समाधिभावनार्थः

साधनपाद :

योगसूत्र २-३-४-५-६-७-८-९-१०-११

Sadhanapada :

Aphorisms 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11

--

Why Kriya-yoga?

The योग-सूत्र १ / Aphorism 1 of this chapter :

तपः स्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः।।१।।

Points out the importance of the practices that are done through क्रिया-योगः / Kriya-yoga.

The next Aphorism :

समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थश्च।।२।।

(समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थः च।) 

The only purpose of practicing the क्रिया-योगः / Kriya-yoga is to dilute / weaken the क्लेश / Klesha that cause the sense of unhappiness, greed, fear, lust and other such feelings that divert the attention from the main objective, that is : चित्तवृत्ति निरोधः / chittavritti nirodhaH --regulating and keeping the चित्त्तवृत्ति / chitta-vritti / modes of the mind under control. These vritt-s are simple or complex.

वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टाक्लिष्टाः।।५।।

A vritti could be either simple and as such not a problem so long as it doesn't distract the attention, But after some time, it causes distraction of the attention and consequently of the mind that is another name of vritti.

मानस / मन / Mind is vritti only :

मानसं तु किं मार्गणे कृते।।

नैव मानसं मार्ग आर्जवात्।।१७।।

वृत्तयस्त्वहंवृत्तिमाश्रिताः।। 

वृत्तयो मनो विद्ध्यहं मनः।।१८।।

Thus has been pointed out by Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi in the text :

उपदेश-सारः / Upadesha Sarah.

Therefore a simple अक्लिष्ट / akliShTa vritti is hardly a trouble.  But as soon as because of yet another vritti, becomes क्लिष्ट / complex becomes a trouble. Then it is called क्लेश / Klesha, क्लिष्ट  is such a vritti, the अक्लिष्ट is the one that doesn't distract the attention of the mind. Here we can see how this happens to us as a usual and ordinary experience. We talk about controlling desire. We fail to see the paradox. There is a mind that craves for certain enjoyment or experience. Then there is another thought that forbids from getting involved in the same. Are there there really two minds there (in us)?  Obviously this is because the desire is a vritti / thought and the desire to keep the same under check is yet another vritti / thought. That is the very essence of conflict. So this conflict is kind if a compound vritti that is क्लेश / Klesha.

It is therefore important to see that first this क्लेश / Klesha, that is a क्लिष्टा वृत्ति / a complex vritti, is resolved into a simpler one and then the simpler or the अक्लिष्ट / simple vritti could be dealt with in some other way.

This process of diluting a क्लिष्टा वृत्ति / KushtA vritti, or the क्लेश / Klesha is the very purpose of क्रिया-योग / Kriya-yoga.

Now what kinds of  क्लेश / Klesha are there?

They have been classified into the following kinds :

अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः।।३।।

(अविद्या अस्मिता राग द्वेष अभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः।)

अविद्या क्षेत्रमुत्तरेषां प्रसुप्ततनुविच्छिन्नोदाराणाम्।। ४।।

(अविद्या क्षेत्रं उत्तरेषां प्रसुप्त तनु विच्छिन्ना उदाराणाम्।)

अनित्याशुचिदुःखानात्मसु नित्यशुचिसुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या।।५।।

(अनित्य अशुचि दुःख-अनात्मसु नित्य शुचि सुख-आत्मख्यातिः अविद्या।)  

अविद्या is the ignorance of the Truth  / Reality.

Because we see a world, we think There is such and such a world and I am someone who is caught up with this world. Thereare pleasures and pains and there is enjoyment and suffering too. We think that there is a world and there is I am, a single soul who has to cope with this world. Everyone thinks in this way. Really we know nothing about what this world is. Neither we know exactly who or what we are as an individual in this world! This 'not knowing' is ignorance. Then we try to find out. Scientists, scholars and other learned people try to find out, and so far we as an individual or as the collective humans couldn't find out the meaning and the significance of the world and ourselves as well. This is precisely अविद्या / avidyA or the ignorance.

This अविद्या / avidyA - the ignorance continues during the three states of mind, namely the sleep, the  dream-state and the waking state as well. It  is hidden, latent and manifest for the individual or a broad one that entails the whole world.

(Vedanta Sara of Sadanand describes this in a far better way.)

अविद्या /AvidyA is therefore क्लेश / Klesha.

The next is अस्मिता / asmitA.

दृग्दर्शनशक्तयोरेकात्मतैवास्मिता।।६।।

(दृक्-दर्शन शक्त्योः एकात्मता एव अस्मिता।) 

अस्मि in Sanskrit is the first person singular form (उत्तम पुरुष एकवचन लट् लकार / वर्तमान) of the verb-root अस्  in the present tense.

This simply means I am or just "am" only.

The suffix ता attached to अस्मि  transforms the "am" into the adjective form, indicating the quality of "am" or "am-ness".

अस्मिता / asmitA is therefore indicative of the state of being "I".

अस्मिता / asmitA in this way is the sense of the individuality, being myself. This is really not a क्लेश / Klesha, but becomes one when it is identified with some object. As soon as we say "I am", we tend to establish and assume an identity as an object. Sense of just being is not that bad, but declaration that I'm so and so is the only bondage. That is therefore the  क्लेश / Klesha.

दृक्  is the eye. दर्शन is the शक्ति / the power, the consciousness + attention, that enables the eye to see. So there is the eye that is but an instrument / organ, while there is a power behind the eye -the attention, that helps the eye in seeing an object. When the attention is not focused, the eye can't see. The same consciousness when through attention, gets associated with a sensory organ, helps the organ to perform its functioning.

That is how one claims : I see, I hear, I speak, I smell, and even more than that ; I think, I feel. This all happens by and through the sense-organs with the help of the attention and consciousness only. Though the one who claims is verily the अस्मिता / asmitA! itself! This is क्लेश / Klesha and only because of this क्लेश / Klesha the mind / consciousness in the individual appears as if it has become the  अनात्म / not-Self / anAtman. The Self is ever so Consciousness, Intelligence, and Bliss only.  

अस्मिता / asmitA is thetefore क्लेश / Klesha.

The next two Aphorisms point out राग / rAga and द्वेष as क्लेश / Klesha.  

सुखानुशयी रागः।।७।।

दुःखानुशयी द्वेषः।।८।।

रागः / attachment with the pleasant while द्वेषः / aversion of the unpleasant are the states of mind because they delude the mind and one just fails to see that there can not be the real happiness in the transient pleasures of those sensory enjoyments.

The Last and equally important क्लेश /Klesha is the fear of death. But even those who are very learned and erudite can not overcome this fear. It is continues so long, as long the "I'm the body"-sense persists. Only one who is well settled in and abides in the Self can see that Self is ever so deathless and death is but an absurd word / a thought only with no meaning / substance at all, what-so-ever.

ते प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः सूक्ष्माः।।१०।।

(ते क्लेशाः प्रतिप्रसव-हेयाः सूक्ष्माः।)

These क्लेश / Klesha are subtle and obstacles to the प्रतिप्रसवः / कैवल्यम् / स्वरूपप्रतिष्ठा / liberation.

प्रसव / prasava is the birth accompanied with the repeated death as well. The word प्रतिप्रसव / pratiprasava has been defined as in the last Aphorism 33 of कैवल्यपाद / Kaivalyapad as :

पुरुषार्थशून्यानां गुणानां प्रतिप्रसवः कैवल्यं स्वरूपप्रतिष्ठा या चितिशक्तेरिति।।३३।।

(पुरुषार्थशून्यानां गुणानां प्रतिप्रसवः कैवल्यं स्वरूपप्रतिष्ठा या चिति-शक्तेः इति) 

With the manifestation of the three गुणाः / the attributes of प्रकृति Prakriti, the creation takes place and with the return (their dissolution into their cause), the संसार / sansAra comes to dissolution / end. This is the liberation कैवल्यम् / Kaivalyam of the individual self. The same is प्रतिप्रसवः / pratiprasava. The same is again the abidance in the Self .

ध्यानहेयास्तद्वृत्तयः।।११।।

These क्लेशाः /वृत्ति / Klesha / vritti-s are to be annihilated by the means of ध्यान / dhyAna / attention / awareness of them.

Thus conclude the Aphorisms 1-11 of the :

साधनपाद योगसूत्र १-११ / Sadhanapada Yoga-sutra.

To be continued... 

***