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| ISBN-13: | 9780835600231 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Quest Books |
| Publication date: | 01/01/1961 |
| Edition description: | FOURTH |
| Pages: | 465 |
| Sales rank: | 1,144,834 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d) |
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The Science of Yoga
The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali in Sanskrit with Transliteration in Roman, Translation in English and Commentary
By I.K. Taimni
Theosophical Publishing House
Copyright © 1961 Theosophical Publishing HouseAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8356-0023-1
CHAPTER 1
SECTION I
SAMADHI PADA
SAMADHI PADA
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Atha Yoganusasanam.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] now; herewith [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII](of) Yoga [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] expounding; exposition (teaching).
1. Now, an exposition of Yoga (is to be made).
Generally, a treatise of this nature in Samskrta begins with a Sutra which gives an idea with regard to the nature of the undertaking. The present treatise is an 'exposition' of Yoga. The author does not claim to be the discoverer of this Science but merely an expounder who has tried to condense in a few Sutras all the essential knowledge concerning the Science which a student or aspirant ought to possess. Very little is known about Patañjali. Although we have no information about him which can be called definitely historical, still according to occult tradition he was the same person who was known as Govinda Yogi and who initiated Samkaracarya in the Science of Yoga. From the masterly manner in which he has expounded the subject of Yoga in the Yoga-Sutras it is obvious that he was a Yogi of a very high order who had personal knowledge of all aspects of Yoga including its practical technique.
As the method of expounding a subject in the form of Sutras is peculiar and generally unfamiliar to Western students having no knowledge of the Samskrta language, it would perhaps not be out of place to say here a few words on this classical method which was adopted by the ancient Sages and scholars in their exposition of some of the most important subjects. The word Sutram in Samskrta means a thread and this primary meaning has given rise to the secondary meaning of Sutram as an aphorism. Just as a thread binds together a number of beads in a rosary, in the same way the underlying continuity of idea binds together in outline the essential aspects of a subject. The most important characteristics of this method are utmost condensation consistent with clear exposition of all essential aspects and continuity of the underlying theme in spite of the apparent discontinuity of the ideas presented. The latter characteristic is worth noting because the effort to discover the hidden 'thread' of reasoning beneath the apparently unconnected ideas very often provides the clue to the meaning of many Sutras. It should be remembered that this method of exposition was prevalent at a time when printing was unknown and most of the important treatises had to be memorized by the student. Hence the necessity of condensation to the utmost limit. Nothing essential was, of course, left out but everything with which the student was expected to be familiar or which he could easily infer from the context was ruthlessly cut out.
The student will find on careful study what a tremendous amount of theoretical and practical knowledge the author has managed to incorporate in this very small treatise. Everything necessary for the proper understanding of the subject has been given at one place or another in a skeleton form. But the body of the requisite knowledge has to be dug out, prepared properly, chewed and digested before the subject can be understood thoroughly in its entirety. The Sutra method of exposition may appear to the modern student needlessly obscure and difficult but if he goes through the labour required for the mastery of the subject he will realize its superiority to the all too easy modem methods of presentation. The necessity of struggling with the words and ideas and digging out their hidden meanings ensures a very thorough assimilation of knowledge and develops simultaneously the powers and faculties of the mind, especially that important and indispensable capacity of digging out of one's own mind the knowledge which lies buried in its deeper recesses.
But while this method of exposition is very effective it has its drawbacks also. The chief disadvantage is the difficulty which the ordinary student who is not thoroughly conversant with the subject has in finding the correct meaning. Not only is he likely to find many Sutras difficult to understand on account of their brevity but he may completely misunderstand some of them and be led astray in a hopeless manner. We have to remember that in a treatise like the Yoga-Sutras, behind many a word there is a whole pattern of thought of which the word is a mere symbol. To understand the true significance of the Sutras we must be thoroughly familiar with these patterns. The difficulty is increased still further when the words have to be translated into another language which does not contain exactly equivalent words.
Those who wrote these treatises were master-minds, masters of the subject and language they dealt with. There could be no fault in their method of presentation. But in the course of time fundamental changes can sometimes be brought about in the meaning of words and the thought patterns of those who study these treatises. And this fact introduces endless possibilities of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of some of the Sutras. In treatises of a purely philosophical or religious nature such a misunderstanding would perhaps not matter so much, but in one of a highly technical and practical nature like the Yoga-Sutras it can lead to great complications and even to dangers of a serious nature.
Luckily for the earnest student, Yoga has always been a living Science in the East and it has had an unbroken succession of living experts who continually verify by their own experiments and experiences the basic truths of this Science. This has helped not only to keep the traditions of Yogic culture alive and pure but to maintain the meanings of the technical words used in this Science in a fairly exact and clearly defined form. It is only when a Science is divorced completely from its practical application that it tends to lose itself in a morass of words which have lost their meaning and relation with the actual facts.
While the method of presenting a subject in the form of Sutras is eminently suited for the practical and advanced student it can hardly be denied that it does not quite fit in with our modern conditions. In the olden days those who studied these Sutras had easy access to the teachers of the Science who elaborated the knowledge embodied in a condensed form, filled up the gaps and gave practical guidance. And these students had leisure in which to think, meditate and dig out the meanings for themselves. The modern student who is interested merely in the theoretical study of the Yogic philosophy and is not practising it under an expert teacher has none of these facilities and needs an elaborate and clear exposition for an adequate understanding of the subject. He needs a commentary which not only aims at explaining the obvious meaning but also the hidden significance of the words and phrases used in terms of the concepts with which he is familiar and can easily understand. He wants his food not in 'tabloid' form but in bulk, and if possible, in a palatable form.
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Yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (the essential technique of) yoga [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (of) mind [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (of) modifications [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] inhibition; suppression; stoppage; restraint.
2. Yoga is the inhibition of the modifications of the mind.
This is one of the most important and well-known Sutras of this treatise not because it deals with some important principle or technique of practical value but because it defines with the help of only four words the essential nature of Yoga. There are certain concepts in every science which are of a basic nature and which must be understood aright if the student is to get a satisfactory grasp of the subject as a whole. The ideas underlying all the four words in this Sutra are of such a fundamental nature and the student should try to grasp through study and reflection their real meaning. Of course, the significance of these words will become sufficiently clear only when the book has been studied thoroughly, and the various aspects of the subject considered in their relation to one another. It might be expected that words of such fundamental importance will be carefully defined and such definitions inserted wherever they are needed. But in the case of the present Sutra no such definitions have been given and we can therefore conclude that the author expected the student to acquire a clear idea with regard to the import of the words from his study of the whole book. But as it is necessary for the student not to start his study with wrong or confused ideas it will perhaps be worthwhile considering at this initial stage the import of the words and the Sutra in a general way.
Let us begin with the word Yoga. The word Yoga in Samskrta has a very large number of meanings. It is derived from the root Taj which means 'to join' and the idea of joining runs through all the meanings. What are the two things which are sought to be joined by the practice of Yoga? According to the highest conceptions of Hindu philosophy of which the Science of Yoga is an integral part, the human soul or the Jivatma is a facet or partial expression of the Over-Soul or Paramatma, the Divine Reality which is the source or substratum of the manifested Universe. Although in essence the two are the same and are indivisible, still, the Jivatma has become subjectively separated from Paramatma and is destined, after going through an evolutionary cycle in the manifested Universe, to become united with Him again in consciousness. This state of unification of the two in consciousness as well as the mental process and discipline through which this union is attained are both called Yoga. This conception is formulated in a different way in the Samkhya philosophy but on close analysis the fundamental idea will be found to be essentially the same.
Then we come to the word Citta. This word is derived from the Cit or Citi (IV-34) one of the three aspects of Paramatma called Sat-Cit-Ananda in Vedanta. It is this aspect which is at the basis of the form side of the Universe and through which it is created. The reflection of this aspect in the individual soul which is a microcosm is called Citta. Citta is thus that instrument or medium through which the Jivatma materializes his individual world, lives and evolves in the world until he has become perfected and united with the Paramatma. Broadly, therefore, Citta corresponds to 'mind' of modern psychology but it has a more comprehensive import and field for functioning. While Citta may be considered as a universal medium through which consciousness functions on all the planes of the manifested Universe, the 'mind' of modem psychology is confined to the expression of only thought, volition and feeling.
We should not, however, make the mistake of imagining Citta as a sort of material medium which is moulded into different forms when mental images of different kinds are produced. It is fundamentally of the nature of consciousness which is immaterial but affected by matter. In fact, it may be called a product of both, consciousness and matter, or Purusa and Prakrti, the presence of both being necessary for its functioning. It is like an intangible screen which enables the Light of consciousness to be projected in the manifested world. But the real secret of its essential nature lies buried in the origin of the manifested Universe and can be known only on attaining Enlightenment. It is true that the theory of perception which is developed in Section IV gives some general indication with regard to the nature of Citta but it does not say what Citta essentially is.
The third word we have to consider in this Sutra is Vrtti. It is derived from the root Vrt which means 'to exist'. So Vrtti is a way of existing. In considering the ways in which a thing exists we may consider its modifications, states, activities or its functions. All these connotations are present in the meaning of Vrtti but in the present context this word is best translated by the words 'modifications' or 'functionings'. Sometimes the word is translated as 'transformations'. This does not seem to be justified because in transformation the emphasis is on the change and not on the condition. The transformations of Citta may be stopped and it may still remain in one particular modification as happens in Sabija Samadhi. As the ultimate aim of Yoga is inhibition of all modifications in Nirbija Samadhi it will be seen that the word 'transformation' will not adequately express the meaning of the word Vrtti. Besides, the word 'transformation' has to be used for the three Parinamas dealt with in the first part of Section III. Since Citta has a functional existence and comes into being only when consciousness is affected by matter, the word 'functionings' perhaps expresses to the maximum degree the significance of Vrtti in the present context, but the word 'modifications' is also used generally and understood more easily and may therefore pass.
In trying to understand the nature of Citta-Vrttis we have to guard against a few misconceptions which are sometimes prevalent among those who have not studied the subject deeply. The first thing to note is that Citta-Vrtti is not a vibration. We have seen above that Citta is not material and therefore there can be no question of any vibration in it. Vibrations can take place only in a vehicle and these vibrations may produce a Citta-Vrtti. The two are different though related. The second point to be noted in this connection is that a Citta-Vrtti is not a mental image though it may be and is generally associated with mental images. The five-fold classification of Gitta-Vrttis in 1-5 definitely shows this. Mental images may be of innumerable kinds but the author has classified Citta-Vrttis under five heads only. This shows that Citta-Vrttis have a more fundamental and comprehensive character than the mere mental images with which they are associated. This is not the place to enter into a detailed discussion of the essential nature ofCitta-V?ttis because the question involves the essential nature of Citta. But if the student studies carefully the six Sutras (1-6-11) dealing with the five kinds of Vrttis he will see that they are the fundamental states or types of modifications in which the mind can exist. The author has given five types for the modifications of the lower concrete mind with which the ordinary man is familiar. But the number and nature of these different types are bound to be different in the higher realms of Citta.
The last word to be considered is Nirodha. This word is derived from the word Niruddham which means 'restrained', 'controlled', 'inhibited'. All these meanings are applicable in the different stages of Yoga. Restraint is involved in the initial stages, control in the more advanced stages and inhibition or complete suppression in the last stage. The subject of Nirodha has been dealt with in considering III-9 and the student should read carefully what is written in that connection.
If the student has understood the meaning of the four words in this Sutra he will see that it defines in a masterly manner the essential nature of Yoga. The effectiveness of the definition lies in the fact that it covers all stages of progress through which the Yogi passes and all stages of unfoldment of consciousness which are the result of this progress. It is equally applicable to the stage of Kriya-Yoga in which he learns the preliminary lessons, to the stages of Dharana and Dhyana in which he brings the mind under his complete control, to the stage of Sabija Samadhi in which he has to suppress the 'seeds' of Samprajñata-Samadhi and to the last stage of Nirbija Samadhi in which he inhibits all modifications of Citta and passes beyond the realm of Prakrti into the world of Reality. The full significance of the Sutra can be understood only when the subject of Yoga has been studied thoroughly in all its aspects and so it is useless to say anything further at this stage.
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Tada drastuh svarupe'vasthanam.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] then [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (of) Seer [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in his 'own form' or essential and fundamental nature [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] establishment.
3. Then the Seer is established in his own essential and fundamental nature.
This Sutra points out in a general way what happens when all the modifications of the mind at all levels have been completely inhibited. The Seer is established in his Svarupa or in other words attains Self-realization. We cannot know what this state of Self-realization is as long as we are involved in the play of Citta-Vrttis. It can only be realized from within and not comprehended from without. Even the partial and superficial comprehension which we can obtain under our present limitations by means of study and reflection is possible only after we have mastered the whole theory and technique of Yoga outlined in this treatise. The higher stages of consciousness which unfold in the state of Samadhi and which are referred to in I-44 and 45 are called Rtambhara or truth-right-bearing. In their light the Yogi can know the truth underlying all things in manifestation. But he can know the truth in this way of only those things which are part of Drsyam, the Seen, not of the Drasta, the Seer. For this he has to practise Nirbija Samadhi (I-51).
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Vrtti-sarupyam itaratra.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (with) modifications (of the mind) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] identification; assimilation [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] elsewhere, in other states.
4. In other states there is assimilation (of the Seer) with the modifications (of the mind).
When the Citta-Vrttis are not in the state of Nirodha and the Drasta is not established in his Svarupa he is assimilated with the particular Vrtti which happens to occupy the field of his consciousness for the moment. A simile will perhaps help the student to understand this assimilation of consciousness with the transformation of the mind. Let him imagine a lighted electric bulb suspended in a tank full of limpid water. If the water is churned violently by some mechanical contrivance it will make all kinds of patterns in three dimensions round the bulb, these patterns being illuminated by the light from the bulb and changing from moment to moment. But what about the bulb itself? It will disappear from view, all the light emanating from it being assimilated with or lost in the surrounding water. Now, let him imagine the churning of water slowed down gradually until the water becomes perfectly still. As the three dimensional patterns begin to subside gradually the electric bulb gradually emerges into view and when the water is quite at rest the bulb alone is seen. This simile illustrates in a rather crude way both the assimilation of the consciousness of the Purusa with the modification of the mind and its reversion to its own unmodified state when the mind comes to rest. The mind may come to rest either through Para-Vairagya developed by Isvara-praidhane or through the practice of Samadhi, the result in both cases is the same—Enlightenment—and Liberation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Science of Yoga by I.K. Taimni. Copyright © 1961 Theosophical Publishing House. Excerpted by permission of Theosophical Publishing House.
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Table of Contents
Contents
PREFACE,SECTION I Samadhi Pada,
SECTION II Sadhana Pada,
SECTION III Vibhuti Pada,
SECTION IV Kaivalya Pada,