Thoughts on Sadhana Pada of the Patanjala Yogasutra

Pujya Swamiji Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj often said: “The whole of life is a preparation for the moment you die”.

At the moment of death we should be in such a focussed state of mind that the only thing holding us back from freedom is the body.

Is it possible to achieve kaivalya as long as we are in the body?

The answer may be “NO”.

Despite not being able to attain to this state while in the body, we must get ourselves so perfectly ready for kaivalya that our body itself is the last obstacle.

The day on which guru leave their bodies is celebrated for this reason, as for example in the annual guru puja at Sri Kambaliswami Madam in Pondicherry.

We need to prepare for that final moment, and sadhana is the preparation for kaivalya.

In Sadhana Pada, the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga are elucidated by Maharishi Patanjali. The path is laid out for purification in body, mind and soul. We become clear as a crystal, ready to reach the state of kaivalya.

All the states of samadhi that are internal, described in the previous pada can be reached while one is still in the body. But kaivalya may not be attainable as long as one is still bound to the physical body.

The Sadhana Pada starts off with an exploration of the klesha (inborn psychological afflictions) and the methods of their removal. Kriya yoga, the potent combination of tapa, swadhyaya and ishwara pranidhana (II.1) is prescribed as the method to facilitate attainment of samadhi through the elimination of the klesha (II.2).

The five types of psychological afflictions (pancha klesha) are enumerated in sutra II.3 and then detailed in sutra II.5 — II.9 as:

1. Avidya — ignorance of the ultimate reality that manifests as the mistaking of the non-eternal to be eternal, the impure to be pure, the suffering to be pleasure and the non-self to be the self (this is stated clearly in II.5);

2. Asmita — egoism that results from misidentifying the mere instrument of experience (buddhi) as the ultimate Self (II.6);

3. Raga — attractive attachment to that which gives us pleasure (II.7);

4. Dwesha — repulsive aversion to that which gives us pain (II.8);

5. Abhinivesha — the deep rooted survival instinct resulting from fear of death that is present in all living beings irrespective of any amount of knowledge (II.9).

Springing from the breeding ground of the mother klesha (avidya), four different stages of the klesha are described (II.4) as follows: Prasupta — the dormant state; Tanu — the attenuated state; Vicchinna — the manifest state; and Udaranam — the overpowering state.

Maharishi Patañjali describes important methods to sever the karmic link that binds by action-reaction to countless birth-death-birth cycles for eternity.

In sutra II.12 — II.25 he describes the process of this gradual disengagement from the karmic bondage (karma bandha). According to Sage Vashishta in the Yoga Vasishtha, atma jnana (knowledge of the self) is the only escape from the clutches of the never-ending cycle of births.

Maharishi Patañjali echoes this when he says that only the wise one endowed with viveka (discerning intellect) can see clearly that all worldly experiences are ultimately nothing but suffering and pain (duhkhameva sarvam vivekinah — II.15).

Only the highest state of kaivalya is the real bliss (anandam). Anything less than that is ignorant suffering, according to Maharishi Patañjali. This idea is similar to the core belief of Buddhist philosophy that views all life as suffering.

Maharishi Patañjali advises us to make efforts to prevent those miseries that are yet to occur (heyam dukham anagatam — II.16). He gives vital clues about the importance of preventive action in avoiding future sorrows. In sutra II.17 he further states that the cause of pain is the union between the seer and the seen. This unyielding bondage that causes all suffering is in fact ultimately due to avidya, ignorance of the reality (tasya hetur avidya — II.24).

Maharishi Patañjali describes the three guna that are the constituents of the manifest Universe in sutra II.18 where he mentions them by their qualities of stithi or stable inertness (tamasica guna), kriya or dynamic action (rajasica guna) and prakasha or illumination (sattwica guna). The guna are the core of the entire manifest Universe and play a pivotal role in understanding both the inner and outer nature.

The real purpose of yoga sadhana is expressed by Maharishi Patañjali in sutra II.28. He states that sustained practice of the various limbs of yoga destroys impurities, enabling the sadhaka to cultivate the highest wisdom of enlightenment (yoganga anusthand ashuddi kshaye jnana diptir aviveka kyatih — II.28).

To this end he enumerates the eight-fold royal path of ashtanga yoga as yama niyama asana pranayama pratyahara dharana dhyana samadhi in II.29. He then goes on to describe the pancha yama and pancha niyama with precision in verses II.30 — II.34.

Maharishi Patañjali calls the yama-niyama as great vows (mahavratam) and says that they are not restricted by class, place, time or circumstance (II.31).

Pujya Swamiji, Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri, often said that the yoga of Maharishi Patañjali was a “No-option Yoga”, with a firm insistence on a strong foundation based on yama-niyama being of paramount importance in yoga sadhana.

* Excerpted from Excerpted from THE YOGA DARSHAN (An exploration of the Yoga Sutra of Maharishi Patanjali) by Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani and published by Dhivyananda Creations, Pondicherry, India.