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yogena cittasya padena vacam
malam sarirasya ca vaidyakena yopakarottam pravaram muninam patanjalim
pranjalir anato'smi
To purify the mind
(citta) and the consciousness, Patanjali gave the science of yoga (yogena) to
us.
To purify our use of words and speech (vacca), he gave a commentary on grammar
(pada) to us, so that our use of words and way of speaking is clarified,
distinct and pure.
To remove the impurities (malam) of the body (sarira), he gave us the science
of medicine (vaidyakena).
Let me go near the one who has given these things to us. Let me bow down my
head with my folded hands to Lord Patanjali
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Maharishi Patanjali is believed to have compiled his Yoga Sutra around the 3rd
or 4th century BC but archeological evidences and the study of ancient
scriptures suggest that yoga was practiced in ancient India as early as 3000
BC.
In spite of the Yoga Sutra being by far the most definitive text on the
philosophy of classical yoga, very little is known about Patanjali himself. In
fact, the identity of this sage scholar is still being debated in academic
circles. All that one might say about him is that he was a great philosopher
and grammarian. Some also believe him to have been a physician and attribute a
certain medical work to him. But even if such a medical treatise did exist, it
has been lost to us through the passage of time. Scholars tentatively put his
time somewhere around three centuries before Christ and though the date of the
Yoga Sutra's composition is also a controversial issue, place it within that
broad time frame.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, which outlines the sovereign path of Raja Yoga, is
composed of a total of 195 sutras or aphorisms. These sutras are structured
around four padas or chapters:
. Samadhi Pada,
. Sadhana Pada,
. Vibhuti Pada and
. Kaivalya Pada.
Unlike Western theoretical texts, which are often self-explanatory, Indian
classical texts are mostly composed in the form of extremely terse and self-
contained aphorisms or sutras. Sutras literally mean 'threads'-the idea being
that each individual blossoms of thought are bound together to form the
eventual wreath of a complex philosophy.
The first chapter, which is composed of 51 sutras,
contemplates on the absolute true consciousness or Isvara and delineates the
problems an individual soul is likely to face in its quest to merge with this
Divine Soul.
Isvara is the supreme Purusha, unaffected by any afflictions, actions, fruits
of actions or by any inner impressions of desires.
In Him is the complete manifestation of the seed of omniscience.
Unconditioned by time, He is the teacher of even the most ancient teachers.
The word expressive of Isvara is the mystic sound OM.
-Samadhi Pada: Sutras 24-27.
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After chapter one describes the different kinds of thought forms, practices to
control them and the different kinds of samadhis culminating in the highest
experience of nirbija samadhi, the second chapter follows it up with practical
ways of attaining that state.
In 55 sutras, the Sadhana Pada establishes the aim
of yoga as being the control of the chitta vrittis (thought processes) to
attain the highest union or 'yoga'. It prescribes the practice of Karma and
Ashtanga Yoga as a means of achieving this union.The karmas bear fruits of
pleasure and pain caused by merit and demerit.
-Sadhana Pada: Sutra 14.
By the practice of the eight limbs of Yoga, the impurities dwindle away and
there dawns the light of wisdom, leading to discriminative discernment.
-Sadhana Pada: Sutra 28.
The practice of these three (dharana, dhyana, and samadhi) upon one object is
called samyama.
By the mastery of samyama comes the light of knowledge.
Its practice is to be accomplished in stages.
-Vibhuti Pada: Sutras 5-7.
The 56 sutras of the third chapter focus on the
achieved union and its result. The term 'vibhuti' denotes manifestation or
residue and this Pada delineates all the accomplishments, which come as the
result of regular yoga practices. They are also sometimes called the siddhis,
or powers, which have become matured with practice. The practices, which have
been stressed in the Vibhuti Pada are the final three limbs of Ashtanga Yoga:
dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (contemplation), the
amalgamated practice of which is known as samyama.
Only the minds born of meditation are free from karmic impressions.
-Kaivalya Pada: Sutra 7.
Since the desire to live is eternal, impressions are also beginningless.
The impressions being held together by cause, effect, basis and support, they
disappear with the disappearance of these four.
-Kaivalya Pada: Sutra 11-12.
Kaivalya, which is the ultimate goal of yoga, means solitariness or detachment.
The 34 sutras of the fourth chapter deals with
impressions left by our endless cycles of birth and the rationale behind the
necessity of erasing such impressions.
It portrays the yogi, who has attained kaivalya, as an entity who has gained
independence from all bondages and achieved the absolute true consciousness or
ritambhara prajna described in the Samadhi Pada.
.Or, to look from another angle, the power of pure consciousness settles in its
own pure nature.
-Kaivalya Pada: Sutra 35.
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