专注：其修习方法

卷1 lecture

10,367 字数 · 41 分钟阅读 · Raja-Yoga

本译文由人工智能辅助工具生成，可能存在不准确之处。如需查阅权威文本，请参考英文原文。

AI-translated. May contain errors. For accurate text, refer to the original English.

中文

1→帕坦伽利《瑜伽经》 2→第二章 3→专注：其修习方法 4→ 5→तपः-स्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः ॥१॥ 6→ 7→一、苦行、研习与将行为之果奉献于神，称为行动瑜伽（Kriyā-Yoga）。 8→ 9→我们上一章末所论及的那些三摩地（Samādhi），极难获致；因此，我们必须循序渐进。首要步骤，即预备阶段，名为行动瑜伽（Kriyā-Yoga）。从字面而言，此词意指「工作」，即趋向瑜伽（瑜伽）的修习。感官乃马匹，心意乃缰绳，智性乃御者，灵魂乃乘者，身体乃马车。一家之主、国王、人之真我（Ātman），端坐于此车之中。若马匹桀骜不驯，不受缰绳约束；若御者智性不知如何驾驭，马车便将倾覆。然而，若感官诸马受到良好控制，心意之缰绳亦由智性御者稳握于手，马车便能抵达目的地。由此可见，所谓「苦行」究竟意指何物？即坚定把握缰绳，引导身体与感官；不任由二者随心所欲，而使其皆处于适当管束之下。「研习」——此处所指研习为何？并非研读小说或故事书，而是研习那些教导灵魂解脱（Moksha）之典籍。此外，这里的研习也绝非指论辩式的钻研。瑜伽士被认为已超越论辩阶段，他已尝试足够，已感到满足。他研习仅为强化其信念。吠陀（Vedas）中所谓辩论（Vāda）与定论（Siddhānta）——乃圣典知识之两种形式——前者为论辩争议，后者为最终定论。当一人尚处蒙昧之时，先从事前者，即论辩、正反推理；待其完成，便进入定论，得出结论。然而，仅仅得出结论犹不足够，必须使之深化。书籍无穷无尽，时间却极有限；因此，获取知识的秘诀在于取其精华，取之而力行于生命之中。印度有一古老传说：若将一杯牛奶与清水置于仙鹅（Rāja Hamsa）之前，它将饮尽牛奶而留下清水。我们当以此精神汲取知识中有价值之物，舍弃糟粕。理智训练在初期是必要的。我们不可盲目行事。瑜伽士已越过论辩阶段，抵达如磐石般坚不可摇的结论。他如今所寻求的，唯有深化那一结论。他说：不要争论；若有人强行向你灌输论点，保持沉默。不要回应任何论辩，而是平静离去，因为论辩只会扰乱心意。唯一必要之事是训练智性，何必无谓地扰动它？智性不过是一件脆弱的工具，只能给予我们受感官所限的知识。瑜伽士志在超越感官，因此智性对他毫无用处。他对此确信无疑，故保持沉默，不事论辩。每一场论辩都会使心意失去平衡，在心素（Chitta）中引发扰动，而扰动乃一种退步。理性的辩论与追问，不过是过途中的手段。其上还有更高远的境界。生命的全部，并非用于学童式的争吵与辩论社。「将行为之果奉献于神」，意即对自身既不居功、也不归咎，而是将二者皆交付于主，心得平安。 10→ 11→समाधि-भावनार्थः क्लेश-तनूकरणार्थश्च ॥२॥ 12→ 13→二、（此乃）为修习三摩地及减少带来苦恼之障碍。 14→ 15→我们大多数人将心意娇宠如顽童，任其所为。因此，行动瑜伽必须坚持不懈地修习，以便控制心意，使其顺从。瑜伽的障碍由缺乏控制而生，为我们带来痛苦。这些障碍唯有藉由克制心意、以行动瑜伽之手段加以管束，方能消除。 16→ 17→अविद्यास्मिता-राग-द्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः ॥३॥ 18→ 19→三、带来苦恼的障碍为——无明、我慢、执著、厌离，以及贪恋生命。 20→ 21→这是五种苦恼，是束缚我们的五重锁链，其中无明为因，其余四者为果。无明是我们一切痛苦的唯一根源。还有什么别的东西能使我们痛苦？真我（Ātman）的本性是永恒的极乐。除了无明、幻觉、妄想，还有什么能使其悲苦？灵魂的一切苦痛，不过是妄想而已。 22→ 23→अविद्याक्षेत्रमुत्तरेषां प्रसुप्त-तनु-विच्छिन्नोदाराणाम् ॥४॥ 24→ 25→四、无明是其后诸障的滋生之田，无论其处于眠伏、减弱、间断或充分展开之状态。 26→ 27→无明是我慢、执著、厌离与贪恋生命的根因。这些印象以不同状态存在。它们有时处于眠伏状态。我们常听到「如婴儿般纯真」的说法，然而婴儿之中，或许已潜藏着恶魔或神明的种子，将随时日逐渐显现。在瑜伽士之中，这些由过去行为所遗留的业印（Samskaras），已趋微细，即以极精细的状态存在，他能加以控制，不使其显现。「被压制」意指有时一组印象被更强大的印象暂时压制，但一旦压制的原因消失，便再度涌现。最后一种状态是「充分展开」，即业印（Samskaras）在有利的环境中获得极大的活力，或为善、或为恶。 28→ 29→अनित्याशुचि-दुःखानात्मसु नित्य-शुचि-सुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या ॥५॥ 30→ 31→五、无明是将无常、不净、苦痛与非真我，分别误认为永恒、清净、幸福与真我（Ātman）或本性。 32→ 33→各种印象皆有一个根源，即无明。我们首先必须了解无明究竟是什么。我们所有人都认为「我是身体，而非纯净、光明、永恒极乐之真我（Self）」，此即无明。我们以人为身体而观之，此乃大妄想。 34→ 35→दृग्दर्शनशक्त्योरेकात्मतेवास्मिता ॥६॥ 36→ 37→六、我慢是见者与见的工具之间的混同认同。 38→ 39→见者实为真我（Self），纯净者、永恒神圣者、无限者、不朽者——此乃人之真我。而那些工具又是什么？心素（Chitta）或心智材质、决断力（Buddhi）或辨析力、意根（Manas）或心意，以及根（Indriyas）或感官。这些是他感知外部世界的工具，而真我与这些工具的混同认同，即所谓我慢之无明。我们说「我是心意」，「我是思想」，「我在愤怒」，或「我很快乐」。我们怎么可能愤怒？我们又怎么可能憎恨？我们应当将自身认同于那不可改变的真我（Self）。若真我是不变的，它怎么可能此刻快乐、彼刻悲苦？它是无形的、无限的、遍一切处的。什么能改变它？它超越一切法则。什么能影响它？宇宙中没有任何事物能对它产生影响。然而，由于无明，我们将自己认同于心智材质，以为感受着快乐或痛苦。 40→ 41→सुखानुशयी रागः ॥७॥ 42→ 43→七、执著是依附于快乐之物。 44→ 45→我们在某些事物中发现快乐，心意如同水流向它们奔涌；而这种追随快乐中心的倾向，即所谓执著。我们从不执著于那些我们找不到快乐的地方。我们有时在极奇特之物中寻得快乐，但原理不变：无论我们在何处找到快乐，我们便执著于彼处。 46→ 47→दुःखानुशयी द्वेषः ॥८॥ 48→ 49→八、厌离是依附于苦痛之物。 50→ 51→凡带给我们痛苦之物，我们立即寻求逃离。 52→ 53→स्वरसवाही विदुषोऽपि तथारूढोऽभिनिवेशः ॥९॥ 54→ 55→九、贪恋生命依其自身本性流转，甚至在有学识者中亦根深蒂固。 56→ 57→这种对生命的贪恋，在每一个动物身上皆有所体现。许多人曾试图以此为基础，建立未来生命的理论，因为人们如此热爱生命，以至于也渴望来世。当然，这一论点的价值不言而喻十分有限，但其中最奇特之处在于：在西方国家，认为这种对生命的贪恋暗示着未来生命之可能性的观念，只适用于人类，而不包括动物。而在印度，对生命的贪恋一直是证明过去经历与存在的论据之一。例如，倘若我们所有的知识皆来自经验，那么我们从未经历过的事物，便无法想象或理解。小鸡一孵化，便开始啄食。曾有多次记录显示，当由母鸡孵出的小鸭一出壳，便飞扑向水中，而母鸡则以为它们会被淹死。若经验是知识的唯一来源，小鸡如何学会啄食，或小鸭如何知晓水是其自然元素？若你说那是本能，那不过是给事物贴了一个标签，却并非解释。本能是什么？我们自身也有许多本能。例如，你们许多女士弹奏钢琴，请回想初学时，你们如何小心翼翼地将手指逐一放在黑白琴键上，但经过多年练习之后，你们可以一边与朋友交谈，一边手指自如弹奏。这已成为本能。我们所做的每一件工作亦如此；经过练习，它成为本能，成为自动反应；但就我们所知，我们现在视为自动的一切，皆是退化的理性。以瑜伽士的语言来说，本能是内化的理性。辨析力内化后，成为自动的业印（Samskaras）。因此，完全合乎逻辑地认为，世界上所有我们称之为本能的，不过是内化的理性。既然理性不能没有经验而产生，所有本能皆是过去经验的结果。小鸡害怕老鹰，小鸭热爱水——这两者皆是过去经验的结果。那么问题在于：这些经验属于特定灵魂，还是仅属于身体——这些来到鸭子身上的经验，是鸭子祖先的经验，还是鸭子自身的经验？现代科学家认为它属于身体，但瑜伽士认为这是通过身体传递的心意之经验。此即所谓轮回理论。 58→ 59→我们已见到，我们所有的知识，无论称之为感知、理性还是本能，皆必须通过那唯一被称为经验的渠道而来，而我们现在所称的本能，皆是过去经验的结果，已退化为本能，而本能又再次进化为理性。整个宇宙如此循环往复，印度正是在此基础上建立了轮回理论的主要论据之一。各种恐惧经验的反复出现，随时间推移，产生了对生命的贪恋。这就是为何孩子本能地感到恐惧，因为过去痛苦的经验已存在于其中。即便在那些最博学的人之中，那些知晓这个身体终将逝去、并说「无妨，我们已有过数百个身体，灵魂不会消亡」的人——即便在他们之中，尽管有这一切理智上的信念，我们仍然发现这种对生命的贪恋。为何会有这种对生命的贪恋？我们已见到，它已成为本能。以瑜伽士的心理学语言来说，它已成为一种业印（Samskaras）。那些细微而隐秘的业印，沉睡于心素（Chitta）之中。所有这些关于死亡的过去经验，所有我们称之为本能的，皆是成为潜意识的经验。它栖居于心素之中，并非无所作为，而是在暗中运作。 60→ 61→心素心波（Chitta-Vrittis），即心意的波动，那些粗显者，我们能感知并体会；它们更易受到控制，但那些更精细的本能又当如何？如何控制它们？当我愤怒时，整个心意便成为一巨大的愤怒浪潮。我感受它，看见它，触摸它，可以轻易操控它，与之搏斗；但我在搏斗中无法完全成功，直到我深入其根因之处。一个人对我说了非常刻薄的话，我开始感到心中升起热意，他继续说下去，直到我完全被愤怒淹没，忘却了自己，将自己认同于愤怒。当他最初开始辱骂我时，我心想「我将要愤怒了」。愤怒是一回事，而我是另一回事；但当我变得愤怒时，我便是愤怒本身。这些感受必须在萌芽阶段加以控制——在其根本处，在其精细形态中，甚至在我们意识到它们正在作用于我们之前。对于大多数人而言，这些激情的精细状态根本不为人所知——那些从潜意识中浮现的状态。当一个气泡从湖底升起时，我们看不见它，甚至当它将要浮出水面时也看不见；只有当它破裂并激起涟漪时，我们才知道它的存在。唯有当我们能把握那些波浪于其精细根因之时，方能成功地与之搏斗，而若你不能在其变得粗显之前抓住并压制它们，便没有完全征服任何激情的希望。若要控制激情，我们必须在其最根本处加以控制；唯有如此，我们方能烧毁其种子。如同炒熟的种子播入土中不会发芽，这些激情也将不再升起。 62→ 63→ते प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः सूक्ष्माः ॥१०॥ 64→ 65→十、精细的业印当藉由将其化归于其因果状态而加以克服。 66→ 67→业印（Samskaras）是精细的印象，日后将显现为粗显形式。如何控制这些精细的业印？藉由将果化归于其因。当心素作为一种果，被化归其因——即我慢（Asmita）——之时，精细的印象亦随之消亡。禅那（Dhyāna）无法摧毁这些。 68→ 69→ध्यानहेयास्तद्वृत्तयः ॥११॥ 70→ 71→十一、藉由禅那，其（粗显的）变化形式当被摒除。 72→ 73→禅那（Dhyāna）是控制这些波浪升起的重大手段之一。藉由禅那，你可以使心意压制这些波浪，若你坚持修习禅那，日复日，月复月，年复年，直至它成为一种习惯，直至它在不自觉中自然生起，愤怒与仇恨便将受到控制与遏制。 74→ 75→क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो दृष्टादृष्टजन्मवेदनीयः ॥१२॥ 76→ 77→十二、「业之容器」根植于这些带来苦恼的障碍，其经历在此可见之生命中，或在不可见之生命中。 78→ 79→所谓「业之容器」，意指所有业印（Samskaras）的总和。无论我们做何工作，心意皆被抛入一个浪潮之中，工作结束后，我们以为浪潮消失了。不然。它只是变得精细，但依然存在。当我们试图回忆那件工作时，它再度涌现，成为一个浪潮。所以它一直存在；否则便不会有记忆。因此，每一个行为、每一个念头，无论善恶，皆向下沉潜，变得精细，储存于其中。快乐与不快乐的念头，皆被称为带来苦恼的障碍，因为据瑜伽士所言，从长远来看，它们皆带来苦痛。来自感官的一切快乐，终将带来苦痛。一切享受都将使我们渴望更多，而这种渴望的结果便是苦痛。人的欲望无有止境；他不断欲求，当他到达欲望无法满足之处时，结果便是苦痛。因此，瑜伽士将所有印象的总和——无论善恶——视为带来苦恼的障碍；它们阻碍着灵魂自由之路。 80→

1→业印（Samskaras）亦是如此，那些我们所有工作的精细根因；它们是将再度带来果报的因，或在今生，或在来世的生命之中。在特殊情形下，当这些业印极为强烈时，它们迅速结果；极度的邪恶或极度的善行，甚至在今生便带来其果报。瑜伽士认为，那些能够积累巨大善业印力量的人不必经历死亡，甚至在今生便能将其身体转化为神的身体。瑜伽士们在其典籍中提及数位这样的例子。这些人改变其身体的物质本身；他们以某种方式重新排列分子，使其不再患病，而我们所称之死亡亦不临其身。为何这不可能？食物的生理意义是从太阳吸收能量。能量传到植物，植物被动物食用，动物再被人食用。其科学原理是：我们从太阳汲取如此多的能量，并使之成为我们自身的一部分。既然如此，为何吸收能量只有一种方式？植物的方式与我们不同；大地吸收能量的过程与我们亦有差异。但所有存在皆以某种形式吸收能量。瑜伽士说他们能够凭借心意之力单独吸收能量，无需借助通常的方式，即可随心所欲地汲取。如同蜘蛛从自身分泌物编织网络，被其束缚其中，不能在网线之外自由行动，我们亦从自身实质中投射出这被称为神经的网络，除了通过这些神经渠道，我们别无他途。瑜伽士说，我们不必受此束缚。 2→ 3→同样，我们能将电力输送至世界任何地方，但必须借助电线。自然可以不借助任何电线而传送大量电力。我们为何不能做到同样的事？我们可以传送心意的电力。我们所称之心意，与电力极为相似。显然，这种神经流体含有一定量的电，因为它是极化的，并且响应所有电气方向。我们只能通过这些神经渠道传送我们的电力。为何不能在没有这种辅助的情况下传送心意的电力？瑜伽士说这完全是可能的、可实践的，当你能做到这一点时，你将在整个宇宙中自由行动。你将能够在任何地方以任何身体行动，无需神经系统的帮助。当灵魂通过这些渠道运作时，我们说一个人是活着的；当这些渠道停止工作时，一个人被称为死亡。但当一个人能够在有或没有这些渠道的情况下行动时，生死对他将毫无意义。宇宙中所有身体皆由微元素（Tanmātras）构成，其差异在于后者的排列方式。若你是排列者，你便能以这种或那种方式排列身体。是谁构成了这个身体，若不是你？是谁进食？若别人替你进食，你将无法长久存活。是谁从食物中制造血液？当然是你。是谁净化血液，并将其送入血管？是你。我们是身体的主人，居于其中。只是我们已失去如何使其恢复活力的知识。我们已成为自动的、退化的。我们已忘记排列其分子的过程。所以，我们现在自动所做的，必须有意识地去做。我们是主人，我们必须调节那种排列；一旦我们能做到这一点，我们便能随心所欲地更新身体，那时我们将既无生死，也无疾病。 4→ 5→सति मूले तद्विपाको जात्यायुर्भोगाः ॥१३॥ 6→ 7→十三、根因既存，其果报以物种、寿命及苦乐之经历的形式显现。 8→ 9→根因、诸业印既存，便显现并形成其果报。原因消亡成为果报；果报变得更为精微，成为下一个果报的原因。一棵树结出种子，种子成为另一棵树的原因，如此循环往复。我们现在所有的工作皆是过去业印的果报；而这些工作成为业印后，将成为未来行为的原因，我们如此继续。因此，这条格言说：原因既存，果报必至，以物种的形式：有人将成为人，有人将成为天使，有人将成为动物，有人将成为恶魔。然后，业（Karma）在生命中有不同的果报。一个人活五十年，另一个活一百年，另一个两岁便夭折，从未成年；所有这些生命中的差异皆由过去的业（Karma）所调节。一个人仿佛生来就享乐；若他隐居林中，快乐将追随于彼。另一个人，无论走到哪里，都被苦痛追随；一切于他皆成苦难。这是其自身过去的结果。依瑜伽士的哲学，所有有德之行带来快乐，所有邪恶之行带来痛苦。任何做出邪恶行为的人，必将以苦痛之形式收获其果。 10→ 11→ते ह्लादपरितापफलाः पुण्यापुण्यहेतुत्वात् ॥१४॥ 12→ 13→十四、其果报为快乐或苦痛，由善行或恶行所致。 14→ 15→परिणामताप-संस्कारदुःखैर्गुणवृत्तिविरोधाच्च दुःखमेव सर्वं विवेकिनः ॥१५॥ 16→ 17→十五、对于有辨析力者，一切皆如同苦痛，因为一切事物皆带来苦痛——或作为后果，或作为对幸福失去的预期，或作为因幸福印象而生的新渴望，以及诸德性（Gunas）之相互对抗。 18→ 19→瑜伽士说，具有辨析力的人，睿智之人，看穿所有被称为快乐与苦痛的东西，知道它们临及所有人，相互交融转化；他看到人们终其一生追逐一个虚幻的光影，从未成功实现其欲望。伟大的国王坚战（Yudhishthira）曾说，生命中最奇妙的事是：每时每刻我们看见周围的人死去，却认为自己永不会死。四面皆是愚者，我们却认为自己是唯一的例外，唯一的智者。被各种变化无常的经历所包围，我们却认为我们的爱是唯一持久的爱。这怎么可能？即便是爱也是自私的，瑜伽士说，最终我们会发现，即便是夫妻之爱、子女之爱、朋友之爱，也在缓慢消逝。衰败攫取此生中的一切。唯有当一切——即便是爱——皆消逝时，一个人才会在刹那间发现这个世界是多么虚幻、多么如梦如幻。那时他瞥见了出离（Vairāgya，弃绝），瞥见了彼岸。只有舍弃这个世界，另一个世界才会来临；绝非通过执着于此世。从未有过一位伟大的灵魂，在未拒绝感官快乐与享乐的情况下获得其伟大。苦难的原因在于自然界不同力量之间的冲突——一个向这边拉，另一个向那边拉，使永久的幸福成为不可能。 20→ 21→हेयं दुःखमनागतम् ॥१६॥ 22→ 23→十六、尚未来临的苦痛应当被避免。 24→ 25→某些业（Karma）我们已经了结，某些正在今世了结，某些正等待在未来结果。第一种已成过去。第二种我们必须了结，而只有那些等待在未来结果的，是我们能征服和控制的，我们所有的力量皆应导向于此。帕坦伽利（Patanjali）所言「业印当藉由化归其因果状态而被控制」，正是此意。 26→ 27→द्रष्टृदृश्ययोः संयोगो हेयहेतुः ॥१७॥ 28→ 29→十七、应当被避免之物的原因，是见者与被见之物的结合。 30→ 31→谁是见者？人之真我（Self），神我（Purusha）。何为被见之物？整个自然，从心意开始，直至粗显物质。所有的快乐与苦痛皆由这个神我（Purusha）与心意之间的结合而生。依照此哲学，你必须记住，神我（Purusha）是纯净的；与自性（Prakriti，自然）结合时，它似乎通过映照感受到快乐或苦痛。 32→ 33→प्रकाश-क्रिया-स्थितिशीलं भूतेन्द्रियात्मकं भोगापवर्गार्थं दृश्यमः ॥१८॥ 34→ 35→十八、被经历者由元素与器官构成，其本性为光明、行动与惰性，为经历者之经历与解脱之目的而存在。 36→ 37→被经历者，即自性（Prakriti，自然），由元素与器官构成——包括构成整个自然的粗细元素，以及感官、心意等器官——其本性为光明（悦性，Sattva）、行动（变性，Rajas）与惰性（惰性，Tamas）。整个自然的目的是什么？使神我（Purusha）获得经历。神我（Purusha）仿佛忘记了其强大的、神圣的本性。有一个故事说，众神之王因陀罗（Indra），一度变成一头猪，在泥浆中打滚；他有一头母猪和一群小猪，非常快乐。后来一些天神看到他的困境，来到他面前，告诉他：「你是众神之王，所有天神皆在你的统治之下。你为何在此？」但因陀罗说：「没关系；我在这里很好；只要有这头母猪和这些小猪，我不在乎天堂。」可怜的天神们束手无策。经过一段时间，他们决定逐一杀死所有的猪。当猪们悉数死亡，因陀罗开始哭泣哀嚎。随后天神们剖开他的猪身，他从中走出，开始大笑，当他意识到自己做了一个多么可怕的梦——他，众神之王，竟然变成了一头猪，并以为那猪的生命就是唯一的生命！不仅如此，还曾希望整个宇宙都进入那猪的生命！神我（Purusha）当它将自己认同于自性时，便忘记了自己是纯净而无限的。神我（Purusha）不是爱，它本身就是爱。它不是存在，它本身就是存在。灵魂不是知道，它本身就是知识。说灵魂爱、存在或知晓，是一种错误。爱、存在与知识并非神我（Purusha）的属性，而是其本质。当它们被映照于某物上，你可以称之为那某物的属性。它们不是属性而是神我（Purusha）的本质——伟大的真我（Ātman），无限的存在，无生无死，安住于其自身的荣耀之中。它似乎已如此退化，若你走近告诉它「你不是一头猪」，它便开始嚎叫和咬人。 38→ 39→因此，我们所有人皆处于这幻相（Māyā）之中，这梦幻世界之中，其中充满苦难、哭泣与哀号，偶尔抛出几颗金球，而世界为之争抢。你从未被法则所束缚，自性从未对你施以束缚。这是瑜伽士告诉你的。耐心去学习它。瑜伽士展示了神我（Purusha）如何通过与自性的结合，通过将自己认同于心意和世界，而以为自己是悲惨的。然后，瑜伽士进一步向你展示，出路在于经历。你必须获得所有这些经历，但要迅速了结它们。我们将自己置身于这张网中，必须脱身而出。我们已陷入陷阱，必须通过努力获得自由。所以，去经历丈夫、妻子、朋友和小爱；若你永不忘记自己真正是什么，你将安然度过这一切。永远不要忘记这只是一种暂时状态，我们必须穿越它。经历是伟大的教师——快乐与苦痛的经历——但要知道这只是经历。它一步一步引导，直至一种境界：万物变得渺小，而神我（Purusha）是如此伟大，以至于整个宇宙似乎只是海洋中的一滴水，因其自身的虚无而消散。我们必须经历不同的经历，但让我们永远不要忘记那理想。 40→ 41→विशेषाविशेष-लिङ्गमात्रालिङ्गानि गुणपर्वाणि ॥१९॥ 42→ 43→十九、德性（Gunas）的状态为：特定的、非特定的、仅有标志的，以及无标志的。 44→ 45→正如我之前所告诉你的，瑜伽的体系完全建立在数论（Sānkhya）哲学之上，在此我再次提醒你数论（Sankhya）哲学的宇宙论。依照数论（Sankhyas），自性（Prakriti，自然）既是宇宙的质料因，也是动力因。在自性中，有三种材料：悦性（Sattva）、变性（Rajas）与惰性（Tamas）。惰性材料是一切黑暗、无知与沉重之物。变性是活动。悦性是宁静、光明。自性在创化之前，被他们称为未显（Avyakta），即未分化或不可辨别的；即其中没有形式或名称的区别，三种材料保持完美平衡的状态。然后平衡被打破，三种材料以各种方式开始混合，宇宙因此产生。在每个人之中，这三种材料也存在。当悦性材料占主导，知识生起；当变性占主导，活动生起；当惰性占主导，则黑暗、倦怠、懒惰与无知产生。依照数论（Sankhya）理论，自性的最高显现，由三种材料构成，他们称之为大（Mahat）或智性，即宇宙智性，每个人的智性皆是其一部分。在数论（Sankhya）心理学中，意根（Manas）之心意功能与觉（Buddhi）之智性功能之间有明确区分。心意功能仅是收集并携带印象，并将其呈现给觉（Buddhi），即个体大（Mahat），由其加以决断。从大（Mahat）生出我（Ahamkara，我执），再从我执生出精细材料。精细材料结合，成为外部的粗显材料——外部宇宙。数论（Sankhya）哲学的主张是：从智性一直到一块石头，一切皆是同一实质的产物，仅在存在的精细与粗显状态上有所不同。精细者为因，粗显者为果。依照数论（Sankhya）哲学，超越整个自性之外，是神我（Purusha），它完全不是物质。神我（Purusha）与其他任何东西——无论是觉（Buddhi）、心意（Manas）、微元素（Tanmatras）还是粗显材料——都不相似。它与其中任何一个都不相关，其本性完全不同，由此他们论证神我（Purusha）必然是不朽的，因为它不是结合的产物。非结合之产物者，不可能死亡。神我（Purushas）或灵魂，数量无限。 46→

1→现在我们将理解这条格言：德性（Gunas）的状态为特定的、非特定的、仅有标志的，以及无标志的。所谓「特定的」，指的是粗显元素，即我们能感知到的。所谓「非特定的」，指的是极精细的材料，即微元素（Tanmātras），普通人无法感知。然而，帕坦伽利（Patanjali）说，若你修习瑜伽，经过一段时间，你的感知将变得如此精细，以至于你将实际看见微元素。例如，你们已听说每个人都有一种特殊的光环；每一个生命都散发着某种光，他说，瑜伽士能够看见这种光。我们并非都能看见它，但我们所有人都放射出这些微元素，就如同一朵花持续散发精细粒子，使我们能闻到它的香气。每一天，我们都向外投射大量的善或恶，无论我们走到哪里，空气中都充满了这些材料。这就是人类心中不自觉地产生建造庙宇和教堂这一想法的原因。为何人类要建造教堂来礼拜神？为何不在任何地方礼拜祂？即使他当时不了解原因，人类也发现人们在其中礼拜神的场所充满了善的微元素。人们每天前往那里，去得越多，他们便越发神圣，那个地方也变得越发神圣。任何在其中没有多少悦性（Sattva）的人前往那里，那个地方将对他产生影响，唤醒其悦性特质。因此，所有庙宇和圣地的意义正在于此，但你必须记住，它们的神圣性取决于圣洁之人聚集于彼。人类的困难在于他忘记了原始意义，本末倒置。正是人使这些地方变得神圣，然后效果成了原因，使人变得神圣。若只有邪恶之人前往那里，它将如其他任何地方一样堕落。使教堂神圣的不是建筑，而是人们，而这正是我们始终遗忘的。这就是为何具有大量悦性（Sattva）特质的圣人与神圣的人，能够日夜放射这种特质，对其周遭施以巨大的影响。一个人可能变得如此纯净，以至于其纯净变得切实可感。凡与他接触者皆变得纯净。 2→ 3→其次，「仅有标志的」意指觉（Buddhi），智性。「仅有标志的」是自性最初的显现；所有其他显现皆由此而出。最后是「无标志的」。现代科学与所有宗教在这一点上似乎存在着巨大的分歧。每一种宗教都持有宇宙从智性中产生的观念。神的理论——从其心理意义来理解，撇开一切人格化的观念——是：智性在创化的秩序中居于首位，而我们所称的粗显物质从智性中产生。现代哲学家说智性是最后到来的。他们说没有智性的事物缓慢进化为动物，再从动物进化为人类。他们主张，不是一切事物皆出自智性，而是智性本身是最后才出现的。宗教与科学的陈述，虽然看似直接对立，却皆是真实的。以一个无限的序列：甲——乙——甲——乙——甲——乙，等等，为例。问题是——甲与乙，何者在先？若你将序列视为甲——乙，你会说甲在先；但若你将其视为乙——甲，你会说乙在先。这取决于我们如何看待它。智性经历变化而成为粗显物质，粗显物质再融回智性，过程如此循环往复。数论（Sankhyas）及其他宗教人士将智性置于首位，序列成为：智性，然后是物质。科学家将其手指置于物质之上，说：物质，然后是智性。两者皆指向同一条链。然而，印度哲学超越了智性与物质，发现了一个神我（Purusha）或真我（Self），它超越一切智性，而智性不过是其借来的光。 4→ 5→द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोऽपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः ॥२०॥ 6→ 7→二十、见者唯是智性，虽纯净，却通过智性的色彩而观看。 8→ 9→这再度是数论（Sankhya）哲学。我们从同一哲学看到，从最低形式直至智性，一切皆是自性；超越自性之外，是神我（Purushas），即灵魂，没有任何属性。那么，灵魂为何似乎快乐或不快乐？通过映照。若将一朵红花置于一块纯净的水晶旁边，水晶看起来便是红色的，同样地，灵魂的快乐或不快乐之表象，不过是映照而已。灵魂本身没有任何色彩。灵魂与自性（Prakriti）是分离的。自性是一回事，灵魂是另一回事，永恒地分离。数论（Sankhyas）说，智性是一种合成物，它生长和衰退，就如同身体变化一样，其本性与身体的本性几乎相同。指甲之于身体，恰如身体之于智性。指甲是身体的一部分，但可以被剪去数百次，身体仍然持续存在。同样，智性经历数劫，而这个身体可以被「剪去」，抛弃。然而，智性不可能是不朽的，因为它在变化——生长和衰退。任何变化的东西都不可能是不朽的。智性确实是制造出来的，而这一事实本身告诉我们，在其之上必然存在更深远的东西。智性不可能是自由的；与物质相关联的一切皆在自性中，因此永远受束缚。谁是自由的？自由者必然超越因果。若你说自由的观念是一种幻觉，我会说束缚的观念也是一种幻觉。两个事实进入我们的意识，相辅相成。这便是我们关于束缚与自由的观念。若我们想穿过一堵墙，头撞到那堵墙，我们便看到自己被那堵墙所限制。同时，我们发现一种意志力，并认为我们可以将意志导向任何地方。在每一步，这些矛盾的观念都临及我们。我们必须相信自己是自由的，然而每一刻我们都发现自己并不自由。若一个观念是幻觉，另一个也是幻觉；若一个是真实的，另一个也是真实的，因为两者皆建立在同一基础上——意识。瑜伽士说，两者皆是真实的：就智性而言，我们是受束缚的；就灵魂而言，我们是自由的。人的真实本性，即灵魂、神我（Purusha），超越一切因果之法则。其自由通过各种形式的物质层——智性、心意等——渗透而出。正是它的光在一切中闪耀。智性本身没有自己的光。每一个感官在大脑中都有特定的中心；并非所有感官都共享一个中心；每个感官是分离的。为何所有的感知能够协调一致？它们在哪里获得统一性？若统一在大脑中，则所有感官——眼、鼻、耳等——必须只有一个中心，而我们确实知道每个感官各有不同的中心。一个人既能同时看见又能听闻，因此在智性背后必然有一种统一。智性与大脑相连，但在智性之后还有神我（Purusha），那是统一体，所有不同的感觉与感知在此汇合，成为一体。灵魂本身是所有不同感知汇聚并统一的中心。那灵魂是自由的，正是它的自由在每一刻告诉你你是自由的。但你犯了错误，每一刻都将那自由与智性和心意混淆。你试图将那自由归于智性，并立即发现智性并不自由；你将那自由归于身体，而自性立即告诉你你又犯了错。这就是为何同时存在着这种混合的自由与束缚之感。瑜伽士分析那什么是自由的、什么是受束缚的，其无明便消失。他发现神我（Purusha）是自由的，是那种通过觉（Buddhi）而成为智性的知识之本质，并且如此而受束缚。 10→ 11→तदर्थ एव दृश्यस्यात्मा ॥२१॥ 12→ 13→二十一、被经历者之本性仅为其（经历者）而存在。 14→ 15→自性本身没有自己的光。只要神我（Purusha）存在于其中，它便显现为光。但那光是借来的；正如月光是映照的。依照瑜伽士，自性所有的显现皆由自性本身所引发，但自性没有任何目的，除了使神我（Purusha）得到解脱。 16→ 17→कृतार्थं प्रति नष्टमप्यनष्टं तदन्यसाधारणत्वात् ॥२२॥ 18→ 19→二十二、虽然对于已达目标者而言（自性）已消亡，但对于他人而言它并未消亡，因其为众多者所共有。 20→ 21→自性的全部活动，是使灵魂认识到自己完全与自性分离。当灵魂认识到这一点，自性对它便不再有任何吸引力。但整个自性只对已得解脱之人消亡。将永远有无数其他的人，自性将为其继续运作。 22→ 23→स्वस्वामिशक्त्योः स्वरूपोपलब्धिहेतुः संयोगः ॥२३॥ 24→ 25→二十三、结合是使被经历者与其主两种力量的本性得以实现之因。 26→ 27→依照这条格言，灵魂与自性（Prakriti）的力量皆在其结合时显现出来。然后所有的显现皆被投射出来。无明是这种结合的原因。我们每天看到，我们苦乐的原因，始终是我们将自己与身体结合在一起。若我确信我不是这个身体，我将不会在意寒热或任何类似之物。这个身体是一种组合。说我有一个身体、你有另一个、太阳有另一个，这不过是一种虚构。整个宇宙是一片物质的海洋，你是一个小粒子的名称，我是另一个，太阳是又一个。我们知道这种物质在持续变化。今日构成太阳的物质，明日或许构成我们身体的物质。 28→ 29→तस्य हेतुरविद्या ॥२४॥ 30→ 31→二十四、无明是其原因。 32→ 33→由于无明，我们将自己与一个特定的身体结合，从而向自己开放了苦难之门。关于身体的这一观念，是一种单纯的迷信。是迷信使我们快乐或不快乐。是由无明所引发的迷信，使我们感受寒热、苦痛与快乐。我们的责任是超越这种迷信，瑜伽士向我们展示如何做到。已有例证表明，在某种心理条件下，一个人可能被灼烧，却感受不到痛苦。困难在于，这种心意的突然激荡如旋风而来，一分钟生起，转瞬即逝。然而，若我们通过瑜伽（瑜伽）获得它，我们将永久地实现真我（Self）与身体的分离。 34→ 35→तदभावात् संयोगाभावो हानं तद्दृशेः कैवल्यम् ॥२५॥ 36→ 37→二十五、由于无彼（无明），则结合消失，此即应当被避免者的消除；那便是见者的独立（解脱）。 38→ 39→依照瑜伽哲学，正是通过无明，灵魂才与自性相结合。目标是摆脱自性对我们的控制。这是一切宗教的目标。每一个灵魂都潜在地是神圣的。目标是通过控制自性——外在与内在——来显现这内在的神性。以工作、或崇拜、或心理控制、或哲学——以其中一种或多种或全部——来完成此事，得获自由。这是宗教的全部。教义、教条、仪轨、书籍、庙宇或形式，不过是次要的细节。瑜伽士试图通过心理控制达到这一目标。在我们能够从自性中解脱自己之前，我们是奴隶；她如何支配，我们便如何行走。瑜伽士主张，控制心意者也控制物质。内在自性远高于外在自性，也更难以把握，更难以控制。因此，征服了内在自性者，控制了整个宇宙；宇宙成为他的仆人。胜王瑜伽（Rāja-yoga）提出获得这种控制的方法。比我们在物理自然中所知更高的力量，将必须被征服。这个身体不过是心意的外壳。它们并非两种不同的东西；它们就如同牡蛎与其壳。它们不过是一物的两个面向；牡蛎的内在实质从外界汲取物质，制造出外壳。同样，被称为心意的内在精细力量从外界汲取粗显物质，并由此制造出这外壳，即身体。因此，若我们控制了内在，便很容易控制外在。再者，这些力量并非不同的。物理力量与心理力量并无区别；物理力量不过是精细力量的粗显显现，正如物理世界不过是精细世界的粗显显现。 40→ 41→विवेकख्यातिरविप्लवा हानोपायः ॥२६॥ 42→ 43→二十六、消除无明的方法是不间断的辨析修习。 44→ 45→这是修习的真正目标——辨析真实与非真实，认识到神我（Purusha）不是自性（Prakriti），它既非物质，也非心意，并且因其不是自性，它便不可能改变。只有自性在变化，不断地组合与重组，持续地消解。当通过持续修习我们开始辨析，无明将消失，神我（Purusha）将开始以其真实本性闪耀——全知、全能、遍在。 46→ 47→तस्य सप्तधा प्रान्तभूमिः प्रज्ञा ॥२७॥ 48→ 49→二十七、其知识处于最高境界的七个层次。 50→

1→当这种知识来临，它将如同七个阶段依次降临；当其中一个开始时，我们便知道我们正在获得知识。最先出现的将是：我们已知晓应当被知晓之物。心意将不再感到不满。当我们意识到自己渴望知识时，我们开始四处寻觅，无论我们认为在哪里能获得某些真理，但由于找不到，我们变得不满，再转向新的方向去寻求。一切寻求皆是徒劳，直到我们开始感知到知识在我们自身之内，没有人能帮助我们，我们必须自助。当我们开始修习辨析之力，我们接近真理的第一个征兆将是：那不满的状态消失。我们将感到十分确定，我们已找到了真理，而它也只能是真理。那时，我们便知晓太阳正在升起，黎明正在为我们破晓，鼓起勇气，我们必须坚持，直至目标达成。第二个阶段将是一切苦痛的消失。宇宙中，无论外在或内在，任何事物都不可能给我们带来苦痛。第三个阶段将是完全知识的获得。全知将属于我们。第四个阶段将是通过辨析而达到一切职责终结的成就。接下来，将出现被称为心素（Chitta）之自由的状态。我们将认识到，一切困难与挣扎，心意所有的动摇，皆已消落，如同石头从山顶滚入山谷，永不复返。接下来将是心素（Chitta）本身将认识到，无论何时我们如此愿望，它便融化回归其因。最后，我们将发现自己安住于真我（Self）之中，认识到在整个宇宙中我们始终是孤独的；身体与心意从未与我们有任何关系，更谈不上与我们结合。它们循其自身的方式运作，而我们因无明而将自己与之结合。但我们始终是孤独的、全能的、遍在的、永远受祝福的；我们自己的真我（Self）是如此纯净与完美，以至于我们不需要任何他者。我们不需要任何他者使我们快乐，因为我们本身就是幸福。我们将发现这种知识不依赖于任何其他事物；在整个宇宙中，没有任何东西不会在我们的知识面前变得光明。这将是最后的境界，瑜伽士将变得平和而宁静，永远不再感受任何苦痛，永远不再受妄想迷惑，永远不再被苦难触及。他将知道自己永远蒙福，永远完美，全能无限。 2→ 3→योगाङ्गानुष्ठानादशुद्धिक्षये ज्ञानदीप्तिरा विवेकख्यातेः ॥२८॥ 4→ 5→二十八、藉由修习瑜伽（瑜伽）的不同部分，不净被消除，知识之光燃起，直至辨析成就。 6→ 7→现在进入实践知识。我们刚才所讲的，层次更高，远超我们的头脑，但它是理想。首先必须获得身体与心意的控制。然后，对那理想的体悟将在其中变得稳定。理想既已了解，所余者便是修习达到它的方法。 8→ 9→यम-नियमासन-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार-धारणा-ध्यान-समाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि ॥२९॥ 10→ 11→二十九、持戒（Yama）、内制（Niyama）、坐法（Āsana）、调息（Prānāyāma）、摄感（Pratyāhāra）、执持（Dhāranā）、禅那（Dhyāna）与三摩地（Samādhi），是瑜伽（瑜伽）的八支。 12→ 13→अहिंसा-सत्यास्तेय-ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहा यमाः ॥३०॥ 14→ 15→三十、不杀生、真实、不偷盗、梵行（贞洁）与不受赠，称为持戒（Yamas）。 16→ 17→一个希望成为完美瑜伽士的人，必须放弃性欲之念。灵魂没有性别；它为何要以性欲之念自我贬低？稍后我们将更好地理解为何这些念头必须被放弃。接受馈赠之人的心意会受到馈赠者心意的影响，因此接受者可能走向退化。接受馈赠容易摧毁心意的独立性，使我们成为奴隶。因此，不要接受馈赠。 18→ 19→एते जाति-देश-काल-समयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम् ॥३१॥ 20→ 21→三十一、这些（戒律）不因时间、地点、目的与种姓规则而中断，为（普世的）大誓愿。 22→ 23→这些修习——不杀生、真实、不偷盗、贞洁与不受赠——应由每一个男女老幼来修习；由每一个灵魂，不分国籍、地域或地位。 24→ 25→शौच-सन्तोष-तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः ॥३२॥ 26→ 27→三十二、内外净化、知足（Santosha）、苦行（Tapas）、研习（Svadhyaya）与礼拜神，是内制（Niyamas）。 28→ 29→外在净化是保持身体洁净；不洁净的人永远无法成为瑜伽士。也必须有内在净化。那是通过第一章三十三条所提及的德行获得的。当然，内在纯净比外在纯净更有价值，但两者皆是必要的，而没有内在纯净的外在纯净毫无益处。 30→ 31→वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३३॥ 32→ 33→三十三、为障碍瑜伽（瑜伽）的念头所困时，应当生起对立的念头。 34→ 35→这是修习前述德行的方法。例如，当一个巨大的愤怒浪潮涌入心意时，我们如何控制它？仅需激起一个对立的浪潮。思维爱。有时一位母亲对丈夫非常愤怒，就在那时孩子走进来，她吻了孩子；旧的浪潮消逝，一个新的浪潮升起——对孩子的爱。这压制了另一个。爱与愤怒相对立。同样，当偷盗的念头生起，应当思维不偷盗；当接受馈赠的念头生起，以相反的念头取而代之。 36→ 37→वितर्का हिंसादयः कृतकारितानुमोदिता लोभक्रोधमोहपूर्वका मृदुमध्याधिमात्रा दुःखाज्ञानानन्तफला इति प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३४॥ 38→ 39→三十四、瑜伽（瑜伽）的障碍——杀生、虚妄等——无论是亲身所为、令他人为之，还是赞同他人所为；无论出于贪婪、愤怒还是无明；无论轻微、中等还是强烈；皆导致无尽的无明与苦难。此即（修习）对立念头的方法。 40→ 41→若我说谎，或致使他人说谎，或赞同他人如此行事，其罪恶是等同的。即使是极轻微的谎言，仍是谎言。你所思维过的每一个邪恶念头都将反弹而回；你所怀有过的每一个仇恨念头，哪怕是在洞穴中，皆已被储存，有朝一日将以某种苦难的形式以巨大的力量反弹而来。若你投射仇恨与嫉妒，它们将以复利的方式反弹于你。没有任何力量能阻止它们；一旦你将其付诸运动，你便必须承受它们。记住这一点将能防止你做出邪恶之事。 42→ 43→अहिंसाप्रतिष्ठायां तत्सन्निधौ वैरत्यागः ॥३५॥ 44→ 45→三十五、不伤生确立之后，在其面前一切敌意（于他人中）皆止息。 46→ 47→若一个人获得了不伤害他者的理想，在他面前，即便是天性凶猛的动物也将变得平和。老虎与羔羊将在那位瑜伽士面前嬉戏玩耍。当你达到那种状态，那时你才会理解你已稳固地安住于不伤生之中。 48→ 49→सत्यप्रतिष्ठायां क्रियाफलाश्रयत्वम् ॥३६॥ 50→ 51→三十六、藉由真实性的确立，瑜伽士获得为自己及他人不借助行为而得行为之果的力量。 52→ 53→当真实的力量在你身上确立后，即便在梦中你也永不会说谎。你将在思想、言语和行为中皆是真实的。无论你说什么皆是真理。你可以对一个人说：「受祝福吧」，那个人便将蒙受祝福。若一个人患病，你对他说：「你痊愈吧」，他将立即得到治愈。 54→ 55→अस्तेयप्रतिष्ठायां सर्वरत्नोपस्थानम् ॥३७॥ 56→ 57→三十七、藉由不偷盗的确立，一切财富临及瑜伽士。 58→ 59→你越是逃离自性，她越是追随于你；若你对她完全漠然，她便成为你的奴仆。 60→ 61→ब्रह्मचर्यप्रतिष्ठायां वीर्यलाभः ॥३८॥ 62→ 63→三十八、藉由梵行（贞洁）的确立，获得精力（活力）。 64→ 65→贞洁的大脑具有巨大的能量和强大的意志力。没有贞洁便无法有灵性的力量。梵行（贞洁）赋予对人类的奇妙控制力。人类的灵性领袖皆非常贞洁，这正是给予他们力量之所在。因此，瑜伽士必须保持梵行（贞洁）。 66→ 67→अपरिग्रहस्थैर्ये जन्मकथन्तासंबोधः ॥३९॥ 68→ 69→三十九、当他稳固于不受赠中，他获得过去生命的记忆。 70→ 71→当一个人不接受馈赠，他便不欠他人之情，而保持独立与自由。其心意变得纯净。伴随每一件馈赠，他可能接受馈赠者的诸多邪恶。若他不接受，心意得以净化，它所获得的第一种能力便是对过去生命的记忆。唯有那时，瑜伽士才能完全确立于其理想之中。他看到自己多次来来去去，因此下定决心：这一次他将获得自由，不再来来去去，不再成为自性的奴隶。 72→ 73→शौचात्स्वाङ्गजुगुप्सा परैरसंसर्गः ॥४०॥ 74→ 75→四十、内外洁净确立之后，对自身身体生起嫌弃，并与他者不相交往。 76→ 77→当有真正的身体净化——内外皆然——便生起对身体的忽视，保持其美好的念头消失。一张他人称之为最美丽的脸，若其后没有智性，在瑜伽士看来不过是动物性的。这个世界称之为极平凡的面容，若灵性从中闪耀，他则视之为天国般的。对身体的这种渴求，是人类生命的巨大祸害。因此，纯净确立的第一个征兆是你不再想到自己是一个身体。唯有当纯净来临，我们才能摆脱身体之念。 78→ 79→सत्त्वशुद्धि-सौमनस्यैकाग्र्येन्द्रियजयात्मदर्शन-योग्यत्वानि च ॥४१॥ 80→ 81→四十一、由此，悦性（Sattva）的净化、心意的愉悦、专注、感官的征服以及体悟真我（Self）的适合性亦随之生起。 82→ 83→通过修习洁净，悦性（Sattva）材料占主导，心意变得专注而愉悦。你正在变得虔诚的第一个征兆，是你正在变得愉悦。当一个人沉郁时，那可能是消化不良，但那不是宗教。愉悦的感受是悦性（Sattva）的本性。一切对悦性（Sattvika）之人都是愉悦的，当这种状态来临，当知你在瑜伽（瑜伽）修习上正在进步。一切苦痛皆由惰性（Tamas）引发，因此你必须摆脱它；郁郁寡欢是惰性（Tamas）的结果之一。强健者、体魄健全者、年轻者、健康者、勇敢者，才适合成为瑜伽士。对于瑜伽士，一切皆是极乐，他所见的每一张人脸都给他带来愉悦。这是一个有德之人的征兆。苦难由罪恶引起，而非其他。你与阴郁的面容有何干系？那是可怕的。若你有一张阴郁的面孔，那天不要出门，把自己锁在房间里。你有什么权利将这种疾病带入世界？当你的心意得到控制，你便控制了整个身体；非但不再是这机器的奴隶，机器反成了你的奴仆。非但这机器不能拖拽灵魂堕落，它反而成为其最大的助力。 84→ 85→सन्तोषादनुत्तमः सुखलाभः ॥४२॥ 86→ 87→四十二、由知足生起无上的幸福。 88→ 89→कायेन्द्रियसिद्धिरशुद्धिक्षयात्तपसः ॥४३॥ 90→ 91→四十三、苦行（Tapas）的结果是通过消除不净，为器官和身体带来超能力。 92→ 93→苦行（Tapas）的结果立即可见，有时表现为视觉力的增强、听闻远处声音等。 94→ 95→स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवतासंप्रयोगः ॥४४॥ 96→ 97→四十四、藉由曼陀罗（Mantra）的持诵，实现对所意欲之神祇的体悟。 98→ 99→你所欲接触的存在越高，修习便越艰难。 100→ 101→समाधिसिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात् ॥४५॥ 102→ 103→四十五、藉由将一切奉献于自在天（Ishvara），三摩地（Samādhi）得成就。 104→ 105→藉由归依于自在天，三摩地（Samādhi）趋于圆满。 106→ 107→स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥ 108→ 109→四十六、坐法（Āsana）是稳固而舒适的姿势。 110→ 111→现在进入坐法（Āsana），即姿势。在获得稳固的座位之前，你无法修习调息（Pranayama）和其他功法。座位的稳固，意味着你完全感觉不到身体。通常，你会发现，一坐下几分钟，各种扰动便在身体中涌现；但当你超越了具体身体的念头，你将失去对身体的一切感觉。你将既感受不到快乐，也感受不到苦痛。而当你再次拾起你的身体，它将感到如此安憩。这是你能给予身体的唯一完美的休息。当你成功地征服身体并使其稳固，你的修习将保持稳固；但当你被身体所扰，神经便受到扰动，你便无法专注心意。 112→ 113→प्रयत्नशैथिल्यानन्तसमापत्तिभ्याम् ॥४७॥ 114→ 115→四十七、藉由放松自然的（不安躁动的）倾向，并专注于无限，坐法（Āsana）变得稳固而舒适。 116→ 117→我们可以通过思维无限来使座位稳固。我们无法思维绝对的无限，但我们可以思维无边的虚空。 118→ 119→ततो द्वन्द्वानभिघातः ॥४८॥ 120→ 121→四十八、座位既已征服，种种对立便不再障碍。 122→ 123→种种对立——善与恶、寒与热，以及所有的成对对立——将不再扰动你。 124→ 125→तस्मिन् सति श्वासप्रश्वासयोर्गतिविच्छेदः प्राणायामः ॥४९॥ 126→ 127→四十九、于此（座位征服之后），控制呼气与吸气的运动随之而来。 128→ 129→当坐法征服之后，便应打断并控制普拉纳（Prana）的运动。如此，我们进入调息（Pranayama），即控制身体的生命能量。普拉纳（Prana）并非呼吸，尽管通常如此翻译。它是宇宙能量的总和。它是每个身体中的能量，其最明显的显现是肺的运动。这一运动由普拉纳（Prana）吸入气息所引起，而这正是我们在调息（Pranayama）中所寻求控制的。我们从控制呼吸开始，作为控制普拉纳（Prana）的最简便方式。 130→ 131→बाह्याभ्यन्तरस्तम्भवृत्तिः देशकालसंख्याभिः परिदृष्टो दीर्घसूक्षमः ॥५०॥ 132→ 133→五十、其变化形式为外在的、内在的，或静止的，由地点、时间与数量加以调节，或长或短。 134→ 135→调息（Pranayama）的三种运动形式：一为吸气，二为呼气，三为气息滞留于肺中或被阻于进入肺中之时。这些又因地点与时间而有所不同。所谓地点，指普拉纳（Prana）被固定于身体的某一特定部位。所谓时间，指普拉纳（Prana）应被限制于某一处多长时间，由此告知我们一种运动应保持多少秒，另一种应保持多少秒。此调息（Pranayama）的结果是觉醒（Udghāta），即昆达里尼（Kundalini）的唤醒。 136→ 137→बाह्याभ्यन्तरविषयाक्षेपी चतुर्थः ॥५१॥ 138→ 139→五十一、第四种是通过专注于外在或内在对象来约束普拉纳（Prana）。 140→ 141→这是调息（Pranayama）的第四种形式，其中止气（Kumbhaka）是通过伴随专注的长期修习而实现的，而这种专注在其他三种形式中并不存在。 142→ 143→ततः क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम् ॥५२॥ 144→ 145→五十二、由此，遮蔽心素（Chitta）之光的覆障趋于稀薄。 146→ 147→心素（Chitta）以其自身的本性，具有一切知识。它由悦性（Sattva）粒子构成，但被变性（Rajas）与惰性（Tamas）粒子所覆盖，而藉由调息（Pranayama），这覆障得以消除。 148→ 149→धारणासु च योग्यता मनसः ॥५३॥ 150→ 151→五十三、心意变得适合于执持（Dhāranā）。 152→ 153→当这覆障被移除后，我们便能专注心意。 154→ 155→स्वस्वविषयासम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः ॥५४॥ 156→ 157→五十四、感官的摄收，是它们放弃各自的对象，仿佛取得心素形式之时。 158→ 159→感官是心素的各种状态。我看到一本书；形式并不在书中，而在心意中。外部有某物将那形式唤起。真实的形式在心素（Chitta）中。感官将自己认同于，并取得任何临及它们之物的形式。若你能约束心素不去取这些形式，心意将保持宁静。这便是摄感（Pratyahara）。 160→ 161→ततः परमा वश्यतेन्द्रियाणाम् ॥५५॥ 162→ 163→五十五、由此，对感官产生至上的控制。 164→ 165→当瑜伽士成功地阻止感官取外在对象之形式，并使其与心素保持合一时，便达到对感官的完全控制。当感官受到完全控制，每一块肌肉与神经皆将受到控制，因为感官是所有感觉与一切行为的中心。这些感官分为工作感官与感知感官。当感官受到控制，瑜伽士便能控制所有的感受与行动；整个身体皆处于他的控制之下。那时，人才开始感受到降生于世的喜悦；那时，人才能真诚地说：「我降生于世，实为有幸。」当获得对感官的那种控制，我们便体会到这个身体究竟是多么奇妙。 166→

English

PATANJALI'S YOGA APHORISMS CHAPTER II CONCENTRATION: ITS PRACTICE

तपः-स्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः ॥१॥

1. Mortification, study, and surrendering fruits of work to God are called Kriyā-Yoga.

Those Samādhis with which we ended our last chapter are very difficult to attain; so we must take them up slowly. The first step, the preliminary step, is called Kriya-yoga. Literally this means work, working towards Yoga. The organs are the horses, the mind is the rein, the intellect is the charioteer, the soul is the rider, and the body is the chariot. The master of the household, the King, the Self of man, is sitting in this chariot. If the horses are very strong and do not obey the rein, if the charioteer, the intellect, does not know how to control the horses, then the chariot will come to grief. But if the organs, the horses, are well controlled, and if the rein, the mind, is well held in the hands of the charioteer, the intellect, the chariot reaches the goal. What is meant, therefore, by this mortification? Holding the rein firmly while guiding the body and the organs; not letting them do anything they like, but keeping them both under proper control. Study. What is meant by study in this case? No study of novels or story books, but study of those works which teach the liberation of the Soul. Then again this study does not mean controversial studies at all. The Yogi is supposed to have finished his period of controversy. He has had enough of that, and has become satisfied. He only studies to intensify his convictions. Vāda and Siddhānta — these are the two sorts of scriptural knowledge — Vada (the argumentative) and Siddhanta (the decisive). When a man is entirely ignorant he takes up the first of these, the argumentative fighting, and reasoning pro and con; and when he has finished that he takes up the Siddhanta, the decisive, arriving at a conclusion. Simply arriving at this conclusion will not do. It must be intensified. Books are infinite in number, and time is short; therefore the secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it. There is an old Indian legend that if you place a cup of milk and water before a Rāja Hamsa (swan), he will take all the milk and leave the water. In that way we should take what is of value in knowledge, and leave the dross. Intellectual gymnastics are necessary at first. We must not go blindly into anything. The Yogi has passed the argumentative state, and has come to a conclusion, which is, like the rock, immovable. The only thing he now seeks to do is to intensify that conclusion. Do not argue, he says; if one forces arguments upon you, be silent. Do not answer any argument, but go away calmly, because arguments only disturb the mind. The only thing necessary is to train the intellect, what is the use of disturbing it for nothing? The intellect is but a weak instrument, and can give us only knowledge limited by the senses. The Yogi wants to go beyond the senses, therefore intellect is of no use to him. He is certain of this and, therefore, is silent, and does not argue. Every argument throws his mind out of balance, creates a disturbance in the Chitta, and a disturbance is a drawback. Argumentations and searchings of the reason are only by the way. There are much higher things beyond them. The whole of life is not for school boy fights and debating societies. "Surrendering the fruits of work to God" is to take to ourselves neither credit nor blame, but to give up both to the Lord and be at peace.

समाधि-भावनार्थः क्लेश-तनूकरणार्थश्च ॥२॥

2. (It is for) the practice of Samadhi and minimising the pain-bearing obstructions.

Most of us make our minds like spoilt children, allowing them to do whatever they want. Therefore it is necessary that Kriya-yoga should be constantly practised, in order to gain control of the mind, and bring it into subjection. The obstructions to Yoga arise from lack of control, and cause us pain. They can only be removed by denying the mind, and holding it in check, through the means of Kriya-yoga.

अविद्यास्मिता-राग-द्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः ॥३॥

3. The pain-bearing obstructions are — ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life.

These are the five pains, the fivefold tie that binds us down, of which ignorance is the cause and the other four its effects. It is the only cause of all our misery. What else can make us miserable? The nature of the Soul is eternal bliss. What can make it sorrowful except ignorance, hallucination, delusion? All pain of the Soul is simply delusion.

अविद्याक्षेत्रमुत्तरेषां प्रसुप्त-तनु-विच्छिन्नोदाराणाम् ॥४॥

4. Ignorance is the productive field of all these that follow, whether they are dormant, attenuated, overpowered, or expanded.

Ignorance is the cause of egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life. These impressions exist in different states. They are sometimes dormant. You often hear the expression "innocent as a baby," yet in the baby may be the state of a demon or of a god, which will come out by degrees. In the Yogi, these impressions, the Samskaras left by past actions, are attenuated, that is, exist in a very fine state, and he can control them, and not allow them to become manifest. "Overpowered" means that sometimes one set of impressions is held down for a while by those that are stronger, but they come out when that repressing cause is removed. The last state is the "expanded," when the Samskāras, having helpful surroundings, attain to a great activity, either as good or evil.

अनित्याशुचि-दुःखानात्मसु नित्य-शुचि-सुखात्मख्यातिरविद्या ॥५॥

5. Ignorance is taking the non-eternal, the impure, the painful, and the non-Self for the eternal, the pure, the happy, and the Atman or Self (respectively).

All the different sorts of impressions have one source, ignorance. We have first to learn what ignorance is. All of us think, "I am the body, and not the Self, the pure, the effulgent, the ever blissful," and that is ignorance. We think of man, and see man as body. This is the great delusion.

दृग्दर्शनशक्त्योरेकात्मतेवास्मिता ॥६॥

6. Egoism is the identification of the seer with the instrument of seeing.

The seer is really the Self, the pure one, the ever holy, the infinite, the immortal. This is the Self of man. And what are the instruments? The Chitta or mind-stuff, the Buddhi or determinative faculty, the Manas or mind, and the Indriyas or sense-organs. These are the instruments for him to see the external world, and the identification of the Self with the instruments is what is called the ignorance of egoism. We say, "I am the mind," "I am thought," "I am angry," or "I am happy". How can we be angry and how can we hate? We should identify ourselves with the Self that cannot change. If It is unchangeable, how can It be one moment happy, and one moment unhappy? It is formless, infinite, omnipresent. What can change It? It is beyond all law. What can affect It? Nothing in the universe can produce an effect on It. Yet through ignorance, we identify ourselves with the mind-stuff, and think we feel pleasure or pain.

सुखानुशयी रागः ॥७॥

7. Attachment is that which dwells on pleasure.

We find pleasure in certain things, and the mind like a current flows towards them; and this following the pleasure centre, as it were, is what is called attachment. We are never attached where we do not find pleasure. We find pleasure in very queer things sometimes, but the principle remains: wherever we find pleasure, there we are attached.

दुःखानुशयी द्वेषः ॥८॥

8. Aversion is that which dwells on pain.

That which gives us pain we immediately seek to get away from.

स्वरसवाही विदुषोऽपि तथारूढोऽभिनिवेशः ॥९॥

9. Flowing through its own nature, and established even in the learned, is the clinging to life.

This clinging to life you see manifested in every animal. Upon it many attempts have been made to build the theory of a future life, because men are so fond of life that they desire a future life also. Of course it goes without saying that this argument is without much value, but the most curious part of it is, that, in Western countries, the idea that this clinging to life indicates a possibility of future life applies only to men, but does not include animals. In India this clinging to life has been one of the arguments to prove past experience and existence. For instance, if it be true that all our knowledge has come from experience, then it is sure that that which we never experienced we cannot imagine or understand. As soon as chickens are hatched they begin to pick up food. Many times it has been seen, where ducks have been hatched by hens, that, as soon as they came out of the eggs they flew to water, and the mother thought they would be drowned. If experience be the only source of knowledge, where did these chickens learn to pick up food, or the ducklings that the water was their natural element? If you say it is instinct, it means nothing — it is simply giving a word, but is no explanation. What is this instinct? We have many instincts in ourselves. For instance, most of you ladies play the piano, and remember, when you first learned, how carefully you had to put your fingers on the black and white keys, one after the other, but now, after long years of practice, you can talk with your friends while your fingers play mechanically. It has become instinct. So with every work we do; by practice it becomes instinct, it becomes automatic; but so far as we know, all the cases which we now regard as automatic are degenerated reason. In the language of the Yogi, instinct is involved reason. Discrimination becomes involved, and gets to be automatic Samskaras. Therefore it is perfectly logical to think that all we call instinct in this world is simply involved reason. As reason cannot come without experience, all instinct is, therefore, the result of past experience. Chickens fear the hawk, and ducklings love the water; these are both the results of past experience. Then the question is whether that experience belongs to a particular soul, or to the body simply, whether this experience which comes to the duck is the duck's forefathers' experience, or the duck's own experience. Modern scientific men hold that it belongs to the body, but the Yogis hold that it is the experience of the mind, transmitted through the body. This is called the theory of reincarnation.

We have seen that all our knowledge, whether we call it perception, or reason, or instinct, must come through that one channel called experience, and all that we now call instinct is the result of past experience, degenerated into instinct and that instinct regenerates into reason again. So on throughout the universe, and upon this has been built one of the chief arguments for reincarnation in India. The recurring experiences of various fears, in course of time, produce this clinging to life. That is why the child is instinctively afraid, because the past experience of pain is there in it. Even in the most learned men, who know that this body will go, and who say "never mind, we have had hundreds of bodies, the soul cannot die" — even in them, with all their intellectual convictions, we still find this clinging on to life. Why is this clinging to life? We have seen that it has become instinctive. In the psychological language of the Yogis it has become a Samskara. The Samskaras, fine and hidden, are sleeping in the Chitta. All this past experience of death, all that which we call instinct, is experience become subconscious. It lives in the Chitta, and is not inactive, but is working underneath.

The Chitta-Vrittis, the mind-waves, which are gross, we can appreciate and feel; they can be more easily controlled, but what about the finer instincts? How can they be controlled? When I am angry, my whole mind becomes a huge wave of anger. I feel it, see it, handle it, can easily manipulate it, can fight with it; but I shall not succeed perfectly in the fight until I can get down below to its causes. A man says something very harsh to me, and I begin to feel that I am getting heated, and he goes on till I am perfectly angry and forget myself, identify myself with anger. When he first began to abuse me, I thought, "I am going to be angry". Anger was one thing, and I was another; but when I became angry, I was anger. These feelings have to be controlled in the germ, the root, in their fine forms, before even we have become conscious that they are acting on us. With the vast majority of mankind the fine states of these passions are not even known — the states in which they emerge from subconsciousness. When a bubble is rising from the bottom of the lake, we do not see it, nor even when it is nearly come to the surface; it is only when it bursts and makes a ripple that we know it is there. We shall only be successful in grappling with the waves when we can get hold of them in their fine causes, and until you can get hold of them, and subdue them before they become gross, there is no hope of conquering any passion perfectly. To control our passions we have to control them at their very roots; then alone shall we be able to burn out their very seeds. As fried seeds thrown into the ground will never come up, so these passions will never arise.

ते प्रतिप्रसवहेयाः सूक्ष्माः ॥१०॥

10. The fine Samskaras are to be conquered by resolving them into their causal state.

Samskaras are the subtle impressions that manifest themselves into gross forms later on. How are these fine Samskaras to be controlled? By resolving the effect into its cause. When the Chitta, which is an effect, is resolved into its cause, Asmita or Egoism, then only, the fine impressions die along with it. Meditation cannot destroy these.

ध्यानहेयास्तद्वृत्तयः ॥११॥

11. By meditation, their (gross) modifications are to be rejected.

Meditation is one of the great means of controlling the rising of these waves. By meditation you can make the mind subdue these waves, and if you go on practising meditation for days, and months, and years, until it has become a habit, until it will come in spite of yourself, anger and hatred will be controlled and checked.

क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो दृष्टादृष्टजन्मवेदनीयः ॥१२॥

12. The "receptacle of works" has its root in these pain-bearing obstructions, and their experience is in this visible life, or in the unseen life.

By the "receptacle of works" is meant the sum-total of Samskaras. Whatever work we do, the mind is thrown into a wave, and after the work is finished, we think the wave is gone. No. It has only become fine, but it is still there. When we try to remember the work, it comes up again and becomes a wave. So it was there; if not, there would not have been memory. Thus every action, every thought, good or bad, just goes down and becomes fine, and is there stored up. Both happy and unhappy thoughts are called pain-bearing obstructions, because according to the Yogis, they, in the long run, bring pain. All happiness which comes from the senses will, eventually, bring pain. All enjoyment will make us thirst for more, and that brings pain as its result. There is no limit to man's desires; he goes on desiring, and when he comes to a point where desire cannot be fulfilled, the result is pain. Therefore the Yogis regard the sum-total of the impressions, good or evil, as pain-bearing obstructions; they obstruct the way to freedom of the Soul.

It is the same with the Samskaras, the fine roots of all our works; they are the causes which will again bring effects, either in this life, or in the lives to come. In exceptional cases when these Samskaras are very strong, they bear fruit quickly; exceptional acts of wickedness, or of goodness, bring their fruits even in this life. The Yogis hold that men who are able to acquire a tremendous power of good Samskaras do not have to die, but, even in this life, can change their bodies into god-bodies. There are several such cases mentioned by the Yogis in their books. These men change the very material of their bodies; they re-arrange the molecules in such fashion that they have no more sickness, and what we call death does not come to them. Why should not this be? The physiological meaning of food is assimilation of energy from the sun. The energy has reached the plant, the plant is eaten by an animal, and the animal by man. The science of it is that we take so much energy from the sun, and make it part of ourselves. That being the case, why should there be only one way of assimilating energy? The plant's way is not the same as ours; the earth's process of assimilating energy differs from our own. But all assimilate energy in some form or other. The Yogis say that they are able to assimilate energy by the power of the mind alone, that they can draw in as much of it as they desire without recourse to the ordinary methods. As a spider makes its web out of its own substance, and becomes bound in it, and cannot go anywhere except along the lines of that web, so we have projected out of our own substance this network called the nerves, and we cannot work except through the channels of those nerves. The Yogi says we need not be bound by that.

Similarly, we can send electricity to any part of the world, but we have to send it by means of wires. Nature can send a vast mass of electricity without any wires at all. Why cannot we do the same? We can send mental electricity. What we call mind is very much the same as electricity. It is clear that this nerve fluid has some amount of electricity, because it is polarised, and it answers all electrical directions. We can only send our electricity through these nerve channels. Why not send the mental electricity without this aid? The Yogis say it is perfectly possible and practicable, and that when you can do that, you will work all over the universe. You will be able to work with any body anywhere, without the help of the nervous system. When the soul is acting through these channels, we say a man is living, and when these cease to work, a man is said to be dead. But when a man is able to act either with or without these channels, birth and death will have no meaning for him. All the bodies in the universe are made up of Tanmātras, their difference lies in the arrangement of the latter. If you are the arranger, you can arrange a body in one way or another. Who makes up this body but you? Who eats the food? If another ate the food for you, you would not live long. Who makes the blood out of food? You, certainly. Who purifies the blood, and sends it through the veins? You. We are the masters of the body, and we live in it. Only we have lost the knowledge of how to rejuvenate it. We have become automatic, degenerate. We have forgotten the process of arranging its molecules. So, what we do automatically has to be done knowingly. We are the masters and we have to regulate that arrangement; and as soon as we can do that, we shall be able to rejuvenate just as we like, and then we shall have neither birth nor disease nor death.

सति मूले तद्विपाको जात्यायुर्भोगाः ॥१३॥

13. The root being there, the fruition comes (in the form of) species, life, and experience of pleasure and pain.

The roots, the causes, the Samskaras being there, they manifest and form the effects. The cause dying down becomes the effect; the effect getting subtler becomes the cause of the next effect. A tree bears a seed, which becomes the cause of another tree, and so on. All our works now are the effects of past Samskaras; again, these works becoming Samskaras will be the causes of future actions, and thus we go on. So this aphorism says that the cause being there, the fruit must come, in the form of species of beings: one will be a man, another an angel, another an animal, another a demon. Then there are different effects of Karma in life. One man lives fifty years, another a hundred, another dies in two years, and never attains maturity; all these differences in life are regulated by past Karma. One man is born, as it were, for pleasure; if he buries himself in a forest, pleasure will follow him there. Another man, wherever he goes, is followed by pain; everything becomes painful for him. It is the result of their own past. According to the philosophy of the Yogis, all virtuous actions bring pleasure, and all vicious actions bring pain. Any man who does wicked deeds is sure to reap their fruit in the form of pain.

ते ह्लादपरितापफलाः पुण्यापुण्यहेतुत्वात् ॥१४॥

14. They bear fruit as pleasure or pain, caused by virtue or vice.

परिणामताप-संस्कारदुःखैर्गुणवृत्तिविरोधाच्च दुःखमेव सर्वं विवेकिनः ॥१५॥

15. To the discriminating, all is, as it were, painful on account of everything bringing pain either as consequence, or as anticipation of loss of happiness, or as fresh craving arising from impressions of happiness, and also as counteraction of qualities.

The Yogis say that the man who has discriminating powers, the man of good sense, sees through all that are called pleasure and pain, and knows that they come to all, and that one follows and melts into the other; he sees that men follow an ignis fatuus all their lives, and never succeed in fulfilling their desires. The great king Yudhishthira once said that the most wonderful thing in life is that every moment we see people dying around us, and yet we think we shall never die. Surrounded by fools on every side, we think we are the only exceptions, the only learned men. Surrounded by all sorts of experiences of fickleness, we think our love is the only lasting love. How can that be? Even love is selfish, and the Yogi says that in the end we shall find that even the love of husbands and wives, and children and friends, slowly decays. Decadence seizes everything in this life. It is only when everything, even love, fails, that, with a flash, man finds out how vain, how dream-like is this world. Then he catches a glimpse of Vairāgya (renunciation), catches a glimpse of the Beyond. It is only by giving up this world that the other comes; never through holding on to this one. Never yet was there a great soul who had not to reject sense-pleasures and enjoyments to acquire his greatness. The cause of misery is the clash between the different forces of nature, one dragging one way, and another dragging another, rendering permanent happiness impossible.

हेयं दुःखमनागतम् ॥१६॥

16. The misery which is not yet come is to be avoided.

Some Karma we have worked out already, some we are working out now in the present, and some are waiting to bear fruit in the future. The first kind is past and gone. The second we will have to work out, and it is only that which is waiting to bear fruit in the future that we can conquer and control, towards which end all our forces should be directed. This is what Patanjali means when he says that Samskaras are to be controlled by resolving them into their causal state.

द्रष्टृदृश्ययोः संयोगो हेयहेतुः ॥१७॥

17. The cause of that which is to be avoided is the junction of the seer and the seen.

Who is the seer? The Self of man, the Purusha. What is the seen? The whole of nature beginning with the mind, down to gross matter. All pleasure and pain arise from the junction between this Purusha and the mind. The Purusha, you must remember, according to this philosophy, is pure; when joined to nature, it appears to feel pleasure or pain by reflection.

प्रकाश-क्रिया-स्थितिशीलं भूतेन्द्रियात्मकं भोगापवर्गार्थं दृश्यमः ॥१८॥

18. The experienced is composed of elements and organs, is of the nature of illumination, action, and inertia, and is for the purpose of experience and release (of the experiencer).

The experienced, that is nature, is composed of elements and organs — the elements, gross and fine, which compose the whole of nature, and the organs of the senses, mind, etc. — and is of the nature of illumination (Sattva), action (Rajas), and inertia (Tamas). What is the purpose of the whole of nature? That the Purusha may gain experience. The Purusha has, as it were, forgotten its mighty, godly nature. There is a story that the king of the gods, Indra, once became a pig, wallowing in mire; he had a she-pig and a lot of baby pigs, and was very happy. Then some gods saw his plight, and came to him, and told him, "You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods under your command. Why are you here?" But Indra said, "Never mind; I am all right here; I do not care for heaven, while I have this sow and these little pigs." The poor gods were at their wits' end. After a time they decided to to slay all the pigs one after another. When all were dead, Indra began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig-body open and he came out of it, and began to laugh, when he realised what a hideous dream he had had — he, the king of the gods, to have become a pig, and to think that that pig-life was the only life! Not only so, but to have wanted the whole universe to come into the pig-life! The Purusha, when it identifies itself with nature, forgets that it is pure and infinite. The Purusha does not love, it is love itself. It does not exist, it is existence itself. The Soul does not know, It is knowledge itself. It is a mistake to say the Soul loves, exists, or knows. Love, existence, and knowledge are not the qualities of the Purusha, but its essence. When they get reflected upon something, you may call them the qualities of that something. They are not the qualities but the essence of the Purusha, the great Ātman, the Infinite Being, without birth or death, established in its own glory. It appears to have become so degenerate that if you approach to tell it, "You are not a pig," it begins to squeal and bite.

Thus is it with us all in this Māyā, this dream world, where it is all misery, weeping and crying, where a few golden balls are rolled, and the world scrambles after them. You were never bound by laws, nature never had a bond for you. That is what the Yogi tells you. Have patience to learn it. And the Yogi shows how, by junction with nature, and identifying itself with the mind and the world, the Purusha thinks itself miserable. Then the Yogi goes on to show you that the way out is through experience. You have to get all this experience, but finish it quickly. We have placed ourselves in this net, and will have to get out. We have got ourselves caught in the trap, and we will have to work out our freedom. So get this experience of husbands, and wives, and friends, and little loves; you will get through them safely if you never forget what you really are. Never forget this is only a momentary state, and that we have to pass through it. Experience is the one great teacher — experience of pleasure and pain — but know it is only experience. It leads, step by step, to that state where all things become small, and the Purusha so great that the whole universe seems as a drop in the ocean and falls off by its own nothingness. We have to go through different experiences, but let us never forget the ideal.

विशेषाविशेष-लिङ्गमात्रालिङ्गानि गुणपर्वाणि ॥१९॥

19. The states of the qualities are the defined, the undefined, the indicated only, and the signless.

The system of Yoga is built entirely on the philosophy of the Sānkhyas, as I told you before, and here again I shall remind you of the cosmology of the Sankhya philosophy. According to the Sankhyas, nature is both the material and the efficient cause of the universe. In nature there are three sorts of materials, the Sattva, the Rajas, and the Tamas. The Tamas material is all that is dark, all that is ignorant and heavy. The Rajas is activity. The Sattva is calmness, light. Nature, before creation, is called by them Avyakta, undefined, or indiscrete; that is, in which there is no distinction of form or name, a state in which these three materials are held in perfect balance. Then the balance is disturbed, the three materials begin to mingle in various fashions, and the result is the universe. In every man, also, these three materials exist. When the Sattva material prevails, knowledge comes; when Rajas, activity; and when Tamas, darkness, lassitude, idleness, and ignorance. According to the Sankhya theory, the highest manifestation of nature, consisting of the three materials, is what they call Mahat or intelligence, universal intelligence, of which each human intellect is a part. In the Sankhya psychology there is a sharp distinction between Manas, the mind function, and the function of the Buddhi, intellect. The mind function is simply to collect and carry impressions and present them to the Buddhi, the individual Mahat, which determines upon it. Out of Mahat comes egoism, out of which again come the fine materials. The fine materials combine and become the gross materials outside — the external universe. The claim of the Sankhya philosophy is that beginning with the intellect down to a block of stone, all is the product of one substance, different only as finer to grosser states of existence. The finer is the cause, and the grosser is the effect. According to the Sankhya philosophy, beyond the whole of nature is the Purusha, which is not material at all. Purusha is not at all similar to anything else, either Buddhi, or mind, or the Tanmatras, or the gross materials. It is not akin to any one of these, it is entirely separate, entirely different in its nature, and from this they argue that the Purusha must be immortal, because it is not the result of combination. That which is not the result of combination cannot die. The Purushas or souls are infinite in number.

Now we shall understand the aphorism that the states of the qualities are defined, undefined, indicated only, and signless. By the "defined" are meant the gross elements, which we can sense. By the "undefined" are meant the very fine materials, the Tanmatras, which cannot be sensed by ordinary men. If you practise Yoga, however, says Patanjali, after a while your perceptions will become so fine that you will actually see the Tanmatras. For instance, you have heard how every man has a certain light about him; every living being emits a certain light, and this, he says, can be seen by the Yogi. We do not all see it, but we all throw out these Tanmatras, just as a flower continuously sends out fine particles which enable us to smell it. Every day of our lives we throw out a mass of good or evil, and everywhere we go the atmosphere is full of these materials. That is how there came to the human mind, unconsciously, the idea of building temples and churches. Why should man build churches in which to worship God? Why not worship Him anywhere? Even if he did not know the reason, man found that the place where people worshipped God became full of good Tanmatras. Every day people go there, and the more they go the holier they get, and the holier that place becomes. If any man who has not much Sattva in him goes there, the place will influence him and arouse his Sattva quality. Here, therefore, is the significance of all temples and holy places, but you must remember that their holiness depends on holy people congregating there. The difficulty with man is that he forgets the original meaning, and puts the cart before the horse. It was men who made these places holy, and then the effect became the cause and made men holy. If the wicked only were to go there, it would become as bad as any other place. It is not the building, but the people that make a church, and that is what we always forget. That is why sages and holy persons, who have much of this Sattva quality, can send it out and exert a tremendous influence day and night on their surroundings. A man may become so pure that his purity will become tangible. Whosoever comes in contact with him becomes pure.

Next "the indicated only" means the Buddhi, the intellect. "The indicated only" is the first manifestation of nature; from it all other manifestations proceed. The last is "the signless". There seems to be a great difference between modern science and all religions at this point. Every religion has the idea that the universe comes out of intelligence. The theory of God, taking it in its psychological significance, apart from all ideas of personality, is that intelligence is first in the order of creation, and that out of intelligence comes what we call gross matter. Modern philosophers say that intelligence is the last to come. They say that unintelligent things slowly evolve into animals, and from animals into men. They claim that instead of everything coming out of intelligence, intelligence itself is the last to come. Both the religious and the scientific statements, though seeming directly opposed to each other are true. Take an infinite series, A—B—A—B—A—B, etc. The question is — which is first, A or B? If you take the series as A—B, you will say that A is first, but if you take it as B—A, you will say that B is first. It depends upon the way we look at it. Intelligence undergoes modification and becomes the gross matter, this again merges into intelligence, and thus the process goes on. The Sankhyas, and other religionists, put intelligence first, and the series becomes intelligence, then matter. The scientific man puts his finger on matter, and says matter, then intelligence. They both indicate the same chain. Indian philosophy, however, goes beyond both intelligence and matter, and finds a Purusha, or Self, which is beyond intelligence, of which intelligence is but the borrowed light.

द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोऽपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः ॥२०॥

20. The seer is intelligence only, and though pure, sees through the colouring of the intellect.

This is, again, Sankhya philosophy. We have seen from the same philosophy that from the lowest form up to intelligence all is nature; beyond nature are Purushas (souls), which have no qualities. Then how does the soul appear to be happy or unhappy? By reflection. If a red flower is put near a piece of pure crystal, the crystal appears to be red, similarly the appearances of happiness or unhappiness of the soul are but reflections. The soul itself has no colouring. The soul is separate from nature. Nature is one thing, soul another, eternally separate. The Sankhyas say that intelligence is a compound, that it grows and wanes, that it changes, just as the body changes, and that its nature is nearly the same as that of the body. As a finger-nail is to the body, so is body to intelligence. The nail is a part of the body, but it can be pared off hundreds of times, and the body will still last. Similarly, the intelligence lasts aeons, while this body can be "pared off," thrown off. Yet intelligence cannot be immortal because it changes — growing and waning. Anything that changes cannot be immortal. Certainly intelligence is manufactured, and that very fact shows us that there must be something beyond that. It cannot be free, everything connected with matter is in nature, and, therefore, bound for ever. Who is free? The free must certainly be beyond cause and effect. If you say that the idea of freedom is a delusion, I shall say that the idea of bondage is also a delusion. Two facts come into our consciousness, and stand or fall with each other. These are our notions of bondage and freedom. If we want to go through a wall, and our head bumps against that wall, we see we are limited by that wall. At the same time we find a will power, and think we can direct our will everywhere. At every step these contradictory ideas come to us. We have to believe that we are free, yet at every moment we find we are not free. If one idea is a delusion, the other is also a delusion, and if one is true, the other also is true, because both stand upon the same basis — consciousness. The Yogi says, both are true; that we are bound so far as intelligence goes, that we are free so far as the soul is concerned. It is the real nature of man, the soul, the Purusha, which is beyond all law of causation. Its freedom is percolating through layers of matter in various forms, intelligence, mind, etc. It is its light which is shining through all. Intelligence has no light of its own. Each organ has a particular centre in the brain; it is not that all the organs have one centre; each organ is separate. Why do all perceptions harmonise? Where do they get their unity? If it were in the brain, it would be necessary for all the organs, the eyes, the nose, the ears, etc., to have one centre only, while we know for certain that there are different centres for each. Both a man can see and hear at the same time, so a unity must be there at the back of intelligence. Intelligence is connected with the brain, but behind intelligence even stands the Purusha, the unit, where all different sensations and perceptions join and become one. The soul itself is the centre where all the different perceptions converge and become unified. That soul is free, and it is its freedom that tells you every moment that you are free. But you mistake, and mingle that freedom every moment with intelligence and mind. You try to attribute that freedom to the intelligence, and immediately find that intelligence is not free; you attribute that freedom to the body, and immediately nature tells you that you are again mistaken. That is why there is this mingled sense of freedom and bondage at the same time. The Yogi analyses both what is free and what is bound, and his ignorance vanishes. He finds that the Purusha is free, is the essence of that knowledge which, coming through the Buddhi, becomes intelligence, and, as such, is bound.

तदर्थ एव दृश्यस्यात्मा ॥२१॥

21. The nature of the experienced is for him.

Nature has no light of its own. As long as the Purusha is present in it, it appears as light. But the light is borrowed; just as the moon's light is reflected. According to the Yogis, all the manifestations of nature are caused by nature itself, but nature has no purpose in view, except to free the Purusha.

कृतार्थं प्रति नष्टमप्यनष्टं तदन्यसाधारणत्वात् ॥२२॥

22. Though destroyed for him whose goal has been gained, yet it is not destroyed, being common to others.

The whole activity of nature is to make the soul know that it is entirely separate from nature. When the soul knows this, nature has no more attractions for it. But the whole of nature vanishes only for that man who has become free. There will always remain an infinite number of others, for whom nature will go on working.

स्वस्वामिशक्त्योः स्वरूपोपलब्धिहेतुः संयोगः ॥२३॥

23. Junction is the cause of the realisation of the nature of both the powers, the experienced and its Lord.

According to this aphorism, both the powers of soul and nature become manifest when they are in conjunction. Then all manifestations are thrown out. Ignorance is the cause of this conjunction. We see every day that the cause of our pain or pleasure is always our joining ourselves with the body. If I were perfectly certain that I am not this body, I should take no notice of heat and cold, or anything of the kind. This body is a combination. It is only a fiction to say that I have one body, you another, and the sun another. The whole universe is one ocean of matter, and you are the name of a little particle, and I of another, and the sun of another. We know that this matter is continuously changing. What is forming the sun one day, the next day may form the matter of our bodies.

तस्य हेतुरविद्या ॥२४॥

24. Ignorance is its cause.

Through ignorance we have joined ourselves with a particular body, and thus opened ourselves to misery. This idea of body is a simple superstition. It is superstition that makes us happy or unhappy. It is superstition caused by ignorance that makes us feel heat and cold, pain and pleasure. It is our business to rise above this superstition, and the Yogi shows us how we can do this. It has been demonstrated that, under certain mental conditions, a man may be burned, yet he will feel no pain. The difficulty is that this sudden upheaval of the mind comes like a whirlwind one minute, and goes away the next. If, however, we gain it through Yoga, we shall permanently attain to the separation of Self from the body.

तदभावात् संयोगाभावो हानं तद्दृशेः कैवल्यम् ॥२५॥

25. There being absence of that (ignorance) there is absence of junction, which is the thing-to-be-avoided; that is the independence of the seer.

According to yoga philosophy, it is through ignorance that the soul has been joined with nature. The aim is to get rid of nature's control over us. That is the goal of all religions. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy — by one or more or all of these — and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. The Yogi tries to reach this goal through psychic control. Until we can free ourselves from nature, we are slaves; as she dictates so we must go. The Yogi claims that he who controls mind controls matter also. The internal nature is much higher than the external and much more difficult to grapple with, much more difficult to control. Therefore he who has conquered the internal nature controls the whole universe; it becomes his servant. Raja-yoga propounds the methods of gaining this control. Forces higher than we know in physical nature will have to be subdued. This body is just the external crust of the mind. They are not two different things; they are just as the oyster and its shell. They are but two aspects of one thing; the internal substance of the oyster takes up matter from outside, and manufactures the shell. In the same way the internal fine forces which are called mind take up gross matter from outside, and from that manufacture this external shell, the body. If, then, we have control of the internal, it is very easy to have control of the external. Then again, these forces are not different. It is not that some forces are physical, and some mental; the physical forces are but the gross manifestations of the fine forces, just as the physical world is but the gross manifestation of the fine world.

विवेकख्यातिरविप्लवा हानोपायः ॥२६॥

26. The means of destruction of ignorance is unbroken practice of discrimination.

This is the real goal of practice — discrimination between the real and the unreal, knowing that the Purusha is not nature, that it is neither matter nor mind, and that because it is not nature, it cannot possibly change. It is only nature which changes, combining and re-combining, dissolving continually. When through constant practice we begin to discriminate, ignorance will vanish, and the Purusha will begin to shine in its real nature — omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent.

तस्य सप्तधा प्रान्तभूमिः प्रज्ञा ॥२७॥

27. His knowledge is of the sevenfold highest ground.

When this knowledge comes, it will come, as it were, in seven grades, one after the other; and when one of these begins, we know that we are getting knowledge. The first to appear will be that we have known what is to be known. The mind will cease to be dissatisfied. While we are aware of thirsting after knowledge, we begin to seek here and there, wherever we think we can get some truth, and failing to find it we become dissatisfied and seek in a fresh direction. All search is vain, until we begin to perceive that knowledge is within ourselves, that no one can help us, that we must help ourselves. When we begin to practise the power of discrimination, the first sign that we are getting near truth will be that that dissatisfied state will vanish. We shall feel quite sure that we have found the truth, and that it cannot be anything else but the truth. Then we may know that the sun is rising, that the morning is breaking for us, and taking courage, we must persevere until the goal is reached. The second grade will be the absence of all pains. It will be impossible for anything in the universe, external or internal, to give us pain. The third will be the attainment of full knowledge. Omniscience will be ours. The fourth will be the attainment of the end of all duty through discrimination. Next will come what is called freedom of the Chitta. We shall realise that all difficulties and struggles, all vacillations of the mind, have fallen down, just as a stone rolls from the mountain top into the valley and never comes up again. The next will be that the Chitta itself will realise that it melts away into its causes whenever we so desire. Lastly we shall find that we are established in our Self, that we have been alone throughout the universe, neither body nor mind was ever related, much less joined, to us. They were working their own way, and we, through ignorance, joined ourselves to them. But we have been alone, omnipotent, omnipresent, ever blessed; our own Self was so pure and perfect that we required none else. We required none else to make us happy, for we are happiness itself. We shall find that this knowledge does not depend on anything else; throughout the universe there can be nothing that will not become effulgent before our knowledge. This will be the last state, and the Yogi will become peaceful and calm, never to feel any more pain, never to be again deluded, never to be touched by misery. He will know he is ever blessed, ever perfect, almighty.

योगाङ्गानुष्ठानादशुद्धिक्षये ज्ञानदीप्तिरा विवेकख्यातेः ॥२८॥

28. By the practice of the different parts of Yogas the impurities being destroyed, knowledge becomes effulgent up to discrimination.

Now comes the practical knowledge. What we have just been speaking about is much higher. It is away above our heads, but it is the ideal. It is first necessary to obtain physical and mental control. Then the realisation will become steady in that ideal. The ideal being known, what remains is to practise the method of reaching it.

यम-नियमासन-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार-धारणा-ध्यान-समाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि ॥२९॥

29. Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prānāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāranā, Dhyāna, and Samādhi are the eight limbs of Yoga.

अहिंसा-सत्यास्तेय-ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहा यमाः ॥३०॥

30. Non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving are called Yamas.

A man who wants to be a perfect Yogi must give up the sex idea. The soul has no sex; why should it degrade itself with sex ideas? Later on we shall understand better why these ideas must be given up. The mind of the man who receives gifts is acted on by the mind of the giver, so the receiver is likely to become degenerated. Receiving gifts is prone to destroy the independence of the mind, and make us slavish. Therefore, receive no gifts.

एते जाति-देश-काल-समयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम् ॥३१॥

31. These, unbroken by time, place, purpose, and caste - rules, are (universal) great vows.

These practices — non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity, and non-receiving — are to be practised by every man, woman, and child; by every soul, irrespective of nation, country, or position.

शौच-सन्तोष-तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः ॥३२॥

32. Internal and external purification, contentment, mortification, study, and worship of God are the Niyamas.

External purification is keeping the body pure; a dirty man will never be a Yogi. There must be internal purification also. That is obtained by the virtues named in I.33. Of course, internal purity is of greater value than external, but both are necessary, and external purity, without internal, is of no good.

वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३३॥

33. To obstruct thoughts which are inimical to Yoga, contrary thoughts should be brought.

That is the way to practise the virtues that have been stated. For instance, when a big wave of anger has come into the mind, how are we to control that? Just by raising an opposing wave. Think of love. Sometimes a mother is very angry with her husband, and while in that state, the baby comes in, and she kisses the baby; the old wave dies out and a new wave arises, love for the child. That suppresses the other one. Love is opposite to anger. Similarly, when the idea of stealing comes, non-stealing should be thought of; when the idea of receiving gifts comes, replace it by a contrary thought.

वितर्का हिंसादयः कृतकारितानुमोदिता लोभक्रोधमोहपूर्वका मृदुमध्याधिमात्रा दुःखाज्ञानानन्तफला इति प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३४॥

34. The obstructions to Yoga are killing, falsehood, etc., whether committed, caused, or approved; either through avarice, or anger, or ignorance; whether slight, middling, or great; and they result in infinite ignorance and misery. This is (the method of) thinking the contrary.

If I tell a lie, or cause another to tell one, or approve of another doing so, it is equally sinful. If it is a very mild lie, still it is a lie. Every vicious thought will rebound, every thought of hatred which you may have thought, in a cave even, is stored up, and will one day come back to you with tremendous power in the form of some misery here. If you project hatred and jealousy, they will rebound on you with compound interest. No power can avert them; when once you have put them in motion, you will have to bear them. Remembering this will prevent you from doing wicked things.

अहिंसाप्रतिष्ठायां तत्सन्निधौ वैरत्यागः ॥३५॥

35. Non-killing being established, in his presence all enmities cease (in others).

If a man gets the ideal of non-injuring others, before him even animals which are by their nature ferocious will become peaceful. The tiger and the lamb will play together before that Yogi. When you have come to that state, then alone you will understand that you have become firmly established in non-injuring.

सत्यप्रतिष्ठायां क्रियाफलाश्रयत्वम् ॥३६॥

36. By the establishment of truthfulness the Yogi gets the power of attaining for himself and others the fruits of work without the works.

When this power of truth will be established with you, then even in dream you will never tell an untruth. You will be true in thought, word, and deed. Whatever you say will be truth. You may say to a man, "Be blessed," and that man will be blessed. If a man is diseased, and you say to him, "Be thou cured," he will be cured immediately.

अस्तेयप्रतिष्ठायां सर्वरत्नोपस्थानम् ॥३७॥

37. By the establishment of non-stealing all wealth comes to the Yogi.

The more you fly from nature, the more she follows you; and if you do not care for her at all, she becomes your slave.

ब्रह्मचर्यप्रतिष्ठायां वीर्यलाभः ॥३८॥

38. By the establishment of continence energy is gained.

The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will-power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind. The spiritual leaders of men have been very continent, and this is what gave them power. Therefore the Yogi must be continent.

अपरिग्रहस्थैर्ये जन्मकथन्तासंबोधः ॥३९॥

39. When he is fixed in non-receiving, he gets the memory of past life.

When a man does not receive presents, he does not become beholden to others, but remains independent and free. His mind becomes pure. With every gift, he is likely to receive the evils of the giver. If he does not receive, the mind is purified, and the first power it gets is memory of past life. Then alone the Yogi becomes perfectly fixed in his ideal. He sees that he has been coming and going many times, so he becomes determined that this time he will be free, that he will no more come and go, and be the slave of Nature.

शौचात्स्वाङ्गजुगुप्सा परैरसंसर्गः ॥४०॥

40. Internal and external cleanliness being established, there arises disgust for one's own body, and non-intercourse with others.

When there is real purification of the body, external and internal, there arises neglect of the body, and the idea of keeping it nice vanishes. A face which others call most beautiful will appear to the Yogi as merely animal, if there is not intelligence behind it. What the world calls a very common face he regards as heavenly, if the spirit shines behind it. This thirst after body is the great bane of human life. So the first sign of the establishment of purity is that you do not care to think you are a body. It is only when purity comes that we get rid of the body idea.

सत्त्वशुद्धि-सौमनस्यैकाग्र्येन्द्रियजयात्मदर्शन-योग्यत्वानि च ॥४१॥

41. There also arises purification of the Sattva, cheerfulness of the mind, concentration, conquest of the organs, and fitness for the realisation of the Self.

By the practice of cleanliness, the Sattva material prevails, and the mind becomes concentrated and cheerful. The first sign that you are becoming 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 have control over the whole body; instead of being a slave to this machine, the machine is your slave. Instead of this machine being able to drag the soul down, it becomes it greatest helpmate.

सन्तोषादनुत्तमः सुखलाभः ॥४२॥

42. From contentment comes superlative happiness.

कायेन्द्रियसिद्धिरशुद्धिक्षयात्तपसः ॥४३॥

43. The result of mortification is bringing powers to the organs and body, by destroying the impurity.

The results of mortification are seen immediately, sometimes by heightened powers of vision, hearing things at a distance, and so on.

स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवतासंप्रयोगः ॥४४॥

44. By repetition of the Mantra comes the realisation of the intended deity.

The higher the beings that you want to get the harder is the practice.

समाधिसिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात् ॥४५॥

45. By sacrificing all the Ishvara comes Samadhi.

By resignation to the Lord, Samadhi becomes perfect.

स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥

46. Posture is that which is firm and pleasant.

Now comes Asana, posture. Until you can get a firm seat you cannot practise the breathing and other exercises. Firmness of seat means that you do not feel the body at all. In the ordinary way, you will find that as soon as you sit for a few minutes all sorts of 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.

प्रयत्नशैथिल्यानन्तसमापत्तिभ्याम् ॥४७॥

47. By lessening the natural tendency (for restlessness) and meditating on the unlimited, posture becomes firm and pleasant.

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.

ततो द्वन्द्वानभिघातः ॥४८॥

48. Seat being conquered, the dualities do not obstruct.

The dualities, good and bad, heat and cold, and all the pairs of opposites, will not then disturb you.

तस्मिन् सति श्वासप्रश्वासयोर्गतिविच्छेदः प्राणायामः ॥४९॥

49. Controlling the motion of the exhalation and the inhalation follows after this.

When posture has been conquered, then the motion of the Prana is to be broken and controlled. 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 body, and its most apparent manifestation is the motion of the lungs. This motion is caused by Prana drawing in the breath, and it is what we seek to control in Pranayama. We begin by controlling the breath, as the easiest way of getting control of the Prana.

बाह्याभ्यन्तरस्तम्भवृत्तिः देशकालसंख्याभिः परिदृष्टो दीर्घसूक्षमः ॥५०॥

50. 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 Pranayama are, one by which we draw the breath in, another by which we throw it 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 how long the Prana should be confined to a certain place, and so we are told how many seconds to keep one motion, and how many seconds to keep another. The result of this Pranayama is Udghāta, awakening the Kundalini.

बाह्याभ्यन्तरविषयाक्षेपी चतुर्थः ॥५१॥

51. The fourth is restraining the Prana by reflecting on external or internal object.

This is the fourth sort of Pranayama, in which the Kumbhaka is brought about by long practice attended with reflection, which is absent in the other three.

ततः क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम् ॥५२॥

52. 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.

धारणासु च योग्यता मनसः ॥५३॥

53. The mind becomes fit for Dharana.

After this covering has been removed, we are able to concentrate the mind.

स्वस्वविषयासम्प्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः ॥५४॥

54. The drawing in of the organs is by their giving up their own objects and taking the form of the mind-stuff, as it were.

The 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. The organs identify themselves with, and take the form 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.

ततः परमा वश्यतेन्द्रियाणाम् ॥५५॥

55. 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. When the organs are perfectly under control, every muscle and nerve will be under control, because the organs are the centres of all the sensations, 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 comes 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 is.

文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。