Patanjali Yoga Sutra - Introduction to Patanjali Yoga Sutra

6. Patanjali Yoga Sutra
6.1. Introduction to Patanjali Yoga Sutra
• ‘Philosophy of Yoga’, but actually the word darshana has a much deeper meaning.
• Literally, it means ‘to see’. It is derived from drish, meaning ‘to see’ and is related to the word
drashta, meaning ‘the seer’.
• Darshana is the process of seeing. Therefore, Yoga Darshana means ‘a process of seeing through
yoga’, but it does not mean seeing with the eyes, nor does it mean seeing with any other senses in
the outside world.
• It means to see something beyond the senses and beyond the mind. It is a process of seeing with the
eyes and other senses closed, and with the mind under complete control.
• Yoga Darshana is a method of higher perception; it is a means ‘to see the invisible’ or ‘to see with
spiritual insight’.
• The scripture is regarded as the most precise and scientific text ever written on yoga. It is divided into
four chapters:
 Section I- Samadhi Pada – 51 Sutras (Yoga and Its Aims)
 Section II- Sadhana Pada – 55 Sutras (Yoga and Its Practice)
 Section III- Vibhuti Pada – 56 Sutras (Powers)
 Section IV - Kaivalya Pada– 34 Sutras (Liberation)

1. Samadhi Pada
Chapter on samadhi consisting of 51 verses. This chapter is concerned with the following subjects:
a) Definition of yoga Purpose of yoga
b) Vritti (mental modification) Practice and detachment
c) Samprajnata and asamprajnata samadhi Means of attaining experience
d) Ishwara (pure consciousness) Aum
e) Obstacles to progress
f) Methods of harmonizing the mind Sabeeja and nirbeeja samadhi
2. Sadhana Pada
Chapter on practice consisting of 55 verses. It discusses the following subjects:
a) Klesha (basic tensions of life)
b) Removal of klesha
c) Purpose of destroying klesha The knower and the known

d) Awareness and lack of awareness
e) The path to prajna (intuitive knowledge) The eight limbs of Patanjali yoga
f) Yama (social code) Niyama (personal code)
g) Method of controlling negative thoughts Results of perfecting yama and niyama Asana (sitting position)
h) Pranayama (control of prana) Pratyahara (sense withdrawal)
3. Vibhooti Pada
Chapter on psychic powers consisting of 56 verses. It discusses the following subjects:
a) Dharana (concentration) Dhyana (meditation)
b) Samadhi (superconsciousness)
c) Samyama (concentration, meditation and samadhi) Parinama (transformations of consciousness)
Nature of external appearance.
d) Psychic powers

4. Kaivalya Pada
a) Chapter on onlyness consisting of 34 verses. It discusses the following subjects:
b) Means of attaining psychic powers
c) Cause of individuality
d) The individual and the cosmic mind Karma (predestined actions and thoughts) Unity of all things
e) Theory of perception
f) The mind as an unconscious instrument The path to kaivalya
g) Kaivalya
15.2. The basis and date of the Yoga Sutras
• One tradition says that Hiranyagarbha (Brahma) formulated the Yoga Sutras. Maybe, but for the sake of
simplicity we can say that he formulated them through the agency of a man called Patanjali.
• Some experts say that Sage Patanjali lived in the 4th century AD; others say about 50 AD; some say that
he definitely lived about 400 BC and still others say that he existed 5,000 years ago.
• A widely accepted date, though not certain, is about 400 years before Christ.

• This date is estimated by various methods. One method is to compare the practices and philosophy
of the Yoga Sutras with those contained in other texts, such as the early Upanishads and the
scriptures of Samkhya and Buddhism.
• The main flaw is that the ancient texts cannot be reliably dated. Furthermore, it is difficult to really
say who influenced who and which text came first.
• Moreover, a scripture does not by any means fix the date of a philosophical system; a scripture may
be written hundreds of years after the formulation, development and proliferation of a specific
philosophy.
15.3. Commentators
M5any commentators have written about the meanings hidden within the verses of the Yoga Sutras. The
most well-known are:
• Yoga Bhashya by Vyasa (date uncertain)
• Tattva Visharadi by Vachaspati Mishra (about 9th century)

• Bhojavritti by Bhoja Raja (11th century)
• Yoga Vartika by Vijnana Bhikshu (14th century)
• Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda (19th century)
All of these commentaries are widely available. There are many other traditional commentaries, and even
commentaries on commentaries. For example, Ganesha Bhatt wrote an explanation of the commentary
Yoga Vartika. Many commentaries have been written in this century, including this commentary.
15.4. Selected sutra from Samadhi and Sadhana pada
Sutra 1: Introduction to yoga
Atha yogānuśāsanam
Atha: now therefore
yoga: (regarding) yoga
anuśāsanam: complete instructions

Now, therefore, complete instructions regarding yoga.
 Atha: We shall pause and try to find out why the author has used the word atha. He could have used
atra yoganushasanam, which means, ‘here are instructions on yoga’, but he used the word atha.
 Atha means ‘now therefore’, which means that these instructions on yoga are in connection with some
previous instructions.
 The word atha is used here to denote that, after having purified oneself by karma yoga and after having
unified the mental tendencies by bhakti yoga, the aspirant is being given instructions on yoga.
 By this, it is meant that those instructions on yoga which follow will become intelligible, fruitful and also
palatable to those whose hearts are pure and whose minds are at rest, otherwise not.
 Those who have impure minds and wavering tendencies will not be able to practise what has been
instructed in this shastra.
 Therefore, the word atha has been used in order to emphasize the necessity of qualifying oneself in
karma yoga, bhakti yoga and other preparatory systems.

• Yoga: The meaning of yoga follows in a subsequent sutra.
• Anushasanam: The actual word is shasanam, anu being a prefix to emphasize its completeness.
• Shasan is a word which means giving a ruling, command, order, instruction.
• The word shastra is developed from the word shasan. Shastra does not literally mean scripture.
Shastra literally means a process of instructions and rulings. From the same word, another word has
evolved – Ishwara, meaning ruler, governor, commander, and which is commonly used for God.
• So, you will understand that anushasanam means instructions. You may have read other
commentaries on the yoga sutras where the word anushasanam is translated as restatement,
exposition, explanation.
• If you analyze the word properly, you will find that the translations are totally incorrect.
• They are not at all appropriate to the text because the yoga sutras themselves are so simple, so
concise, so short-worded that they can be neither an explanation nor an exposition; they can only be
instructions.

• Yoga is this; this is how you practise yoga; these are the conditions of mind; this is how the individual
experiments; this is the place of God in yoga – such and other similar matters are dealt with in
this book. There are, of course, expositions, short notes, explanations, commentaries, criticisms,
etc., on yoga by great scholars like Vyasa, Bhoja, Vijnana Bhikshu and others. So, ultimately, we can
take it that the word anushasanam means complete instructions.
• Sutra 2: What is yoga?
• Yogas chitta vṛtti nirodhaḥ
• Yogah: yoga
• chitta: consciousness
• vṛtti: patterns or circular patterns;
• nirodhaḥ: blocking, stopping

 To block the patterns of consciousness is yoga.
 The sutra is a composition of four words: yoga, chitta, vritti and nirodhah. We will not explain the
word yoga now, as it will be better understood after studying the 195 sutras.
 Chitta is derived from the basic idea of chit, which means to see, to be conscious of, to be aware.
Hence chitta means individual consciousness, which includes the conscious state of mind, the
subconscious state of mind and also the unconscious state of mind.
 The totality of these three states of individual mind is symbolized by the expression chitta.
 Chitta has been differently accepted in Vedanta, but here chitta represents the whole of the
individual consciousness, which is comprised of three stages: the sense or objective consciousness,
the subjective or astral consciousness, and the unconsciousness or mental state of dormant
potentiality.
 These three states of pure consciousness should be understood as the chitta referred to in this sutra.

• In the Mandukya Upanishad the four states or dimensions of consciousness are dealt with in a very
lucid form.
• If you read this Upanishad or a commentary on it, your personal consciousness will become clear to
you. In this sutra, chitta represents all the four dimensions of consciousness, but it is a symbol of three
dimensions of consciousness.
• These three dimensions of consciousness are spoken of as chitta, and the fourth dimension is spoken of
as atman. In brief, we can say that atman plus chitta is jivatman, the individual awareness; jivatman
minus chitta is atman.
• This is merely an indirect explanation of the word.
• What do we mean by blocking? Does it mean that we block and stop our thoughts, visions,
respiration, desires and personality complexes? If that is so, then Patanjali is introducing suppression.

• This is true only so long as chitta is taken in the light of mind, the instrument of general knowledge, but
when the chitta is understood to be the total consciousness in the individual, giving rise to various
manifestations in the mental or astral realms, then the doubt regarding the act of suppressing will be rent
asunder.
• The expression nirodha in this sutra apparently means a process of blocking, but it should not mean an act
of blocking the fundamental stuff of awareness.
• In fact, it is clear in this sutra that it is an act of blocking the patterns of awareness, not the awareness
itself. As a practitioner of yoga, you will certainly agree with this apt expression in the sutra, that the
patterns of awareness become blocked in the yogic state of meditation.
• A little later in this chapter you will learn more about the fundamental structure and the nature, action and
reaction of chitta, but in this sutra it is hinted that a different and fundamental state of consciousness can
be achieved by blocking the flow of consciousness.

• When you go to bed at night and enter the unconscious state of awareness, what happens to your
sense awareness, your body and brain? Do they die, or is it a process of blocking the flow of sense
awareness and mental awareness? Certainly it is a state where the psychological functions are cut
off from the realm of individual awareness.
• The flow of vrittis changes and therefore you experience a different plane, different objects, events,
persons, places and processes.
• All that is the vrittis, pertaining to a different state of awareness due to the process of blocking the
normal vrittis.
• If you analyze all such states where individual awareness manifests in different modes, forms and
dimensions, you will come to the realization that the process of vrittis is different from awareness and
that one can block this flow of vrittis and transcend the limitations of awareness or, rather, put an
end to this ever-incarnating flow of vrittis.

• This again brings us to the fact that there is a definite process, unconcerned and different from all that
relates with the body, mind, senses and prana, and it is that awareness which keeps on changing from
state to state.
• This process is consciousness, a state of constant and unbroken awareness.
• There is in us the existence of consciousness which is irrespective of this body; which is with the
body and at the same time it can be without the body, or outside it.
• It is that which is to be blocked. It is not the ordinary thoughts that we have to suppress. These
thoughts are just nothing, a mere handful of our awareness.
• There seems to be a fantastic area of consciousness, unimaginable, beyond this body, with this body,
but sometimes outside this body, and it is infinite.
• We call it ananta, unending, infinite. So, by certain practices which we will learn about in the next
chapter, there can and there will take place an event in which this invisible process of consciousness
can be blocked.

• Let us understand it correctly. The flow of consciousness that we are talking about is not the flow of
your mind and thoughts; it is not the flow of your feelings, passions and desires; it is not the stock
of your emotions and experiences.
• The word chitta means the consciousness as a whole, in and outside the body, with and without it. In
brief, the consciousness is like a thread connecting many lives and incarnations.
• Therefore, the word nirodha does not mean blocking thoughts, desires, ambitions, passions and so
forth, but it means the act or acts of blocking the process of consciousness responsible for
remanifestation.
• Vritta means a circle and vritti means circular. When you throw a stone into a pond, the movements of
the water spread outward in the form of circles. In the same manner, the consciousness has its circular
patterns; these are neither horizontal nor perpendicular, but circular and so it moves in a circular
pattern

. Therefore, the attitudes of chitta, the modes of mind, are called chitta vritti.
Nirodhah is from the basic word rodha, which means an act of blocking.
We have words developed from this root – rodha, avarodha, nirodha, virodha. Avarodha is obstruction,
nirodha is blocking, virodha is opposition.
So the idea of blocking is clarified. To come to the final point – what is yoga? The sutra replies that yoga is the
blocking of the patterns arising in all the dimensions of consciousness.
It is not only shutting yourself off from the external experiences which you face every morning and evening,
but it is setting aside the vision you have in deep meditation and higher samadhi.
When the expressions of individual awareness arising in different planes are transcended, the state of yoga
manifests. This is the order or sequence of evolution of your consciousness.
Sutra 3: The culmination of yoga
Tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe'vasthānam
Tadā: then; draṣṭuḥ: seer; svarūpe: one’s own essential nature;
avasthānam: establishment

Then the seer is established (abides) in his own essential nature.
• Self-realization can only take place when the chitta vrittis cease their activity, when the mind or chitta is no
longer affected by the play of the three gunas and varying moods, and there is no longer a feeling of
identification with the objective world.
• With our very limited understanding, we are not able to know or understand the state of kaivalya, self-
realization, or even begin to comprehend the higher states of consciousness which unfold in samadhi.
Realization comes from within and cannot be comprehended by our present level of awareness of the
mind, coloured and conditioned as it is by likes and dislikes, false beliefs, erroneous conceptions, false
thinking and so on, which are our usual patterns of thought and which are all related to asmita, the ego or
‘I’-principle.
• Purity of mind, complete sense-control, desirelessness and so on, are all necessary before one is
competent to reach the goal of yoga, which is kaivalya or self-realization.
• The word avasthanam is indicative of restoration to its original state, and this will be discussed in the
fourth chapter.

• Sutra 4: What happens otherwise to purusha?
• Vṛtti sārūpyamitaratra
• Vṛtti: modification, pattern; sārūpyam: identification; itaratra: in other state
• Or there is identification with the modifications of chitta.
• What happens to purusha, the self or soul, when it is not abiding in its essential nature is being stated
here. When the chitta vrittis are not in the state of nirodha, then the patterns or modifications of chitta
are superimposed on purusha.
• We are all familiar with this type of wrong identification. When we watch a movie or stage play, we tend to
identify ourselves with what is portrayed, and experience corresponding emotions of sorrow, joy, fear, like,
dislike, etc. Although the actors are only playing a role, we tend to identify with them and forget that we
are mere spectators of what is taking place.

• In the same way, purusha is only a witnessing consciousness, but it has forgotten its true nature, and is
identifying with the chitta and its patterns or modifications to such an extent that it is very difficult to
extricate itself.
• The science of yoga as propounded by Patanjali recommends different techniques to cater for the differing
temperaments of all individuals so as to bring the mind-stuff, or chitta, into a state of nirodha.
• In that state, the purusha becomes aware of its true nature.
• Sutra 5: Vrittis – main classification
• Vṛttayaḥ pañchatayyaḥ kliṣṭākliṣṭāḥ
• Vṛttayaḥ: modifications of mind; pañchatayyaḥ: fivefold; kliṣṭā:
• painful, lit. hard, difficult; akliṣṭāḥ: not painful
• Modifications of mind are fivefold; they are painful or not painful.
• This whole sutra is a combination of four words. The word vritti has become known to you, yet still needs a
thorough explanation. From this sutra onwards, a detailed explanation of vritti follows.

• The sutra says that the vrittis of mind are fivefold, of five kinds. The modifications are fivefold and these
fivefold modifications are either painful or not painful.
• This means that the modifications of the mind are ten in all; five of these are painful and five are not
painful. To illustrate, the mind sees a flower; with the help of the eyes, it assumes the shape of the flower,
and it likes the flower.
• This is called aklishta, or pleasant. Then your mind sees the crushed, decomposed body of a dog over
which the wheels of a vehicle have passed. Your mind looks through the eyes and assimilates the
perception, but it does not like it.
• That is called klishta, or painful. So, the particular modification of mind in the case of the flower was
unpainful, or pleasant.
• In the case of the crushed dog, it was painful, or klishta. The modification is the same; the perception is
through the eyes, the vision is twofold: klishta and aklishta, painful and not painful.
• In the same way, the mind has or assumes, in general, fivefold modifications or manifestations.

• What are these five vrittis? We shall discuss them in the following sutras, but before we proceed to that
topic, you need to understand very carefully what Patanjali means by everything.
• It is the manifestation of mind in different spheres of life. When you look at a tree, a person or a
landscape, you are doing it through the eyes, but it is one of the manifestations of your mind.
• When you listen to music or to a lecture, that is also one of the modifications of your mind. When you
close your eyes and think of the past, present or future, about your relations, friends or enemies, that is
one of the modifications of mind, one of the formations or patterns of mind.
• When you are worried, anxious or full of anger or passion, or full of grief, jealousy, compassion, love for
your fellow humans, love for God, that is also one of the patterns of your mind.
• This particular modification is called a vritti.
• According to the yogic system, every dimension of knowledge, every kind of thought and every field of
awareness is one of the vrittis of the mind.

• In yoga, even the state of sleep is considered to be one of the conditions of mind. It is a mental state, a
mental condition. Dream is also a mental condition.
• Similarly, doubt, illusion, mistakes in thinking, such as mistaking a rope for a snake, are also mental
conditions or vrittis.
• In Sanskrit and more so in yogic and Vedantic texts, the word vritti occurs again and again. It is such a
confusing term that sometimes philosophers and thinkers have not been able to explain it properly.
• There was a great scholar in the seventh century named Goudapadacharya. He was the guru of the guru
of the great Shankaracharya. He wrote a detailed commentary on a small Upanishad, namely the
Mandukya Upanishad. In his commentary, the great scholar writes: “The whole world seems to be
nothing but one of the forms of mental modifications of a supreme consciousness.”
• Not only the earth but the entire cosmos may be unreal; it may be just an expression of your mental
thinking, the mental thinking of a supreme being, a cosmic thinking force.

• So, when we use the term mental modification, we mean the different patterns or personalities of the
mind, the different stages, spheres or dimensions of personality.
• In a play, the same person may come on the stage as a beggar, a king, a robber, a sannyasin, a man or a
woman, and so on.
• In the same manner, it is a single stuff, called awareness or consciousness in human beings, which
appears to be manifesting itself in the form of waking, dreaming, sleeping, thinking, liking or disliking.
It is one consciousness which seems to be playing different roles, and these are the different vrittis.
• Sutra 6: Five kinds of vrittis
• Pramāṇa-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidrā smṛtayaḥ
• Pramāṇa: right knowledge; viparyaya: wrong knowledge; vikalpa:
• fancy, imagination; nidrā: sleep; smṛtayaḥ: memory

• The fivefold modifications of mind are right knowledge, wrong knowledge, fancy, sleep and
memory.
• We have been talking about the word vritti in the last three sutras.
• It is important for a student of yoga to understand this word properly. After a lot of thought,
you will realize that the final aim of yoga is nothing but the total destruction of the patterns of
the manifestation of consciousness.
• To illustrate: different idols or patterns of form can be made of mud and when these forms are
destroyed, they become mud again.
• Similarly, a goldsmith prepares different ornaments out of gold which are known by different
names and forms, but when these ornaments are destroyed or melted down, they become gold
again.
• In the same manner, different things and structures come out of the mind and are variously
named in the cosmic process of nature.

• The mind or consciousness has to be divested of all its forms so that the consciousness remains nameless and
formless, which is the ultimate aim of yoga.
• It is not only the cessation of the world which is a part of yoga, a point which is misunderstood by many aspirants.
They close their eyes and ears, forget all outer sights and sounds, and then see wonderful visions inside.
• They think they have arrived at the final goal of yoga, but even that has to be destroyed.
• Anything that is of the nature of mind must be finished with.
• Therefore, before you start practising yoga, you must understand the significance of what you are going to do, and
here Patanjali is helping you.
• Sometimes we are told to withdraw our consciousness, but what is consciousness? You withdraw your
consciousness from outer sounds, but can you withdraw it from sleep? No, because you do not even believe that
sleep is a mental condition; you think that sleep is not a mental condition.
• Yoga says that sleep is also a mental condition. Further on in the sutras, Patanjali says that even samadhi is a mental
condition which has to be thrown out.
• The lower savikalpa samadhi is also a modification of mind and has, therefore, to be transcended.

• The ultimate goal of yoga is a refining process and for this purpose Patanjali is helping us.
• The fivefold vrittis are carefully classified. All that you see, hear and experience, all that the vrittis do
through the mind and the senses, is classified into five groups, namely, right knowledge, wrong knowledge,
imagination, sleep and memory.
• These five modifications constitute consciousness of mind. They form the three dimensions of individual
consciousness.
• These constitute the mental factory of man. Every mental state is included in these five modifications, such
as dreaming, waking, looking, talking, touching, beating, crying, feeling, emotion, action, sentiment; in
fact, everything is included in these five.
• Sutra 7: (i) Pramana – sources of right knowledge
• Pratyakṣānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni
• Pratyakṣa: direct cognition, sense evidence; anumāna: inference;
• āgama: testimony, revelation; pramāṇāni: the sources of right knowledge

• Direct cognition, inference and testimony are the sources of knowledge.
• In this sutra, the rishi is trying to explain right knowledge, pramana. It has already been included in
the previous sutra as a manifestation of mind.
• The mind does not always take the form of right knowledge alone; it sometimes manifests wrong
knowledge also.
• This sutra explains what is meant by right knowledge.
• Right knowledge can be gained from three sources: sense evidence, inference and testimony. Sense
evidence is the knowledge produced by the contact of a sense organ with an object of knowledge; for
example, we see a flower, we smell it, we hear someone crying, and so on.
• If your senses, indriyas, are intact, if none of them are defective, then sense evidence is one of the sources of right
knowledge.
• It should be remembered that this is not the only source of right knowledge because sometimes our senses deceive
us; for example, the mirage produced in a desert due to hot air.

• In this case there is actually no water, but our eyes make us believe the appearance of water to be a
reality.
• The sense evidence in this case does not constitute right knowledge, for we can become aware of our
illusion if we try to get to the water.
• Anumana, inference, becomes a source of right knowledge when it is based on sound reasoning.
• We see smoke on a distant mountain and immediately infer that there must be fire on the mountain.
• This inference is based on the experience which has never failed us, namely, that whenever we came
across smoke, we also found the presence of fire.
• This is called invariable concomitance. When two things or events are invariably found to go together,
we can infer the presence of either of them whenever we see the other.
• Agama means testimony. It is useful in such circumstances where no sense evidence is available, as well as
if there are not sufficient grounds for inference.
• Here we have to depend simply on what others say, but there is one important condition.

• The other person whose authority may be taken as a sufficient source of right knowledge, and who
is called an apta, has to fulfil two conditions.
• First, he should have right knowledge himself and, secondly, he should be able to impart that
knowledge without any mistake.
• When these two conditions are fulfilled, we can take agama as right knowledge.
• In yoga the authority is called a guru.
• What he hands over to the disciple is simply on faith but, nevertheless, it is right knowledge
because a guru is a person who knows correctly.
• The scriptures are known as agama because they are the revelations of the rishis who have
experienced at first hand the topics discussed therein.
• Moreover, the statements of the scriptures are not amenable to either sense evidence or
inference.

• Sutra 8: (ii) Viparyaya – misconception
• Viparyayo mithyājñānamatadrūpapratiṣṭham
• Viparyayah: misconception; mithyā: false, illusory; jñānam:
• knowledge; atat: not its own; rūpa: form; pratiṣṭham: based
• Wrong conception is false knowledge which is not based on its own form.
• Patanjali is dealing here with the second type of chitta vritti which we have to block.
• He defines viparyaya as false knowledge which is not based on or does not correspond to a real
object.
• This is opposed to right knowledge.
• Right knowledge is based on the correspondence between a real object and our knowledge of it.
• For example, we see the colour of a flower, we smell it, feel the softness of its petals, and the
knowledge that it is a flower arises in our mind.
• This is right knowledge because it is tadrupaprathistha, that is, there is a real object on which our
knowledge is based.

• In the case of viparyaya there is really no object existing on which the knowledge may be based,
therefore, it is called atadrupaprathistham.
• For example, when we mistake a rope for a snake, our knowledge is incorrect, because the thing
that actually exists before us, which we take to be a snake, is a rope.
• This false knowledge can be corrected by creating conditions, such as enough light, for correct
knowledge to arise.
• Viparyaya is also called avidya, for all our knowledge is based on a misunderstanding of the real
nature of purusha and prakriti.
• Wrong knowledge is ultimately replaced by viveka, which involves the correct understanding of the
true nature of purusha and prakriti.

• Sutra 9: (iii) Vikalpa – unfounded belief
• Śabdajñānānupāti vastu-śūnyo vikalpaḥ
• Śabda: word, sound; jñāna: cognition; anupāti: following upon; vastu:
• object; śūnyaḥ: empty; vikalpaḥ: fancy, imagination
• Following upon knowledge through words but empty of an object is fancy.
• Vikalpa is imagination without the basis of an object.
• It does not mean that it has no object, but the object mentioned in the statement is non-existent.
• For example, when we read wonderful stories of fairyland or about Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travels, we find words
which can be used properly in sentences, but actually there are no real objects corresponding to them at all.
• These are examples of vikalpa, imagination or fancy.
• Vikalpa is a creation of our mind. It is, however, not completely devoid of experiential material.
• We take ideas from our experiences and combine them to form new ideas of things that actually do not
exist.

• The trouble with many of us, even in the case of spiritual aspirants, is that sometimes the mind
becomes full of fancy and idealism.
• There are many spiritual aspirants throughout the world who seek to attain an imaginary goal. They are
living in a world of ideas which are nothing but vikalpa.
• In meditation, dhyana, there is sometimes a flight of imagination.
• It is so delightful and interesting and gives pleasure and satisfaction to the meditating mind, but
according to Patanjali, this form of vikalpa is also to be set aside.
• Similarly, in India we find a branch of fanciful meditation which is called conscious day-dreaming.
• It is a separate sadhana by itself, but according to Patanjali it is in essence a dull state of mind and must be
overcome through right knowledge.

• This sadhana is very helpful for a beginner in as much as it can make an aspirant capable of going
deeper and deeper in the state of concentration.
• However, it should not be forgotten that this sadhana, although helpful for a beginner, has to be discarded
afterwards.
• In the states of dharana, antar mouna, dhyana, the aspirant imagines certain objects and qualities.
• They may be unreal and fanciful notions in the ultimate analysis, but they are very helpful in the
beginning and a student of yoga must use their assistance until he goes forward to master the deeper
states.
• It is declared by many great thinkers that up to nirvikalpa samadhi, the different experiences an aspirant
goes through are nothing but the planes of one’s mental consciousness.
• Right knowledge, wrong knowledge and imagination are equally processes of consciousness, but they differ
insofar as right knowledge has a true object, wrong knowledge has a false object, whereas imagination or
vikalpa has no object at all. This difference should be carefully understood.

• Sutra 10: (iv) Nidra – state of sleep
• Abhāva-pratyayālambanā vṛttirnidrā
• Abhāva: absence; pratyaya: content of mind; ālambana: support;
• vṛttih: modification; nidrā: sleep
• Sleep is the vritti of absence of mental contents for its support.
• This is a very important sutra. As compared with the first three vrittis mentioned previously, this vritti is
characterized by no awareness, consciousness or unconsciousness.
• Sleep is also one of the states of mind. It is very important to understand it, because if we are able to
analyze the sleep condition of the mind, we can easily understand the state of samadhi.
• Sleep is a condition of mind which hides or conceals the knowledge of the external world.

• In the Mandukya Upanishad, it is said that in sleep one does not desire anything, nor is there dream
or any other perception. All the vrittis of the mind are concentrated together and the energy process
fuses into one.
• The capacity of the faculty of perception is introverted; outer objects are not seen or heard, nor is there
any feeling whatsoever. It is an unconscious state of mind.
• This is exactly the idea which Patanjali wants to emphasize in this sutra. He says that in sleep there is no
object before the mind – it does not see, hear, touch or feel anything.
• Every form of knowledge, every content of mind has become silent.
• When we have a mental experience of an object, that experience is called a pratyaya, content of mind.
• We can have a pratyaya with or without the senses coming in contact with an object. We can, for
example, see a rose inside our mind either in the form of a vision, a dream, or an ideal.
• The content of mind in all these states is called pratyaya.

• When the very idea of an object, the very content of mind is removed through a certain process,
the mind becomes supportless.
• Sleep is a vritti in which the content of mind is absent. In this state there are thoughts but they are
not present before the mind, so the mind does not see, touch, think, hear, feel or have any sense or
mental experience.
• Psychologically, in that state the brain and the mind are disconnected and thoughts are suppressed
temporarily.
• Similarly, in dhyana we sometimes become unconscious when the activity of the mind stops.
• The state of sleep is comparable with the state of samadhi inasmuch as in both there is absence of
consciousness of the external world.
• The only difference between sleep and samadhi is that in the latter state the notion of ‘I’ persists to a
certain extent, whereas in sleep there is no awareness of the ‘I’ notion.

• In the state of samadhi, the awareness of separate existences and qualities, such as an individual’s
nationality, one’s own name and form, ceases completely, yet a kind of awareness still persists.
• This awareness is devoid of all the peculiarities belonging to the external world.
• The awareness we have in the waking state is exactly like the one in samadhi.
• The difference is that in samadhi the objects are absent, but the awareness is there.
• There has been much misunderstanding, misconception, misruling and misinterpretation.
• It is supposed that samadhi is a state of absolute unconsciousness, whereas it is actually the opposite.
• Sutra 11: (v) Smriti – memory
• Anubhūtaviṣayāsaṃpramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ
• Anubhūta: experienced; viṣaya: objects of sense perception;
• asampramoṣaḥ: not letting escape; smṛtiḥ: memory Not letting the
• experienced objects escape from the mind is memory.

• Not letting the experienced objects escape from the mind is memory.
• Memory is the fifth vritti of the mind. It is of two kinds: conscious memory and subconscious memory.
• Conscious memory involves the recollection of things already experienced, recall of past experiences.
• Subconscious memory is dream. Here one does not consciously remember, but remembers
unconsciously. This memory is also of two kinds: one is imaginary, the other is real.
• In dreams, one sometimes has fantastic experiences which are not in any way relevant to actual life. One
may thus see oneself cut down under the wheels of a train, or see oneself dying.
• This is a fancy of mind and hence it is called imaginary subconscious memory. However, we must
remember that every dream has some basis and that no dream is baseless.
• In the case of real subconscious memory, one remembers in dream something that actually happened in
the past without distortion of facts.
• This memory, which brings out the impressions of the preconscious and unfolds them on the conscious
plane, is one of the faculties of our consciousness.

It is one of the modifications of consciousness and is therefore classed as a vritti.
• The objects of experience are of five kinds, such as those which can be perceived through the
eyes, ears, skin, tongue or nose.
• When we experience these objects, our mind comes in contact with them through the indriyas. When
next there is a similar contact, memory of the past experience arises if the experience is not
allowed to escape from the mind.
• If the experience does escape, then memory fails us. So, Patanjali has used the word asampramosha
to emphasize the fact of not letting the experience escape from the mind. The meaning of the
word is as follows: a – no; sam – completely; pra – high or great; mosha – releasing, escape.
• Thus, literally, the word means not allowing to escape.
• Thus we can summarize the five vrittis mentioned by Patanjali in the following manner. The first vritti involves right
knowledge; the second, wrong knowledge; the third, imaginary knowledge; the fourth, no knowledge; and the last
one, past knowledge.

• This covers the entire field of our consciousness. While defining yoga, Patanjali has already said that the
essence of yoga is contained in blocking or stopping all the vrittis. He describes the means which are to be
used for this purpose in the next sutra.
• Sutra 12: Necessity of abhyasa and vairagya
• Abhyāsavairāgyābhyāṃ tannirodhaḥ
• Abhyāsa: repeated practice; vairāgyābhyāṃ: by vairagya; tat: that;
• nirodhaḥ: stopping, blocking
• The stopping of that (five vrittis) by repeated practice and vairagya.
• In this sutra, Patanjali describes two methods for stopping the flow of the chitta vrittis. They are abhyasa and
vairagya.
• Abhyasa means repeated and persistent practice. Vairagya is a very controversial word. From time to time,
from country to country and from brain to brain, it has had different meanings.
• We may say that it is a mental condition of non-attachment, or detachment, which is freedom from raga and
dwesha, attraction and repulsion. When the mind becomes free of these, that state is called vairagya.

• In India, vairagya traditionally means an order of sannyasa. Patanjali has described raga and dwesha in a
further chapter.
• Raga, we may say, is the attitude of liking for any object of our choice.
• On the other hand, dwesha is an attitude of the mind which involves dislike for an object. Freedom
from these two is called vairagya.
• We come across many spiritual aspirants who try to concentrate their mind without first practising
abhyasa and vairagya, without first conquering raga and dwesha.
• It is futile to make the mind silent without first removing the disturbing factors, namely raga and dwesha,
which make the mind unsteady.
• Patanjali tells us that abhyasa and vairagya are the means one should first master so that meditation
will follow easily.

• Sutra 13: Abhyasa means constant practice
• Tatra sthitau yatno'bhyāsaḥ
• Tatra: there, out of the two; sthitau: being fixed, established; yatnah:
• effort; abhyāsaḥ: practice
• Of the two (mentioned in the previous sutra) ‘to be established in the endeavour’ is abhyasa.
• Patanjali explains the meaning of abhyasa in this sutra.
• The word tatra literally means there, but with reference to the context of the sutra, the word tatra
means of the two.
• Abhyasa means to be perfectly fixed in the spiritual effort (sadhana). The effort here involves the
practice of chitta vritti nirodhah. It may include meditation or karma yoga or bhakti or self-
introspection and other practices.
• established.

• It should be remembered that just practising something for some time is not abhyasa. Abhyasa means
continued practice; you cannot leave it at all. It becomes a part of your personality, a part of your
individual nature.
• To emphasize this, the rishi has used the word sthitau, which means being firmly fixed or firmly .
• The next word – yatna, effort – indicates all effort, whether it is kriya yoga, hatha yoga or meditation. There
is one important point concerning abhyasa which must be understood.
• When abhyasa becomes natural, firmly rooted and complete, it leads to samadhi. So, every student must
pay utmost attention to regular and continued practice which, when perfected, leads to the complete
blocking of the vrittis.
• Sutra 14: Foundation of abhyasa
• Sa tu di rghakāla nairantaryasatkārāsevito dṛḍhabhūmiḥ
• Sah: that (abhyāsa); tu: but; di rgha: long; kāla: time; nairantarya:
• without interruption; satkāra: reverence; āsevitaḥ: practised; dṛḍha:
• firm; bhūmiḥ: ground

• It becomes firmly grounded by being continued for a long time with reverence, without
interruption.
• There are three conditions for the practice of abhyasa: it should be practised with complete faith; it
should continue uninterrupted and it should go on for quite a long time.
• When these three conditions are fulfilled, abhyasa becomes firmly established and a part of one’s
nature.
• It is often observed that many aspirants are very enthusiastic in the beginning, but their faith
dwindles away later on.
• This should never happen with a student of yoga who wants to achieve the goal in this very birth. A
spiritual aspirant must continue his sadhana until he is able to receive something very concrete and
very substantial, but very few aspirants can do this.
• The word nairantarya is very important. It means practising without interruption. Antar means
difference; nairantarya means absence of this difference.

• It means continuity. This is very important because if the practices are interrupted now and then, the
student cannot get the full benefit from his practices. This means spiritual maturity.
• The aspirant must have attained spiritual maturity when he begins his practices, and the practices must
continue for a long time.
• Sometimes we observe a misconception in many people that the task of spiritual evolution can be
completed within a few months, but this is wrong.
• It may take many births to achieve. The aspirant should not be impatient; there should be no hurry or
haste. Our ancient literature is full of stories wherein it is declared that it may take many births for an
individual to attain the highest goal of yoga.
• What is important is not the length of time but the fact that one has to continue the practices without any
interruption and until the goal is achieved, whatever time it may take to reach there. One should not lose
heart; one should continue the practices with faith.
• Faith is the most important factor, for it is only through faith that we have the patience and energy to
continue the practice against the odds of life.

• If the aspirant has complete faith in the fact that he will surely achieve the goal through his practices,
then it matters little to him when he reaches the goal.
• The next important point is that one should like sadhana to the highest extent. Just as a mother
becomes disturbed if her child does not return home on time, so the aspirant should become
disturbed if he does not do his daily practices.
• He should love his practices as much as he loves his body. He should be as attracted towards the
practices as he is towards a sweet dish of his choice.
• The practices can produce the desired result only if they are done with love and attraction. There
should be no feeling of compulsion, but one should do the practices willingly.
• This is the meaning of satkara. It means earnestness, respect and devotion.
• If one has these qualities, good results are assured. Attachment to the practices can be developed
through constant self-analysis and satsang.
• Patanjali declares that if we practise abhyasa with faith and conviction continuously for a long time, it
will definitely bring about a blockage of the fivefold vrittis of the mind.

• Sutra 15: Lower form of vairagya
• Dṛṣṭānuśravika-viṣayāvitṛṣṇasya vaśi kāra-sañjñā vairāgyam
• Dṛṣṭa: seen; anuśravika: heard; viṣaya: object; vitṛṣṇasya: of the one
• who is free of desire (tṛṣṇā: craving, desire); vaśi kāra: control;
• sañjñā: awareness; vairāgyam: absence of craving
• When an individual becomes free of craving for the sense objects which he has experienced as well
as those of which he has heard, that state of consciousness is vairagya.
• When a person is without craving, without thirst, without hankering for all the objects of pleasure and so
on that he has heard or seen for himself in his life, this state of mind – cravinglessness, thirstlessness – is
known as vairagya.
• Drishta includes the pleasures of pleasurable objects experienced through the senses. All experiences
within the range of personal sense knowledge are called drishta.

• Anushravika objects are those which one has not experienced but of which one has heard from other
persons and from books.
• Thus vairagya is completely a process of buddhi; it is not a sect by itself. If one thinks that for the
practice of vairagya one will have to change one’s life, then one is mistaken.
• Vairagya is the final assessment of everything that one has undergone in life.
• It is possible to attain vairagya even when one undergoes all the responsibilities of family and
society.
• It is not at all necessary to give up one’s duties. What is needed is not to give up the different acts, but
rather to completely give up raga and dwesha, which cause the subconscious agony.
• This is explained very well in the Bhagavad Gita, which says that an individual can be free in this life
itself even while performing the various necessary acts in life, if only he can detach himself from the
good or bad effects of his actions

• What is important for meditation is not what one does or does not do in the outer life; it is the inner
life, the life of inhibitions, suppressions and complexes, the life of mental and psychic errors, that plays
a decisive role in meditation.
• For this there must be vairagya, so that the proper attitudes come into being.
• The practice of vairagya starts from within and never from without. It does not matter what clothes
you wear or what kind of people you live with.
• What really matters is what kind of attitude you have towards the various things, persons and events
you come across in life.
• Vairagya makes for a balanced attitude and integrated approach, a feeling of love and compassion for
all, yet a sort of detachment which works in everything that one does.
• Vairagya is thus a manifestation of the purity and peace of one’s mind.
• It bestows upon the sadhaka an undisturbed happiness and silence which remains unchanged, whether
the sadhaka is confronted with events that please him or events that would be unpleasant.

• An important question arises here. It may be argued that a student can purify the mind and make it
silent in the state of samadhi even without the practice of vairagya.
• It may be said that the other techniques of yoga such as pranayama, meditation, etc., are quite
sufficient for taking a student to the higher state, but this is not a correct belief.
• If you observe your mind impartially, you will be aware of the fact that at the deeper level of
consciousness and of the subconscious, every one of us has certain desires, cravings, ambitions and
wishes we want to fulfil.
• These unfulfilled desires give rise to conflicts and tensions.
• In our daily life we may not be aware of these conflicts and tensions, but a person who wants to
meditate finds it impossible to make his mind steady unless the underlying urges and tensions are
resolved.
• As Patanjali will explain in a further chapter, there are five types of these basic urges, which may be
described as subconscious agonies or afflictions.

• They must all be got rid of, for unless that is done, a student cannot make his mind steady in samadhi,
and vairagya is the only way through which the subconscious agonies can be done away with.
• There are three stages of vairagya. In the first stage, all the likes and dislikes towards the objects of the
world are active in the mind.
• An effort is made to control the natural passions and cravings, such as the tendencies of hate, violence,
etc. This stage is characterized by the struggle to overcome the effects of raga and dwesha.
• In the second stage, some items of raga and dwesha come under the control of the mind, but there are
some items which have not yet been controlled.
• In the third stage, the conscious aspect of raga and dwesha is completely evolved and the mind becomes
free of raga and dwesha.
• Thus we see that in the first stage there is effort without much success, in the second stage there is
partial success, and in the third stage the aspirant completely succeeds in the extermination of raga and
dwesha, although their roots may still be there.

• Sutra 16: Higher form of vairagya
• Tatparaṃ puruṣakhyāterguṇavaitṛṣṇyam
• Tat: that; paraṃ: highest; puruṣakhyāteh: true knowledge of purusha;
• guṇavaitṛṣṇyaṃ: freedom from the desire for gunas
That is highest in which there is freedom from the desire for gunas on account of the knowledge of
purusha.
• There are two varieties of vairagya: one is the lower state and the second is the higher state of vairagya.
In the lower form the aspirant transcends the attachments for sense objects, but these still remain in a
subtle form. This has been explained also in the Bhagavad Gita.
• The lower form of vairagya involves a process of suppression in the sense that there is discrimination
and control through the development of religious consciousness and satsang.
• There is conscious control by the mind and the desires and cravings are kept under control.
Paravairagya involves not only giving up the enjoyments, but even the deep-rooted taste for enjoyment.

• There is a possibility of going back from the lower vairagya, but when one attains to paravairagya
there is no return to the life of cravings and passions. Paravairagya is characterized by the absence of
desire in all its forms.
• There is no desire for pleasure, enjoyment, knowledge or even sleep. This happens when there is
awareness of the real nature of purusha.
• The spiritual aspirant becomes aware, in meditation or in samadhi, of the purusha in himself. He has a
direct intuitive cognition of purusha and this gives rise to paravairagya.
• The aspirant overcomes all attractions and remains unshaken, even when the pleasures of the world are
offered to him.
• There is a story in the Kathopanishad which describes how Natchiketa, filled with the desire to know
what happens to the soul after death, rejected all the worldly pleasures offered to him by Yama, the
god of death.
• He ultimately got true knowledge because he proved himself to be fit to receive the highest
knowledge by rejecting all worldly pleasures.

• This state of paravairagya cannot be reached through reading books or through satsang or any practice.
• It comes to you when you have intuitive direct knowledge of the purusha.
• We must clearly understand what purushakhyateh means. The word purusha is formed out of two words:
puri, which means ‘town’ and sha which means ‘sleep’.
• In philosophical language, our physical body is considered to be a town having nine gates. The mental
body is considered to be a town having four gates.
• There is also a third body called the pranic body. The awareness of the world is supposed to be a function
of the subtle body.
• Purusha is nothing but consciousness which is dormant, unmanifest in the bodies.When purusha comes
into relationship with prakriti, there is a beginning of the universe.
• Prakriti consists of the five primary elements (panchabhuta), five karmendriyas, five jnanendriyas, the
fourfold functions of the mind, five pranas, three bodies and five objects of sense pleasure.
• All these put together form the basic tattwas in Samkhya philosophy. They are the components of prakriti.

• According to Samkhya, the universe came into being with the relation of purusha with prakriti. According
to yoga, purusha is the awareness which is devoid of the contents of the mind.
• It is free from any content of mind. It is a manifestation of consciousness without any of the five kinds of
vrittis.
• In yoga, purusha is looked upon as the highest manifestation of consciousness, which is free of the vrittis
as well as free from any entanglement with prakriti.
• Usually our consciousness functions through the senses, mind and buddhi. In meditation it functions at a
deeper level, but there is a pratyaya or content of mind present in that state. However, there is only one
entanglement, namely the ‘I’ notion, the feeling that ‘I’ am.
• Ultimately, beyond meditation, that feeling of ‘I’ also vanishes; what remains is the consciousness called
purusha.

• This supreme awareness of the purusha gives rise to freedom from the three gunas, which are termed
respectively sattwa guna, rajo guna and tamo guna. By sattwa guna we mean knowledge, peace or light; by
rajo guna we mean greed, anger, tension; by tamo guna we mean procrastination, laziness, dullness and so
on. Freedom from the gunas means that the mind is not influenced by the three gunas when the
awareness of purusha takes place.
• Sutra 30: Obstacles in the path of yoga
• Vyādhistyānasaṃśayapramādālasyāviratibhrāntidarśanālabdhabhūmikatvānavasthitatvāni
• chittavikṣepāste'ntarāyāḥ
• Vyādhi: disease; styāna: dullness; saṃśaya: doubt; pramāda:
• procrastination; ālasya: laziness; avirati: craving for enjoyment;
• bhrāntidarśana: erroneous perception; alabdhabhūmikatva: inability to
• achieve a finer state; anavasthitatva: instability; chittavikṣepāh:
• obstacle to the mind; te: they; antarāyāḥ: obstacles

• Disease, dullness, doubt, procrastination, laziness, craving, erroneous perception, inability to achieve
finer stages and instability are the obstacles.
• We have seen that the practice of japa causes the mind to be introverted and the obstacles to be
removed.
• The obstacles are enumerated in this sutra. The spiritual aspirant is often observed to be careless about
his personal life, family duties and other obligations.
• There may be doubt in his mind whether a particular sadhana is right, or whether he would reach the goal
at all. Doubt is bound to be there.
• Sutra 31: Other obstructions
• Duḥkhadaurmanasyāṅgamejayatvaśvāsapraśvāsā vikṣepasahabhuvaḥ
• Duḥkha: pain; daurmanasya: depression; aṅgamejayatva: shaking of
• the body; śvāsapraśvāsā: inhalations and exhalations; vikṣepa:
• distraction; sahabhuvaḥ: accompanying symptom

• Pain, depression, shaking of the body and unrhythmic breathing are the accompanying symptoms of
mental distraction.
• Everyone, whether a spiritual aspirant or not, is prone to the nine obstacles and their accompanying
symptoms. With some persons these become very natural conditions.
• The distraction in the inward process of awareness must be carefully studied. One should be able to know
whether an obstacle is happening as a natural process, or if it is due to meditation and other practices.
For example, even a person practising meditation may be full of doubts, fabrications and apprehensions.
Disease may occur as a natural process or when one is going inward in the process of meditation.
• The sutra tells us that if there is pain, or mental depression, or shaking of the body, or unrhythmic
breathing during the sadhana, you may be sure that chitta is undergoing a distracted condition.
• The symptoms that are presented in the form of distractions and those enumerated in the previous sutra
are not mental processes; they are psychic manifestations.
• They are common both to the average person and to the aspirant whose mind is turned inward during
meditation.

• Sutra 32: Removal of obstacles by one-pointedness
• Tatpratiṣedhārthamekatattvābhyāsaḥ
• Tat: that; pratiṣedhārtham: for removal; eka: one; tattva: principle;
• abhyāsaḥ: practice
• For removal of those (obstacles and accompanying symptoms) the practice of concentration on
one principle (is to be done).
• We have already noted that Patanjali has recommended the four qualifications such as shraddha,
veerya, etc., for those aspirants who have indomitable will and courage.
• For the one who is weak and infirm he has recommended intense devotion and japa of Aum. In
this sutra he shows a way of overcoming the obstacles and the accompanying symptoms.
• The way involves concentration of the mind on a single tattwa.
• We must understand the meaning of this. If you practise mantra, it should be on one mantra.

• If you practise dhyana, it should be on one symbol. Those who keep on changing the methods,
techniques and symbols in meditation every now and then will suffer from the obstacles.
• Those who are serious about realization, about attaining the deeper stages of consciousness, should
understand this sutra clearly.
• One should not change the symbol of meditation because the process of meditation is only a basis for
the consciousness to go deeper and deeper.
• There will be confusion if the basis is changed time and again.
• Therefore, Patanjali has emphasized one kind of sadhana in this sutra. If you change it, be sure that you
will come to grief.
• We find this happening in the case of those sects where emphasis is placed on rather diversified
symbols. For example, in the sadhana known as tantra, many symbols are used, ignoring the principle of
ekatattvabhyasah, and we find that many practitioners are suffering as a result.
• The same is the case with some kinds of sadhana in ancient Buddhism which have never flourished, due
to the defect that many symbols were used for concentration.

• This fact is borne in mind by real gurus who do not change the mantra once it is given to a disciple, even if it
was given previously by another guru.
• If the mantra is changed, there may be confusion in the mind of the disciple. A wise guru will never allow
this confusion to arise. He will give a sadhana not merely according to the disciple’s liking, but
according to the disciple’s capacities.
• There is no actual difference between the different symbols. One may be devoted to Lord Ganesha or
Shiva, Kali and so on, but if one changes the object of devotion after taking up one of the symbols, then
confusion is bound to arise.
• The best way to avoid this confusion is to keep to the one symbol, to ekatattvabhyasa. The obstacles can be
removed from the way of an aspirant only when he does not allow his mind to run helter-skelter, but fixes it
on one single tattwa, come what may.

• Sutra 33: (ii) Or by cultivating opposite virtues
• Maitri karuṇāmuditopekṣāṇāṃ sukhaduḥkhapuṇyāpuṇyaviṣayāṇāṃ
bhāvanātaśchittaprasādanam
• Maitri : friendliness; karuṇā: compassion; muditā; gladness; upekṣāṇāṃ: indifference; sukha:
happiness; duḥkha: misery; puṇya: virtue; apuṇya: vice; viṣayāṇāṃ: of the objects; bhāvanātaḥ:
attitude; chitta: mind; prasādanam: purification, making peaceful .
• In relation to happiness, misery, virtue and vice, by cultivating the attitudes of friendliness,
compassion, gladness and indifference respectively, the mind becomes purified and peaceful.
• It is impossible to practise concentration of the mind unless the mind is purified, that is, made
peaceful in nature.
• The best way for this is shown in this sutra. It is the way of cultivating the attitude of friendliness,
compassion, gladness and indifference in respect of people or events which are causing happiness,
misery, virtue or vice.

• By maintaining this attitude, that is, friendliness to the happy, compassion for the unhappy, gladness about
the virtuous and indifference to those who are full of vice, the mind of the aspirant becomes free from
disturbing influences and as a result it becomes peaceful and undisturbed.
• The process of introversion follows easily. The mind by nature is full of unrest, like a pond that is disturbed
by the falling of objects like boulders, stones, etc.
• The unsteady mind cannot become concentrated easily.
• It is said in the Kathopanishad and elsewhere that the mind has a natural tendency to be attracted towards
the outside world. It is not in the nature of the mind to look within.
• Therefore, when you are trying to turn the mind inside, the obstacles and impurities must be first removed.
Jealousy, hate and the element of competition cause a lot of impurities in the mind. When we see a happy
and prosperous person, we feel jealous.
• This causes a disturbance in the subconscious mind and obstructs the mind from being concentrated. This
results in fearful visions.

• When we come across a person suffering, we enjoy it if he happens to be an enemy. This is also one of the impurities
of the mind. Similarly, we often criticize virtuous persons and hail the deeds of vicious persons.
• All this causes disturbance in the mind and comes in the way of peace and meditation.
• Patanjali has shown a way of overcoming these disturbances. The fourfold attitude which he asks us to
develop gives rise to inner peace by the removal of the disturbing factors, not only from the conscious
level, but also from the deepest parts of the subconscious.
• Sutra 34: (iii) Or by controlling prana
• Prachchhardanavidhāraṇābhyāṃ vā prāṇasya
• Prachchhardana: expiration or rechaka; vidhāraṇābhyāṃ: holding,
• kumbhaka; vā: or; prāṇasya: of breath
• Or by expiration and retention of breath (one can control the mind).
• Temperamentally, not all people can surrender to God. For such people, Patanjali here gives a way by
which the mind can be made pure, controlled and steady.

• Some of us are dynamic by temperament, others are emotional, yet others are mystic and some are
rational. For the dynamic person, karma yoga is best suited.
• Bhakti is better for those who are emotional, who can surrender to God; they form the majority of the
population.
• The third group, mystic people, are prone to practise raja yoga and the allied practices of hatha yoga, swara
yoga, kriya yoga, nada yoga, trataka, etc.
• The fourth type form the few jnana yogis. They like to read the Upanishads, Gita, etc., wherein the deeper
aspects of life, the universe and meditation are described.
• Many of us have a mixture of these four tendencies. Hence a mixture of practices is recommended and
thus Patanjali has described a variety of practices.
• We should select the sadhana most suitable for us.
• Beginning from the videha and prakritilaya yogis, Patanjali has described various types of sadhana for
various types of aspirants in the past few sutras.

• In this sutra he explains pranayama. We should understand the meaning of prachchhardana
exhalation, and vidharana, holding the breath outside.
• This constitutes maha bandha, which includes performing jalandhara, uddiyana and moola bandhas
together while doing kumbhaka.
• The beginner should not be taught maha bandha. He should only do rechaka, exhalation, say 21
times, 51 times or 100 times. This may be called kapalbhati or agnisara.
• Just by practising rechaka, kumbhaka and the three bandhas, the mind can be brought to a state of
stillness. In one of the ancient books, it is said there are two supports on which the mind rests and
consciousness works: prana, vital energy, and vasana inherent desire. If one is removed, the other
goes automatically.
• Prana is gross as well as subtle. The subtle prana is in the form of energy, and the gross prana has
the form of breath.

• The subtle prana assumes different force fields in the body to accomplish its functions.
• These include five major pranas: prana, apana, samana, udana and vyana, and also five minor pranas:
naga, koorma, krikara, devadatta and dhananjaya.
• All are responsible for different activities in the human body. Prana operates in the region between the
diaphragm and the throat. It is the centre of circulation of life energy, and maintains the heart and lungs,
all activities in the chest region such as breathing, swallowing and blood circulation. Apana operates in the
pelvic region between the navel and perineum, and sustains the functions of the kidneys, bladder, bowels,
excretory and reproductive organs.
• It is responsible for expulsion of gas, faeces, urine, semen, ova and the foetus at the time of birth. Samana
operates between the navel and diaphragm, acting as an equalizer between the opposite forces of prana
and apana.

• It activates and maintains the digestive organs and is responsible for metabolism. Udana operates in
the extremities: the arms, legs, neck and head.
• It controls the sensory organs, movement of the legs, arms and neck, and the activities of the brain.
It also assists the activities of prana, maintains the pranic link between heart and brain, and
provides energy to the minor pranas.
• Vyana pervades the whole body and acts as a reserve energy, helping the other pranas when they
require an extra boost. It also regulates muscular movement.
• Among the minor pranas, naga causes belching and hiccups; koorma helps blinking of the eyes and
keeps them healthy; krikara causes yawning, hunger and thirst, and aids in respiration; devadatta
causes sneezing and also helps in respiration; dhananjaya pervades the whole body and assists the
muscles, arteries, veins and skin.
• It is the last prana to leave the body after death and is responsible for decomposition of the body.

• There are aslo fifteen fine currents of prana, called nadis. Nadi means nerve or current of energy, or
blood.
• They carry impulses to and from the brain. Their names are sushumna, ida, pingala, gandhari, hastijihwa,
poosha, ashwini, shoora, kuhoo, saraswati, varuni, alambusha, vishvodari, shankhini and chittra. In all,
there are 72,000 nadis in the body which carry the finer sensations.
• Three are very important: ida, pingala and sushumna, because they carry the currents of higher
knowledge.
• Sushumna is the most important. It is a very fine nadi situated in the spinal cord, and goes up to ajna
chakra.
• The three major nadis emerge from mooladhara and meet at ajna chakra. Triveni is a place in India
where the three rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, meet.
• Mooladhara is called muktatriveni and ajna chakra is called yuktatriveni. Within the framework of
sushumna there are two more nadis: the outer one is vajra nadi while the inner one is chittra nadi.
Within chittra is a finer canal known as brahma nadi.

• The breathing process has a definite timetable; the movement of the moon influences the movement
and control of swara or breath.
• Breathing controls thinking as well as the past, present and future. In twenty-four hours one breathes
predominantly through the right nostril for one hour, then the left nostril, alternating twelve times. The
left nostril is called ida, or chandra; the right nostril pingala or surya.
• Similarly, ida is called Ganga and pingala is called Yamuna. After every hour, the breath changes position in
the nostrils.
• During the change from ida to pingala or from pingala to ida, sushumna flows momentarily. This we
know from the science called Shiva Swarodaya.
• On the first three days of the bright fortnight of the moon, the left nostril flows at sunrise, and after
every hour the nostrils change.
• On the next three days, the right nostril flows for one hour after sunrise. During the dark fortnight of the
moon, the right nostril flows at sunrise on the first three days.

• Thus the cycle changes every three days. During illness this order may change. Disease can be predicted with the
help of swara yoga.
• Heavy work can be done when pingala is flowing and light work when ida is flowing. Meditation should be
practised when sushumna is flowing.
• The flow in the nostrils can be changed by certain practices. By closing the eyes and meditating on the left
nostril, it can be made to flow, but this depends on the depth of concentration.
• The right nostril can be made to flow by lying on the left side and pressing the armpit with a pillow.
Another method is by plugging the opposite nostril with cotton wool.
• There are many other ways.
• Breathing in pranayama should be done very slowly. Those who breathe slowly and deeply live longer. The
hare breathes 80 times per minute and lives for eight years.
• The monkey breathes 32 times a minute and lives for ten years.
• The dog lives for twelve years and the horse for 25 years. They breathe 29 times and 19 times per minute respectively.

• Human beings breathe 13 times per minute and should live for 120 years.The snake lives for 1,000 years and
breathes only eight times a minute, and the tortoise breathes five times a minute and lives for 3,000 years.
This shows the importance of breath retention.
• The kumbhaka involved in this sutra is of the outer type, in which the breath is held outside after rechaka.
• Sutra 35: (iv) Or by observing sense experience
• Viṣayavati vā pravṛttirutpannā manasaḥ sthitinibandhani
• Viṣayavati : sensuous; vā: or; pravṛttih: functioning; utpannā: arisen; manasaḥ: of
• the mind; sthiti: steadiness; nibandhani : which binds
Or else the mind can be made steady by bringing it into activity of sense experience.
• This sutra describes an additional technique which may be followed by those who are not able to practise
Ishwara pranidhana, or even maha bandha or pranayama.
• It is true that many aspirants find it difficult to practise pranayama on account of a lack of proper guidance, or
due to inefficiency, or lack of proper nutrition.

• This sutra provides a simpler method of bringing the mind under control through arousing an activity of sense
perception.
• Here the mind is made to observe itself in sense perception; that is, perception through the senses of
seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching.
• By merging the mental consciousness into these sense perceptions, the mind comes under control.
• That is to say, the mental consciousness can be merged into sound consciousness by repetition of mantras,
bhajan, kirtan, etc.
• A sophisticated person may not find this interesting, but it is true that if one goes deep, one can control the
mind by making it sound conscious. This is a principle of nada yoga.
• The mind can also be controlled by making it form-conscious through trataka, which is concentration on a
particular form, and similarly, in the case of touch-consciousness and taste-consciousness.
• The former happens when the guru touches the disciple on the head, and the latter is brought about by
khechari mudra.

• By concentrating the mind on the tip of the nose, a subtle or psychic smell is experienced, which can
be utilized for controlling the mind.
• Taste consciousness is developed by concentrating on the front part of the tongue. Colour visions are
developed by concentrating on the palate in khechari mudra.
• Psychic touch is experienced by concentrating on the central part of the tongue. Psychic sound is
developed by concentrating on the root of the tongue.
• All these psychic processes become the basis of self-control. When these psychic processes are
developed, the student starts concentrating on them.
• In due course his mind transcends them and goes deeper. That is a state of complete mental control. All
this involves the action of the senses, the indriyas, in dharana and pratyahara.
• In certain Buddhist schools of meditation, the priests beat drums and meditate on the sound.
• It is a very elementary sadhana but it is useful for many of us.

• The singer may sing only one line or only one song for hours together, with the eyes and ears closed to
everything else except the sound of the bhajan.
• This is one of the elementary sadhanas but it is important insofar as it can easily lead to dharana and
dhyana. Kirtan is also one of the easy, yet effective sadhanas.
• It is done with one person leading and others following. There are different methods in different
provinces.
Sometimes it can continue for twenty-four hours or even longer and produces wonderful effects on the
audience.
• Sutra 36: (v) Or by inner illumination
• Viśokā vā jyotiṣmati
• Viśokā: without sorrow; vā: or; jyotiṣmati :
• luminous, full of light
• Or the luminous state which is beyond sorrow (can control the mind).

• The mind can be made steady and controlled by manifesting the serene luminosity within by concentrating on nada, or
on bhrumadhya, the center of the eyebrows.
• The inner illumination is very serene, calm, quiet and peaceful; it is not a sharp illumination. It can be experienced while
doing deep meditation. It is of two types.
• In sleep, sometimes there is a sudden explosion of light which is very disturbing. Patanjali is not talking about it here; he
means the inner light which is quiet.
• The mind can be brought under control by experiencing that serene light. There are many methods through which the
light can be seen.
• One of them is concentration on the center of the eyebrows; another one is concentration on nada (sound).
Sutra 37: (vi) Or by detachment from matter
• Vi tarāgaviṣayaṃ vā chittam
• Vi tarāga: passionless person who has transcended raga; viṣayaṃ:
• object; vā: or, also; chittam: mind

Or else the mind can be brought under control by making passionless persons the object for
concentrating the mind.
• Vitaraga is a person who has renounced raga, that is, human passion.
• By concentrating the mind on such persons, it can be made steady and controlled.
• Therefore, in the ancient meditative traditions it has been advised to use symbols of ishta devata
and guru, as they represent an idea of some power transcending the human passions or of
someone who has achieved this state by force of sadhana.
• Passion or any emotion is pure, raw, uncontrolled energy which can alter the normal state of
perception either negatively or positively.
• By transmuting this raw energy, it has been proved possible to bring together the dissipated
energies of the mind, focus them on the object of attention and make the psyche as powerful as a
laser beam.

Sutra 38: (vii) Or by knowledge of dream and sleep
Svapnanidrājñānālambanaṃ vā
Svapna: dream; nidrā: sleep; jñāna: knowledge; ālambana: support; vā: or, also
Or else (the mind can be made steady) by giving it the knowledge of dream and sleep for support.
• The mind can be controlled by developing the method of conscious dreaming and conscious
sleeping. Conscious sleeping is the last state in antar mouna.
• There is a method of seeing dreams consciously, but it is dangerous and only a few can practise it. This
process may be beneficial, especially for those who are psychic.
• In conscious sleeping and dreaming, one develops consciousness of the states of dream and sleep.
Usually we have unconscious dreams; they are experienced but not witnessed.
• We have no control over that, but in this method recommended here, the aspirant is able to
introduce them and control them consciously.

• We can control our thoughts by conscious thought control, subconscious thought control or unconscious thought
control.
• In this process not only the conscious actions and the intellect are controlled, but even the subconscious actions.
During conscious dreams one does not hear anything from outside.
• In conscious sleep one goes on reading the book of sleep. Awareness of these two states can be made the support
on which the mind can be concentrated. It is meant only for people who are psychic.
Sutra 39: (viii) Or by meditation as desired
Yathābhimatadhyānādvā
Yathā: as; abhimata: desired; dhyanāt: by meditation; vā: or
• Or else by meditation as desired (mind can be steadied).
• Here complete freedom is given. This is because dhyana on an object that one likes, such as the object of
devotion, is the surest way of making the mind steady, controlled and peaceful.
• It is immaterial what object one takes for dhyana. It may be the cross, or the swastika, or an idol, or simply
Aum – whatever is agreeable (abhimata). An aspirant should choose for himself that object on which he can
concentrate his mind.

Sutra 40: Fruits of meditation
Paramāṇuparamamahattvānto'sya vaśi kāraḥ
Paramāṇu: ultimate atom; paramamahattva: ultimate largeness; antah:
ending; asya: of his; vaśi kāraḥ: mastery
So the yogi is given mastery over all objects for meditation ranging from the smallest atom to the infinitely
large.
• The question may be asked, namely, are these practices described in the previous sutras capable of giving
rise to samadhi? The reply is: no.
• One cannot attain samadhi by these practices, but one can definitely attain the psychic or spiritual power
necessary for the finer stages of samadhi.
• This is just like passing the higher secondary examination and becoming qualified for entrance into college.
So, by practising the various sadhanas mentioned, the aspirant acquires mastery over the finest atom as
well as the greatest infinity.

• He becomes a master of the finest as well as the largest forces. These sadhanas confer on him the power of omnipotence.
• These practices are very necessary for making progress towards the subtle perception of the finer states of
samadhi.
• Just as the scientist arrives at the finer conception of matter and energy, likewise the yogi becomes capable of
practising concentration even on subtle thought and also on infinity.
• We find people who are unable to grasp the subtle meaning of things because they have no mastery over their
mind. The above-mentioned concentration practices can make the consciousness very refined.
• The mind can be introverted at will.
• This is observed equally in the case of solving problems of mathematics or science or meditation. With training,
the mind can be made to concentrate properly.
• The first psychic power in yoga is the achievement of this mastery. Then the mind can be fixed on any object,
gross or subtle.
• There is an interesting example. When Swami Vivekananda was in the USA, he used to borrow several books
from a library every day and return them the next day.

• The librarian, wondering if so many books could be read in a single day, wanted to test the swami, but
to his astonishment he noticed that the swami remembered every word and line he had read.
• This is how a yogi has control over the finest and largest.
• A person can go into samadhi only when he is able to perceive even the ideas and thoughts. This is
because in the finer states of samadhi one has to pick up the dynamic consciousness and hold on to it.
• There are states of samadhi wherein the aspirant has nothing but the awareness of the effort of control
that he has been making.
• That effort has to be brought as an idea and then it has to be thrown out. It is very difficult to
understand this. In that state one is able to annihilate all other thoughts except the thought of
elimination.
• That can only be done if one has mastery over the four processes which are not the conscious
thoughtprocesses.

• In the finer states of samadhi, one has to have mastery of the name, the form, and the object meant by the
name; for example, the name cow, the form cow and the object cow.
• The difference has to be known. This is not possible without training, because through habit we are usually
prone to mixing up all these three things together in our understanding.
• A yogi who has control over his mind can understand factors separately. Unless this is achieved, it is
impossible to get ahead in meditation.
• One has to be able to practise meditation on the object without the intervention of word or form.
Sadhana Pada
Sutra 29: Eight parts of yoga discipline
Yamaniyamāsanaprāṇāyāmapratyāhāradhāraṇādhyānasamādhayo'ṣṭāvaṅgāni
Yama: self-restraints; niyama: fixed rules; āsana: postures; prāṇāyāma: breath control; pratyāhāra: sense
withdrawal; dhāraṇā: concentration; dhyāna: meditation; samādhi: samadhi; aṣṭa: eight; aṅgāni: parts

Self restraints, fixed rules, postures, breath control, sense withdrawal, concentration,
meditation and samadhi constitute the eight parts of yoga discipline.
• With this sutra we begin the topic of raja yoga. It is usually felt that meditation is yoga, but it actually
includes a vast range of disciplines, conditioning and purification of the mental apparatus.
• The raja yoga of Patanjali is divided into eight limbs, and these eight limbs are interdependent and of
similar value. Yama, niyama, asana, pranayama and pratyahara form the external aspect, bahiranga, or
exoteric yoga. Dharana, dhyana, and samadhi form the internal aspect, antaranga yoga.
• It is interesting to note that the entire range of yoga is divided into two: bahiranga and antaranga.
Bahiranga means the yoga which is practised with the objects outside, in relation to the body, society
and many other things outside oneself.
• Asana, pranayama, yama, niyama and pratyahara form bahiranga yoga. Dharana, dhyana and samadhi
form esoteric yoga because in these practices you switch yourself off from the objective to the
subjective method of contemplation.

• The external and internal means are interdependent. It may be possible for a few people who are born with great
samskaras to be able to practise meditation directly without going through the initial stages of yama and niyama.
• For most of us it is necessary to go ahead step by step, beginning from yama and niyama because in a life lacking
restraint and discipline there is the possibility of an unconscious explosion, which might create mental derangement.
• Sometimes such explosions take place in meditation and there is a disturbance due to these impurities. It is one of the
main reasons for failure in meditation.
• Meditation should not be practised in a hurry; there should be no haste. Every stage of raja yoga makes
way for the next higher stage, therefore, all these parts are interdependent.
• The boundaries cannot be previously known; they can be known through experience. It is one complete
path leading the aspirant upwards.
• The eightfold division is made just to make the aspirant alert. Yama and niyama are universal in nature
because they are respected everywhere.
• The wisest way for the aspirant would be to practise all these stages as slowly as possible, so that there is no reaction
due to suppression.

• The preliminary part of raja yoga must be practised in the presence of a group with whom the aspirant
must live for some time.
• When the entire mind is set into a pattern, you can go back to society and live with people. Society
everywhere has been exploiting the individual, trying to take him away from the spiritual goal.
Therefore, for some time the whole structure of the aspirant must be conditioned in the presence of
the guru.
Sutra 30: The five yamas
Ahiṃsāsatyāsteyabrahmacharyāparigrahā yamāḥ
• Ahiṃsā: non-violence; satya: truthfulness; asteya: honesty; brahmacharya: sensual abstinence;
aparigrahā: non-acquisitiveness; yamāḥ: self-restraints.
• Non-violence, truth, honesty, sensual abstinence and non-possessiveness are the five self-restraints.
• This sutra names the yamas. They will be discussed individually in the following sutras, so it is not
necessary to explain them here.

Sutra 31: The great disciplines
Jātideśakālasamayānavachchhinnāḥ sārvabhaumā mahāvratam
Jāti: class of birth; deśa: country, or place; kāla: time; samaya: circumstances; anavachchhinnāḥ:
unconditioned, unlimited; sārvabhaumā: universal; mahāvratam: the great discipline
When practised universally without exception due to birth, place, time and circumstances
they (yamas) become great disciplines.
It is observed that place, time, birth, etc., cause hindrances in the practice of the yamas. It is difficult to
practise them without exception due to personal limitations, but it is recommended that they should be
practised universally without exception. There should be no modification due to differences in country, birth,
time, place and circumstances.

Sutra 32: The five niyamas
Śauchasantoṣatapaḥsvādhyāyeśvara praṇidhānāni niyamāḥ
Śaucha: cleanliness; santoṣa: contentment; tapaḥ: tapas, austerity; svādhyāya: self-study; i śvara
praṇidhānāni: surrender to God; niyamāḥ: fixed rules
Cleanliness, contentment, austerity, self-study and surrender to God constitute fixed observances.
Sutra 33: Way to remove disturbances
Vitarkabādhane pratipakṣabhāvanam
Vitarka: passions; bādhane: on disturbance; pratipakṣa: the opposite; bhāvanam: pondering over
When the mind is disturbed by passions one should practise pondering over their opposites.
• During the practice of yama and niyama, evil passions come up due to old habits, evil tendencies and so
on, and they create disturbances.
• Suppression will not do. The best thing is to ponder over the opposite tendencies.

• Thus hate is to be won over by love because they are the opposite of each other. So when there is vitarka,
or disturbance due to evil thoughts, students should practise pratipaksha bhavana.
• For example, if one wants to be honest, one sometimes sees that dishonest people succeed in life, while
honest people meet with failure.
• This may give rise to the evil thought that one should also be dishonest. This is vitarka; it is the wrong side
of the argument. When this wrong side is advanced by the mind, it creates a disturbance and may mislead
the aspirant. In this situation the opposite of dishonesty, which is honesty, should be cultivated through
pondering over it.
• When it comes to mind that honesty does not pay and nobody cares for an honest person, one should be
ready with the opposite argument, namely, that it is only through honesty that one can succeed on the
spiritual path. This is called pratipaksha bhavana.

Sutra 34: Their degree and nature
Vitarkā hiṃsādayaḥ kṛtakāritānumoditā lobhakrodhamohapūrvakā
mṛdumadhyādhimātrā duḥkhājñānānantaphalā iti pratipakṣabhāvanam
• Vitarkā: evil passions; hiṃsādayaḥ: violence and others; kṛta: done by one’s self; kārita: done through
others; anumoditā; approved; lobha: greed; krodha: anger; moha: confusion; pūrvaka: preceded by;
mṛdu: mild; madhya: medium; adhimātrā: intense; duḥkha: pain; ajñāna: ignorance; ananta: infinite;
phalāḥ: results; iti: like that; pratipakṣa: opposite; bhāvanam: thinking
• Thinking of evil thoughts such as violence, whether done through oneself, through others, or
approved, is caused by greed, anger and confusion. They can be either mild, medium or intense.
Pratipaksha bhavana is thinking that these evil thoughts cause infinite pain and ignorance.
• Sometimes an individual does not practise violence himself, but he may have it done through others, or
he may tolerate it being done by others.

• This is to be avoided in yoga because one is held responsible even when one tolerates violence or has it
done through others. This also applies to other vitarkas such as falsehood, theft and so on.
• Sometimes these vitarkas are done because of greed, or anger, or confusion, but all of them must be
avoided. The vitarkas may be either mild, medium or intense, but they must be wiped out, irrespective of
their cause, intensity and effect.
• All these evil passions beget two things ultimately – pain and ignorance.
• If this is realized or argued in the negative state of your mind, it becomes pratipaksha bhavana. One may
think of eating or drinking prohibited things, but if one realizes it will do harm, the argument would be
pratipaksha bhavana.
• When it is introduced, the mind overcomes evil passions, a positive complex is formed, and then the
aspirant can follow the spiritual path of yama and niyama without difficulty.

Sutra 35: Fruits of (i) ahimsa
Ahiṃsāpratiṣṭhāyāṃ tatsaṃnidhau vairatyāgaḥ
Ahiṃsā: non-violence; pratiṣṭhāyāṃ: on being firmly established; tatsaṃnidhau: in its
vicinity; vaira: hostility; tyāgaḥ: abandonment
On being firmly established in ahimsa, there is abandonment of hostility in his vicinity.
• Ahimsa means love, harmlessness, non-killing, non-violence. It means absence of enmity, hostility and
harm. For the spiritual aspirant it should mean absence of any harmful intention whatsoever.
• Pratishtha means being firmly established.
• When one is established in ahimsa, there develops a kind of magnetism around one that influences
anybody who approaches. One becomes free of a very dangerous, evil complex – that of violence and
hostility.
• In Indian history there have been many great people who could convert even the most cruel and devilish
hearts. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a devotee of ahimsa, did not harbour any ill will but he too had enemies
and he was finally shot down.

• This shows how difficult it is to practise ahimsa. Lord Buddha had developed the practice of ahimsa so
much that he converted any cruel person into a kind-hearted one.
• Once he faced a cruel dacoit (robber) who had come to kill him and by his mere look, the dacoit was
converted. This is the power of ahimsa.
• In the ashram of Patanjali, the cow, goat and tiger could live, eat and drink together because of the
ahimsa practised by the great sage.
• It is very easy to say that we should be non-violent, that we should love each other, but the concept of
love is too great for us to understand.
• For us love means security or defence against the fear of death, and nothing more. It is a psychological
necessity but love is actually something much greater.
• Christ was crucified, Mohammed was stoned by his opponents, the great Sufi saint Mansoor was
tortured by the Muslims and his skin was peeled off. All these men had enemies but in India there have
been many who had no enemies because they practised ahimsa perfectly.

• The most important thing is not to oppose even violent people. That is also ahimsa and if the whole thing
is discussed more deeply, then it means that you practise elimination of the complex of enmity,
disapproval.
• In India such a person is called ajata shatru, born without an enemy.
• Thus it seems that even the great saints and prophets were not firmly established in ahimsa. For example,
Buddha, Lord Krishna and Shankara used to criticize and oppose other schools of philosophy, but the
yogic logic says that ahimsa must be practised completely.
• There should be a dignified way of facing the irregularities in society. That is what satyagraha means.
• So, this sutra means that when the aspirant is firmly established in ahimsa, when even the last traces of
hostility are finished, the soul unfolds itself from within in a magnetic form and that magnetic form is called
vairatyagah, which is abandonment of hostility.
• Thus even the killing of animals should be given up. The Jain cult is famous for ahimsa in India.

Sutra 36: Fruits of (ii) satya
Satyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ kriyāphalāśrayatvam
Satya: truthfulness; pratiṣṭhāyāṃ: on being firmly established; kriyā: action; phala: result or
fruit; āśrayatvam: basis
On being firmly established in truthfulness, the actions result in fruits, entirely depending on it.
• When the aspirant becomes established in truthfulness by practising it as a universal law, unconditioned by
time, country, birth and circumstance, then he develops a kind of divine buddhi in himself.
• Thereby he is able to acquire the result from his karma according to his wish. Usually the result of karma is
independent of our wishes but it is not so with a person who has perfected truthfulness.
• This sutra may also be interpreted to mean that the truthful aspirant develops truth of speech. Whatever
he speaks will come true, whatever he says happens.
• In yoga this is called psychic speech. By the practice of truthfulness he develops a power in himself and his
mind becomes so clear, like a mirror, that it reflects what is to happen through his speech.

• Thus, the result of any action is absolutely dependent on him, not on change or prarabdha.
• Or, it may be said that one who has developed truthfulness to such a high degree is able to
perfectly weigh every word he utters.
• Perhaps it is because he has complete control over his speech, but this is very difficult.
• Only that person can speak truth who knows how to weigh each word; it becomes a condition of
his speech. He does not express anything without weighing the words with spiritual power.
• Through this he can put a great restraint on the vehicle of speech so that whatever comes from
the mouth of such a person comes true.
• These are the two meanings of the sutra.
• Firstly, it means that whatever he speaks comes true and, secondly, it means that the result of
actions follow from his will.

Sutra 37: Fruits of (iii) asteya
Asteya pratiṣṭhāyāṃ sarvaratnopasthānam
Asteya: honesty; pratiṣṭhāyāṃ: on being firmly established; sarva: all; ratna: gems;
upasthānam: self-presentation
On being firmly established in honesty, all gems present themselves.
• When the spiritual aspirant is established in the yogic virtue of honesty, he develops within himself a
power of cognition like clairvoyance or intuitive awareness.
• It is exactly the same faculty possessed by water diviners. Through this cognizing faculty the aspirant
becomes aware of valuable stones and jewels nearby.
• We have some persons, like Swami Sivananda, who could know how much wealth an approaching
person had.
• This is a kind of intuitive awareness, possible on account of absolute, unconditional, universal honesty.
Its aim is to render the entire life clean, in order to purify the entire structure of personality.

• When this is done, the personality becomes like a mirror in which the divine mind is reflected.
• When the mirror is clean, you can see your face clearly in it.
• The virtue of asteya or honesty brings about a kind of awareness by which you become aware of hidden wealth.
Sutra 38: Fruits of (iv) brahmacharya
Brahmacharyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ vi ryalābhaḥ
Brahmacharya: sexual abstinence; pratiṣṭhāyāṃ: on being firmly established; vi rya: indomitable courage;
lābhaḥ: gain On being firmly established in brahmacharya, veerya is gained.
On being firmly established in brahmacharya, veerya is gained.
• Brahma means supreme being and charya means living, but here the word brahmacharya means eight
kinds of sexual contentment. Veerya means semen, about which it is said that one drop is made out of
forty drops of blood.
• Veerya creates vitality. It is the essence of life which ultimately converts itself into energy. Many scientists
have said that veerya is nothing but hormonal secretions; however, Patanjali does not agree with this.

• Veerya also means indomitable courage, which is essential for sadhana. Thus, when firmly established in
brahmacharya, the yogi gains vigour, energy and courage, whereby he becomes free of the fear of death.
• Thus brahmacharya is an important way of overcoming the klesha called abhinivesha, which means fear of
death. Brahmacharya is eightfold.
• It is well known in yoga that there is an intimate connection between physical energy and spiritual energy. In
order to bring about spiritual potentiality, it is necessary to conserve physical energy, known as ojas. It is
formed by conservation of veerya.
• When the physical fluid called semen is conserved and converted into ojas, that is called reta or seminal
energy. When it is sublimated and drawn inward, it produces energy and the whole body is filled with it. Such
a man is called urdhvareta.
• It is said in an Upanishad that by practising brahmacharya the gods completely killed the fear of death.
Bhishma, for example, was without fear of death because he had practised brahmacharya. He was a great
warrior; he had controlled death.

• He did not die on the battlefield, but he died according to his will. This was because he had not lost even a single drop of
blood outside his body during his whole lifetime.
Sutra 39: Fruits of (v) aparigraha
Aparigrahasthairye janmakathantāsambodhaḥ
Aparigraha: non-possessiveness; sthairye: on becoming steady; janma: birth; kathantā: how and from where;
sambodhaḥ: knowledge
On becoming steady in non-possessiveness, there arises the knowledge of how and from where birth
(comes).
• Aparigraha is one of the most important virtues. It means giving up the tendency to accumulate objects of
utility and enjoyment.
• The aspirant keeps only those objects that are essential for living. This keeps the mind unoccupied and also
he does not have to worry about anything because there in nothing there to be protected.
• Many aspirants do not even touch fire and have only one set of clothes. They do not stay in one place. Their
mind is so free and relaxed and they are always ready to do any duty anywhere.

• This is aparigraha. After deconditioning the mind sufficiently, the aspirant can have other comforts such as a chair, table
and so on if he has to do special kinds of work.
• The samskaras of possessiveness must first be completely washed away and then one can start a new life.
• Thus aparigraha is a temporary course of sadhana in an aspirant’s life. If this particular sadhana is continued
beyond reasonable limits, it gives rise to weakness and obsession.
• However, it is necessary to practise in the beginning in order to break the old habits. When they are broken,
one can have different things which are needed for social work and service to humanity.
• When this sadhana is firmly established, the aspirant comes to know about the previous birth – its kind, its
time and its reason.
• Similarly, one can even know the next birth. Just as by seeing a cloud you know that there will be rain,
similarly, you know about the previous or the next birth by being firmly established in aparigraha.

Sutra 40: Fruits of (vi) shaucha
Śauchātsvāṅgajugupsā parairasaṃsargaḥ
Śauchāt: from cleanliness; svāṅga: one’s own body; jugupsā: indifference; paraih: with
others; asaṃsargaḥ: non-attachment
From cleanliness there comes indifference towards body and non- attachment to others.
• From this sutra begins the discussion of the niyamas.
• These are fixed disciplines necessary for the practice of meditation and samadhi. All these are the
means and not the end.
• The first rule, namely, cleanliness or purity, is described in this sutra.
• It is said that by practising bodily or physical cleanliness you develop in the course of time a kind of
indifference towards your own body.
• At the same time a kind of non-attachment to others is also developed.

Sutra 41: Shaucha
Sattvaśuddhisaumanasyaikāgryendriyajayātmadarśanayogyatvāni cha
Sattvaśuddhi: purity of internal being; saumanasya: cheerfulness; ekāgrya: one-pointedness;
indriyajaya: control of senses; ātmadarśana: vision of the self; yogyatvāni: fitness; cha: and
By the practice of mental purity one acquires fitness for cheerfulness, one-pointedness, sense control and vision
of the self.
This is also found described in the Bhagavad Gita. When the mind is purified or when mental purity is practised,
one becomes fit to practise cheerfulness, concentration and sense control, and because of mental cleanliness, one
is able to see the vision of one’s self.
Sutra 42: Fruits of (vii) santosha
Santoṣādanuttamasukhalābhaḥ
Santoṣāt: from contentment; anuttamah: unexcelled; sukha: pleasure, happiness; lābhaḥ: gain

Unexcelled happiness comes from the practice of contentment.
• Contentment is one of the fixed rules for a spiritual aspirant who is very serious about the higher aspect of
yoga and realization.
• It is impossible for one who is dissatisfied with oneself or with anything else in life to realize the higher
consciousness.
• Dissatisfaction is one of the great veils of avidya and therefore it is to be removed, because it causes many
undesirable complexes and brings about a state of psychic illness, and if the mind is ill, no sadhana is
possible.
• One who wants to attain meditation must practise yama and niyama.
• The awareness in meditation must be made free of all the mental errors, veils and complexes; therefore,
one must practise santosha (contentment).
• The happiness that comes from it is unparalleled. As a result one can go very deep in meditation. In the
absence of contentment, different mental complexes come into play and such a person is unfit for
meditation.

Sutra 43: Fruits of (viii) tapas
Kāyendriyasiddhiraśuddhikṣayāttapasaḥ
Kāya: the body; indriya: sense organ; siddhi: perfection; aśuddhi: impurity; kṣayāt: destruction; tapasaḥ: by
austerities By practicing austerities, impurities are destroyed and there comes perfection in the body and
sense organs.
By practising austerities, impurities are destroyed and there comes perfection in the body and sense
organs.
• Meditation requires a perfect body and sense organs. All the organs must be healthy and perfect,
otherwise meditation is disturbed.
• There may be pain in the joints or there may be toxins produced in the body. Those who practise
meditation with an unhealthy body may suffer.
• If you want to meditate for a long time every day, you must have a perfect body. It is not a joke to sit
down for hours at a stretch, so in this sutra Patanjali recommends that the body and sense organs be
perfected for meditation.

• The body should be held erect and there should be no uneasiness or discomfort in meditation due to weakness of an
organ.
• All the functions of the body, such as breathing, circulation, digestion and excretion, must go on perfectly,
and for this it is necessary to practise tapas.
• This is not the tapas of kriya. It involves subjecting the body to hardships so that it can endure heat, cold,
poisons and so on. For meditation a strong body is required.
• Physical impurities should be removed from the brain, eyes, ears, nose, skin and so on. For this, austerities
are very helpful. There are five types of austerities:
1. Exposing the body to the sun to make the skin hard.
2. Subjecting the body to the heat of fire to make it slim and brown.
3. Doing pranayama to create heat in the body.
4. Developing the fire of concentration on one point.
5. The fire of fasting.
These five fires remove toxins and harden the body so that it becomes fit for
meditation.

Sutra 44: Fruits of (ix) swadhyaya
Svādhyāyādiṣṭadevatāsamprayogaḥ
Svādhyāyāt: by self-awareness, self-observation; iṣṭadevatā: the deity of choice;
samprayogaḥ: communion
By self-observation, union with the desired deity is brought about.
• Swadhyaya means closing the eyes and observing one’s own self, as in antar mouna.
• When it is practised, it gives rise to a faculty by which one is able to concentrate deeply on the god or
goddess of choice.
Sutra 45: Fruits of (x) Ishwara pranidhana
Samādhisiddhiri śvarapraṇidhānāt
Samādhi: trance; siddhi: perfection, i śvara: God; praṇidhānāt: selfsurrender

Success in trance comes by complete surrender to God.
• By complete surrender to God, which is very difficult, one is able to develop a state of trance. It is not
exactly the samadhi which was described in the previous chapter.
• It is a kind of trance in which the aspirant loses body awareness and is able to start with deeper
awareness and remain in a state of complete tranquillity and union.
• It is possible by complete surrender to God. Here God means the idea of the aspirant regarding the
deity.
• This technique of Ishwara pranidhana is also included in kriya yoga, but there its objective is different.
Here it is described as a part of the discipline of fixed rules.
• It is employed here mainly for removing hindrances in the body and mind so that there is spiritual
awareness of meditation. Thus the student has to undergo the practice of the five yamas and niyamas.

Sutra 46: Asana
Sthirasukhamāsanam
Sthira: steady; sukham: comfortable; āsanam: posture
Steady and comfortable should be the posture.
• The word asana is used for the meditation posture. Asana here does not mean the physical yoga exercises.
Generally, this word asana is taken to mean yogic exercises, but here it only means a posture which is
meant for meditation.
• For example, swastikasana, siddhasana, padmasana, sthirasana and sukhasana are the asanas meant for
meditation, but there is no bar to other postures being counted as asanas.
• Since the word literally means a method of sitting, we have to understand it that way. It is only later on
that the rishis included other exercises in the system of asana, such as sirshasana, etc.
• There is no harm if a raja yogi practises these asanas. It does not mean that they are unnecessary just
because they are not included in the sutras of Patanjali.

• Thus the asanas that bring about a state of equilibrium in the body should also be practised, though they are not
mentioned by Patanjali.
Sutra 47: How to master asana
Prayatnaśaithilyānantasamāpattibhyām
Prayatna: effort; śaithilya: looseness; ananta: the serpent called ananta; samāpattibhyām:
by meditation
By loosening of effort and by meditation on the serpent ananta, asana is mastered.
• In order to become perfect, steady and comfortable in the asana which one has selected for meditation,
one has to overcome tension and effort.
• So there should be relaxation of effort; there should be perfect relaxation in the asana. Secondly, the mind
must be concentrated on ananta.
• The word ananta means endless. It also means the snake on which Lord Vishnu rests in the ocean of milk.
So, symbolically, ananta means serpent, but in this sutra the serpent refers to the kundalini shakti.

• The student should concentrate on the serpent power in the mooladhara chakra, or any other method of concentrating
on the kundalini should be employed.
• The word relaxation or loosening of effort means that you should not struggle or apply any force. The asana
must be perfectly relaxed and without any muscular or nervous tension.
• So, whichever asana one may be able to practise without effort, such as siddhasana or padmasana or
swastikasana, should be taken up for meditation.
Sutra 48: Result of this mastery
Tato dvandvānabhighātaḥ
Tatah: from that; dvandva: pairs of opposites; anabhighātaḥ: no Impact
Thereby the pairs of opposites cease to have any impact.
• Dvandvas (pairs of opposites) belong to the physical as well as the mental realms.
• Those belonging to the physical level are heat and cold, hunger and thirst, pain and so on.

• The psychic or mental dvandvas are happiness and sorrow. Every now and then our mind is subjected to
them by circumstances.
• This causes a disturbance. On hot days we perspire and are restless and when winter comes it is very cold.
Thus, in summer we want to be cold and in winter we like heat.
• This is how the pairs of opposites disturb the mind. A student must develop resistance to these, physical as
well as mental, and that is only possible through yama, niyama and asana.
• These dvandvas must be overcome if we want to make progress in meditation, so our resistance must be
increased to overcome the disturbance and hindrance caused by the dvandvas.
• All the dvandvas, such as heat and cold, joy and sorrow, must be overcome. It must be possible to maintain
mental and physical equilibrium.

• Moods should not change from moment to moment. The body should not be disturbed by heat and cold.
• Thus there should be physical and psychic resistance.
• Resistance plays a great role in counteracting micro-organisms.
• Thus, when there is an infectious disease in the family, like a cold or influenza, the family members are
advised to keep away from the patient, whose resistance is lowered by this disease.
• Our mind becomes weak if we think about disease.
• There are many weaknesses in the personality which bring down the level of resistance, but a spiritual
aspirant must have a high level of resistance, which can be brought about by the practice of asana.
Sutra 49: Pranayama
Tasminsati śvāsapraśvāsayorgativichchhedaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ
Tasmin: on that; sati: having been; śvasapraśvāsayah: inhalation, exhalation; gati: movement;
vichchhedaḥ: break, cessation; prāṇāyāmaḥ: pranayama

• The asana having been done, pranayama is the cessation of the movement of inhalation and
exhalation.
• After he has perfected yama, niyama and asana sufficiently, the aspirant should take up pranayama.
It is the cessation of inhalation and expiration.
• There is neither rechaka nor puraka, there is only kumbhaka.
• It should be noted that pranayama is not deep breathing. Similarly, retaining the breath once only as
long as one can do so is not the way of pranayama.
• Prana means breath, ayama is lengthening or widening through control. When breathing is
controlled so as to retain the breath, it is pranayama.
• It is interesting to note that serpents, elephants, tortoises and so on live long lives because they
perform the act of respiration fewer times per minute than human beings.
• The life of a human being can also be prolonged if the breath is retained, but this requires training as
well as practice.

• It is said that prana is like a wild elephant. If you want to tame the prana, you will have to take as much care
as you would while taming a wild elephant.
• There must be steadiness and patience; there should be no hurry or haste. Retention must be practised
slowly and with care.
• If there is any drawback, either physically or mentally, then the practice must be stopped for a few days or
months. Atmospheric conditions, food habits, age, physical condition and other factors must be considered
before beginning the practice.
• There should be sufficient caution. In hatha yoga it is clearly stated that breath control should not be
practised in the physical asanas. It is wrong to control the breath in certain physical postures.
• There are certain other postures in which pranayama may be practised, but the student must know in which
exercises to practise it and in which exercises to avoid it.
• For this, there should be a clear understanding of the meaning of prana. It has nothing to do with the lungs
and much to do with the life current.

• The ultimate aim of pranayama is to be able to retain the breath. There are three types of pranayama,
namely, puraka, rechaka and kumbhaka.
• The fourth type, called kevala kumbhaka, is of two types: antaranga and bahiranga. Retention of breath
brings about a certain condition in the brain, a certain change in the spinal cord, as well as in the physical
body. Pranayama influences the nervous system and thereby the brain.
• It does not have much to do with the lungs. Puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka produce different effects in
the body.
• Thus, stopping the breath either inside or outside is the meaning of pranayama. The ayama – the
distance or length of prana – is increased but the number of respirations per minute is decreased.
• Thus, if we breathe normally fourteen times per minute, in pranayama we breathe only once or twice per
minute.

Sutra 50: Three kinds of pranayama
Bāhyābhyantarastambhavṛttirdeśakālasaṅkhyābhiḥ paridṛṣṭo dirghasūkṣmaḥ
Bāhyah: outer; abhyantara: internal; stambhavṛttih: suppressed stage; deśa: place; kāla:
time; saṅkhyābhiḥ: number; paridriṣṭah: measured; di rgha: prolonged; sūkṣmaḥ: subtle
Pranayama is external, internal or suppressed, regulated by place, time and number and becomes
prolonged and subtle.
• Pranayama has three stages called puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka. Practice depends on the place of
practice, whether it is a tropical or a temperate climate.
• It is also dependent on local diet. A detailed description of the rules are given in the hatha yoga books.
• Time means the relative duration of puraka, rechaka and kumbhaka. It also means the time of the
year or the season.
• Thus, if you practise twenty rounds during winter, you should practise ten rounds during summer.
Samkhya means the number of rounds.

• This is determined by the number of matras or units of time. Thus, pranayama is regulated by desha, kala and samkhya.
• The technique of pranayama must be learnt from a guru. When you start, the relative duration should be
6:8:6 in the beginning.
• Finally, you can go 20:80:40. Here it becomes 1:4:2; that is, one unit of time for puraka, four units of time
for kumbhaka, and two units of time for rechaka.
• A matra is the time taken for two claps and one snap. If an aspirant is able to practise pranayama for
20:80:40 matras, then he is supposed to be the best sadhaka.
• It is the best pranayama. The quality depends upon the number of rounds; ultimately it becomes prolonged
and subtle.
• All the three stages, namely puraka, kumbhaka and rechaka, must be prolonged. Starting from 6:8:6 matras,
one should ultimately go up to 20:80:40 matras.
• The pranas are prolonged in this way and retention is increased, thus the process becomes subtle.

Sutra 51: Fourth kind of pranayama
Bāhyābhyantaraviṣayākṣepi chaturthaḥ
Bāhya: external; abhyantara: internal; viṣaya: object; ākṣepi : transcending; chaturtha:
fourth
The fourth pranayama is that which transcends the internal and external object.
• In this fourth type of pranayama, you do not have to do either antaranga or bahiranga kumbhaka. This is
exactly like the description in the Bhagavad Gita where it is said that apana should be joined with prana
and prana joined with apana.
• Thereby, the student stops the incoming and outgoing sensation by joining the ingoing breath with the
outgoing breath. Secondly, the ingoing breath should be joined with the ingoing breath itself. Thirdly, at
the same time you should do kumbhaka.
• The sensations should not be allowed to penetrate. The outer experiences of objects should be left
outside and the inner samskaras or experiences should be left inside.

• The outer manifestation should not be let inside and the inner samskaras should not be allowed to
manifest outside.
• That is the fourth pranayama. You can do it by breathing in in ujjayi, breathing out in ujjayi, and trying to
concentrate your mind on a particular psychic passage, without controlling or stopping the breath in the
form of antaranga or bahiranga kumbhaka.
• Gradually you should be able to extinguish the experiences, block the path of sense experiences. That is
the fourth kind of pranayama. In fact, it is ajapa japa.
Sutra 52: Removal of the veil
Tataḥ kṣi yate prakāśāvaraṇam
Tataḥ: thereby; kṣi yate: disappears; prakāśa: light; āvaraṇam: covering Thereby the
covering of light disappears.

Thereby the covering of light disappears.
• By the practice of pranayama the psychic centres are activated and as a result, the covering of
knowledge is removed. Prakasha here means the psychic centres.
• The psychic centres are usually covered or veiled due to sense experiences. The luminosity of these
subtler vehicles is limited or covered by the physical matter of the brain.
• That covering is removed by pranayama. This kind of removal of the covering of physical matter over
the psychic faculty is called the removal of the covering of light.
• It means that when you have practised pranayama, something happens in you by which the psychic
powers are released from the veil or control or obstruction of the physical mechanisms of the brain.
• Energy is released even when you switch on the light or the fan.
• Pranayama creates a similar condition in the brain by which the inherent psychic faculties are released.

Sutra 53: Mind becomes fit for dharana
Dhāraṇāsu cha yogyatā manasaḥ
Dhāraṇāsu: in dharana; cha: and; yogyatā: fitness; manasaḥ: of the Mind
And fitness of the mind for concentration (develops through pranayama).
• By doing pranayama, there develops a capacity for concentration in the mind and one becomes qualified for
concentrating the mind in the state of dharana.
• This is because the veil which covers the light of knowledge is removed. Next comes the stage called
pratyahara.
Sutra 54: Pratyahara
Svaviṣayāsamprayoge chittasyasvarūpānukāra ivendriyāṇāṃ pratyāhāraḥ
Sva: one’s own; viṣaya: object; asamprayoge: not coming into contact; chitta: mind; svarūpa:
own form; anukārah: imitating; iva: as if; indriyāṇāṃ: of the senses; pratyāhāraḥ: withdrawal

Pratyahara is, as it were, the imitation by the senses of the mind by withdrawing them from their
respective objects.
• It should be understood that pratyahara means withdrawing the mind from the objects of sense
experience, then the senses function according to the mind, and not vice versa.
• The capacities of smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing are withdrawn from their objects and the
senses begin to follow the mind inward and not outward.
• This is withdrawal of the mind from the sense activities so that the sense organs also become
introverted with the mind; they imitate the mind and follow it inside.
Sutra 55: Mastery over the senses
Tatah paramā vaśyatendriyāṇām
Tatah: thereby; paramā: highest; vaśyate: mastery; indriyāṇām: of the Senses
There is highest mastery over the sense organs (by pratyahara).

• It is felt by some scholars that controlling the senses only means suppressing the sense organs.
• They consider it to be an abnormal condition, but for one who wants to meditate and dive deep into the
depths of the mind, it becomes very important to introvert oneself from the world of objects.
• To penetrate into the depths of the mind, the contact with the object must be cut off. When the mind is
in contact with the external world, it is not aware of the deeper facets of consciousness.
• When one is aware of these deeper facets, one does not know the world of the senses.
• It is important to remember that the consciousness, the atman or the self, does not actually evolve.
There is no evolution of the atman, or soul.
• By the practice of pratyahara we do not actually evolve; it is a process of involution. It is not true to say
that our souls have evolved from the primitive state to our present developed state.
• The supreme existence, or the soul, is the same as it was thousands of years ago. It does not undergo a
change.
• The only difference is that our lower self or the individualized self becomes aware of that supreme form
slowly, step by step.

• When we turn our minds from the outer world to the inner world, we come to know that there is an
infinite facet of existence in us which can only be experienced in samadhi.
• It is not approachable through the intellect. Therefore, this chapter is aimed at giving a sadhana starting
from yama and niyama and ending in pratyahara.
• There are many kinds of pratyahara; for example, trataka, nada yoga, japa, music, kirtan and so on. They
are all meant for purifying the sense awareness and making it turn inward.
• Some persons can get into it with just one nada yoga practice; others may find japa easier. Sometimes
you are able to hold pratyahara for some time, then you find afterwards that it does not work even if you
sincerely follow the sadhana, so this problem of pratyahara becomes very difficult. If you can master the
technique of pratyahara, then concentration becomes very easy.
• It is impossible to go on to dharana and dhyana unless the field of pratyahara is crossed.
• There are many sadhanas available for pratyahara. The guru selects a suitable sadhana for the disciple at
the time of initiation.

Sutra 1: What is dharana?
Deśabandhaśchittasya dhāraṇā
Deśa: place; bandha: binding; chittasya: of the mind; dhāraṇā: concentration.
Concentration (dharana) is binding the mind to one place.
• Place here means a mental or physical spot. It is said in different scriptures that there are three bases
available for a student, namely objective, subjective and visionary.
• So dharana means confinement of the mind to one point or one object or one area. There is a good
example of one-pointed attention given in the Mahabharata.
• While teaching archery to the Pandavas, their guru Drona asked them what object they could see.
Arjuna said that he could see only the eye of the bird which was the target and nothing else.
• This is an example of concentration.
• When the mind is concentrated on a point, perception becomes intense. When the eyes are closed the
object, which may be a thought, an idea or a word, appears intensely in the consciousness.

• The mind does not move or leave the point of concentration. If it moves, it is called vikshepa. Vikshepa
means oscillation.
• In concentration there should not be awareness of anything but the desha. It is said sometimes that you
can have two areas for concentration.
• For example, while doing japa, the mantra is one factor and form is another factor. For a beginner,
concentration with japa on two factors is better.
• Later on one can concentrate without japa. While there is an influx of blood in the brain, there will be
vibration, and concentration will be difficult.
• The influx of blood should be reduced and there should be no vibrations. For this, we utilize the optic
system.
• Through the optic system, the vibrations of the physical brain are reduced. If you look at one point with
the eyes open, do not blink for some time and then close your eyes, you will fall asleep within five
minutes.

• Just as you stop the waves or ripples on the surface of water in a vessel by keeping the water calm, similarly, the
vibrations in the brain can be stopped if various disturbing factors are stopped.
• Even the physiological brain is to be stopped. For this, we fix the mind on a single point, such as a chakra in the body
like mooladhara, manipura or ajna, etc., and the consciousness is fixed on this.
• If the mind fluctuates, do not allow it to do so. Thus the cerebral activities cease for some time and during
that time concentration takes place.
• In the beginning it is not possible to concentrate the mind for a long time.
• Concentration is not a state of forgetfulness. If you forget everything, including the object, that is called
shoonya samadhi or laya, but concentration must include awareness of a single object.
• If you are concentrating on a mantra, there should be awareness of it throughout, without a break. If there
is a break, it is concentration; if there is no break, it becomes dhyana.
• It should be remembered that in concentration there is always the awareness that you are concentrating.
Meditation is not different from concentration; it is a higher quality of it.

• In dharana there is awareness of the object, which is broken from time to time in the process.
• The awareness may be broken by hearing an outside sound or by various thoughts coming into the mind.
Thus dharana includes concentration of consciousness with breaks.
• Sometimes the breaks become so powerful that it is difficult to concentrate again.
• This is called vikshepa. It is a disturbance, a distraction. A beginner always experiences this difficulty.
Sometimes he is able to bring his mind back to the spot and sometimes he is not.
• This is because the physical body is not steady.
• With the slightest movement of the body the heart starts beating faster, respiration also increases and
this gives rise to disturbance.
• When the body is absolutely steady like a stone, concentration becomes firm. This is why steadiness of
posture is very essential.

Sutra 2: What is dhyana?
Tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam
Tatra: there (in the desha); pratyaya: basis or content of consciousness; ekatānatā:
continuity; dhyānam: meditation
Uninterrupted stream of the content of consciousness is dhyana.
• Pratyaya means the basis of consciousness which may be an idea, a sound, or any object, subtle or gross. If
in dharana the consciousness becomes continuous so that there is no break or interruption due to any
other thought, then dharana is replaced by or turned into dhyana.
• Sometimes we experience dhyana when we are practising dharana. In dhyana there is an uninterrupted
flow of consciousness.
• If you are visualizing a particular object, you should not visualize that object alone, but you should also
visualize that you are practising dhyana.

• This is important. Sometimes you may become oblivious to the object also, but there is the awareness of dhyana,
which is called sakshi bhava.
• Otherwise, what usually happens is that if your mind slips away during concentration, you do not know it. This should
not happen.
• Thus dhyana includes two things: one, an unbroken continuous flow of consciousness of the single object, and two, the
awareness of dhyana; that is, the awareness that you are practising unbroken concentration.
• These two kinds of awareness go hand in hand.
Sutra 3: What is samadhi?
Tadevārthamātranirbhāsaṃ svarūpaśūnyamiva samādhiḥ
Tadeva: the same; artha: the object of dhyana; mātra: only; nirbhāsaṃ: appearing; svarūpa:
one’s own form; śūnyam: empty; iva: as if; samādhiḥ: Samadhi

That state becomes samadhi when there is only the object appearing without the consciousness of one’s own
self.
• It should be noted that dharana itself turns into dhyana, and dhyana itself turns into samadhi.
• In dharana the consciousness is broken, in dhyana it is continuous, whereas in samadhi it becomes one with
the artha, that is, the object of concentration.
• It may be a gross object or a subtle one. In samadhi there is no consciousness that one is practising
concentration.
• It is sometimes said that in the state of deep concentration the object disappears, but this sutra tells us that
the object does not disappear; on the contrary, it alone prevails.
• Thus, if you are concentrating on Aum, the symbol Aum, called artha, will be present in samadhi. It will not
vanish, but it alone will shine completely in the awareness.
• The object of meditation becomes clearer and clearer, its appearance becomes more and more vivid as you
go deeper in the stages of samadhi.

• Then there is another important point: you do not remain aware of your own existence, there is not
even the awareness that you are practising concentration.
• Thus there are two characteristics of samadhi: one, the object alone shines and, two, there is no
awareness of the process or of the self.
• As there is no consciousness except of the object in samadhi, the mind appears not to be functioning,
but it is not blank; therefore, the word iva is used.
• As the student goes on making progress on the path of concentration, there is concentration in the
beginning but it is broken time and time again.
• Thus concentration continues for some time and suddenly there is a break. This is the first stage. In the
second stage there is more dhyana and fewer breaks.
• In the third stage you start with dharana and immediately go into dhyana, and suddenly there comes a
void.

• This is the first stage of samadhi; you remember the object but there is no other awareness. The mind
or consciousness is not annihilated, it only temporarily appears to be non-existent because you are not
aware of yourself or of the process of concentration.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - Introduction to Patanjali Yoga Sutra

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