The Complete Commentary by ?a?kara on the Yoga Sūtra-s电子书

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword by Dr Kengo Harimoto

Introduction for the general reader

How to use this Book for Yoga Practice

Technical introduction

First Part: Samādhi

1 Yoga theory

Sūtra I.1 Now the exposition of yoga

Sūtra I.2 Yoga is inhibition of the mental processes

Sūtra I.3 Then the Seer is established in his own nature

Sūtra I.4 Otherwise, it conforms itself to the mental process

2 Mental processes

Sūtra I.5 The mental processes are of five kinds; they are tainted or pure

Sūtra I.6 Right knowledge, illusion, logical construction, sleep, memory

Sūtra I.7 Right knowledge is either direct perception, inference, or authority

Sūtra I.8 Illusion is false knowledge based on an untrue form

Sūtra I.9 Logical construction is something that follows verbal knowledge but has no real object

Sūtra I.10 The mental process which rests on the notion of non-existence is sleep

Sūtra I.11 Memory is not letting slip away an object experienced

3 Practice

Sūtra I.12 Their inhibition is by practice and detachment

Sūtra I.13 Practice is the effort at steadiness in it

Sūtra I.14 But practised for a long time, uninterruptedly and with reverence, it becomes firmly grounded

Sūtra I.15 Detachment is consciousness of self-mastery, of one who has no thirst for any object either seen or heard about

Sūtra I.16 It is the higher detachment when from knowledge of Puruṣa there is no thirst for (even) the guṇa-s

4 Samādhi

Sūtra I.17 It is cognitive because accompanied with verbal associations (vitarka), with subtle associations (vicāra), with joy (ānanda), and the form of I-am-ness (asmitā)

Sūtra I.18 The other (samādhi) follows on practice of the idea of stopping, and consists of saṃskāra-s alone

Sūtra I.19 It results from birth in the case of gods discarnate, and in the case of those who absorb themselves into prakṛti

Sūtra I.20 For the others, it comes after faith, energy, memory, (cognitive) samādhi, and knowledge

Sūtra I.21 For those who practise with ardent energy, it is near

Sūtra I.22 Even among the ardent, there is a distinction of mild or moderate or intense

5 God

Sūtra I.23 Or by special devotion to the Lord

Sūtra I.24 Untouched by taints or karma-s or their fruition or their latent stocks is the Lord, who is a special kind of Puruṣa

Sūtra I.25 In whom the seed of omniscience becomes transcendent

Sūtra I.26 The teacher of even the first teachers, because not particularized by time

Sūtra I.27 Of him, the expression is praṇava (OM)

Sūtra I.28 Repetition of it and meditation on its meaning

6 Obstacles

Sūtra I.29 From that, realization of the separate consciousness, and absence of obstacles

Sūtra I.30 Illness, apathy, doubt, carelessness, laziness, failure to withdraw, misconceptions, failure to attain a state, instability (in the state) – these distractions of the mind are the obstacles

Sūtra I.31 Pain, frustration, restlessness of the body, spasmodic breathing in or out are the accompaniments of these distractions

Sūtra I.32 To prevent them, practice on one principle

7 Special Practices

Sūtra I.33 The mind is made clear by meditation on friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the suffering, goodwill towards the virtuous, and disinterest in the sinful

Sūtra I.34 Or by expulsion and retention of prāṇa

Sūtra I.35 Or achievement of supernormal perception of a divine object brings the mind to steadiness

Sūtra I.36 Or a radiant perception beyond sorrow

Sūtra I.37 Or on a mind whose meditation is on freedom from passion

Sūtra I.38 Or meditating on the knowledge of dream and sleep

Sūtra I.39 Or by meditation on what appeals to him

Sūtra I.40 His mastery extends right to the ultimate atom and to the ultimate magnitude

8 Absorption

Sūtra I.41 Identification-in-samādhi (samāpatti) is when the mental process has dwindled and the mind rests on either the knower or the knowing process or a known object, and like a crystal apparently takes on their respective qualities

Sūtra I.42 The samādhi-identification is called sa-vitarka when it is mixed up with mental constructs of word, thing and idea

Sūtra I.43 When there is purification from memories, (that samādhi) apparently empty of its own nature of knowledge, with the object alone shining forth, is nir-vitarka

Sūtra I.44 In the same way, when it is on subtle objects, it is called savicāra (with subtle associations) and nir-vicāra (without subtle associations)

Sūtra I.45 The scale of (causal) subtlety of objects ends in pradhāna

Sūtra I.46 These are samādhi from-a-seed

Sūtra I.47 From skill in nir-vicāra, a clearness in the self

Sūtra I.48 In this, the knowledge is Truth-bearing

Sūtra I.49 This knowledge is of a particular thing, unlike knowledge from authority or from inference

Sūtra I.50 The saṃskāra produced by it inhibits other saṃskāra-s

Sūtra I.51 When that too is inhibited, everything is inhibited, and thus this samādhi is without-seed

Second Part: Means

1 Yoga of action

Sūtra II.1 Tapas, self-study, devotion to the Lord, are the yoga of action

Sūtra II.2 To actualize samādhi and thin out the taints

2 Taints

Sūtra II.3 Ignorance, I-am-ness, desire, hate, instinctive self-preservation, are the taints

Sūtra II.4 Ignorance is the field of germination of the subsequent ones, whether dormant or thinned out or checked or active

Sūtra II.5 Ignorance is the conviction of permanence, purity, happiness and self in what are really impermanent, impure, painful and not self

Sūtra II.6 The single selfhood, as it were, of the powers of seer and seeing is I-am-ness

Sūtra II.7 Desire follows on pleasure

Sūtra II.8 Hate follows on pain

Sūtra II.9 With spontaneous momentum, instinctive even in a Knower, is self-preservation

Sūtra II.10 In their subtle state, they are to be got rid of by dissolution in their source

Sūtra II.11 Mental processes arising from them are got rid of by meditation

3 Karma

Sūtra II.12 Rooted in taints is the karma-stock to be felt in present or future lives

Sūtra II.13 While the root is there, it will bear the fruit of birth, life span and experience

Sūtra II.14 Their fruits are joy and suffering caused by virtue and sin

4 Pain

Sūtra II.15 Because of the sufferings caused by changes and anxieties and the saṃskāra-s of them, and from the clash of the guṇa-s, to the clear-sighted, everything is pain alone

5 Guṇa-s

6 Release

Sūtra II.16 What is to be escaped is the pain not yet come

Sūtra II.17 The Seer-Seen conjunction is the cause of what is to be escaped

7 Guṇa-s again

Sūtra II.18 With a constant tendency towards light, action, and fixity, the Seen consists of the elements and the senses, being for the purpose of experience and transcendence

Sūtra II.19 What particularizes itself, and what does not, what goes (liṅga, the Great principle) and what does not (a-liṅga, pradhāna), are guṇa-implementers

8 Puruṣa

Sūtra II.20 The Seer is sight alone; though pure, he looks on at the thoughts

Sūtra II.21 The essence of the Seen is to be for the purpose of him alone

9 Seer-Seen

Sūtra II.22 For one whose purpose has been effected, it is ended, but not for others, because it is common

Sūtra II.23 The conjunction causes awareness of the natures of the two powers, the property and its possessor

Sūtra II.24 Its cause is Ignorance (a-vidyā)

Sūtra II.25 Without it, there is no conjunction, and that release is Transcendental Aloneness (kaivalya) of the power-of-sight

10 Release again

Sūtra II.26 Unwavering Knowledge-of-the-difference is the means of release

Sūtra II.27 Therein, the ultimate state of the Knowledge is seven-fold

11 Yoga

Sūtra II.28 From following up the methods of yoga, destruction of impurity and a growing light of knowledge up to Knowledge-of-the-difference

Sūtra II.29 Restraints, observances, posture, restraint of vital currents, dissociation, concentration, meditation, samādhi are the eight methods

12 Restraints

Sūtra II.30 Of these, harmlessness, truth-speaking, no stealing, brahmacarya, not holding possessions, are the restraints

Sūtra II.31 When practised universally without qualification of birth, place, time, or obligation, they are called the Great Vow

13 Observances

Sūtra II.32 Purity, contentment, tapas, self-study, and devotion to the Lord are the observances

14 Contrary ideas

Sūtra II.33 If there is obstruction by contrary ideas, meditation on their opposite

Sūtra II.34 The contrary ideas, violence and the others, done or caused to be done or approved of, preceded by greed, anger or delusion, mild, medium, or intense – all result in endless pain and Ignorance. This is the meditation on their opposite

15 Perfections

Sūtra II.35 With establishment of harmlessness, in his presence enmity is abandoned

Sūtra II.36 With establishment of truth, events confirm his words

Sūtra II.37 With establishment in non-stealing, all precious things come to him

Sūtra II.38 With establishment in brahmacarya, attainment of energy

Sūtra II.39 With firmness in not possessing property, clear knowledge of the conditions of birth

Sūtra II.40 From purity, distaste for his own body and no intercourse with others

Sūtra II.41 Purity of mind-sattva, cheerfulness, one-pointedness, conquest of the senses, and fitness for vision of the self

Sūtra II.42 From contentment, attainment of unsurpassed happiness

Sūtra II.43 From destruction of impurity by tapas, perfection of body and senses

Sūtra II.44 From self-study, communion with the deity of his devotion

Sūtra II.45 From devotion to the Lord, perfection in samādhi

16 Controls

Sūtra II.46 Posture is to be firm and pleasant

Sūtra II.47 By relaxing effort and by samādhi (samāpatti) on infinity

Sūtra II.48 From that, he becomes immune to the opposites

Sūtra II.49 Prāṇāyāma is to sit in the posture and cut off the flow of in-breath and out-breath

Sūtra II.50 The external, internal, and fixating operations, practised in terms of place, of time and of number, become long and fine

Sūtra II.51 The fourth prāṇāyāma comes when both external and internal fields have been felt into

Sūtra II.52 Thereby is destroyed the covering of the light

Sūtra II.53 Fitness of the mind for concentrations

Sūtra II.54 Dissociation is when the senses, disjoined from their respective objects, assume as it were the nature of mind itself

Sūtra II.55 From that, supreme mastery of the senses

Third Part: Glory

1 Inner Methods

Sūtra III.I Dhārāṇā is binding the mind to a place

Sūtra III.2 Continuity of the mind there is dhyāna (meditation)

Sūtra III.3 That same (meditation), when it comes to shine forth as the object alone, apparently empty of its own nature as knowledge, is called samādhi

Sūtra III.4 The triad (held) at the one place is saṃyama

Sūtra III.5 From mastery of that, the light of knowledge (prajñā)

Sūtra III.6 Its application is by stages

Sūtra III.7 Compared to the previous means, this triad is the direct means

Sūtra III.8 Even that is an indirect means as regards unseeded (yoga)

Sūtra III.9 The inhibitive transformation of the mind is when extravertive saṃskāra is overcome and the saṃskāra of inhibition is predominant, and mind itself is in a temporary state of inhibition

Sūtra III.10 It has a peaceful flow, by reason of the saṃskāra-s

Sūtra III.11 The destruction of the mind’s dispersiveness, and rise of its one-pointedness, is the samādhi transformation

Sūtra III.12 In that (samādhi) the sameness of the idea which has subsided and the newly arisen idea in the mind is its transformation of one-pointedness

2 Change

Sūtra III.13 By (analogy with) that, are explained the transformations of dharma, time-phase and basis (avasthā) in the elements and in the senses

Sūtra III.14 What conforms to the subsided, uprisen and indeterminable dharma-s is the dharmin

Sūtra III.15 Difference of sequence causes the differences of the changes

Sūtra III.16 From saṃyama on the three changes, knowledge of what is past and future

3 Meaning-flash

Sūtra III.17 There is confusion from the mutual projection of word, meaning and idea on to each other. From saṃyama on their distinctness (comes) understanding of the cries of all beings

4 Glories

Sūtra III.18 From direct perception of the saṃskāra-s, knowledge of previous lives

Sūtra III.19 (From direct perception through saṃyama) of his thought, knowledge of the mind of another

Sūtra III.20 But not the subject of those ideas, because that was not the field of the saṃyama

Sūtra III.21 From saṃyama on the form of the body, its potentiality of being seen is nullified. Being disjoined from the light of the eye, it disappears

Sūtra III.22 Karma is rapid or slow. From saṃyama on it, or on omens, there comes foreknowledge of death

Sūtra III.23 (From saṃyama) on friendliness and the others (compassion and goodwill, sūtra I.33) (there arise) powers

Sūtra III.24 Powers like the power of an elephant (come from saṃyama) on them

Sūtra III.25 By projecting the light of supernormal radiant perception (I. 36) on to what is subtle, hidden or remote, (he comes to) knowledge of that

Sūtra III.26 From saṃyama on the sun, knowledge of the worlds

Sūtra III.27 (From saṃyama) on the moon, knowledge of the dispositions of the stars

Sūtra III.28 (From saṃyama) on the Pole Star, knowledge of their motions

Sūtra III.29 On the navel circle, knowledge of the plan of the body

Sūtra III.30 At the pit of the throat, cessation of hunger and thirst

Sūtra III.31 On the tortoise nerve, rigid steadiness

Sūtra III.32 On the Light in the head, vision of the perfect ones

Sūtra III.33 By the prātibha supernormal knowledge too (he knows) everything

Sūtra III.34 On the heart, awareness of the mind

5 Knowledge

Sūtra III.35 Experience is an idea which does not distinguish between sattva and Puruṣa, though they are absolutely separate; by saṃyama on what-is-for-its-own-sake, (distinct) from what-is-for-the-sake-of-another, there comes knowledge of Puruṣa

Sūtra III.36 From that arise supernormal knowledge and hearing, touch, sight, taste and awareness of events

Sūtra III.37 They are obstacles in samādhi, but perfections in the extravertive state

6 Glories

Sūtra III.38 From loosening of the cause of tying, and awareness of how the mind moves, the mind can enter another body

Sūtra III.39 By mastering the upgoing vital current (udāna), he passes untouched over water, mud, thorns and so on, and at death he takes the upward course

Sūtra III.40 From mastery of samāna, blazing light

Sūtra III.41 From saṃyama on the relation between hearing and space, divine hearing

Sūtra III.42 From saṃyama on the relation between the body and space, followed by identification-in-samādhi (samāpatti) with the lightness of a thread, he travels through space

Sūtra III.43 The Great Bodiless is a mental process (vṛtti) functioning exterior (to the body), and not imaginary; from this comes dwindling away of the covering of the light

Sūtra III.44 From saṃyama on their physical form, inherence and purposefulness: conquest of the elements

Sūtra III.45 From it (the saṃyama) manifest a set of eight powers like becoming minute, and perfection of the body, with freedom from impediment for its (bodily) attributes

Sūtra III.46 The perfection of the body is grace, splendour, power and diamond hardness

Sūtra III.47 From saṃyama on their perception, essential nature, I-am-ness, inherence and purposefulness, (comes) conquest of the senses

Sūtra III.48 From that, speediness as of the mind, independence of physical organs, and conquest of nature

Sūtra III.49 Having simply the knowledge that (mind-)sattva and Puruṣa are different, one has omnipotence over all beings and is omniscient

Sūtra III.50 From indifference to that too, the seeds of imperfection are destroyed, and there is Transcendental Aloneness

Sūtra III.51 No reaction of attachment or pride in case of invitations from rulers of celestial realms, for undesirable consequences follow

7 Omniscience

Sūtra III.52 From saṃyama on the instant, and on the two sequences of instants, comes knowledge-born-of-discrimination

Sūtra III.53 From this (knowledge) there is clear knowledge of two things (seemingly) equivalent because they cannot be distinguished by class, characteristic or position

Sūtra III.54 Knowledge-born-of-discrimination, having all, and all times, for its object, is called Transcendent

8 Transcendental Aloneness

Sūtra III.55 When the (mind-)sattva is like Puruṣa in purity, there is Transcendental Aloneness. So it is

Fourth Part: Transcendental Aloneness (Kaivalya)

I Perfections

Sūtra IV.1 Perfections (siddhi) arise from birth or from drugs or from mantra-s or from tapas or from samādhi

Sūtra IV.2 The transformation into another life is implemented by prakṛti

Sūtra IV.3 That cause is not the impelling drive itself, but it makes a breach in the retaining barrier of the natures, as does a farmer (for irrigation)

Sūtra IV.4 The minds are projected from bare I-am-ness

Sūtra IV.5 In the variety of activities, it is the one mind that impels the several minds

Sūtra IV.6 Of those (minds with perfections), the mind whose perfections arise out of meditation (dhyāna) has no karma-stock

2 Karma

Sūtra IV.7 The karma of the yogin is neither white nor black; of the others, it is of three kinds

Sūtra IV.8 Therefore their consequent manifestation is of those saṃskāra-groups (vāsanā) that are compatible with it

Sūtra IV.9 Because there is sameness of form of memory and saṃskāra-s, there is consequent succession between them, even though separated by class and place and time

Sūtra IV.10 They are beginningless, because hope is eternal

Sūtra IV.11 They are held together by cause-effect-repository-focal-point. When these cease, they too cease

Sūtra IV.12 What are past and future do actually exist, but there is difference of time-phase in their dharma-s

3 Time

Sūtra IV.13 They are manifest or subtle, and consist of the guṇa-s

Sūtra IV.14 A thing is what it is by the fact of a unitary change

4 Against Buddhism

Sūtra IV.15 Since there is difference of the minds, while the object is the same, the two must be distinct categories

Sūtra IV.16 It is not dependent on a single mind, for when it was not giving rise to valid cognition in that mind, what would it be?

Sūtra IV.17 According to whether the mind is coloured by it, a thing is known or unknown

Sūtra IV.18 To Him, the Lord, the mental processes are always known, from the fact of the unchangeability of Puruṣa

Sūtra IV.19 It (mind) is not self-illumining, because it is itself something perceived

Sūtra IV.20 They cannot both be clearly ascertained at the same time

Sūtra IV.21 If it is to be seen by another idea, further and yet further ideas will be required. And there will be confusion of memories

Sūtra IV.22 In assumption of its (the mind’s) form on the part of the unmoving consciousness, is awareness of the idea of the self

5 Mind

Sūtra IV.23 Mind, coloured by Seer and seen, has the various purposes

Sūtra IV.24 Though it is a mélange of countless saṃskāra-groups, it must exist for the purposes of another, because it is a construct

6 Release

Sūtra IV.25 For him who sees that One apart, cessation of meditation on his own being

Sūtra IV.26 Then the mind is inclined to discrimination, and is borne on towards Aloneness

Sūtra IV.27 At intervals in it, other ideas arise from saṃskāra-s

Sūtra IV.28 The escape from these is like that described in the case of the taints

Sūtra IV.29 For one who is through and through a man of discriminative knowledge, but is not grasping over his meditation practice, there comes about the samādhi called Raincloud of Dharma

Sūtra IV.30 From that, cessation of taints and karma-s

Sūtra IV.31 Then, with the infinity of knowledge free from all veiling taint, the knowable comes to be but a trifle

Sūtra IV.32 With that, the guṇa-s have fulfilled their purpose, and the succession of their changes comes to an end

Sūtra IV.33 The succession is conjoined to each instant, (but) recognizable at the very end

Sūtra IV.34 Transcendental Aloneness is withdrawal of the guṇa-s, now without any purposes of Puruṣa; or it is the establishment of the power-of-consciousness in its own nature

(Salutations and colophon)