Sutras 1.16, 1.17

Sutra 1.16

(Discussed on 1/24/09)

तत्परं पुरुषख्यातेर्गुणवैतृष्ण्यम्॥१६॥

tatparaṁ puruṣa-khyāteḥ guṇa-vaitr̥ṣṇyam ॥16॥

tat=from that (given in previous sutra); paraṁ=higher; puruṣa=consciousness; khyāteḥ=of knowledge; guṇa=the three gunas – sattva, rajas, tamas; vaitr̥ṣṇyam=absence of desire;

That is the highest Vairagya in which, on account of the awareness of the
Purusa, there is cessation of the least desire for the Gunas.

Taimni

The Vairagya which is based upon the destruction of Avidya and the realization that everything is contained in the Purusa himself or the Purusa is the source of everything is the highest kind of
Vairagya and is called Para-Vairagya. Purusha, in this state, is completely self-sufficient and above all such attractions which are based on the play of the three Gunas. The essence of this sutra is also reflected in the Bhagavad Gita shloke 2.59 – “The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.”

Aranya

"Indifference to the Gunas or the constituent principles, achieved through a knowledge of the nature of Purusha, is called Paravairagya (supreme detachment)"

A yogi who has attained the knowledge of ‘purusha’, or the highest form of discriminative knowledge, and has a sharpened intellect becomes indifferent to all manifest and unmanifested states of the three gunas. Only when this state is sustained for a long period of time, does the yogi achieve the state of "kaivalya" or liberation. After withdrawing the mind from the sense objects through ‘vashikara’ (mentioned in the previous sutra), the yogi needs to practice concentration on the ‘purusha’ principle. As long as there is identification of purusha with ‘buddhi’ (intellect), concentration cannot be complete and total dispassion involving detachment from the three ‘gunas’ cannot be attained.

Attachment is a function of the ‘buddhi’. The highest form of buddhi brings about a realization of the ‘purusha’ principle. As per Katha Upanishad, “The wise, knowing of the eternal bliss, do not look for the immutable in ephemeral things”.

Discussion

Kailasam had a question as to whether vairagya is the effort to achieve nirodha or the state of being there. Subhash thought that vairagya is the latter. The effort to get there has been addressed under Abhyasa.

The topic of constitutional psychology developed by William Sheldon in the 1940s came up for discussion. According to this theroy there are three body types – ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph. These relate to the three body types in Ayurveda – vata, kapha and pitta respectively. These might also relate to sattva, rajas and tamas – the three gunas. Dean mentioned that modern psychology does not recognize the value of Sheldon’s work which considers it to be of a superficial nature. Subhash mentioned the work done by Satish Modh in India who has developed a methodology of determining Personality Quotient based on an analysis of a person’s mix of sattva, rajas and tamas. He uses his work to provide counselling to people at various levels – students to decide on careers, corporate employees to choose their professions etc. You can find more information about his work on his website here.

The discussion on the separation of purusha and buddhi (prakriti) resulted in a lively discussion of the distinction between the “dual” and “non-dual” philosophies. It was clarified that yoga, which is based on the Samkhya philosophy, is a dualistic philosophy in that it talks of the two totally independent entities called ‘purusha’ and ‘prakriti’. In the non-dual philosophy of ‘vedanta’ the prakriti and purusha (both individual ‘jiva’ and the supreme consciousness), all merge into a single entity termed Brahman. The goal in yoga is to achieve the state of ‘kaivalya’ which is liberation of purusha from its identification with prakriti.

Shloka 3.42 of Bhagavad Gita also talks about the ‘hierarchy’ of the elements of Prakriti, “They say that the senses are superior to the body, mind is superior to the senses, intellect is superior to the mind; one who is superior even to the intellect is HE (the Purusha)”. Shloka 3.43 continues, “Thus knowing Him who is superior to the intellect and restraining the self by the Self, conquer the enemy in the form of desires.”

In the Katha Upanishad there is a nice symbolism depicted, “the body is the chariot, the five senses are the five horses pulling the chariot in different directions, mind represents the reins – the driving instrument, pure intelligence (or Purusha) is the charioteer, the self (false ego) is the passenger”.

A question came up as to whether Samadhi can be medically induced (through drugs). The general feeling was that there are really no short-cuts to achieving samadhi; as per the guidelines of yoga, one has to follow the ‘ashtanga yoga’ (eight limbs of yoga) assiduously to achieve samadhi.

Sutra 1.17

वितर्कविचारानन्दास्मितारूपानुगमात् संप्रज्ञातः॥१७॥

vitarkavicārānandāsmitārūpānugamātsamprajñātaḥ||17|||

vitarka=absorption with awareness at the gross level; vicāra=absorption with awareness at the subtle level; ānanda=bliss; asmitā=pure I-sense; rūpānugamāt=accompanied by the forms; samprajñātaḥ=samadhi with mind still focused on an object of meditation (1.17)

Samprajnata Samadhi is that which is accompanied by reasoning, reflection, bliss and sense of pure being.

Taimni

Taimni first presents a general understanding of Samprajnata Samadhi and Asamprajnata Samadhi (Sutra 1.18) and brings out the distinction between the two. The word Samprajnata Samadhi means "Samadhi with Prajna". The prefix A in Samskrta means"not" and therefore Asamprajnata Samadhi means"not Samprajnata Samadhi" and is a state of Samadhi which, though associated with Prajna, is yet different from Samprajnata Samadhi. The word Prajna in Samskrta is derived from Pra which means high and Jna which means to"know". While both Samprajnata and Asamprajnata Samadhis are associated with Prajna, the difference between the two types of samadhi lies in the
presence or absence of a Pratyaya in the field of consciousness. Pratyaya is the total content of the mind at any moment using the word mind in its widest sense and not merely the intellect.

Here the concept of koshas comes into play. The five koshas are – annamaya (physical), pranamaya (vital), manomaya (mind), vijnanamaya (intellectual), ananda (bliss). The pratyaya, or the content of mind, will depend upon which particular kosha is active at a given time.

In the model presented by Taimni, he follows the path of consciousness as it passes through manomaya, vijnanamaya and anandamaya koshas and finally merges with the consciousness of ‘purusha’. At each layer, when there is ‘pratyaya’ or content (seed), it is called Samprajnata samadhi and when there is no pratyaya, it is Asamprajnata samadhi. Below is the correspondence between the koshas and the type of samadhi:

• Manomaya kosha — savitarka/nirvitarka samadhi
• Vijnanamaya kosha — savichara/nirvichara samashi
• Anandamaya kosha — sananda samadhi
• Atma — sasmita samadhi

The above four are termed as ‘sabeeja’ (with seed) samadhi as a seed is still present in the consciousness in all these stages. The ‘nirbeeja’ (seedless) samadhi is one which is beyond all these stages when there is no seed and one is merged in the consciousness of ‘purusha’. The concepts of ‘savitarka/nirvitarka’ etc. are explained in sutras 1.42 through 1.50.

It is emphasized by Taimni that the exact experience in the higher planes cannot be put into words and must be individually experienced by the yogi by practicing these stages of samadhi.

Aranya

“When concentration is reached with the help of Vitarka, Vichara, Ananda and Asmita, it is called Samprajnata-samadhi.”

Samprajnata-samadhi refers to the one-pointed state of the mind (recall the five states mentioned in the commentary on the first sutra – scattered (Kshipta), dull (moodha), partially focused (vikshipta), one-pointed (ekagra), and fully arrested (niruddha)). Four types of samadhi are defined. The object of concentration marks their difference.

Vitarka-dependent samadhi is based on concentration on gross objects – objects that are perceived through the sense organs. Cow, pot, yellow, blue etc are examples of gross objects, each being a conglomerate of several features perceptible to the senses.

Vichara-dependent samadhi relates to subtle objects. When concentration relating to gross objects is mastered, subtle objects of contemplation are realized through Vichara or analysis; hence sa-Vichara samadhi. Also, knowledge of heya (things to be avoided), heyahetu (causes of avoidable), hana (avoidance), hanopaya (means of avoidance) are also attained by analysis.

Concentration on bliss is free from Vitarka or Vichara. The object of focus is a feeling of Sattvika happiness felt over the mind and body due to a state of calmness. A yogin who has realized this bliss, quietens his sense-organs and thus conserves energy. There is no need for thinking or analysis as it is based on feeling. Nor is there is a need for concentrating on the 5 elements or the 5 subtle senses as is done in Vitarka and Vichara-based samadhis.

Asmita or I-ness based samadhi relates only to the I-sense and is free even from the touch of bliss. In this samadhi, the object of concentration is not the bliss but its recipient. This I-sense is the cognizer, manifested with the help of purusha. The object of focus is not the purusha but its reflection on the intellect (buddhi).

In summary, in Samprajnata-samadhi the mind is not completely arrested but is in a partially arrested state. It thus requires an object of concentration.

Discussion

Taimni declares that both samprajnata and asamprajnata samadhi are a part of ‘sabeeja’ (with seed) samadhi. Even though in the asamprajnata state, there is no content at the particular level that we are in, there is still the seed of samskaras. My own understanding so far was that samprajnata samadhi corresponds with sabeeja samadhi and asamprajnata with nirbeeja samadhi which is being refuted by Taimni. Just to check another interpretation, I also looked into the commentary by Swami Satyananda (Bihar School) and found that he also is completely in agreement with Taimni’s interpretation. We will have to wait to read Aranya’s interpretation to see what he has to say about these concepts.

The interpretation by Aranya (Vyasa) is very different from that of Taimni which we saw earlier. Taimni believes that the yogin will go through stages of Samprajnata-samadhi and Asamprajnata-samadhi while he goes from one stage to the next – e.g., from savitarka to savichara. He does not believe that Asamprajnata-samadhi can be equated to ‘nirbeeja’ or seed-less samadhi which is what Vyasa has stated. According to Vyasa, Asamprajnata-samadhi is equated to seed-less samadhi.

A question came up as to whether the object of concentration should remain the same through all the stages. Aranya has not clearly stated it one way or the other. Kailasam felt that even Vyasa’s commentary hints at the concept of the same object. In my view also this might be a better approach as it will cause fewer distractions and maintain a uniform field of energy throughout the samadhi process.

Aranya uses the words ‘prakriti’ and ‘vikriti’ to refer to the ‘unmanifest’ or the ‘moola prakriti’ and the ‘manifest’ or the material world respectively. Sunitha pointed out that in music, ‘prakriti’ represents the two swaras ‘sa’ and ‘pa’ which never change whereas ‘vikriti’ refers to the other swaras which can assume multiple positions on the musical scale. Kailasam recommended the book, “Scientist’s Search for Truth” whose author is a scientist-turned-yogi.

Subsequent to the study group meeting, I read through the commentary by Sw. Veda Bharati (aka Pandit Usharbudh Arya) and found some more details about this sutra:

• Any of the 23 evolutes of prakriti – mahat or buddhi, ahamkara, mind, 5 sense organs, 5 organs of action, 5 inner senses, and 5 mahabhutas or the elements – can be used as an object of concentration. Moreover, any object, gross or subtle, which can be considered as a composite of these elements can be used.
• Unmanifest prakriti is the subtlest and is the cause for all creation. In the chain of creation we move from more subtle to less subtle – buddhi to ahamkara to mind and the tanmatras (the five inner senses) and then on to the gross elements. Subtler objects of concentration lead to greater stability of mind. For example, a clay jar breaks easily; its durability and stability is minimal compared to its cause, the clay.
• For each stage of samadhi, following is the list of possible objects of concentration:
1. Savitarka: mind, subtle senses, pranas, external senses, five gross elements
2. Savichara: the subtle elements
3. Sananda: lower buddhi (intellect), ego (ahamakara)
4. Sasmita: asmita (mahat, higher intellect)
• Asmita (I-ness) is produced by the union of purusha’s reflection with mahat (buddhi)
• Here is the distinction between ahamkara and asmita: When the mind-field refers to itself as “I” and apprehends the objects of experience, it is called ahamkara. When it turns inwards in the process of going back towards unmanifest prakriti and a mere reflection of “existence” appears, then it is called asmita. In asmita, there is only a sense of “I am” without the ego coming into play. Here the sattvic illumination of the mirror of buddhi and the reflected light of purusha are unified.
• The following connection can be made between the samadhis and the five koshas:
1. Anandamaya (bliss): asmita, higher buddhi
2. Vijnanamaya (knowledge): lower buddhi, ego
3. Manomaya (mind): subtle elements, mind
4. Pranamaya (prana – vital): subtle senses, prana
5. Annamaya (food): gross elements, gross senses