YogaSudhakara II - 02 by Śrī Sādaśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati

Yoga Sūtra-s of Patanjali

Interpretation by Śrī Sādaśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati

Yoga Sudhākara

Pada II: Sādhana Pāda

Sūtra 2

The purpose of Kriyāyoga is explained here:

Sūtra 2:

It is for experiencing one-pointed attention of the mind and thus, for eradicating unhappiness.

The purpose of Kriyāyoga is explained here as for cultivating a focussed mind and for eradicating the unhappiness in life. [This is the preliminary step in Yoga. Practice of Tapaḥ, Svādhyāya and Īśvarapraṇidhāna, as explained in previous Sutra, when practised as Kriya-s, will provide an initial maturity to the Yogi. That is explained here as formation of a single focussed purpose of mind and initial reduction in the overwhelming flow of unhappy situations in mind.]

It can also be explained further: Through the practice of Tapaḥ, Svādhyāya and Īśvarapraṇidhāna for a long time, without intervals and with a receptive attitude, almost all kinds of unhappiness are dissolved, at least for a temporary effect. Later, when the Yogi realises Puruṣa separated from Prakṛti, all the remaining unhappiness along with the root cause of the unhappiness called Avidya, is cleared from the mind; as a result of which the Yogi becomes free from the overwhelming disasters of newly produced unhappiness; and finally for an everlasting experience of permanent peace and joy. [The realisation of Puruṣa separated from Prakṛti, called Kaivalya, is the final goal of Yoga of Patanjali. The misunderstanding of the Puruṣa mixed with Prakṛti is the cause of Avidya. Through the experience of Puruṣa separated from Prakṛti, Yogi can remove his Avidya.]

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पातन्जलयोगसूत्राणि

श्री सदाशिव ब्रह्मेन्द्र सरस्वत्या विरचितः

योगसुधाकरो वृत्तिः

द्वितीयो साधनपादः

किमर्थ इत्यत आह​-

समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थश्च​॥२॥

समाधेर्भावनम् निष्पाद​नमर्थः प्रयोजनं यस्य स तथोक्तः। क्लेशानां तनूकरणं शिथिलीकरणमर्थः प्रयोजनं यस्य स तथोक्तः।

एतदुक्तम् भवति - दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारानुबन्धितप​आदिक्रियायोगाङ्गानुष्ठानेन क्लेशा विशरारुतामिताः सन्तः पुरुषान्यताख्यातावनुपप्लवायां जातायाम् समूलकाषं कषिता भवन्तीति।

Yoga Sudhākara II - 01 by Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati

 Yoga Sūtra-s of Patanjali

Interpretation by Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati

Yoga Sudhākara

Pāda II: Sādhana Pāda

Sūtra 1

In the first Pāda [one of the four chapters is called Pāda], The Samādhi [the internal practices for cultivating focussed state of mind] was explained along with the description of the difference between various categories, methods of internal practice and their after effects. Now for those who are not capable of involving in the above mentioned internal practices and for those whose organs are not yet ready for serious practices, the External Sādhana called Kriyāyoga is explained: [Here, the word 'external' refers to the priliminary and practice oriented method.]

Sūtra 1:

tapaḥ, svādhyāya and īśvarapraṇidhāna practised together is called Kriyāyogaḥ.

The acceptance of healthy and fresh food in controlled quantities, is called Tapaḥ. [Only a practical definition of Tapas, considering it a Kriya, is given here. The one who wants to build up the habit of Tapas may start with food control. The qualitative defition of Tapas involves physical, verbal as well as psychological disciplines. Food control can be considered as involved in the physical category.] The repeated chanting of Praṇava and other divine Mantra-s is called Svādhyāya. [Again, Svādhyāya is explained as a Kriya here. The study of scriptures is also considered as Svādhyāya.] Special and complete devotion expressed physically, verbally and mentally, in the beautiful form of īśvara (God), who has taken birth on earth as part of His Games and who is the ultimate Guru through His teachings in Bhagavad Gita etc. is called Īśvarapraṇidhāna. [The representation of Īśvara in a physical form is necessary for a beginner to feel love and devotion towards Him. That is why Īśvara is described here as an embodied One. The Kriyas of devotion are given priority here as part of Kriyāyoga.]

These three practices are three forms of actions (Kriya-s); [therefore, they are defined here as Kriya-s; in fact Tapaḥ, Svādhyāya and Īśvarapraṇidhāna all three are the special awareness and management in the psychological level.] They prepare the individual for involvement in the focussed Yoga process. Therefore, Kriya is also considered as Yoga, because of the above mentioned similarity between them. This is like the name of an Ayurvedic medicine, "Āyurghṛtam". [Ghṛtam, a kind of medicinal ghee protects Āyuḥ, the health; hence the name for the medicine. Similarly Kriya cultivates Yogic skills in an individual; therefore this item of initial practice is called Kriyāyoga.]

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पातन्जलयोगसूत्राणि

श्री सदाशिव ब्रह्मेन्द्र सरस्वत्या विरचितः

योगसुधाकरो वृत्तिः

द्वितीयो साधनपादः

परापश्यन्त्यादि भेदभिन्नामेकां निसर्गतः

चिदानन्दमयीं नित्यां वाचं काचिदुपास्महे॥

पूर्वम् सावान्तरभेदं सान्तरङ्गसाधनं सफलं समाधिमभिधाय, अधुना पूर्वाभिहितसाधनेऽप्रवर्तमानमानसं अपक्वकषायकरणं प्रति बहिरङ्गसाधनं क्रियायोगमाह​-

तपस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः॥१॥

हितमितमेद्ध्याशनं तपः। परमपवित्रप्रणवादि मन्त्रजपः स्वाध्यायः। ईश्वरे लीलया स्वीकृतातिमनोहराङ्गे परमगुरौ कायवाङ्मनोभिः निर्वर्तितो भक्तिविशेषः प्रणिधानम्।

तानि क्रियारूपत्वाद्योगसाधनत्वाच्च क्रियायोग इति शुद्धसारूप्यलक्षणाश्रयणेन निरूप्यन्ते, “आयुर्घृतम्” इतिवदित्यर्थः।

Four Steps of Apara Vairagyam

The realisation of the desire in the individual is an important need in the growth of spiritual practice. Bhagavad Gita says that to become a Sthitaprajna all desires should be eradicated from mind. See the Sloka No 55 in Chapter II Sankhyayoga in BG:

prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha manōgatān

ātmanyēvātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñastadōcyatē

Meaning: O Pārtha, when a man completely casts off all the desires of the mind, and is satisfied in oneself by the realisation of Ātma, then he is said to be one of steady wisdom.

Is it possible to eradicate all desires from a human mind? Is that practical and is that necessary? There are many related questions.

When Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra Sarasvati was elaborating the definition of Vairagyam in his Yogasudhākaram which is an interpretation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra-s, he addressed this issue with a realistic and practical approach. Patanjali has categorised Vairāgya into Vaśīkāra Vairāgya (Apara Vairāgya) and Para Vairāgya. Apara Vairagya stands for that of a beginner. He should pass through various steps to reach the state of self-control; explaining these ascending steps of a Sādhaka, Sadāśiva Brahmendra answered all the above mentioned questions.

After realising the truth that I am Ātma and I am not this body-mind unit, one gets rid of all attachments in life. Even food and clothing will not be a need for him. They have no relevance at all in such a state of mind. (This is the reason why Indians respect those who renounce all needs and dwell in the caves.) This kind of total detachment is not possible for those who are living in the civilised society. They are facing a number of demands from their surroundings and leading a life satisfying all around them.

Such a person who still leads a life of civilised society, may feel like getting rid of the excess of demands which are the result of desires at heart; but they are unable to do so due to the strength of desires. This stage with the awareness that the desires are to be overcome, but unable to do so, is called Yatamānatvam.

Then the individual becomes capable of overcoming some desires and many others are yet to be defeated. This kind of a clear awareness with self-evaluation happens in the state of mind called Vyatirekatvam.

Gradually the practitioner realises that controlling the external action related to the desire is easier than eradicating it from mind. Therefore, the expression of the desire through external organs is controlled. The desire functions in two levels; 1. From the internal organ (Antahkarana) and 2. Through external organs (Indriya-s). The functioning through the external organs is stopped. But the desire still burns inside the mind. This stage is called Ekendriyatvam. 

When any of the desires is not disturbing the individual, that stage is called Vaśīkāratvam. The Sādhaka may not be completely free from All the desires; but he is free from almost all desires; this state of mind is called Vaśīkāratvam.

The Problem of Wrong Self-identification

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, the psychological state in which the desires are controlled is called Vairāgyam. Desires are the root cause for all unhappiness. Getting rid of desires means to cultivate long lasting joy in mind.

When the desire is reduced from the mind, the individual starts seeing deeply into his mind. It was the desires which veiled the true vision into his mind-stuff. As a result of the lack of self awareness, wrong identification develops. He wrongly identifies himself with external aspects like religion, caste, family, position etc. He must essentially understand himself as the individual Self (Ātma) because that is the truth. But the desires in him veil his true vision about himself and as a result of this ignorance, he wrongly understands himself only as one belonging to a caste or the one having such an official positioning etc.

What is the problem of the wrong self-identification of an individual? It is because all the internal actions like thinking, analysis, understanding etc. happen on the basis of the self-identification of the individual. When I consider myself as responsible for a work, the incompleteness of it makes me worried. On the other hand, if I do not take responsibility for the work, I would not have any response to the completion or incompletion of it. My connection with the work functions on the basis of my understanding about my association with it. Therefore, this self-identification has a lot of importance in the cognitive process. One must know who he is, to think properly. The self-awareness and identification go wrong due to the psychological blindness and delusion created by the power of desires. This is the point to be noted.

Case One:

Mr Bhaskara thought that he had no skill to interact with people. As a result of this self-conception, he had no connection with his neighbours. He had no awareness about the mistake of his wrong self-understanding and assessment of himself. If he had seen himself as being above this inability, he would have tried to come out of this misconception. Then he would have purposefully developed friendships with more people. So the concept about who I am, matters.

Case Two:

Mrs Nalini thought herself as very beautiful and attractive; therefore when she happened to meet another person, attractive and smart, she started feeling insecure. When she had a subordinate girl, smart, good looking and younger than her, she became jealous of her. She began to find fault with her in small small aspects, complained against her and initiated all a superior can do to destroy her subordinate. Nalini behaved so because she identified herself with her so-called beautiful appearance. She didn't understand herself as a human being who is capable of loving and forgiving.

The human being can love and forgive only when he identifies himself with the individual Self (Atma). That is the true identification. This true experience is veiled by desires and anger, as Bhagavad Gita says:

आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा ।

कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च ॥ ३-३९॥

āvṛtam jñānamētēna jñāninō nitya vairiṇā

       kāmarūpēṇa kauntēya duṣpūrēṇānalēna ca (III - 39)

Meaning: O Kauntēya, the Jñānam or the awareness of the difference between Ātma and body-mind unit is enveloped by the desire / anger (āvṛtam jñānam ētēna kāmarūpēṇa), which is the constant enemy of a seeker of Truth (jñāninaḥ nityavairiṇā) due to its unquenchable nature like the fire (duṣpūrēṇa analēna ca).