The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali 40-51

Hello Yogi,

Welcome to my podcast.

I'm Aiko and on this show we explore ways to put spiritual theory into sustainable practice.

Hey Sam,

Welcome.

Thank you.

Today we're going to talk about Sutras 40 to 51 from the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

And last time we talked about the previous 10 Sutras,

Would you like to summarize them?

Yeah,

Very basically it was about the obstacles to reaching Samadhi,

Which is the final goal of yoga,

Absorption in the self,

Which does not mean like when someone is being self-absorbed in daily life.

This means like resting in one's own being.

Yeah,

Like a state of consciousness of mind.

So you can actually do anything but have this peace,

Internal peace.

Yes,

And it ended with,

There were many different things one could do to overcome the obstacles.

Final one was to actually meditate on something of one's own choosing.

But yeah,

Meaning something that one finds helpful in stilling the mind.

So now in the next Sutras,

Which actually will conclude Chapter 1,

We're going to talk about the different aspects of Samadhipada.

And again,

Samadhi is the state of peace and some people would call it enlightenment.

But here we translate it more like a deep state of peaceful mind.

Yeah,

It's like absorption is one translation of one of the Sanskrit terms used here,

Samapatti,

Which means absorption.

What Sutra number 40 talks about?

Sutra number 40 goes like this,

Param arnu paramah mahatvanto sya vasikaraha.

The yogi's mastery extends from the smallest particle of matter to the ultimate totality of matter.

So in this kind of first stage of Samadhi that we are starting to talk about here,

When we have overcome the obstacles,

Is Samadhi where one is still aware of the outside world,

But has a very peaceful relation to it.

And in this state,

The yogi is able to meditate on anything,

Like to kind of comprehend in one's mind anything from the smallest subatomic particle up to the whole universe,

Basically.

You can keep the whole universe in your mind,

Or some tiny little part of an atom.

And whatever you kind of select to meditate on,

You will just become absorbed and that will be your form of Samadhi for the moment.

And then Sutra 41 says,

China vrttir abhijat tasyeva maner grahitr grahana grahyesu tatas tatad anjanata samapatti.

So that was a rather long one for being a Sutra.

Sutras are usually very short.

And the translation is,

Samapatti,

Complete absorption of the mind when it is free from its vrittis,

Meaning like the movements of the mind that we have discussed in previous episodes.

So this complete absorption occurs when the mind becomes just like a transparent jewel,

Taking the form of whatever object is placed before it,

Whether the object be the knower,

The instrument of knowledge,

Or the object of knowledge.

So the metaphor here is,

If you have a jewel,

A transparent jewel,

And you place,

Let's say a rose next to it,

Then the jewel will look red.

So in the same way,

Like whatever in the state of Samadhi,

When you select some object to meditate on,

Then your mind will look like that object,

So being like the jewel.

And it says it can be this object,

Like in an experience,

There is the thing you're experiencing,

And there's the kind of sense that you're experiencing it through.

Like if you are looking at something,

There is the thing you're looking at,

There is the sense of sight,

And there is you,

The seer.

So whichever of those three,

Like one of those three will kind of stand out to you in Samadhi.

Then Sutra 42 says,

Tatra sabda-artha jnana-vikalpayi samkirna savitarka-samapati.

In this stage,

Savitarka-samapati,

Meaning Samadhi absorption with physical awareness.

So in this stage,

The Samadhi absorption with the physical awareness is intermixed with the notions of word,

Meaning,

And idea.

This means in this stage,

There is still,

One is still experiencing a difference between,

Say,

A word and the thing that the word is talking about.

And you're also understanding of that thing.

Yeah,

It's like the sound of the word,

The essence and the knowledge that is behind the word,

Which all words have all these properties.

So it's kind of hard to put them all together in one state of consciousness.

Yes.

So one example that's given in the commentaries is a cow.

So you have the word cow,

And then you have the actual animal that's out in the field eating grass and giving milk and so on.

And then you have your understanding,

Like your idea of the cow.

So when you hear the word,

You think of something.

And so there's the word,

The things you think,

Like your previous knowledge of a cow and your previous impressions.

And then there is the cow itself.

So in this stage of Samadhi,

These kind of distinctions are still there,

Meaning that in a higher state of Samadhi,

They will not be there.

Buddha 43 reads,

Smriti parishuddhau svarupa sunyevarta matra nirbhasa nirvittarka.

Nirvittarka samapati,

Absorption without conceptualization,

Occurs when memory has been purged and the mind is empty,

As it were,

Of its own reflective nature.

Now the only object of meditation shines forth in its own right.

So this means,

If you're meditating on a cow,

There is not these distinctions mentioned previously.

You can fully just take in the cow in your mind.

There is not like your previous ideas of what a cow is.

Of course,

Here we're talking about a very high meditative state,

But it's something good to think about when it comes to our kind of everyday prejudice about things,

Which leads to,

For example,

Racism and things like that.

We're not experiencing someone as they are,

But with all our ideas of who that person is,

For example.

So this is the second state of samadhi that is spoken here in this sutra,

Is the nirvittarka samadhi,

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah,

So first you have the one where you differentiate between a word and a thing and your ideas,

But here we have just the thing.

So like,

I remember hearing about this many years ago,

Talking to a yogi,

And he was,

I'm not sure what state he was at,

But he was kind of trying for that,

Like for example,

Sitting in front of a tree and not trying to think that it's a tree,

But it is just what it is,

Without the label tree that we have put on it.

Yeah,

But usually when you realize that,

The moment you realize,

Oh,

I did that without my mind,

Then you already lost it.

It's like,

It's very hard even to sit and start,

Like,

I want to think that this is not a tree as I label it for my entire life.

It's just so hard.

Yes.

I mean,

As we have learned from the Bhagavad Gita,

To try to control the mind is like trying to control the wind.

But I guess one can have kind of glimpses of it in earlier stages of practice.

Yeah,

I think it's a little bit like humbleness.

We spoke about it during our series on the Bhagavad Gita.

Like the moment you realize,

Oh,

I was humble there,

Then you actually lost your humbleness because you already have some pride there,

Like,

Aha,

I was humble,

Then you're not humble anymore.

I mean,

You lost it for that moment.

And I think it can be seen in the same way here.

Yeah.

Sutra 44 reads,

Itayaiva savicara nirvicara ca sukshma visaya vyakyatah.

The states of samadhi with subtle awareness and without subtle awareness,

Whose objects of focus are the subtle nature of things,

Are explained in the same manner.

So explained in the same manner here means that it is like before,

That there is one state of this samadhi with subtle awareness,

Where you have the word for the thing you're experiencing.

But now we're talking about something very subtle,

Something more subtle than direct things,

We could see like a cow,

Something that is like the underlying kind of subtle nature behind the physical objects we see.

But you can still have words for those things,

And you can have your ideas of those things,

And then the things themselves.

And then there can be a second state of that kind of samadhi where there is no such distinctions.

Sutra 45,

Sukshma visayatvam calinga pariyava sanam.

The subtle nature of things extends all the way up to prakriti.

And here prakriti is the kind of most subtle material nature.

So can you explain what is prakriti?

So prakriti is material nature itself,

So the kind of the underlying principle of everything,

Everything material that we can see.

And Sutra 46,

Ta eva sabhijjaha samadhi.

These above-mentioned samapatti states,

Meaning the states of absorption,

Are known as samadhi,

Or meditative absorption with seed.

So that's sabhijjaha,

That they have a seed,

And that is because you're meditating on something.

You're focusing on this prakriti or even a material object like a cow.

Yeah,

We mentioned before about the word bija as a seed,

Bija mantra,

Etc.

But I found,

Like many people ask me about what's the meaning.

It's a little bit hard to understand what is this seed,

This bija.

Can you say something about it?

Like metaphorically here,

It's used to,

You know,

Just think of a seed.

So if you plant that,

Things will grow from it.

So let's say if you are reciting a bija mantra,

Then from meditating on that seed,

Then things will grow from that.

It's,

For example,

Like it is said that Aum is the original sound in the universe.

So if that is the seed and everything grows from that,

Everything in the universe comes from that one seed.

And here it's the samadhi is coming from the seed.

Like anything that you choose to meditate on is a seed that then grows into samadhi.

So that type of samadhi then is called sabhijjaha samadhi,

Samadhi with seed or that grew from a seed,

You can say.

And then the next sutra,

Number 47,

Says,

Nirvicara vaisaradhye dhyatma prasadaha.

Upon attaining the clarity of nirvicara samadhi,

There is lucidity of the inner self.

A dhyatma can be also translated as spirituality.

So in which way you can see this as spirituality?

I don't know if you get my question.

Yeah,

So like here the translation was kind of of the inner self and spirituality would be a quality of the inner self.

For example,

Here the word lucidity,

That is kind of a part of spirituality.

It's I guess spiritual can be translated as or defined as that which kind of shines by itself.

I'm asking because like nowadays the word spirituality,

It's used like in very different ways.

Some people say,

Oh,

I'm very spiritual,

But I don't really get what they mean truly.

So that's why I'm asking you like what they mean by spirituality,

By a dhyatma in this sutra.

Yeah,

Probably when someone says that they are spiritual,

Most likely each person will have their own understanding of what it means to be spiritual.

Like I've heard of examples of someone who's just out running in the forest and says,

Oh,

This feels so spiritual.

It probably just means that they feel good.

Yeah,

Kind of detached from the material world or something.

So if someone is translating a dhyatma here as spirituality and kind of implying that up until now there hasn't really been spirituality.

Yeah,

Exactly.

Then perhaps one could say that the stages before are spirituality in the sense that it's like looking for the spirit,

Like looking for the self,

And here you're kind of starting to actually be and experience the self.

So it's spirituality in the more strict sense.

Then number 48 says,

Rtambhara tatra prajna.

In that state there is truth-bearing wisdom.

The truth-bearing wisdom here means that you have direct experience.

This statement becomes more clear from the next one,

Sutra 49,

Which says,

Srutanumana prajna-bhyam anya visaya visye-sartat.

So this state has a different focus from that of inference and sacred scripture because it has the particularity of things as its object.

So this means that you have,

This is talking again about having the direct experience of something without the ideas of it or things we call it,

For example,

But experiencing things immediately and therefore knowing them in truth.

Then Sutra number 50 says,

Tajja samskaro nya samskara pratibandhi.

The samskaras born out of that truth-bearing wisdom obstruct other samskaras from emerging.

So when you have this kind of pure experience of something,

That creates a samskara,

Means an impression in your mind,

Let's say,

And your citta can be translated in different ways,

But it means like you're kind of subconscious,

You could say also.

So having these kind of pure experiences will also create impressions,

And these impressions will keep other impressions from emerging.

They will kind of put to rest all the,

It's like all the different understandings you have of something until you experience it,

Those will kind of go to the background once you have the actual experience,

So they can't kind of arise and disturb you.

And then we have the last sutra for this chapter.

Yes,

And that is tasyapi nirodhe sarva nirodhan nirbhija samadhi.

Upon the cessation of even those,

Meaning the truth-bearing samskaras,

Nirbhija samadhi,

Seedless meditative absorption ensues.

This means that first you have these pure experiences,

And they will kind of shut down all your previous ideas you had of anything,

When you experience everything as it is.

And then even that experience,

This pure experience,

Or the impression of that pure experience,

Will also evaporate,

And then you will have simply direct samadhi without a,

It's called seedless,

Because there is not something you're meditating on to achieve samadhi,

It's just samadhi in itself.

Very beautiful,

Very high,

Like to think about,

To meditate without meditating on something.

Yes.

Good.

So next we will start chapter two of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

Do you want to give a brief introduction to chapter two?

Yes,

So the next chapter is called Kriya Yoga.

So it will,

Like this first chapter was kind of talking about,

It's called the samadhipada,

So the chapter about samadhi,

So kind of to say what samadhi is,

So that we get inspired.

And then the next chapter is a little more practical,

Things you will do,

So to say,

To attain samadhi.

Good.

Thank you,

And see you next time.

Looking forward to that.

I hope this episode fulfilled its purpose of inspiring you.

If you like it,

Feel free to share it,

Give a review or a rating,

Subscribe.

And if you have any questions,

Please get in touch at aikoorta.

Com