सोपक्रमं निरुपक्रमम्

Patanjal Yoga-Sutra : vibhUtipada --

Aphorisms 23-24-25

पातञ्जल योग-सूत्र : विभूतिपाद

योग-सूत्र २३-२४-२५

--

In the last post : कायरूपसंयमात् ...

विभूतिपाद  /  vibhUtipada -- योग-सूत्र २१-२२, and  Aphorisms 21 and 22 have been dealt with.

The relevant words are in bold, to indicate how this happens with one who follows the path of practicing the  योग / Yoga. One can see the text श्रीरमण गीता अध्याय १२, अध्याय १४ referred to there.

Presently let us go onto the next :

सोपक्रमं निरुपक्रमं च कर्म तत्संयमादपरान्तज्ञानमरिष्टेभ्यो

वा।।२३।।

(स-उपक्रमं निर्-उपक्रममं च कर्म तत्संयमात् अपरान्त ज्ञानं अरिष्टेभ्यः वा।।)

कर्म - deeds / action is of two kinds --

स उपक्रमं  The one in steps and planning that is about and at the worldly level. This could be managed in advance and according to the  knowledge of the worldly things. 

निर् उपक्रमं - One where one is prompted by the forces beyond one's control.  Time is such a factor. Destiny is another one. As is indicated in the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता / Shrimadbhagvad-gita :

The five factors that govern and determine the fate / consequences of कर्म / deed / action that happens is described here :

अनिष्टमिष्टं मिश्रं च त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलम्।।

भवत्यत्यागिनां प्रेत्य न तु संन्यासिनां क्वचित्।।१२।।

पञ्चेमानि महाबाहो कारणानि निबोध मे।।

साङ्ख्ये कृतान्ते प्रोक्तानि सिद्धये सर्वकर्मणाम्।।१३।।

अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम्।।

विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम्।।१४।।

शरीरवाङ्मनोभिर्यत्कर्म प्रारभते नरः।।

न्याय्यं वा विपरीतं वा पञ्चैते तस्य हेतवः।।१५।।

(अध्याय १८, Chapter 18, Stanza 12-13-14-15)

These consequences are beyond knowledge and control of anyone who is not योगी / Yogi or संन्यासी / sannyAsI.

A योगी / yogi may have however, premonition of the same. He can see the exact moment of अपरान्तम्  / death, or its signs, indicative of the imminent death through and by means of applying संयम / samyama, if so desires.

मैत्र्यादिषु बलानि।।२४।।

(मैत्री आदिषु बलानि।।)

This has reference to योग-सूत्र ३३ / Aphorism 33 of साधनपाद / Sadhanapada :

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम्।।३३।।

Through संयम / samyama (as is pointed out in योग-सूत्र ४ / Aphorism 4 - साधनपाद Sadhanapada, one can understand the strength / power of a relationship, - like the friendship etc. in the same way as we understand about the other many things of strength.

The strength / power is thus understood (and may or may not be physically acquired also) as is estimated. This has been clarified in the next Aphorism :

बलेषु हस्तिबलादीनि।।२५।।

(बलेषु हस्तिबल आदीनि।।)

Just as one can easily understand / estimate the strength / force of an elephant or such.

Just like the one who rides and has control over an elephant, has control over the same and could be thought of to be more powerful than the elephant, a योगी / Yogi too may have subtle control over the subtle powers ( प्राण / prANa) and that explains how a योगी / Yogi, if so needs can defy gravitational force as well, could walk upon water and fly through air. As is described in the text रामायण / Ramayana about हनुमान / Hanumana.

But for us presently this is all hypothetical fancy only!

***

The Discipline of Yoga.

अथ योगानुशासनम्।।१।।

--

Language : A help or a barrier? 

----------------------©------------------------

Learning about physical sciences through translation is never a problem, because the essence could be conveyed in any language what-so-ever provided that both languages have a rich vocabulary. More easily, if the two languages share this vocabulary to some extent, maybe because have the same source or origin.

Thus I find European languages (They call it : Indo-European!) are very helpful not only in learning the physical sciences, but also the "Spiritual".

Without classifying this "Spiritual" further into a Science, Art, Philosophy or Thought, if we try to learn a language just as we learnt the mother-tongue, without "studying" the same, we may perhaps understand how we can easily imbibe the essence / core-sense of the subject-matter of Yoga. 

Summarily, we should never translate any of the "Spiritual" text into any other language, but need to learn the same into the original language of the text.

For this reason, there could be the "learning" of religions as such, but not a "comparative study", because Religion is faith, belief and / or an attempt to follow or enquire into their essentials. But without understanding the core, the essentials, when we try to translate, we can't expect to do justice to their true and real spirit.

That is how a language could be either a help or a barrier in learning the"Spiritual" Truth or The Reality.

I always see how learning Sanskrit in this way helps greatly in understanding, learning the essence of the Sanskrit "Spiritual" Texts, and no attempt of "translating" them could be of much help than this. And even more, there is also a risk that we do altogether and entirely miss the spirit / the essence.

The कर्म-योग / क्रिया-योग / Kriya-yoga, is सूत्रीकृत / formulated in this योग-सूत्र -१ / Aphorism 1 of the समाधिपाद / Samadhipad,

This should be treated with a reference to the योग-सूत्र Yoga-Sutra 1 / Aphorism 1, of the first Chapter viz. समाधिपाद / Samadhipad :

अथ योगानुशासनम्।।१।।

The word - -अथ implies : So now, let us go through what is the अनुशासनम् - the discipline of The Yoga.

The word Discipline / disciple could be traced to have resemblance with the word दिश् / अनुदिश् meaning to show the direction. The word शास्  conveys the sense of teaching as well as the governance.

In order to learn something, one needs to go to the teacher or a Master. The Teacher can teach a worldly skill and educate but that is not our purpose when we are trying to find out the "Spiritual". There we need to go to a स्वामी / Swami / Master. The Sanskrit word "स्वामी" has various meanings according to the intent (निष्ठा / nishthA) and the purpose.

Trust is a must there.

This trust is a deep understanding that we need to learn and so we have approach to a स्वामी / Swami / Master. 

If we lack this initial trust we shouldn't have approached him in the first place. It is like when a patient visits to a doctor. The patient need to have some initial trust in the doctor. 

This is the very reason there are so many a fake स्वामी / Swami, so-called self-appointed religious and spiritual teachers, as are there the fake doctors or physicians. There is the law that could help us in avoiding any such a fake doctor, but as regards the "Spiritual", we are often helpless, in the dark.

This indicates we need to have the urge that would somehow guide us onto our authentic and very own "Spiritual" Discipline.

This urge is the निष्ठा / nishthA.

The same could be about the कर्म / Action or the ज्ञान / jnAna. The only real trust or the निष्ठा / nishthA worth the name is the आत्म-निष्ठा / the trust in oneself. The ज्ञान-निष्ठा and कर्म-निष्ठा are secondary.

This is the meaning of :

अनुशासनम् / discipline / discipline.

***

श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक

... इतरेषाम्।।

Patanjal Yoga Sutra -

Samadhipad - 20-21-22-23

पातञ्जल योगसूत्र : समाधिपाद २०-२१-२२-२३

श्रद्धा-वीर्य-स्मृति-समाधि-प्रज्ञा-पूर्वक: इतरेषाम्।।२०।।

In this सम्प्रज्ञातः / samprajnAtaH 'the known' state of the individual consciousness / mind / the self, still the is evolution continues and the higher levels are attained by performing the austerities and Actions like:

तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः।।

As is said in the first Aphorism of  साधनपाद / Sadhanapada, and referred to in the earlier post.

One having purified the mind (चित्त) through such practices as :

तपः स्वाध्यायः and ईश्वरप्रणिधानम्, 

Is qualified for practicing :

नित्य-अनित्य विवेकः

Contemplating about what is transient and what is permanent.

Then one arrives at the conclusion that all the objective world is impermanent because is seen in the waking state only.

The three states of the mind / consciousness, namely - the waking state, the dream state, and the deep dreamless sleep states keep on appearing and disappearing in a circle. The दृष्टा / सूत्रात्मा 'observer' / sUtrAtma is one who is not affected in any way and remains as the underlying principle reality.

This 'observer' associated with स्मृति / memory and the संस्कार / samskAra, is in bondage and makes effort to become free.

This results in finding out a way that could help in releasing from the bondage. One may have either of the two kinds of the निष्ठा / the determination, one is the jnAna / ज्ञान / सांख्य, while another is the Yoga / योग.

One can go on practicing through any of the two means / paths.

In the beginning, one may not have clarity about what path is suitable but at one stage a earnest one somehow discovers, and there can not be a strict rule about this.

The two ways, where one enquires about the self, consciousness, mind; or just accepts that there is a Superior Being Who Alone looks after the whole existence and leaves all and everything upon that Superior Almighty, Omni-scient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent One.

This is the way of पूर्ण समर्पण  total, complete, unconditional and ultimate surrender.

There are only these two ways to be followed according to the orientation, maturity and the temperament.

One has to find out which one suites well and follow accordingly.

तीव्र संवेगानामासन्नः।।२१।।

Having determined one's way, one can move on the path of enquiry or devotion, and the urge and earnestness defines the progress in this spiritual endeavor / quest / practice.

The next Aphorism :

तीव्र संवेगानां आसन्नः।।

मृदुमध्याधिमात्रत्वात् ततोऽपि विशेषः।।२२।।

मृदु-मध्य-अधिमात्रत्वात् ततः अपि विशेषः।। 

ईश्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा।।२३।।

ईश्वर प्रणिधानात् वा।।

In this respect, the Shrimadbhagvad-gita / श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, अध्याय ६, Chapter 6 is immensely useful for the both kinds of the aspirants.

For such an aspirant is truly a संन्यासी . One, who has whole-heartedly and once for all renounced the world and the care of one's all own bodily concerns. Such a one is ripe in understanding. 

(Before this chapter all the prerequisites for one eligible for संन्यास / sannyAsa have been fully explained in the earlier chapters 3 to 5 in the Text of Gita) 

Therefore, the above four Aphorisms could be dealt with together in the light of the 6th chapter and in the following stanzas :

अनाश्रितः कर्मफलं कार्यं कर्म करोति यः।।

स संन्यासी च योगी च न निरग्निर्न चाक्रियः।।१।।

यं संन्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव।।

न ह्यसंन्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन।।२।।

आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते।।

योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते।।२।।

यदा हि नेन्द्रियार्थेषु न कर्मस्वनुषज्जते।।

सर्वसङ्कल्पसंन्यासी योगारूढस्तदोच्यते।।३।।

In nutshell, these three stanzas provide all the necessary guidance to the aspirant who is steadfast in practice, of pure mind, urge, earnestness and vigor.

For one, who is comparatively lacking these qualities, there is still hope as is pointed out in the following stanzas :

अर्जुन उवाच --

योऽयं योगस्त्वया प्रोक्तः साम्येन मधुसूदन।।

एतस्याहं न पश्यामि चञ्चलत्वात्स्थितिं स्थिराम्।।३३।।

चञ्चलं हि मनः कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्ददृढम्।।

तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम्।।३४।।

श्रीभगवानुवाच --

असंशयो महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्।।

अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते।।३५।।

असंयतात्मना योगो दुष्प्राप इति मे मतिः।।

वश्यात्मना तु यतता शक्योऽवाप्तुमुपायतः।।३६।।

अर्जुन उवाच --

अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः।।

अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति।।३७।।

कच्चिन्नोभयविभ्रष्टश्छिन्नाभ्रमिव नश्यति।।

अप्रतिष्ठो महाबाहो विमूढो ब्रह्मणः पथि।।३८।।

एतन्मे संशयं कृष्ण छेत्तुमर्हस्यशेषतः।।

त्वदन्यः संशयस्यास्य छेत्ता न ह्युपपद्यते।।३९।।

श्रीभगवानुवाच --

पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते।।

न हि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद्दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति।।४०।।

प्राप्य पुण्यकृतां लोकानुषित्वा शाश्वतीः समाः।।

शुचीनां श्रीमतां गेहे योगभ्रष्टोऽभिजायते।।४१।।

अथवा योगिनामेव कुले भवति श्रीमताम्।।

एतद्धि दुर्लभतरं लोके जन्म यदीदृशम्।।४२।।

तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदैहिकम्।।

यतते च ततो भूयः संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन।।४३।।

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः।। 

जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते।।४४।।

प्रयत्नाद्यतमानस्तु योगी संशुद्धकिल्बिषः।।

अनेकजन्मसंसिद्धस्ततो याति परां गतिम्।।४५।।

तपस्विभ्योऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपि मतोऽधिकः।।

कर्मिभ्यश्चाधिको योगी तस्माद्योगी भवार्जुन।।४६।।

योगिनामपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना।।

श्रद्धावान्भजते ये मां स मे युक्ततमो मतं।।

।। इति षष्ठमाध्यायः ।। 

***

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽऽभ्यासः।।

Aphorisms of Yoga / पातञ्जल योगसूत्र :

Samadhipad 13-14-15-16

समाधिपाद १३-१४-१५-१६

--

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽऽभ्यासः।।१३।।

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नः अभ्यास।। 

The effort done to settle in that state of the mind, where all vritti / वृत्ति is suspended, and kept under check is called अभ्यास / abhyAsa.

The word अभ्यास / abhyAsa could be derived in two ways respectively -

from the verb-roots :

√अस् as and √आस् As (both are अदादिगण, and परस्मैपदी, आत्मनेपदी respectively.)

The first again  about what 'is', while the next is about what stays, and still there is another verb-root √भू  that in English has taken the form of the verb - 'be' and then 'being'; synonymous with the 'becoming'.

Again the prefix (उपसर्ग) 'अभि' attached to the verb-roots √अस् and √आस्  gives us the words - अभ्यस् and अभ्यास्  respectively. 

The prefix 'अभि' is used to denote the sense of 'properly', 'well'. 

The first verb-root is applied to convey the sense of existing, while the later, to convey the sense of being.

Either way, when the effort is made to get settled in that state :

(तत्र - तदा दृष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम्),

Then this effort is what is the 'abhyAsa'.

स्वरूपे - स्वरूप (locative case) 

अवस्थानम् - (action of getting placed / settled)

Where? 

Where the दृष्टा - the Witness 'is'. 

स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढभूमिः।।१४।।

सः तु दीर्घकाल-नैरन्तर्य-सत्कार-आ-सेवितः दृढभूमिः।।

that effort when made constantly, carefully and regularly, with all due respect / honor, for a long time, becomes the firm foundation for this Yoga of Action. 

दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम्।।१५।।

दृष्ट-अनु-श्रविक-विषय-वितृष्णस्य वशीकार-संज्ञा वैराग्यम्।।

When there is a sense of revulsion towards all the outward tendencies of the mind, and these tendencies are fully under control, it is called "वैराग्यम् / vairAgyaM" -- synonymous to dispassion. In such a state of mind, there is no attraction towards any of the enjoyments or the experience of either of the objects that are seen or heard about.

तत्परं पुरुषख्यातेर्गुणवैतृष्ण्यम्।।१६।।

तत्-परं पुरुष-ख्यातेः गुण-वैतृष्ण्यम् ।।

One, who is devoted to and well-settled in this state of mind is said to have transcended the (effects of the) three attributes namely ;

the satoguNa - सतोगुण, 

the rajoguNa -रजोगुण 

and the tamoguNa -तमोगुण

These three attributes together are what is

verily the Prakriti / प्रकृति .

दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया।।

मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते।।१४।।

- Shrimadbhagvad-gita Chapter 7,

श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता अध्याय ७,

When such a state of mind - गुणवैतृष्ण्यम्  is attained, this is the very :

Awakening of the Intelligence,

पुरुषख्यातेः गुणवैतृष्ण्यम् -  Purusha / पुरुष is utterly devoid of Prakriti / प्रकृति, while Prakriti / प्रकृति is the sum-total of attributes (गुण-समष्टि) only.

To be continued. 

***

 

--

अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः।।

vritti-nirodhaH / वृत्ति-निरोधः

---------------------------------------

Aphorism 2 of Samadhipad / समाधिपाद - 

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः।।२।।

Defines Yoga as The stoppage of vritti / वृत्ति. In order to enter consciousness deeper, the present state of the mind (vritti / वृत्ति) needs to be effectively suspended, so that another dimension of the consciousness may open up. This is precisely what is meant by the :

vritti-nirodhaH / वृत्तिनिरोधः.

This has to be done with the help of the two means : practice (अभ्यास) and vairagya (वैराग्य) -- dispassion and indifference towards the enjoyment of all the sensory pleasures.

Shrimadbhagvad-gita / श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता,

Chapter / अध्याय 6 Stanza / श्लोक 35 :

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्।।

अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते।।३५।।

This is how the vritti-nirodhaH / वृत्ति-निरोध is done. One has to control the mind with the help of the mind itself! Practically a conflict indeed!

The one who still insists upon this way of controlling the mind is fit for this kind of Yoga. 

The one who can at once see the paradox /  the contradiction, may have quite a different approach and another mind-set.

One who has a strong sense of doer-ship, this kind of determination will readily accept the challenge, while the another would rather like to ask the question - "what exactly the mind is?" and try the path of enquiry.

The first has the कर्म-निष्ठा / karma-nishtha -

Trust in Action. 

The other has the ज्ञान-निष्ठा / jnAna-nishtha -

Trust in Wisdom. 

The two approaches are entirely different and together are called सांख्य and योग . The first is the Yoga of Action, and another is the  Yoga of Wisdom.

Basically the two are mutually independnt from one-another and that is the root-cause of the conflict. 

Still, the right state of the mind is required and is necessary to follow any of the above approaches so that the vritti / वृत्ति  may come to an end.

--

 

प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः

The Next Aphorisms :

From Samadhipad / समाधिपाद 

प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः।।६।।

(प्रमाण-विपर्यय-विकल्प-निद्रा-स्मृतयः)

प्रमाण is direct perception as it 'appears', and its evaluation. This is about an object / विषय and with reference to a subject / विषयी.

This does not need any further evidence. Still constantly keeps on changing, so it is time-bound, transient and could not be accepted as "Truth".

This is through a medium such as the senses. The best example of this is : what we hear, see, smell touch or taste. This again could be of the three kinds as been said in the next Aphorism :

प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि।।७।।

(प्रत्यक्ष-अनुमान-आगमाः प्रमाणानि)  

Therefore it is again categorized in the three kinds. They are :

प्रत्यक्ष : What is observed - may be either as it  appears, true, untrue or false. Is appearance only.

अनुमान : What the present day Science is all about. Through experiment and arriving at a conclusion. This circumstantial, therefore conditional and is subject to change.

आगमाः : The Truth that has been known by the sages (ऋषि), and which they have arrived at without mediate knowledge, declared by them as ever abiding and the only Reality, irrespective of time and place. The same is though indescribable, is spoken out by them in human voice, and in the written form as in the Veda and scriptures. This is available always and at all times to one, who-so-ever deserves (Direct or Im-mediate Revelation or -अपरोक्षानुभूति).

विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानमतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम्।।८।।

(विपर्ययः मिथ्या ज्ञानं अ-तत् रूप प्रतिष्ठम्।) 

विपर्यय : The mediate knowledge, where there is a subject / विषयी, the object / विषय, and the knowledge, the subject is चेतन / conscious / sentient, while the object is जड / insentient. So what is taken as "knowledge" is mental image of the object mostly quite deformed and distorted. The Aphorism points out that such a "false knowledge" has no foundation at all to support its veracity.

This is enough reason to suspect that Veda and other scriptures could not be translated in any language in a way so as to correctly reflect their spirit.

शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः।।९।।

विकल्प : There is a word for all things that we all can experience and a word given to them in different languages. So a spoken word for "water" in different languages is different in different languages and conveys the same meaning that indicates what is water. But there are empty words they seem to have a meaning but there is no such an object that the word points out to. For example "sorrow" or "Government", Such words are but विकल्प / alternative to indicate something that really doesn't exist.  Such words are notional and we tend to take them for granted and think there are such "realities" that truly exist and could be dealt with. That is really the Great "माया" / "Maya" / illusion. 

अभाव-प्रत्यययालम्बना वृत्तिः निद्रा।।१०।।

निद्रा : This state of the mind, where we enjoy deep dreamless sleep is again a vritti / वृत्ति . We undergo every day through such a state. We know nothing, yet there is the awareness "I Am" intact and without a break, for when we wake up, we never say "I was not there during the sleep" but we would rather say :

"I don't know / remember what happened while I was asleep"

This statement affirms our experience that we knew I was there and enjoyed the state of deep sleep. This state is therefore called the blissful sheath / आनन्दमय कोष . Deep dreamless sleep is therefore vritti / वृत्ति where the ego, the sense of "I" exists.

अनुभूतविषयसम्प्रमोषः स्मृतिः।।११।।

स्मृतिः Memory : The last kind of vritti / वृत्ति is the memory. Memory is but recognition and conversely recognition is but memory. The two words look different but because they are interdependent, they are one and the same in essence. You recognize only if you remember.  And you remember only if you recognize.

Therefore Memory / Recognition is also but a vritti / वृत्ति  only.

Patanjali Rishi suggests Yoga is when vritti / वृत्ति is suspended. And when the vritti / वृत्ति is effectively transcended it is समाधि / samadhi.

Thus spake the Rishi.

To be continued. 

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