Book Summary : Yoga Sutras by Patanjali | Part 2
Covering book 3 and 4 of the text
Yogasutra contains 4 parts :
Samadhi Pada - meaning of thought, samadhi, and basic definitions of Yoga
Sadhana Pada - intro to the 8 limbs of Yoga and discussion on the first 5
Vibhuti Pada - discussion on the last 3 limbs of Yoga
Kaivalya Pada - the ultimate goal of Yoga
This post deals with 3 and 4. My previous post here contains notes from Book 1 and Book 2.
Book 3: Vibhuti Pada
This chapter borders on being mystical and very stereotypically “eastern” in terms of the effects of Yoga that it describes. The literal meaning of Vibhuti is “powers” - referring to a few seemingly supernatural powers that get unlocked as a practitioner progresses through the limbs of Yoga. Book 3 expounds upon these powers and delves into the last 3 limbs of Yoga - Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.
Dharana is defined as -
In Dharana, it is usually a gross / sthula object which is meditated upon. The objective of Dharana is to establish singular focus on one object. There are three constituent facets to concentration :
The observer (draṣṭā) / (grahitṛ)
The object of observation (dṛṣya) / (grāhya)
The process of observation (darśana) / (grahaṇa)
There is conscious knowledge of all these 3 constituents in Dharana i.e. the Yogi knows his conscious existence, the object’s existence and that they are willingly focusing on the object.
Dhyana is an intensification of Dharana. In Dhyana, process of observation starts dropping out and dvaita of dṛṣya and draṣṭā remains. However, Dhyana requires the object of meditation to be a subtle object (usually given by a Guru) rather than gross. Patanjali in Book IV, sutra 6 mentions that dhyana is the state in which Samadhi is born and in the Book I Sutra 44-46 it is mentioned that samadhi (sabija / with seed samadhi) only occurs when one starts meditating on subtle objects.
Vyasa says that when the dhyana becomes so deep that object stands by itself (grahya), it is known as samadhi. Osho defines samādhi as when mind becomes one with the object.
A nice visual depiction of these states was done by Prof. Taimni in his commentary on Yoga Sutras :
*The circles represent awareness of the observer / self
Mastering the last 3 limbs - dharana, dhyana and samadhi - lead to samyama (self-restraint). In Samyama, the quintessential Hindu concept of Wisdom / Pragya dawns.
In a parallel progression to the dharana -> dhyana -> samadhi path, Patanjali describes the states of knowing and affecting the laws of nature - which will eventually lead to seemingly supernatural powers / “vibhutis” and “siddhis”.
As a Yogi notices the momentarily emptiness between two impressions (A-B in above visualisation), they temporarily experience samadhi. This is called Nirodha Parinama - or an arrested state of mind, where the “arrest” is of holding on to this temporary emptiness. It is also worth nothing that “Parinama” in the Yogic context translates to “transformation”, and not the colloquial “result” that we relate to in Hindi.
This “arresting” - or breaking down observation into increasingly smaller units of time - leads to a flow and discovery of latent tendency impressions / sanskaras
As the arrest turns into one-pointedness to one object, the Yogi achieves samadhi parinama (A-A-A-B-B-C-C-C in Prof. Taimni’s visualization)
When the preceding and succeeding object becomes the same (A-A-A-A in visualisation), then one achieves ekagrata (one-pointedness) samadhi
In the equanimity that arises out of ekagrata samadhi, one gets to know the characters and attributes (bhutas), their moral character (dharma), condition (avastha), response to sense organs (indriyesu) are known in detail (vyakhyatah)
Here on, Patanjali starts to explain the “vibhutis / powers” that a Yogi gains on the path to Samyama. Osho articulates Patanjali’s core principle and why Siddhis / vibhutis are not miracles but just unknown natural law :
“Patañjali says there is no miracle possible, all miracles follow certain law. This law may not be known. Person doing miracle may be ignorant about the law. But he is just using it as he has acquired same.”
Patanjali believes in perfect causality. Clearly comprehending the current state of any object, person (across bhuta / dharma / avastha / response to sense organs as in Sutra 12), can let the Yogi extend a trendline in either directions according to the equation of causality (which is known to the Yogi) and this can lead to inferences / experiences that seem supernatural. This is explained across the next few Sutras.
Short note : A dissonance that I haven’t been able to reconcile so far is between Patanjali’s belief of people being conscious actors who can choose to follow the path of Yoga and have “cetana” and his belief that all things happen in perfect causality according to laws of nature.
Unlocking siddhis is a midway milestone between the path from dharana to kaivalya. Patanjali’s objective while calling out Siddhis is not to suggest a path to achieving them, but to warn of them being an impediment to progress towards Kaivalya. These are fairly supernatural seeming “powers”, and their possession can distract the yogi from his true goal. Siddhis range from - ability to see past and future events, rendering the body imperceptible, levitating - and much more. For a structured list of Siddhis, one can read this.
Through Sutras 24-35, Patanjali talks about the effects of applying the path of Samyama to gross objects. This is not an ideal state for the mind to be in, for in this state the mind is imbued with the nature of the object it is meditating on and not reflecting the Purusa’s nature back unto itself. Nevertheless, it is a powerful state of mind and allows the mind to take on the characteristics of the object it is contemplating. As examples, Patanjali suggests that directing attention to Elephants can lead to developing strength (Sutra 25), to the Sun can lead to knowledge of the world (Sutra 27), to the Pole Star the movement of the stars (Sutra 29), to the navel the arrangement of chakras in the body and so on.
These powers, as previously mentioned, are impediments to Samadhi. Applying Dharana to gross objects does not lead to Dhyana and the consequent progress on the path to Samadhi. Dharana & Dhyana applied to subtle objects has the power to birth new sanskara which can counteract the latent sanskara that cloud the purusa. Applied to gross objects, the nature of sanskara created is different and can lead to regression to the more basic means of practicing yoga (earlier limbs).
The utility of these powers also lies in closer adherence to some of the earlier rule. For e.g. obtaining the power of subsisting without eating can lead a Yogi to fully adhere to the Yama rules, which ask for abstaining from harm even to plants.
Directing attention towards egotism (asmita) leads to mastery over the sense organs (sutra 48). What follows from that is a clearer understanding of the interplay of the three gunas - sattva, rajas, tamas - and a discernment between sattva guna and the purusa. Understanding this difference leads to omniscience. In the below sutra, Buddhi refers to an overflow of sattva guna (once the rajas and tamas are under control through mastering the senses) :
The state that comes about by understanding of the distinction between the sattva guna and the purusa / true self is kaivalya. This isolation is liberation.
Book 4 : Kaivalya Padha
The fourth book is a deeper study of the interplay of purusa and prakriti and how this interplay explains more natural / visible phenomena such as birth, mentality & desires.
The first sutra continues the theme from the last book. Siddhis can also be had by :
Birth - through carry over of sadhana from the previous birth
Herbs - no reference to which ones sadly. One can only posit that these are benign herbs
Chanting mantras - this could be construed as performing svadhyaya (self-study), which is one of the 3 tenets of yoga explained in the first sutra of book II
Samadhi
Birth
Time, place, and context of birth is defined by our particular sanskara, and the space in nature available to manifest them. Then nature takes care of manifesting those sanskara and supporting us on the path of Kaivalaya.
Creation of an identity / “I-am” ness (Sutra 4-6)
Egotism / relating to an “I” allows the features of nature to be converted into mind. Creation of an “I” is also through the purusa’s own will / volition / chetana and happens when the purusa’s true nature is shrouded under past sanskara. Hence, this Sutra suggests that the very existence of a mind is a sign of a moral failing and non-yogic behaviour.
Those not on the path of Yoga can have multiple minds/personalities, all controlled by a single ego (referred to as “jiva” in various texts).
Vyasa gives 5 types of minds which have attained supernatural powers / siddhis -
a. Obtained by birth
b. Acquired through herbs
c. Through mantra chanting
d. By penance
e. By concentration or meditation
Only the last type will give rise to a seedless state and lead to samadhi. All the others will create new sanskara that might not counteract the previous sanskara and hence the practitioner continues the cycle of re-births
Karmasiddhanta - flow of Karma across lives (Sutra 7-12)
Patanjali harkens back to the laws of causation that lead to siddhis. Actions of the non-yogi practitioners have threefold effects (pain producing, enjoyment producing, both) and lead to new sanskara. Those sanskara lead to new actions and the cycle continues. This is also a nod to the law-likeness of all actions - that every action leads to some reaction according to the teleological rules of nature.
Memory (smriti) and latent tendency impressions (sanskara) are beginningless (the original sin?) and carry over across births, time, and regions. By bundling memory and sanskara into one category, Patanjali again emphasises the point that conscious effort is needed for changes in sanskara (in Book 1 Sutra 11, Patanjali defines memory as “active effort to prevent loss of experienced content”). This is also a key difference between Patanajali’s Yoga and Sankhya or Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Both of the latter schools believe that the self / purusa is not an actor but a passive observer.
Nature of objects
This harkens back to one of Patanjali’s siddhis - that the advanced yogi has the ability to see through the past and future, because they understand the natural law of causation that would give rise to those states.
We perceive objects as an interplay of the three gunas - sattva, rajas, and tamas. How can a thing composed of these three be regarded as one? This sutra answers this query. Gunas though three in number are inseparable. Sattva guna is not cognisable without rajas and tamas. The same is case with rajas and tamas. So, knowledge of sound is possible as there exists potentiality, activity and perceptibility in it. But sound is regarded as one and not three different things.
The perception of objects depends purely on the perceiver. Hence, the same object may appear as different to two different viewers (Sutra 15) and objects may / may not even present themselves to someone who doesn’t have an eye for them (Sutra 17). This projection in the last sutra harkens back to Book 1, Sutra 6 - where Patanjali describes illusion / perceptual error as one of the ways to know something.
Mind and the process of knowing (Sutra 19-28)
According to Patanjali, mind is a feature of prakriti / nature and an “object” like any other in prakriti. All objects in nature need to be mediated to comprehend them (savitarka comprehension in one sense) and similarly the mind needs something outside it to comprehend itself. For e.g. by saying “I am hungry”, the feeling of hunger gives rise to “I” and the “mind”, while the mind is comprehending hunger.
Since mind is also only knowable through something else, it is not possible to comprehend the mind and any other object at the same time. While saying “I am hungry”, the object being comprehended is hunger, not the mind. To bend this a bit, let’s take the questions of what happens when you say “I am consciousness”?. You comprehend a coloured view of your consciousness and mistake that for your mind.
While it is hard to empirically observe the “object-like” nature of mind (much like its hard to feel what could nirvichara and nirvitarka states in Book 1 feel like), Patanjali gives a slightly recursive argument to prove it. He says that if the mind had to watch itself watching something else (which is when the mind will realise that it is “there”), a distinct act of cognition would be necessary to watch the mind watching itself watch something else. This distinct act would in turn require a witnessing act of cognition, watching itself, watch itself, watch something else..This however would require its own act of witnessing cognition. This will be an endless loops of minds witnessing the act of observing and hence minds can never be self-conscious.
Only when the mind is absolutely constrained by yoga, there remain no other sanskara / feeling / perturbations and the mind reflects the nature of the purusa. The purusa, just like the mind is unable to know itself. But for a realised Yogi, purusa = mind and through each other they comprehend themselves.
Speckled with all its sanskara, the mind is ultimately controlled by the purusa (as also described in Sutra 4).
Mind = purusa is the ultimate goal, which stops all externally generated feelings. Naturally then, the mind moves towards kaivalya.
Samadhi
The entire text leads up to this Sutra. The last subtle desire is the desire to be desireless. Once this desire ceases, the yogi attains dharmameghasamadhi - the very goal of Yoga.
With Dharmameghasamadhi, all the past sanskara of the Yogi terminate. The process of change of the gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas) also ceases.
As the Purusa finally understands itself, there is no more need for nature / prakriti to provide experiences that help the Yogi on the path to Kaivalya. The very qualities of the Yogi’s body resolves themselves back into nature. All this is left is Purusa. That is all.
Comparison with other schools of thought
Patañjali’s whole project is geared to moral improvement and culminates in ‘dharmameghasamādhi’— a perfectly moral and liberating state of absorption that washes away all stains and evil. While Sāṅkhya and Advaita Vedānta, while possessing philosophical views on dharma, have little use for dharma in their account of what is ultimately important. Morality and ethics in Sankhya is a way to reduce karmic bondage and get favourable births. But in Patanjali’s view, morality is essential to being liberated.
Yoga believes in the free will of ‘purusa’, and that each ‘purusa’ is in control of the content of their consciousness and hence can be the cause of their liberation. Patanajali affirms that the purusa is the ‘master of the character of the mind’, and hence the goal of yoga is to control the moral character of thought, so that the mind is one with its essence (purusa). While Sankhya and Advaita believe that ‘purusa’ is merely a passive spectator to the world.
As a result, Sankhya and Advaita regard liberation as an intellectual insight into the true nature of the self. While Patanjali believes liberation is a result of moral perfection by putting effort into the practice of Yoga.
In Yoga, it is the purusa who is liberated from its association with prakriti. Sankhya believes that the purusa is not bonded and hence cannot be liberated / transmigrated. Liberation in Sankhya is the evolution of nature (mental faculties) to realise that it does not exist as a person, but is the unchangeable purusa.
Yoga is open to all religions but is theistic (astik). Grace of the lord - Isvara - is essential to success on the Yogic path. Buddhist readings of Patanjali recast Isvara as the realised soul, while Advaita conflates Patanajali’s Isvara with the universal consciousness that is the basis of all reality.
Open questions
There are a few open questions after the reading -
If there is an independent will (chetana), how is a yogi able to see across time? If there isn’t an independent will, then is the time of liberation for each purusa is also pre destined?
How did a Purusa first get muddled up with Sanskara?
Where do sanskara reside? Do those impressions become a feature of purusa or nature stores them until the time arrives to manifest them through a specific purusa?
Ans. Seems to be a feature of Purusa (Book 4, Sutra 18)
Is the number of Purusa’s in the world finite? What explains increase in human population?
If any brave reader did come up until the very end, I would appreciate any thoughts around the 4 qs. above.