Chapter 3 - ।।विभूतिपाद।।

।। विभूतिपाद / vibhUtipada ।।

The Third chapter of this treatise upon the पातञ्जल योग तत्व दर्शन / The Elements of the Yoga by Maharshi Patanjali is about the विभूति / the  vibhUti, a state one comes across in the योग / Yoga.

This state of mind that is another name for भविता / 'becoming' may divert the mind of the seeker from the true objective of योग / Yoga.

श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता / Shrimadbhagvad-gita declares that there are only two apparently different ways to attain the Supreme Reality.

One is the साङ्ख्य / sAmkhya, another is the कर्म-योग / Kriya-yoga / Yoga. Though the two appear to be two  different disciplines, lead invariably to the one and the same Reality -the Immutable State of Being Oneself, - the Ultimate and the final Reality, as is variously named also as the आत्म-ज्ञान / आत्म-साक्षात्कार / Realization, or the ईश्वर-साक्षात्कार / मोक्ष / मुक्ति / ईश्वर-प्रणिधान / आत्म-निष्ठा, Ishvara-sAkShtkAra / Liberation, Ishvara- niShThA, Ishvara-praNidhAna, Self-Realization are unique and one in essence :

साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः।।

एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम्।।४।।

(श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता अध्याय ५, Shrimadbhagvad-gita Stanza 4, Chapter 5)

साङ्ख्य (साङ्ख्ययोग) Sankhya or the sAmkhya-Yoga is the approach followed by the सिद्ध / siddha like कपिल मुनि / Kapil muni and other such ज्ञानी / JnAnI, and is there-fore called ज्ञान / jnAna also, while the other approaches that insist upon कर्म / Karma resolve to the Yoga of Action.

विभूति / vibhUti, on the other hand is a stage one comes across while following the way of the कर्म-निष्ठा / karma-nishtha.

Therefore a सिद्ध / Siddha in the lineage of कपिल मुनि / Kapila doesn't need to achieve the सिद्धि / siddhi or these mystic, occult spiritual  powers, while one devoted to the कर्म / Yoga of Action may get attracted to such powers. For whatever reasons such a man knowingly or unknowingly attains these powers that are called विभूति / vubhuti. Therefore these  occult powers may pose hurdle also, in the way of attaining the main goal of practicing Yoga.

The योग-सूत्र ५३ / Aphorism 53 of the साधनपाद / Sadhanapada is introductory to the Chapter विभूतिपाद / vibhUtipada in that, it speaks of the धारणा / dhAraNA :

धारणा च योग्यता मनसः।।५३।।

स्वविषयासम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः।। ।।५४।।

Having reached this stage is the threshold to success in योग / Yoga.

Shall be dealt with in the next post.

To be continued. ...

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