पातञ्जल योगसूत्र (स्वामी विवेकानन्द भाष्य एवं सूत्र व्याख्या)

Patanjali Yoga Sutras
the organs, and fitness for the realisation of the Self.
By this practice the Sattva material will prevail, and the mind
will become concentrated and cheerful. The first sign that you
are become religious is that you are becoming cheerful. When
a man is gloomy that may be dyspepsia, but it is not religion.
A pleasurable feeling is the nature of the Sattva. Everything is
pleasurable to the Sattvika man, and when this comes, know
that you are progressing in Yoga. All pain is caused by Tamas,
so you must get rid of that; moroseness is one of the results of
Tamas. The strong, the well-knit, the young, the healthy, the
daring alone are fit to be Yogis. To the Yogi everything is bliss,
every human face that he sees brings cheerfulness to him.
That is the sign of a virtuous man. Misery is caused by sin,
and by no other cause. What business have you with clouded
faces; it is terrible. If you have a clouded face do not go out
that day, shut yourself up in your room. What right have you
to carry this disease out into the world? When your mind has
become controlled you will have control over the whole body;
instead of being a slave to the machine, the machine will be
your slave. Instead of this machine being able to drag the soul
down it will be its greatest helpmate.
42. संतोषाद् अनुत्तमः सुखलाभः ॥ ४२ ॥
santoshad anuttamah sukhalabhah
From contentment comes superlative happiness.
43. कायेन्द्रियसिद्धिरशुद्धिक्षयात् तपसः ॥ ४३ ॥
kayendriyasiddhirashuddhikhshayat tapasah
The result of mortification is bringing powers to the
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organs and the body, by destroying the impurity.
The results of mortification are seen immediately sometimes
by heightened powers of vision, and so on, hearing things at a
distance, etc.
44. स्वाध्यायाद् इष्टदेवतासंप्रयोगः ॥ ४४॥
svadhyayad ishtadevatasanprayogah
By repetition of the mantram comes the realisation of
the intended deity.
The higher the beings that you want to get the harder is the
practice.
45. समाधिसिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात् ॥ ४५॥
samadhisiddhirishvarapranidhanat
By sacrificing all to Isvara comes Samadhi.
By resignation to the Lord, Samadhi becomes perfect.
46. स्थिरसुखम् आसनम् ॥ ४६॥
sthirasukham aasanam
Posture is that which is firm and pleasant.
Now comes Asana, posture. Until you can get a firm seat you
cannot practice the breathing and other exercises. The seat
being firm means that you do not feel the body at all; then
alone it has become firm. But, in the ordinary way, you will
find that as soon as you sit for a few minutes all sorts of
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disturbances come into the body; but when you have got
beyond the idea of a concrete body you will lose all sense of
the body. You will feel neither pleasure nor pain. And when
you take your body up again it will feel so rested; it is the only
perfect rest that you can give to the body. When you have
succeeded in conquering the body and keeping it firm, your
practice will remain firm, but while you are disturbed by the
body your nerves become disturbed, and you cannot
concentrate the mind. We can make the seat firm by thinking
of the infinite. We cannot think of the Absolute Infinite, but
we can think of the infinite sky.
47. प्रयत्नशैथिल्यानन्तसमापत्तिभ्याम् ॥ ४७॥
prayatnashaithilyanantasamapattibhyam
By slight effort and meditating on the unlimited
(posture becomes firm and pleasant).
Light and darkness, pleasure and pain, will not then disturb
you.
48. ततो द्वन्द्वानभिघातः ॥ ४८॥
tato dvandvanabhighatah
Seat being conquered, the dualities do not obstruct.
The dualities are good and bad, heat and cold, and all the pairs
of opposites.
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49. तस्मिन् सति श्वासप्रश्वासयोर्गतिविच्छेदः प्राणायामः ॥ ४९॥
tasmin sati shvasaprashvasayorgativichchhedah
pranayamah
Controlling the motion of the exhalation and the
inhalation follows after this.
When the posture has been conquered, then this motion is to
be broken and controlled, and thus we come to Pranayama;
the controlling of the vital forces of the body. Prana is not
breath, though it is usually so translated. It is the sum-total
of the cosmic energy. It is the energy that is in each obdy, and
its most apparent manifestation is the motion of the lungs.
This motion is caused by Prana drawing in the breath, and is
what we seek to control in Pranayama. We begin by
controlling the breaht, as the easiest way of getting control of
the Prana.
50. बाह्याभ्यन्तरस्तम्भवृत्तिः देशकालसंख्याभिः परिदृष्टो
दीर्घसूक्ष्मः ॥ ५०॥
bahyabhyantarastambhavrittih
deshakalasankhyabhih paridrishto dirghasookshmah
Its modifications are either external or internal, or
motionless, regulated by place, time, and number,
either long or short.
The three sorts of motion of this Pranayama are, one by
which we draw the breath in, another by which we throw it
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out, and the third action is when the breath is held in the lungs,
or stopped from entering the lungs. These, again, are varied
by place and time. By place is meant that the Prana is held to
some particular part of the body. By time is meant ho wlong
the Prana should be confined to a certain place, and so we are
told how many seconds to keep on motion, and how many
seconds to keep another. The result of this Pranayama is
Udghata, awakening the Kundalini.
51. बाह्याभ्यन्तरविषयाक्षेपी चतुर्थः ॥ ५१ ॥
bahyabhyantaravishayakshepi chaturthah
The fourth is restraining the Prana by directing it
either to the external or internal objects.
This is the fourth sort of Pranayama. Prana can be directed
either inside or outside.
52. ततः क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम् ॥ ५२ ॥
dharanasu ch yojnata manasah
From that, the covering to the light of the Chitta is
attenuated.
The Chitta has, by its own nature, all knowledge. It is made of
Sattva particles, but is covered by Rajas and Tamas particles,
and by Pranayama this covering is removed.
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53. धारणासु च योग्यता मनसः ॥ ५३ ॥
The mind becomes fit for Dharana.
After this covering has been removed we are able to
concentrate the mind.
54. स्वस्वविषयासंप्रयोगे चित्तस्य स्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां
प्रत्याहारः ॥ ५४॥
svasvavishayasanprayoge chittasy svaroopanukar
ivendriyanan pratyaharah
The drawing in of the organs is by their giving up
their own objects and taking the form of the
mind-stuff.
These organs are separate states of the mind-stuff. I see a
book; the form is not in the book, it is in the mind. Something
is outside which calls that form up. The real form is in the
Chitta. These organs are identifying themselves with, and
taking the forms of whatever comes to them. If you can
restrain the mind-stuff from taking these forms the mind will
remain calm. This is called Pratyahara. Thence arises
supreme control of the organs.
When the Yogi has succeeded in preventing the organs from
taking the forms of external objects, and in making them
remain one with the mind-stuff, then comes perfect control of
the organs, and when the orgns are perfectly under control,
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every muscle and nerve will be under control, because the
organs are the centres of all the senstations, and of all actions.
These organs are divided into organs of work and organs of
sensation. When the organs are controlled the Yogi can
control all feeling and doing; the whole of the body will be
under his control. Then alone one begins to feel joy in being
born; then one can truthfully say, “Blessed am I that I was
born. “ When that control of the organs is obtained, we feel
how wonderful this body really is².
²There are 55 sutras in many versions of Patanjali Yoga Sutra. The 55th
Sutra is ततः परमा वश्यतेन्द्रियाणाम् ॥५५॥ “Pratyahara results in the absolute
control of the sense organs”. Swami Vivekananda has not commented
upon this sutra
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CHAPTER III – VIBHOOTI PADA
THE CHAPTER OF POWERS
॥ तृतीयः विभूतिपादः ॥
We have now come to the chapter which is called the Chapter
of Powers.

1. देशबन्धश्चित्तस्य धारणा ॥ १॥
   deshabandhashchittasya dharana
   Dharana is holding the mind on to some particular
   object.
   Dharana (concentration) is when the mind holds on to some
   object, either in the body, or outside the body, and keeps itself
   in that state.
2. तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम् ॥ २॥
   tatra pratyayaikatanata dhyanam
   An unbroken flow of knowledge to that object is
   Dhyana.
   The mind tries to think of one object, to hold itself to one
   particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if the
   mind succeeds in receiving the sensations only through that
   part of the body, and through no other part, that would be
   Dharana, and when the mind succeeds in keeping itself in
   that state for some time it is called Dhyana (meditation).
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3. तद् एवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यम् इव समाधिः ॥ ३॥
tad evarthamatranirbhasan svaroopashoonyam iva
samadhih
When that, giving up all forms, reflects only the
meaning, it is Samadhi.
That is, when in meditation all forms are given up. Suppose I
were meditating on a book, and that I have gradually
succeeded in concentrating the mind on it, and perceiving
only the internal sensations, the meaning, unexpressed in any
form, that state of Dhyana is called Samadhi.
4. त्रयम् एकत्र संयमः ॥ ४॥
trayam ekatra sanyamah
(These) three (when practised) in regard to one object
is Samyama.
When a man can direct his mind to any particular object and
fix it there, and then keep it there for a long time, separating
the object from the internal part, this is Samyama; or
Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, one following the other,
and making one. The form of the thing has vanished, and only
its meaning remains in the mind.
5. तज्जयात् प्रज्ञाऽऽलोकः ॥ ५॥
tajjayat prajnaalokah
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By the conquest of that comes light of knowledge.
When one has succeeded in making this Samyama, all powers
come under his control. This is the great instrument of the
Yogi. The object of knowledge are infinite, and they are
divided into the gross, grosser, grossest, and the fine, finer,
finest, and so on. This Samyama should be first applied to
gross things, when when you begin to get knowledge of the
gross, slowly, by stages, it should be brought to finer things.
6. तस्य भूमिषु विनियोगः ॥ ६॥
tasya bhoomishu viniyogah
That should be employed in stages. This is a note of
warning not to attempt to go too fast.
7. त्रयम् अन्तरङ्गं पूर्वेभ्यः ॥ ७॥
trayam antaranggan poorvebhyah
These three are nearer than those that precede.
Before these we had the Pranayama, the Asana, the Yama
and Niyama; these are external parts of these three—
Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. Yet these latter even are
external to the seedless Samadhi. When a man has attained to
them he may attain to omniscience and omnipresence, but that
would not be salvation. These three would not make the mind
Nirvikalpa, changeless, but would leave the seeds for getting
bodies again; only when the seeds are, as the Yogi says,
“fried,” do they lose the possibility of producing further
plants. These powers cannot fry the seed.
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8. तदपि बहिरङ्गं निर्बीजस्य ॥ ८॥
tad api bahiranggan nirbijasy
But even they are external to the seedless (Samadhi).
Compared with that seedless Samadhi, therefore, even these
are external. We have not yet reached the real Samadhi, the
highest, but to a lower stage, in which this universe still exists
as we see it, and in which are all these power.
9. व्युत्थाननिरोधसंस्कारयोरभिभवप्रादुर्भावौ निरोधक्षणचित्तान्वयो
निरोधपरिणामः ॥ ९॥
vyutthananirodhasanskarayorabhibhava-
pradurbhavau nirodhakshannachittanvayo
nirodhaparinamah
By the suppression of the disturbed modifications of
the mind, and by the rise of modifications of control,
the mind is said to attain the controlling
modifications - following the controlling powers of
the mind.
That is to say, in this first state of Samadhi, the modifications
of the mind have been controlled, but not perfectly, because if
they were, there would be no modifications. If there is a
modification which impels the mind to rush out through the
senses, and the Yogi tries to control it, that very control itself
will be a modification. One wave will be checked by another
wave, so it will not be real Samadhi, when all the waves have
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subsided, as control itself will be a wave. Yet this lower
Samadhi is very much nearer to the higher Samadhi than
when the mind comes bubbling out.
10. तस्य प्रशान्तवाहिता संस्कारात् ॥ १०॥
tasya prashantavahita sanskarat
Its flow becomes steady by habit.
The flow of this continuous control of the mind becomes
steady when practices day after day and the mind obtains the
faculty of constant concentration.
11. सर्वार्थतैकाग्रतयोः क्षयोदयौ चित्तस्य समाधिपरिणामः ॥ ११॥
sarvarthataikagratayoh kshayodayau chittasya
samadhiparinamah
Taking in all sorts of objects and concentrating upon
one object, these two powers being destroyed and
manifested respectively, the Chitta gets the modifi-
cation called Samadhi.
The mind is taking up various objects, running into all sorts of
things and then there is a higher state of the mind, when it
takes up one object and excludes all others. Samadhi is the
result of that.
12. ततः पुनः शान्तोदितौ तुल्यप्रत्ययौ चित्तस्यैकाग्रतापरिणामः ॥ १२॥
tatah punah shantoditau tulyapratyayau
chittasyaikagrataparinamah
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The one-pointedness of the Chitta is when it grasps in
one, the past and present.
How are we to know that the mind has become concentrated?
Because time will vanish. The more time vanishes the more
concentrated we are. In common life we see that when were
are interested in a book we do not note the time at all, and
when we leave the book we are often surprised to find how
many hours have passed. All time will have the tendency to
come and stand in the one present. So the definition is given,
when the past and present come and stand in one, the more
concentrated the mind.
13. एतेन भूतेन्द्रियेषु धर्मलक्षणावस्थापरिणामा व्याख्याताः ॥ १३ ॥
etena bhootendriyeshu dharmalakshanavastha
parinama vyakhyatah
By this is explained the threefold transformations of
form, time and state, in fine or gross matter, and in the
organs.
By this the threefold changes in the mind-stuff as to form,
time, and state are explained. The mind-stuff is changing into
Vrttis, this is change as to form. To be able to hold the changes
to the present time is change as to time. To be able to make
the mind-stuff go to the past forms giving up the present even,
is change as to state. The concentrations taught in the
preceding aphorisms were to give the Yogi a voluntary control
over the transformations of his mind-stuff which alone will
enable him to make the Samyama before named.
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14. शान्तोदिताव्यपदेश्यधर्मानुपाती धर्मी ॥१४॥
shantoditavyapadeshyadharmanupati dharmi
That which is acted upon by transformations, either
past, present or yet to be manifested, is the qualified.
That is to say, the qualified is the substance which is being
acted upon by time and by the Samskaras, and getting
changed and being manifested all the time.
15. क्रमान्यत्वं परिणामान्यत्वे हेतुः ॥१५॥
kramanyatvan parinamanyatve hetuh
The succession of changes is the cause of manifold
evolution.
16. परिणामत्रयसंयमादतीतानागतज्ञानम् ॥१६॥
parinamatrayasanyamadatitanagatajnanam
By making Samyama on the three sorts of changes
comes the knowledge of past and future.
We must not lose sight of the first definition of Samyama.
When the mind has attained to that state when it identifies
itself with the internal impression of the object, leaving the
external, and when, by long practice, that is retained by the
mind, and the mind can get into that state in a moment, that is
Samyama. If a man in that state wants to know the past and
future he has to make a Samyama on the changes in the
Samskaras. Some are working now at present, some have
worked out, and some are waiting to work; so by making a
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Samyama on these he knows the past and future.
17. शब्दार्थप्रत्ययानाम् इतरेतराध्यासात् संकरःतत्प्रविभागसंयमात्
सर्वभूतरुतज्ञानम् ॥ १७॥
shabdarthapratyayanam itaretaradhyasat sankarah
tatpravibhagasanyamat sarvabhootarutajnanam
By making Samyama on word, meaning, and
knowledge, which are ordinarily confused, comes the
knowledge of all animal sounds.
The word represents the external cause, the meaning
represents the internal vibration that travels to the brain
through the channels of the Indriyas, conveying the external
impression to the mind, and knowledge represents the
reaction of the mind, with which comes perception. These
three confused, make our sense objects. Suppose I hear a
word; there is first the external vibration, next the internal
sensation carried to the mind by the organ of hearing, then the
mind reacts, and I know the word. The word I know is a
mixture of the three, vibration, sensation, and reaction.
Ordinarily these three are inseperable; but by practice the
Yogi can separate them. When a man has attained to this, if he
makes a Samyama on any sound, he understands the meaning
which that sound was intended to express, whether it was
made by man or by any other animal.
18. संस्कारसाक्षत्करणात् पूर्वजातिज्ञानम् ॥ १८ ॥
sanskarasakshatkaranat poorvajatijnanam
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By perceiving the impressions, knowledge of past
life.
Each experience that we have comes in the form of a wave in
the Chitta, and this subsides and becomes finer and finer, but
is never lost. It remains there in minute form, and if we can
bring this wave up again, it becomes memory. So, if the Yogi
can make a Samyama on these past impressions in the mind,
he will begin to remember all his past lives.
19. प्रत्ययस्य परचित्तज्ञानम् ॥ १९॥
pratyayasy parachittajnanam
By making Samyama on the signs in another's both
knowledge of that mind comes.
Suppose each man has particular signs on his body, which
differentiate him from others; when the Yogi makes a
Samyama on these signs peculiar to a certain man he knows
the nature of the mind of that person.
20. न च तत् सालम्बनं,तस्याविषयीभूतत्वात् ॥२०॥
na cha tat salambanan,tasyavishayibhootatvat
But not its contents, that not being the object of the
Samyama.
He would not know the contents of the mind by making a
Samyama on the body. There would be required a twofold
Samyama, first on the signs in the body, and then on the mind
itself. The Yogi would then know everything that is in that
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mind, past, present, and future.
21. कायरूपसंयमात् तद्ग्राह्यशक्तिस्तम्भे
चक्षुःप्रकाशासंप्रयोगेऽन्तर्धानम् ॥२१॥
kayaroopasanyamat tadgrahyashaktistambhe
chakshuhprakashasanprayogentardhanam
By making Samyama on the form of the body the
power of perceiving forms being obstructed, the
power of manifestation in the eye being separated, the
Yogi's body becomes unseen.
A Yogi standing in the midst of this room can apparently
vanish. He does not really vanish, but he will not be seen by
anyone. The form and the body are, as it were, separated. You
must remember that this can only be done when the Yogi has
attained to that power of concentration when form and the
thing formed have been separated. Then he makes a Samyama
on that, and the power to perceive forms is obstructed,
because the power of perceiving forms comes from the
junction of form and the thing formed.
22. एतेन शब्दाद्यन्तर्धानमुक्तम् ॥२२॥
etena shabdadyantardhanamuktam
By this the disappearance or concealment of words
which are being spoken is also explained.
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23. सोपक्रमं निरुपक्रमं च कर्म तत्संयमाद् अपरान्तज्ञानम्,
अरिष्टेभ्यो वा ॥२३॥
sopakraman nirupakraman cha karma tatsanyamad
aparantajnanam,arishtebhyo va
Karma is of two kinds, soon to be fructified, and late
to be fructified. By making Samyama on that, or by
the signs called Aristha, portents, the Yogis know the
exact time of separation from their bodies.
When the Yogi makes a Samyama on his own Karma, upon
those impressions in his mind which are now working, and
those which are just waiting to work, he knows exactly by
those that are waiting when his body will fall. He knows when
he will die, at what hour, even at what minute. The Hindus
think very much of that knowledge or consciousness of the
nearness of death, because it is taught in the Gita that the
thoughts at the moment of departure are great powers in
determining the next life.
24. मैत्र्यादिषु बलानि ॥२४॥
maitryadishu balani
By making Samyama on friendship, etc., various
strength comes.
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25. बलेषु हस्तिबलादीनि ॥२५॥
baleshu hastibaladini
By making Samyama on the strength of the elephant,
etc., that strength comes to the Yogi.
When a Yogi has attained to this Samyama and wants strength,
he makes a Samyama on the strength of the elephant, and gets
it. Infinite energy is at the disposal of everyone, if he only
knows how to get it. The Yogi has discovered the science of
getting it.
26. प्रवृत्त्यालोकन्यासात् सूक्ष्मव्यवहितविप्रकृष्टज्ञानम् ॥२६॥
pravrittyalokanyasat sookshmavyavahita-
viprakrishtajnanam
By making Samyama on that effulgent light comes
the knowledge of the fine, the obstructed, and the
remote.
When the Yogi makes Samyama on that effulgent light in the
heart he sees things which are very remote, things, for
instance, that are happening in a distant place, and which are
obstructed by mountain barriers and also things which are
very fine.
27. भुवनज्ञानं सूर्ये संयमात् ॥२७॥
bhuvanajnanan soorye sanyamat
By making Samyama on the sun, (comes) the
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knowledge of the world.
28. चन्द्रे ताराव्यूहज्ञानम् ॥ २८॥
chandre taravyoohajnanam
On the moon, (comes) the knowledge of the cluster of
stars.
29. ध्रुवे तद्गतिज्ञानम् ॥ २९॥
dhruve tadgatijnanam
On the pole star (comes) the knowledge of the
motions of the stars.
30. नाभिचक्रे कायव्यूहज्ञानम् ॥ ३०॥
nabhichakre kayavyoohajnanam
On the navel circle (comes) the knowledge of the
constitution of the body.
31. कण्ठकूपे क्षुत्पिपासानिवृत्तिः ॥३१॥
kanthakoope kshutpipasanivrittih
On the hollow of the throat (comes) cessation of
hunger.
When a man is very hungry, if he can make Samyama on the
pit of the throat hunger ceases.
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