Patanjali Yoga Sutras
any part of the tongue or palate; M represents the last sound in
the series, being produced by the closed lip, and the U rolls
from the very root to the end of the sounding board of the
mouth. Thus, Om represents the whole phenomena of sound
producing. As such, it must be the natural symbol, the
matrix of all the variant sounds. It denotes the whole range
and possibility of all the words that can be made. Apart from
these speculations we see that around this word Om are
centred all the different religious ideas in India; all the various
religious ideas of the Vedas have gathered themselves round
this word Om. What has that to do with America and England,
or any other country? Simply that the word has been retained
at every stage of religious growth in India, and it has been
manipulated to mean all the various ideas about God.
Monists, Dualists, Mono-Dualists, Separatists, and even
Atheists, took up this Om. Om has become the one symbol for
the religious aspiration of the vast majority of human beings.
Take, for instance, the English word God. It conveys only a
limited function, and if you go beyond it, you have to add
adjectives, to make it Personal, or Impersonal, or Absolute
God. So with the words for God in every other language; their
signification is very small. This word Om, however, has
around it all the various significances. As such it should be
accepted by everyone.
28. तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम् ॥ २८॥
tajjapastadarthabhavanam
The repetition of this (Om) and meditating on its
meaning (is the way).
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
Why should there be repetition? We have not forgotten that
theory of Samskaras, that the sum-total of impressions lives
in the mind. Impressions live in the mind, the sum-total of
impressions, and they become more and more latent, but
remain there, and as soon as they get the right stimulus they
come out. Molecular vibration will never cease. When this
universe is destroyed all the massive vibrations disappear, the
sun, moon, stars, and earth, will melt down, but the vibrations
must remain in the atoms. Each atom will perform the same
function as the big worlds do. So the vibrations of this Chitta
will subside, but will go on like molecular vibrations, and
when they get the impulse will come out again. We can now
understand what is meant by repetition. It is the greatest
stimulus that can be given to the spiritual Samskaras. “One
moment of company with the Holy makes a ship to cross this
ocean of life.” Such is the power of association. So this
repetition of Om, and thinking of its meaning, is keeping good
company in your own mind. Study, and then meditate and
meditate, when you have studied. The light will come to you,
the Self will become manifest.
But one must think of this Om, and of its meaning too. Avoid
evil company, because the scars of old wounds are in you, and
this evil company is just the heat that is necessary ot call them
out. In the same way we are told that good company will call
out the good impressions that are in us, but which have
become latent. There is nothing holier in this world than to
keep good company, because the good impressions will have
this same tendency to come to the surface.
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29. ततः प्रत्यक्चेतनाधिगमोऽप्यन्तरायाभावश्च ॥ २९॥
tatah pratyakchetanadhigamopyantarayabhavashch
From that is gain (the knowledge of) introspection,
and the destruction of obstacles.
The first manifestation of this repetition and thinking of Om
will be that the introspective power will be manifested more
and more, and all the mental and physical obstacles will begin
to vanish. What are the obstacles to the Yogi?
30. व्याधिस्त्यानसंशयप्रमादालस्याविरतिभ्रान्तिदर्शनालब्धभूमिक -
त्वानवस्थितत्वानि चित्तविक्षेपास्तेऽन्तरायाः ॥ ३०॥
vyadhistyanasanshayapramadalasyaviratibhrantidar
shanalabdhabhoomikatvanavasthitatvani
chittavikshepastentarayah
Disease, mental laziness, doubt, calmness, cessation,
false perception, non-attaining concentration, and
falling away from the state when obtained, are the
obstructing distractions.
Disease. This body is the boat which will carry us to the other
shore of the ocean of life. It must be taken care of. Unhealthy
persons cannot be Yogis. Mental laziness makes us lose all
lively interest in the subject, without which there will neither
be the will nor the energy to practice. Doubts will arise in the
mind about the truth of the science, however strong one’s
intellectual conviction may be, until certain peculiar psychic
experiences come, as hearing, or seeing, at a distance, etc.
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
These glimpses strengthen the mind and make the student
persevere. Falling away when attained. Some says or weeks
when you are practising the mind will be calm and easily
concentrated, and you will find yourself progressing fast. All
of a sudden the progress will stop one day, and you will find
yourself, as it were, stranded. Persevere. All progress
proceeds by rise and fall.
31. दुःखदौर्मनस्याङ्गमेजयत्वश्वासप्रश्वासा विक्षेपसहभुवः ॥ ३१॥
duhkhadaurmanasyanggamejayatvashvasaprashvaa
vikshepasahabhuvah
Grief, mental distress, tremor of the body and
irregular breathing, accompany non-retention of
concentration.
Concentration will bring perfect repose to mind and body
every time it is practised. When the practice has been
misdirected, or not enough controlled, these disturbances
come. Repetition of Om and self-surrender to the Lord will
strengthen the mind, and bring fresh energy. The nervous
shakings will come to almost everyone. Do not mind them at
all, but keep on practising. Practice will cure them, and make
the seat firm.
32. तत्प्रतिषेधार्थम् एकतत्त्वाभ्यासः ॥ ३२॥
tatpratishedhartham ekatattvabhyasah
To remedy this practice of one subject (should be
made).
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
Making the mind take the form of one object for some time
will destroy these obstacles. This is general advice. In the
following aphorisms it will be expanded and particularised.
As one practice cannot suit everyone, various methods will be
advanced, and everyone by actual experience will find out
that which helps him most.
33. मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां
भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥ ३३॥
maitreekarunamuditopekshanan
sukhadukhapunyapunyavishayanan
bhavanatashchittaprasadanam
Friendship, mercy, gladness, indifference, being
thought of in regard to subjects, happy, unhappy,
good and evil respectively, pacify the Chitta.
We must have these four sorts of ideas. We must have
friendship for all; we must be merciful towards those that are
in misery; when people are happy we ought to be happy, and
to the wicked we must be indifferent. So with all subjects that
come before us. If the subject is a good one, we shall feel
friendly towards it; if the subject of thought is one that is
miserable we must be merciful towards the subject. If it is
good we must be glad, if it is evil we must be indifferent.
These attitudes of the mind towards the different subjects that
come before it will make the mind peaceful. Most of our
difficulties in our daily lives come from being unable to hold
our minds in this way. For instance, if a man does evil to us,
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
instantly we want to react evil, and every reaction of evil
shows that we are not able to hold the Chitta down; it comes
out in waves towards the object, and we lose our power. Every
reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so much loss to the
mind, and every evil thought or deed of hatred, or any thought
of reaction, if it is controlled, will be laid in our favour. It is
not that we lose by thus restraining ourselves; we are gaining
infinitely more than we suspect. Each time we suppress
hatred, or a feeling of anger, it is so much good energy stored
up in our favour; that piece of energy will be converting into
the higher powers.
34. प्रच्छर्दनविधारणाभ्यां वा प्राणस्य ॥ ३४॥
prachchhardanavidharanabhyan va prannasya
By throwing out and restraining the Breath.
The word used in Prana. Prana is not exactly breath. It is the
name for the energy that is in the universe. Whatever you
see in the universe, whatever moves or works, or has life, is a
manifestation of this Prana. the sum-total of the energy
displayed in the universe is called Prana. This Prana, before
a cycle begins, remains in an almost motionless state, and
when the cycle begins this Prana begins to manifest itself. It
is this Prana that is manifested as motion, as the nervous
motion in human beings or animals, and the same Prana is
manifesting as thought, and so on. The whole universe is a
combination of Prana and Akasa; so is the human body. Out
of Akasa you get the different materials that you feel, and
see, and out of Prana all the various forces. Now this
throwing out and restraining the Prana is what is called
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
Pranayama. Patanjali, the father of the Yoga Philosophy,
does not give many particular directions about Pranayama,
but later on other Yogis found out various things about this
Pranayama, and made of it a great science. With Patanjali ist
is one of the many ways, but he does not lay much stress on it.
He means that you simply throw the air out, and draw it in,
and hold it for some time, that is all, and by that, the mind will
become a little calmner. But, later on, you will find that out of
this is evolved a particular science called Pranayama. We
will hear a little of what thoese later Yogis have to say. Some
of this I have told you before, but a little repetition will serve
to fix it in your minds. First, you must remember that this
Prana is not the breath. But that which causes the motion of
the breath, that which is the vitality of the breath is the Prana.
Again, the word Prana is used of all the senses; they are all
called Prana, the mind is called Prana; and so we see that
Prana is the name of a certain force. And yet we cannot call
it force, because force is only the manifestation of it. It is that
which manifests itself as force and everything else in the way
of motion. The Chitta, the mind-stuff, is the engine which
draws in the Prana from the surroundings, and manufactures
out of this Prana the various vital forces. First of all the
forces that keep the body in preservation, and lastly thought,
will, and all other powers. By this process of breathing we can
control all the various motions in the body, and the various
nerve currents that are running through the body. First we
begin to recognise them, and then we slowly get control over
them. Now these later Yogis consider that there are three main
currents of this Prana in the human body. One they call Ida,
another Pingala, and the third Susumna. Pingala, according
to them, is on the right side of the spinal column, and the Ida
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
is on the left side, and in the middle of this spinal column is
the SuSumna, a vacant channel. Ida and Pingala, according
to them, are the currents working in every man, and through
these currents, we are performing all the functions of life.
SuSumna is present in all, as a possibility; but it works only in
the Yogi. You must remember that the Yogi changes his body;
as you go on practising your body changes; it is not the same
body that you had before the practice. That is very rational,
and can be explained, because every new thought that we
have must make, as it were, a new channel through the brain,
and that explains the tremendous conservatism of human
nature. Human nature likes to run through the ruts that are
already there, because it is easy. If we think, just for
example's sake, that the mind is like a needle, and the brain
substance a soft lump before it, then each thought that we
have makes a street, as it were, in the brain, and this street
would close up, but that the grey matter comes and makes a
lining to keep it separate. If there were no grey matter there
would be no memory, because memory means going over
these old streets, retracing a thought as it were. Now perhaps
you have remarked that when I talk on subjects that in which I
take a few ideas that are familiar to everyone, and combine,
and recombine them, it is easy to follow, because these
channels are present in everyone's brain, and it is only
necessary to recur to them. But whenever a new subject
comes new channels have to be made, so it is not understood
so readily. And that is why the brain (it is the brain, and not
the people themselves) refuses unconsciously to be acted
upon by new ideas. It resists. The Prana is trying to make
new channels, and the brain will not allow it. This is the secret
of conservatism. The less channels there have been in the
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
brain, and the less the needle of the Prana has made these
passages, the more conservative will be the brain, the more it
will struggle against new thoughts. The more thoughtful the
mane, the more complicated will be the streets in his brain,
and the more easily he will take to new ideas, and understand
them. So with every fresh idea; we make a new impression in
the brain, cut new channels though the brain-stuff, and that is
why we find that in the practice of Yoga (it being an entirely
new set of thoughts and motives) there is so much physical
resistance at first. That is why we find that the part of
religion which deals with the world side of nature can be so
widely accpeted, while the other part, the Philosophy, or the
Psychology, which deals with the inner nature of man, is so
frequently neglected. We must remember the definition of
this world of ours; it is only the Infinite Existence projected
into the plane of consciousness. A little of the Infinite is
projected into consciousness, and that we call our world. So
there is an Infinite beyond, and religion has to deal with both,
with th elittle lump we call our world, and with the Infinite
beyond. Any religion which deals alone with either one of
these two will be defective. It must deal with both. That part
of religion which deals with this part of the Infinite which has
come into this plane of consciousness, got itself caught, as it
were, in the plane of consciousness, in the case of time, space,
and causation, is quite familiar to us, because we are in that
already, and ideas about this world have been with us almost
from time immemorial. The part of religion which deals with
the Infinite beyond comes entirely new to us, and getting
ideas about it produces new channels in the brain, disturbing
the whole system, and that is why you find in the practice of
Yoga ordinary people are at first turned out of their groove. In
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras

order to lesson these disturbances as much as possible all
these methods are devised by Patanjali, that we may practice
any one of them best suited to us.
35. विषयवती वा प्रवृत्तिरुत्पन्ना मनसः स्थितिनिबन्धिनी ॥ ३५॥
vishayavati va pravrittirutpanna manasah
sthitinibandhini
Those forms of concentration that bring extraordinary
sense perceptions cause perseverance of the mind.
This naturally comes with Dharana, concentration; the Yogis
say, if the mind becomes concentrated on the tip of the nose
one begins to smell, after a few days, wonderful perfumes. If
it becomes concentrated at the root of the tongue one begins to
here sounds; if on the tip of the tongue one begins to taste
wonderful flavours; if on the middle of the tongue, one feels
as if he were coming in contact with something. If one
concentrates his mind on the palate he begins to see peculiar
things. If a man whose mind is disturbed wants to take up
some of these practices of Yoga, yet doubts the truth of them,
he will have his doubts set at rest, when, after a little practice,
these things come to him, and he will persevere.
36. विशोका वा ज्योतिष्मती ॥ ३६॥
vishoka va jyotishmati
Or (by the meditation on) the Effulgent One which is
beyond all sorrow.
This is another sort of concentration. Think of the lotus of the
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
heart, with petals downwards, and ruunning through it the
Sucumna; take in the breath, and while throwing the breat out
imagine that the lotus is turned with the petals upwards, and
inside that lotus is an effulgent light. Meditate on that.
37. वीतरागविषयं वा चित्तम् ॥ ३७॥
vitaragavishayan va chittam
Or (by meditation on) the heart that has given up all
attachment to sense objects.
Take some holy person, some great person whom you revere,
some saint whom you know to be perfectly non-attached, and
think of his heart. That heart has become non-attached, and
meditate on that heart; it will calm the mind. If you cannot do
that, there is the next way.
38. स्वप्ननिद्राज्ञानालम्बनं वा ॥ ३८॥
svapnanidrajnanalambanan va
Or by meditating on the knowledge that comes in
sleep.
Sometimes a man dreams that he has seen angels coming to
him and talking to him, that he is in an ecstatic condition, that
he has heard music floating through the air. He is in a
blissful condition in that dream, and when he awakes it makes
a deep impression on him. Think of that dream as real, and
meditate upon it. If you cannot do that, meditate on any holy
thing that pleases you.
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
39. यथाभिमतध्यानाद् वा ॥ ३९॥
yathabhimatadhyanad va
Or by meditation on anything that appeals to one as
good.
This does not mean any wicked subject, but anything good
that you like, any place that you like best, any scenery that
you like best, any idea that you like best, anything that will
concentrate the mind.
40. परमाणु परममहत्त्वान्तोऽस्य वशीकारः ॥ ४०॥
paramanu paramamahattvantosya vashikarah
The Yogi's mind thus meditating, becomes
un-obstructed from the atomic to the Infinite.
The mind, by this practice, easily contemplates the most
minute thing, as well as the biggest thing. Thus the mind
waves become fainter.
41. क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृग्रहणग्राह्येषु
तत्स्थतदञ्जनतासमापत्तिः ॥ ४१॥
ksheennavritterabhijatasyev
manergrahitrigrahannagrahyeshu
tatsthatadangjanatasamapattih
The Yogi whose Vrttis have thus become powerless
(controlled) obtains in the receiver, receiving, and
44

received (the self, the mind and external objects),
concentratedness and sameness, like the crystal
(before different coloured objects.)
What results from this constant meditation? We must
remember how in a previous aphorism Patanjali went into the
various states of meditation, and how the first will be the
gross, and the second the fine objects, and from them the
advance is to still finer objects of meditation, and how, in all
these meditations, which are only of the first degree, not very
high ones, we get as a result that we can meditate as easily on
the fine as on the grosser objects. Here the Yogi sees the three
things, the receiver, the received, and the receiving,
corresponding to the Soul, the object, and the mind. There are
three objects of meditation given us. Firs the gross things, as
bodies, or material objects, second fine things, as the mind,
the Chitta, and third the Purasa qualified, not the Purasa
itself, but the egoism. By practice, the Yogi gets established in
all these meditations. Whenever he meditates he can keep out
all other thought; he becomes identified with that on which he
mediates; when he meditates he is like a piece of crystal;
before flowers the crystal becomes almost identified with
flowers. If the flower is red, the crystal looks red, or if the
flower is blue, the crystal looks blue.
42. तत्र शब्दार्थज्ञानविकल्पैः संकीर्णा सवितर्का समापत्तिः ॥ ४२ ॥
tatra shabdarthajnanavikalpaih sankeerna savitarka
samapattih
Sound, meaning, and resulting knowledge, being
mixed up, is (called Samadhi) with reasoning.
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
Sound here means vibration; meaning, the nerve currents
which conduct it; and knowledge, reaction. All the various
meditations we have had so far, Patanjali calls Savitarka
(meditations with reasoning). Later on he will give us higher
and higher Dhyanas. In these that are called "with reasoning,"
we keep the duality of subject and object, which results from
the mixture of word, meaning, and knowledge. There is first
the external vibration, the word; this, carried inward by the
sense currents, is the meaning. After that there comes a
reactionary wave in the Chitta, which is knowledge, but the
mixture of these three makeup what we call knowledge. In all
the meditations up to this we get this mixture as object of
meditation. The next Samadhi is higher.
43. स्मृतिपरिशुद्धौ स्वरूपशून्येवार्थमात्रनिर्भासा निर्वितर्का ॥ ४३ ॥
smritiparishuddhau
svaroopashoonyevarthamatranirbhasa nirvitarka
The Samadhi called without reasoning (comes) when
the memory is purified, or devoid of qualities,
expressing only the meaning (of the meditated
object).
It is by practice of meditation of these three that we come to
the state where these three do not mix. We can get rid of them.
We will first try to understand what these three are. Here is
the Chitta; you will always remember the simile of the lake,
the mind-stuff, and the vibration, the word, the sound, like a
pulsation coming over it. You have that calm lake in you, and
I pronounce a word, "cow." As soon as it enters through
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
your ears there is a wave produced in your Chitta along with
it. So that wave represents the idea of the cow, the form or the
meaning as we call it. That apparent cow that you know is
really that wave in the mind-stuff, and that comes as a
reaction to the internal and external sound-vibrations, and
with the sound, the wave dies away; that wave can never exist
without a word. You may ask how it is when we only think of
the cow, and do not hear a sound. You make that sound
yourself. You are saying “cow” faintly in your mind, and
with that comes a wave. There cannot be any wave without
this impulse of sound, and when it is not from outside it is
from inside, and when the sound dies, the wave dies. What
remains? The result of the reaction, and that is knowledge.
These three are so closely combined in our mind that we
cannot separate them. When the sound comes, the senses
vibrate, and the wave rises in reaction; they follow so closely
upon one another that there is no discerning one from the
other; when this meditation has been practiced for a long time,
memory, the receptacle of all impressions, becomes purified,
and wwe are able clearly to distinguish them from one
another. This is called “Nirvitarka,” concentration without
reasoning.
44. एतयैव सविचारा निर्विचारा च सूक्ष्मविषया व्याख्याता ॥ ४४॥
etayaiva savichara nirvichara cha sookshmavishaya
vyakhyata
By this process (the concentrations) with
discrim-ination and without discrimination, whose
objects are finer, are (also) explained.
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
A process similar to the preceding is applied again, only, the
objects to be taken up in the former meditations are gross; in
this they are fine.
45. सूक्ष्मविषयत्वं चालिङ्गपर्यवसानम् ॥ ४५॥
sookshmavishayatvan chalinggaparyavasanam
The finer objects end with the Pradhana.
The gross objects are only the elements, and everything
manufactured out of them. The fine objects begin with the
Tanmatras or fine particles. The organs, the mind¹, egoism,
the mind-stuff (the cause of all manifestion) the equilibrium
state of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas materials—called Pradhana
(chief), Prakrti (nature), or Avyakta (unmanifest), are all
included within the category of fine objects. The Purusa (the
Soul) alone is excepted from this definition.
46. ता एव सबीजः समाधिः ॥ ४६॥
ta eva sabijah samadhih
These concentrations are with seed.
These do not destroy the seeds of past actions, thus cannot
give liberation, but what they bring to the Yogi is stated in the
following aphorisms.
47. निर्विचारवैशारद्येऽध्यात्मप्रसादः ॥ ४७॥
nirvicharavaisharadye adhyatmaprasadah
¹ The mind, or common sensory, the aggregate of all senses
48

Patanjali Yoga Sutras
The concentration “without reasoning” being
purified, the Chitta becomes firmly fixed.
48. ऋतंभरा तत्र प्रज्ञा ॥ ४८॥
rtanbhara tatr prajna
The knowledge in that is called “filled with Truth.”
The next aphorism will explain this.
49. श्रुतानुमानप्रज्ञाभ्याम् अन्यविषया विशेषार्थत्वात् ॥ ४९॥
shrutanumanaprajnabhyam anyavishayaa
vishesharthatvat
The knowledge that is gained from testimony and
inference is about common objects. That from the
Samadhi just mentioned is of a much higher order,
being able to penetrate where inference and
testimony cannot go.
The idea is that we have to get our knowledge of ordinary
objects by direct perception, and by inference therefrom, and
from testimony of people who are competent. By “people
who are competent,” the Yogis always mean the Rishis, or the
Seers of the thoughts recorded in the Scriptures—the Vedas.
According to them, the only proof of the Scriptures is that
they were the testimony of competent persons, yet they say
the Scriptures cannot take us to realisation. We can read all
the Vedas, and yet will not realise anything, but when we
practise their teachings, then we attain to that state which
realises what the Scriptures say, which penetrates where
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
reason cannot go, and where the testimony of others cannot
avail. This is what is meant by this aphorism, that realisation
is real religion, and all the rest is only preparation—hearing
lectures, or reading books, or reasoning, is merely preparing
the ground; it is not religion. Intellectual assent, and
intellectual dissent are not religion. The central idea of the
Yogis is that just as we come in direct contact with the objects
of the senses, so religion can be directly perceived in a far
more intense sense. The truths of religion, as God and Soul,
cannot be perceived by the external senses. I cannot see God
with my eyes, nor can I touch Him with my hands, and we
also know that neither can we reason beyond the senses.
Reason leaves us at a point quite indecisive; we may reason
all our lives, as the world has been doing for thousands of
years, and the result is that we find we are incompetent to
prove or disprove the facts of religion. What we perceive
directly we take as the basis, and upon that basis we reason.
So it is obvious that reasoning has to run within these bounds
of perception. It can never go beyond: the whole scope of
realisation, therefore, is beyond sense perception. The Yogis
say that man can go beyond his direct sense perception, and
beyond his reason also. Man has in him the faculty, the
power, of transcending his intellect even, and that power is in
every being, every creature. By the practice of Yoga that
power is aroused, and then man transcends the ordinary limits
of reason, and directly perceives things which are beyond all
reason.
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
50. तज्जः संस्कारो न्यसंस्कारप्रतिबन्धी ॥ ५०॥
tajjah sanskaro nyasanskarapratibandhi
The resulting impression from this Samadhi obstructs
all other impressions.
We have seen in the foregoing aphorism that the only way of
attaining to that super-consciousness is by concentration, and
we have also seen that what hinder the mind from
concentration are the past Samskaras, impressions. All of you
have observed that when you are trying to concentrate your
mind, your thoughts wander. When you are trying to think of
God, that is the very time which all these Samskaras take to
appear. At other times they are not so active, but when you
want them not to be they are sure to be there, trying their best
to crowd inside your mind. Why should that be so? Why
should they be much more potent at the time of
concentration? It is because you are repressing them and they
react with all their force. At other times they do not react.
How countless these old past impressions must be, all lodge
somewhere in the Chitta, ready, waiting like tigers to jump
up. These have to be suppressed that the one idea which we
like may arise, to the exclusion of the others. Instead, they are
all struggling to come up at the same time. These are the
various powers of the Samskaras in hindering concentration
of the mind, so this Samadhi which has just been given is the
best to be practised, on account of its power of suppressing
the Samskaras. The Samskara which will be raised by this
sort of concentration will be so powerful that it will hinder the
action of the others, and hold them in check.
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Patanjali Yoga Sutras
51. तस्यापि निरोधे सर्वनिरोधान्निर्बीजः समाधिः ॥ ५१ ॥
tasyapi nirodhe sarvanirodhannirbijah samadhih
By the restraint of even this (impression, which
obstructs all other impressions), all being restrained,
comes the “seedless” Samadhi.
You remember that our goal is to perceive the Soul iself. We
cannot perceive the Soul because it has got mingled up with
nature, with the mind, with the body. The most ignorant man
thinks his body is the Soul. The more learned man thinks his
mind is the Soul, but both of these are mistaken. What makes
the Soul get mingled up with all this, these different waves in
the Chitta rise and cover the Soul, and we only are a little
reflection of the Soul through these waves, so, if the wave be
one of anger, we see the Soul as angry: “I am angry,” we say.
If the wave is a wave of love we see ourselves reflected in that
wave, and say we are loving. If that wave is one of weakness,
and the Soul is reflected in it, we think we are weak. These
various ideas come from these impressions, these Samskaras
covering the Soul. The real nature of the Soul is not perceived
until all the waves have subsided; so, first, Patanjali teaches
us the meaning of these waves; secondly, the best way to
repress them; and thirdly, how to make one wave so strong as
to suppress all other waves, fire eating fire as it were. When
only one remains, it will be easy to suppress that also, and
when that is gone, this Samadhi of concentration is called
seedless; it leaves nothing, and the Soul is manifested just as
It is, in Its own glory. Then alone we know that the Soul is not
a compound, It is the only eternal simple in the universe, and,
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