तस्य सप्तधा प्रान्तभूमिः प्रज्ञा॥२७॥
tasya = his; saptadhaa = sevenfold; praantabhUmiH = in the final stage; praj~jaa = wisdom
Sw. Satchidananda
“One’s wisdom in the final stage is sevenfold. [One experiences the end of 1) desire to know anything more; 2) desire to stay away from any thing; 3) desire to gain anything new; 4) desire to do anything; 5) sorrow; 6) fear; 7) delusion.]”
Bryant
“The yogi’s true insight has seven ultimate stages”
Discussion
When viveka khyati (discriminative wisdom) is established, mind attains the state of prajna (intuitive wisdom). Patanjali states that at this point, prajna develops in a seven stages. He doesn’t list these seven stages. There is an assumption on his part that his students are already familiar with these seven stages. Vyasa, in his commentary, lists these as follows:
- The inner sources of future suffering, which is avoidable, have been identified, and there is nothing further to be known in this regard.
- The root causes of suffering (kleshas) have been removed, with nothing more left to be done with them.
- Through total restraint (nirodhah) attained in deep absorption (samadhi), the removal of misidentification between purusha and buddhi has been attained.
- The means of liberation having been mastered, nothing further remains in the mind to inquire.
- Buddhi (intellect), the higher discriminative aspect, has fulfilled its purpose of bhoga (life experience) and apavarga (liberation) and stands alone, with nothing more to do.
- The activities of the buddhi are no longer needed. They come to rest as a stone that has rolled down a mountain, having no need to climb again.
- Pure consciousness, Purusha, stands alone, in its true, eternal Self, beyond any relationship with the three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas.
It must be remembered that these stages of prajna are still in the realm of buddhi (prakriti). Final liberation, kaivalya, is attained when the mind has reached the state of ‘asamprajnat samadhi’ or the seedless samadhi. In that state, the individual reaches the state known as jivana-mukta or liberated while still living in the body. In this state, even when faced with suffering, he is able to rise above it with his discriminatory wisdom (viveka khyati).
Five of the sevenfolds in the final stage seem consistent with obtaining wisdom but the sorrow and fear I fail to elucidate. Sorrow about what, afraid of what? Could you comment?
Regards
With all due respect, there is little similarity with the comment that makes Vyasa about this sutra.
Dear Patricia, the translation presented is the one by Swami Satchidananda. As you have observed there are differences between what Vyasa says and the translation by Sw Satchidananda. He does not provide much by way of explanation in his commentary. So, just like you, we are left guessing as to why he provided those as part of the seven-fold stages of prajna.
That’s correct. Some authors have confused this Sutra by putting words scubas fear, doubt etc. In the words of Prof Taimni: “A good deal of rigmarole has been written in explaining this Sutra by some
commentators. It is quite natural that the process of attaining full Enlightenment should be gradual and should be attained by stages. But to identify these transcendent changes in consciousness with ordinary processes of thinking as has been done by some commentators is really absurd. It is better to leave the problem as it is, as a matter of transcendent experiences which cannot be interpreted in terms of the thinking processes.” I feel that erhaps this is the reason Sage Patanjali did not elaborate it as subjective description and demarcation of these stages may not be so easy and may vary person to person.
Coming back to Swami Sacchinanda’s commentary, in fact, in the later part he has explained the seven stages in a different way. Here it is:
The first stage is where we come to the conclusion that by running here and there, by looking to externals, we are not going to gain the knowledge we seek.*
Knowledge is a thing to be obtained from within by tuning in. “Tuning in” means to go in, to understand ourselves, to “know thyself” first.
*If we do not know ourselves, we will make mistakes in knowing other things.*
We should know with what glasses we are viewing the outside.
Are they clean or colored?
If they are colored, naturally we will see a colored world outside. We can’t blame the world for this color.
A scale should be correct itself before trying to give the correct weight of objects placed on it. If the scale is wrong, the weight will certainly be wrong. We must see if the mind is in a neutral position so it can judge things properly.
*The second understanding is that all experiences of pleasure and pain come not from the outside but are the interpretation of our own mind.*
The mind makes these experiences and creates these feelings. If this understanding comes, all miseries and pains are over; we will see we are not pained by any externals and that nothing can make us unhappy.
*When we know that our mind is the cause of these pains, we will try to correct it rather than blaming the outside world or other people. We will feel no need to seek after things, nor to avoid them.*
*The third position comes once you understand the mind fully and, with that neutral mind, attain cosmic understanding.*
You need not study anything for that. No books can give it.
*Many saints were illiterate.* They never even knew what a school was. But we read their ideas even now.
None of the Upanishadic seers went to colleges or universities. They merely sat under trees and watched nature. But their words are crest jewels now.
Where did their learning come from?
It came from within. There is a wealth of knowledge inside.
The scriptures say, “Know the One by knowing which you will know everything.”
*This understanding without learning is the third level of consciousness.*
*The fourth step comes once we understand nature and its workings.*
We feel there is no longer anything to be done.
If we understand the cosmic plan, we rise above all doership.
There is no particular duty for us, no do’s or don’ts.
At that time, we are prompted to do things only because our minds are linked to the cosmic mind; there is no personal action. As we are prompted, we just do. We do not know why we are doing things and will not bother about whether they are good or bad.
The scriptures ask, “Ko vidhi ko niṣedaḥ?” “What is a must and what is not?”
There are no musts, nothing one must do, nothing one should or should not do. Whatever we do is part of the cosmic plan. That means, even though such a person appears to be doing something, really he or she is not doing anything and becomes the akartā, the non-doer.
A Tamil saint put that idea into a poem. “Oh Lord, I gave You my entire personality, body, mind and life—and You have accepted it. If there is anything happening through my body or mind, am I responsible? Good might happen. Bad might happen. But You are responsible. You make me do this.
People may say, ‘He is a bad man. He is doing bad things.’ But You know that it is not I who do it; it is You working through me.”
These words will come only when we realize we are completely in the hands of a higher will. It is very easy to stand in front of the altar and say, “I am Thine. All is Thine. Thy will be done.”
But do we really feel that way?
Have we really completely given up?
In such a state there are no duties for us. All our duties are God’s duties. We are not responsible. But this state cannot be merely an intellectual understanding. If that is the case, we can even slap someone on the face and say, “It is all ”
“God’s will. I gave God everything. Even my hand has been given to God who is using it to slap you.”
Some people, when their businesses do well, say, “We really know how to do business. We bought this at the right time. Now see the ten percent increase in sales?” And if their businesses do badly, they say, “My goodness. Every day we burn candles for God who has no eyes at all. There is no point in my believing in God. If God were merciful why should we have such a great loss?”
When profit comes, they are responsible. When loss comes, God is responsible.
Our attitude should be constant: either we are responsible for everything or God is. We should always blame it on the big “I” or the little “i” but not on whichever is convenient at the time. If we want to be egoistic, we should be egoistic for everything. Even if someone abuses us, we should feel responsible for that abuse. Either we should surrender completely to God’s will or use only our will.
*The fifth plane is actually an after-effect of that understanding. Once we come to know there is nothing to be done, the citta is completely free of impressions. It is liberated. Because it had the tinge of ego, it acted as it wanted. Once that is separated, it just becomes a humble, simple mind, completely free of impressions; and, although old impressions remain, they lose their capacity to disturb the mind.*
*In the sixth level, the citta loses itself. That is called mano-nāsa or citta-nāśa and means the mind is completely chucked off.*
*When the mind gets totally dissolved, the seventh and last plane remains. This is when the Puruṣa alone remains, resting in its own svarūpa. Here, the Puruṣa rests in itself for there is nothing else to rest in.*
*“Ātmanā Atmanaṁ pasyann Ātmani tusyati,” says the Bhagavad Gītā. “Beholding the Self by the Self, one is satisfied in the Self.” This is the highest samādhi.*
We should all know what these things are, because one day we will certainly all reach that state. As they happen, we will see the signs. Sometimes people are frightened by the unexpected. If they suddenly lose physical consciousness in meditation, they feel, “Something is happening to me. Am I going to die?” They disturb their meditation. Instead, if we know the signs we will welcome these things.
The aforementioned are the different stages along the Yogic path.
Once the first stage is achieved and we learn to go within without expecting anything from externals, we have caught hold of the first link. Then it’s only a matter of pulling in order to get the entire chain. But the first one must be present.
Saint Thirūmular said, “A person was running and running in search of the Light. He spent his whole life doing that. Ultimately he collapsed and died because he couldn’t reach it.” Millions and millions of people collapse this way because they don’t know that the Light is within.
Another saying of his is, “Even if you practice Yoga for eight thousand years, you are not going to reach the Light.” By this he means external Yoga: reading books, learning all the scriptures by heart, going on pilgrimages to all the temples, āśrams and churches in the world. That is all bāhya, or external practice. Some people waste thousands of years in such effort. If we only look within, we will see the Light as if we were seeing our own image in a mirror.
All the different religions say this: We are not going to get it from outside. Turn in. Look within. Know thyself. The teachings can help you slightly, but too much learning may just muddle your mind. We should learn a little and work with that. Turning inside means turning the senses within; trying to hear something within, see something within, smell something within. All the scents are within us. All the beautiful music is within us. All art is inside. Why should we search, running after museums and gardens when every museum and garden is inside us?
We should spend a little time in the morning and evening to go within. Gradually we can extend this to our entire daily life.
Whatever our limbs do outside, we can keep our minds pulled inside.
*As I quoted before, a Hindu saying goes, “Man me Rām, hath me kām.” “There is work in the hand, but Ram (God) in the mind.”*
*Things like books are only aids which we should not hesitate to let go of when they are no longer useful.*
With the help of a ladder we can get to the rooftop, but once on top we let go of the ladder. We needn’t continue to put garlands around the ladder and prostrate to it. Many times people adore and worship symbols. For example, there are those who bind and place their scriptures in velvet cases which they keep on their altars and carry in procession but never even read one line of.
Symbols should be used to help you transcend them. With the help of the mind, we transcend the mind. Once we reach our destination, we can throw it out and go away. There should be no sentimentality here.
Make the proper use of spiritual aids, but do not hesitate to leave them and go further. When we get nice accommodations on a plane, are we going to remain seated even after reaching our destination?
Many times I find a nice parking place and am tempted to say, “Such a great parking spot. If I take the car out, I won’t get it again. I’ll just walk to the lecture hall.” But a car is no good to me kept in a parking place. Instead, I have to use it. Some students think, “If I open this book, the binding will become damaged. I better not open it. Swamiji gave it to me. I must keep it as a memento.”
Instead, we should make use of these things. Study the book page by page. Digest it. You can even give it to someone else when you’re through with it. That should be our attitude. Once we reach the first step, we are on an escalator that takes us to the seventh stage.”
Excerpt From: Swami Satchidananda. “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali:
Thanks, Pankaj, for such an excellent and detailed exposition of sutra 2.27. I truly appreciate it. Since Patanjali did not give any indication as to what these seven stages are, we can only go with what the commentators have to say. Since Vyasa is the most respected of them all, most have gone with the list that Vyasa has provided.