Sutra 1.50

तज्जः संस्कारोऽन्यसंस्कारप्रतिबन्धी॥५०॥

tajjas-saṁskāro-‘nya-saṁskāra pratibandhī ॥50॥

tajjaH = born of it; saMskaaraH = impression; anya = (of) other; saMskaara = impressions; pratibandhI = preventer, stands in the say of

Taimni

"The impression produced by it (sabija samadhi) stands in the way of other impressions."

While the mind is in the state of sabija samadhi, an impression of the bija (seed) alone is being created in the mind. In this state of concentration, it is impossible for other thoughts to intrude upon the mind and create more impressions. In ordinary life experience, when we are fully engrossed in one activity, it is not easy for other thoughts to get into the mind. However, if we relax the level of concentration before the state of nirbija samadhi is reached, then we are leaving the door open for other thoughts to come into and distract the mind. Sabija samadhi or Samprajnata samadhi should be treated as a doorway to the final state of Asamprajnata (nirbija) samadhi. One has to endure the arduous task of going through the four stages of samprajnata samadhi before the mind becomes fully one-pointed. Only then can we slowly slide into the state of nirbija samadhi. There are no "short-cuts" to nirbija samadhi.

Aranya

"The latent impression born of such knowledge is opposed to the formation of other latent impressions."

While in the state of samadhi, other latent impressions cannot arise in the mind. In this state only the impressions from the knowledge of samadhi are generated. It must be kept in mind that in ordinary life, all knowledge and action takes place with the help of latent impressions. These impressions can be either harmful (arising out of ignorance) or beneficial (result in correct knowledge).  Impressions of true knowledge can destroy the impressions from ignorance. When that happens, the fluctuations of the mind are subdued. Knowledge finally leads to total detachment (sutra 1.16). The Samprajnata yoga reaches its highest point when it leads to discriminative enlightenment (Viveka-khyati). That is what gives the yogi Purusha Khyati (knowledge of Purusha) and this leads to Kaivalya.

Discussion

Aranya, in his commentary, talks about complete vairagya (total detachment) that is achieved in the final stage of samadhi. Here, we need to be careful about situations in life that may seem like "vairagya" but if fact are temporary moments of detachment brought about by specific situations. For example, in the Indian culture, there is mention of three such vairagyas – abhava vairagya (detachment of non-availability), smashana vairagya (detachment at a crematorium), and prasava or prasooti vairagya (detachment during pains of child-birth). The vairagya that arises as a result of the state of samadhi is of a permanent type.

In the Vedanta philosophy, the term used for Nirbija samadhi is "nirvikalpa samadhi". A person who attains this state, called a "jivanamukta" , continues to live the life of a human being since the "prarabdha karma" (the store of karma allocated at the time of birth) must be exhausted during this life time.

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