Sutra 1.19

भवप्रत्ययो विदेहप्रकृतिलयानाम्॥१९॥

bhava-pratyayo videha-prakr̥ti-layānām ॥19

Bhava=rebirth; pratyaya=cause; Videha=disembodied; prakr̥ti-layānām=of those merged in Prakriti

Taimni

“Of those who are Videhas and Prakritilayas birth is the cause”

The word Videha literally means the “bodiless” and Prakrtilaya means”merged-in-Prakrti”. Videha most probably refers to a “medium” – a person with a peculiar physical constitution, the peculiarity consisting in the ease with which the physical body can be partially separated from the subtle body or the Pranamaya kosha.

Prakrtilayas are “pseudo-Yogis” who have the capacity to pass into a kind of passive trance which outwardly resembles Samadhi but is not real Samadhi. Such a Samadhi is called Jada-Samadhi. These yogis undoubtedly possess some capacity to reflect the higher consciousness in their vehicles and some unusual powers (siddhis). These powers are undoubtedly due to Samskaras brought forward from previous lives in which they have practised Yoga but were unable to achieve enlightenment.

It is thus seen that these yogis seem to achieve a state of trance not because of a prescribed yogic discipline but because they have carried these abilities at the time of birth (from previous karmas)

Aranya

“While in the case of the Videhas or the discarnates and of the Prakrtilayas or those subsisting in their elemental constituents, it is caused by nescience which results in objective existence”

Discussion

It was clear after reading the commentary that Taimni was not sure of how to interpret this sutra. However, he still decided to criticize other commentators for their interpretation! We felt that his remarks about ‘videhas’ and ‘prakritilayas’ as being ‘pseudo-yogis’ were unnecessarily derogative.

A mention was made of Edgar Casey who was known to be a very famous psychic in the early twentieth century. Many of his prophesies apparently came ture. As stated in the sutra, it is likely that his ‘powers’ were a result of what he carried from his previous lives. Chapter 3 of the sutras does cover the subject of yogic siddhis in detail.

There is a vast disparity among  commentators as to the meaning of the terms used in this sutra:

• “bhava”: cause? Ignorance? Birth? Cycle of birth, death, rebirth?
• “pratyaya”: content of the mind? samadhi – samprajnata? Asamprajnata? cause?
• “Videha”: “Ananda-level” samadhi? Lower levels?
• “prakritilaya”: “asmita-level” samadhi? Merger in “mula-prakriti”? lower levels?

After reading the various commentaries, my thoughts on these terms and the stura are as follows:

Vyasa, in his commentary, begins with the note that there are two categories of yogis – those that need “upaya pratyaya” or a prescribed set of practices (mentioned in sutra 1.20) and the others who are “bhava pratyaya” described in the current sutra.

The word “bhava” can mean birth, or in this case, rebirth. “Pratyaya” in this situation means  the “cause for something”. So, the phrase bhava-pratyaya means that rebirth is the cause for attainment of final samadhi for those mentioned as “videhas” and “prakritilayas” in this sutra.

Videhas are those yogis who have attained the state of ananda-level (bliss) samadhi (as mentioned in sutra 1.17). Due to their state of samadhi, they have been able to give up any identification with their physical body. The prakritilayas, on the other hand, have attained even a higher level of samadhi, called the asmita-level (pure I-sense) samadhi. However, due to the level of peace and bliss that they attain, both these types of yogis begin to experience a kaivalya-like state of mind even though they have traces of unresolved samskaras left in their karmashaya (bag of karmas). Thus when they die, they go to celestial levels and remain there for periods that correspond to their good karmas. After their celestial term is over, they are reborn as humans to continue their spiritual journey. Because of their spiritual attainment in the previous birth, they are now born being fully qualified to attain final liberation in the form of Kaivalya if they stay on their path of sadhana.