तज्जयात् प्रज्ञालोकः।।

Patanjal Yoga-Sutra : vibhUtipada

1-2-3-4-5.

पातञ्जल योग-सूत्र : विभूतिपाद

१-२-३-४-५.

साधनपाद :

तस्मिन् सति श्वासप्रश्वसयोर्गतिविच्छेदः प्राणायामः।।४९।।

बाह्याभ्यन्तरस्तम्भवृत्तिः देशकालसंख्याभिः परिदृष्टो दीर्घसूक्ष्मः।।५०।।

बाह्याभ्यन्तरविषयाक्षेपी चतुर्थः।।५१।।

ततः क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम्।।५२।।

धारणासु योग्यता मनसः।।५३।।

स्वविषयासम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः।। ।।५४।।

ततः परमावश्यतेन्द्रियाणाम्।।५५।।

--

स्थिरसुखमासनम् ।।४६।।

Once having settled comfortably in आसन / Asana without any disturbance that may distract the attention, one has to practice the प्राणायाम / prANAyama / controlling the breath according to the Aphorisms cited above.

Either by some rule learned from someone or by one's own. The goal is to let the breath be very normal and no pressure is exerted. Just as in sleep it becomes spontaneously so. Then there is the fourth kind where one has to fix attention on the flow of breath. From where it begins and at what part of the body it leaves the body. One can try this how it is suitable for oneself.

While practicing in this way one has to fix attention on the breath. This attention is the प्रत्यय / pratyaya. 

विभूतिपाद / vibhUtipad :

देशबन्धचित्तस्य धारणा।।१।।

(देशबन्धचित्तस्य धारणा।।)

चित्त / mind has two aspects - the movement, and the ध्यान / attention.

The movement aspect is वृत्ति / vritti, ध्यान / attention is consciousness.

Thought, feeling, memory, are the वृत्ति / vritti, and the attention is awareness. First one has to gather attention from all other objects and bring it upon the one chosen for the practice of Yoga.

The one example is attention over the breath as is done in प्राणायाम / prANAyama. The same energy that is engaged in वृत्ति / vritti is also the one that is awareness.

चित्तवायवश्चित्क्रियायुताः।।

शाखयोर्द्वयी शक्तिमूलका।।१२।।

लयविनाशने उभयरोधने।।

लयगतं पुनर्भवति नो मृतम्।।१३।।

(श्री रमण महर्षि कृत : उपदेश-सारः)

From Upadesha Sarah point out to the same. Consciousness and the vritti are two forms of the same power. As much the awareness / attention becomes stronger, the वृत्ति / vritti is weakened. When the attention is maximum, the वृत्ति / vritti is at the minimum, or as well even निरुद्ध  / niruddha also. That is an ideal situation only.

So प्रत्यय / pratyaya is though attention, it is at the same time, also the वृत्ति / vritti. अहं प्रत्यय, अहं वृत्ति, अहं संकल्प, अहंकार, are synonymous of one-another and indicate the I-sense. This could be called the ego or self also.

The योग-सूत्र १ / Yoga-Sutra 1 above is about the धारणा / dhAraNA. When the attention is fixed upon an object and the object stays in the mind for a while, it is धारणा / dhAraNA. Thus even thinking about anything is itself this धारणा / dhAraNA.

तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम्।।२।।

(तत्र प्रत्यय-एकतानता ध्यानम्।।) 

When this state continues comparatively for a long time without break, it is called the ध्यानम्  / dhyAnaM. This not the वृत्ति / vritti but the प्रत्यय / pratyaya in the sense of attention. As is pointed out in the योग-सूत्र ५४ / Aphorism 54 of साधनपाद Sadhanapada :

स्वविषयासम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहार:।।  ।।५४।।

(स्वविषय-असम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूप अनुकार इव इन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः।।)

When the attention is fixed in this way upon an object and the flow of attention continues without break, it is प्रत्यय एकतानता /  pratyaya ekatAnatA, uniformity of the attention.

प्रत्याहार  is thus withdrawal if attention from the objects and bringing back to Where-from it originally started (the source, that is Heart) itself.

तदैवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यमिव समाधिः।।३।।

(तत् एव अर्थ मात्र निर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यं इव समाधिः।।) 

Such a state of the attention when it is fixed upon an object and continues for such a long time that there is अर्थमात्र- निर्भासं  true sense of the object only, but the object as such is no more, is समाधि / samAdhi.

So it could be said that समाधि / samAdhi is but an elevated and enhanced state of attention / consciousness .

त्रयमेकत्र संयमः।।४।।

(त्रयं एकत्रः संयमः।।)

When the three

धारणा / dhAraNA, ध्यान / dhyAna and समाधि / samAdhi happen together in such a way that one couldn't be distinguished from the other it is called संयम / samyama.

तज्जयात् प्रज्ञालोकः।।५।।

(तत् जयात् प्रज्ञालोकः।।) 

Having won this state, one is said to have entered प्रज्ञालोकः / prajnAlokaH, the sphere of wisdom.

To be continued  ...!

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