

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Abbreviations

RM = R�aja-M�artan.d.a of Bhoja R�aja (ca eleventh century CE)SK = S�am. khya-K�arik�a of �I�svara Kr.s.n.a (ca fourth-fifth century CE)TV = Tattva-Vai�s�arad�ı of V�acaspati Mi�sra (ca ninth century CE)YB = Yoga-Bh�as.ya of Vy�asa (ca fifth-sixth century CE)YS = Yoga-S�utras of Pata~njali (ca second-third century CE)YV = Yoga-V�arttika of Vij~n�ana Bhiks.u (ca sixteenth century CE)

Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic ResearchUniversity of CambridgeFaculty of DivinityCambridge, United Kingdom

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