VIBHUTI PADA: YOGA SUTRAS BOOK III


YOGA SUTRAS
VIBHUTI PADA
BOOK III

desha-bandhash chittasya dharana

1. Dharana, concentration, is the fixing or focussing of consciousness on a particular point or place. (107)


tatra pratyayaikatanata dhyanam

2. Dhyana, meditation, is the continuous, uninterrupted flow of consciousness towards the chosen object. (108)


tad evarthamatra-nirbhasam svarupa-shunyam iva samadhih

3. Samadhi, meditative absorption or ecstasy, arises when the object of meditation shines forth alone, as if emptied of the form of the agent. (109)


trayam ekatra sanyamah

4. The three together constitute sanyama, constraint. (110)


taj-jayat prajnalokah

5. Through mastery of it comes the light of cognitive insight (prajna). (111)


tasya bhumishu viniyogah

6. Its application is by stages. (112)


trayam antarangam purvebhyah

7. The three together are more interior than the preceding. (113)


tad api bahirangam nirbijasya

8. Even these are exterior to seedless samadhi, or soul vision. (114)


vyutthana-nirodha-sanskarayor abhibhava-pradhurbhavan nirodha-kshana-chittanvayo nirodha-parinamah

9. Nirodhaparinama is that mental transformation through restraint wherein the consciousness becomes permeated by that condition which intervenes momentarily between fading impressions and emerging potencies. (115)


tasya prashanta-vahita sanskarat

10. Its flow becomes serene and steady through habituation. (l16)


sarvarthataikagratayoh kshayodayau chittasya samadhi-parinamah

11. Samadhiparinama, meditative transformation, is the dwindling of distractions and the emergence of unitary consciousness or one-pointedness (ekagrata). (117)


tatah punah shantoditau tulya-pratyayau chittasyaikagrata-parinamah

12. Thence again comes ekagrataparinama, the development of one-pointedness, wherein the two states of consciousness, the quiescent or subsided and the active or uprisen, are exactly similar and balanced. (118)


etena bhutendriyeshu dharma-lakshanavastha-parinama vyakhyatah

13. Thus are explained the transformations of intrinsic properties, secondary qualities and states of being in the objective elements and instrumental sense-organs. (119)


shantoditavyapadeshya-dharmanupati dharmi

14. The substratum is that which is common to the properties, whether quiescent, active or unmanifest. (120)


kramanyatvam parinamanyatve hetuh

15. The variation in sequence or succession is the cause of the difference and distinctness in transformation. (121)


parinama-traya-sanyamad atitanagata-jnanam

16. Through sanyama, perfectly concentrated meditative constraint, comes knowledge of past and future. (122)


shabdartha-pratyayanam itaretaradhyasat sankaras tat-pravibhaga-sanyamat sarva-bhuta-ruta-jnanam

17. The sound, the meaning and the idea called up by a word are confounded owing to their indistinct superimposition. Through sanyama on their separation and resolution there comes a cognitive comprehension of the sounds uttered by all sentient beings. (123)


sanskara-sakshatkaranat purva-jatijnanam

18. By bringing latent impressions into consciousness there comes the knowledge of former births. (124)


pratyayasya para-chitta-jnanam

19. Through concentrated perception of mental images comes the knowledge of other minds. (125)


na cha tat salambanam tasyavishayi-bhutatvat

20. The mental supports are not perceived, for that is not the object of observation. (126)


kaya-rupa-sanyamat tad-grahya-shakti-stambhe chakshuh-prakashasanprayoge "ntardhanam

21. Through sanyama on the form and colour of the body, by suspending its power of perceptibility and thereby disconnecting the light from the body and the sight of others, there comes the power to make the body invisible. (127)


etena sthabdady antardhanam uktam

22. Thus can also be explained the power of concealment of sound, touch, taste and smell. (128)


sopakramam nirupakramam cha karma tat-sanyamad aparanta-jnanam arishtebhyo va

23. Through sanyama on karma, which is either fast or slow in fruition, active or dormant, one gains knowledge of the time of death and also of omens and portents. (129)


maitry-adishu balani

24. Through sanyama on kindliness (maitri) and similar graces one gains mental, moral and spiritual strength. (130)


baleshu hasti-baladini

25. Through sanyama on various powers one gains the strength of an elephant. (131)


pravritty-aloka-nyasat sukshma-vyavahita-viprakrishta-jnanam

26. Through sanyama on the shining, effulgent light one gains knowledge of the small and subtle, the hidden and veiled, and the remote. (132)


bhavana-jnanam surye sanyamat

27. Through sanyama on the sun there comes knowledge of the solar system, cosmic evolution and involution. (133)


chandre tara-vyuha-jnanam

28. Through sanyama on the moon there comes knowledge concerning the arrangement of stars. (134)


dhruve tad-gati-jnanam

29. Through sanyama on the pole-star comes knowledge of the relative motions and positions of the stars. (135)


nabhi-chakre kaya-vyuha-jnanam

30. Through sanyama on the solar plexus comes knowledge of the structure and organization of the body. (136)


kantha-kupe kshut-pipasa-nivrittih

31. Through sanyama on the pit of the throat there comes cessation of hunger and thirst. (137)


kurma-nadyam sthairyam

32. Through sanyama on the nerve-centre called the "tortoise" duct there comes steadiness. (138)


murdha-jyotishi siddha-darshanam

33. Through sanyama on the light in the head comes the vision of perfected beings. (139)


pratibhad va sarvam

34. Through sanyama on the effulgent light of intuition comes all knowledge. (140)


hridaye chitta-sanvit

35. Through sanyama on the heart comes knowledge of cosmic intellection. (141)


sattva-purushayor atyantasankirnayoh pratyayavishesho bhogah pararthat svartha-sanyamat purusha-jnanam

36. Indulgence in experience is the result of the inability to distinguish between the Self (purusha) and the principle of understanding (sattva), though they are utterly distinct. Self-knowledge results from sanyama on the Self-existent, which is apart from the non-self. (142)


tatah pratibha-shravana-vedanadarshasvada-vartta jayante

37. Thence are produced intuitional, extra-sensory hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell. (143)


te samadhav upasarga vkyutthane siddhayah

38. They are obstacles to meditative absorption (samadhi) but are powerful aids when the mind is turned outwards. (144)


bandha-karana-shaithilyat prachara-sanvedanach cha chittasya para-shariraveshah

39. The mind can enter another's body through the suspension of the causes of bondage and through knowledge of the mental channels. (145)


udana-jayaj jala-panka-kantakadishvasanga utkrantisth cha

40. Through mastery over the vital energy called udana comes imperviousness to water and mud, thorn and the rest, levitation and victory over death. (146)


samana-jayaj jvalanam

41. Through mastery over the vital energy called samana comes blazing radiance. (147)


shrotrakashayoh sanbandha-sanyamad divyam shrotram

42. Through sanyama on the connection between the ear and the ether (akasha) comes divine hearing. (148)


kayakashayoh sanbandha-sanyamat laghu-tula-samapattesth chakashagamanam

43. Through sanyama on the connection between the body and the ether (akasha) comes lightness like cotton and the attainment of levitation in space. (149)


bahir akalpita vrittir maha-videha tatah prakashavarana-kshayah

44. Mahavideha is the power of invoking the incorporeal state of consciousness which is beyond the intellect and therefore inconceivable. Thus is destroyed the obscuring veil over the light. (150)


sthula-svarupa-sukshmanvayarthavattva-sanyamad bhuta-jayah

45. Through sanyama on gross matter, its essential form, its subtle qualities, its concomitant compounds and molecules and their functions, comes mastery over the elements. (151)


tato "nimadi-pradurbhavah kaya-sanpat tad-dharmanabhighatash cha

46. Thence comes the manifestation of the powers of minuteness and the rest, as well as the perfection of the body and the realization of the indestructibility of the elements. (152)


rupa-lavanya-bala-vajra-sanhananatvani kaya-sanpat

47. Perfection of the body consists in beauty, grace, strength and adamantine hardness. (153)


grahana-svarupasmitanvayarthavattva-sanyamad indriya-jayah

48. Mastery over the sense-organs comes through sanyama on their power of apprehension, their real nature, egoism, concomitance and specific functions. (154)


tato manojavitam vikarana-bhavah pradhana-jayash cha

49. Thence comes instantaneous cognition, independent of instruments, and the complete mastery of pradhana, the chief common principle throughout Nature. (155)


sattva-purushanyata-khyati-matrasya sarvabhavadhishthatritvam sarvajnatritvam cha

50. Only through the knowledge of the distinction between the principle of understanding (sattva) and the Self (purusha) comes supremacy over all states of existence and omniscience. (156)


tad-vairagyad api dosha-bija-kshaye kaivalyam

51. Through non-attachment even to that comes the destruction of the seeds of bondage and the state of emancipation (kaivalya). (157)


sthany-upanimantrane sangha-smayakaranam punar anishta-prasangat

52. There must be avoidance of attachment or amazement on encountering celestial beings, owing to the possible recurrence of the undesirable. (158)


kshana-tat-kramayoh sanyamad vivekajam jnanam

53. Through sanyama on indivisible moments and their order of succession comes discriminative knowledge. (159)


jati-lakshana-deshair anyatanavachchedat tulyayos tatah pratipattih

54. Therefrom comes the discernment of two similar events and of things whose distinctness cannot be measured or distinguished by class, property or position. (160)


tarakam sarva-vishayam sarvatha-vishayam akramam cheti vivekajam jnanam

55. Transcendental discriminative knowledge is that which simultaneously encompasses all objects and all possible processes, reaching beyond all endings. (161)


sattva-purushayoh shuddhi-samye kaivalyam

56. Emancipation (kaivalya) is attained when there is equalization of purity between the principle of understanding (sattva) and the Self (purusha). (162)

Yoga Sutras III
Patanjali

Hermes, July 1987
by Raghavan Iyer