Intro : Samadhi Pada of Yogasutra of Patanjali
Yogasutra of Maharishi Patanjali is one of the 6 Asthik Darshanas of Indian Philosophy also called as Shatdarshana.
Today we will be discussing Samadhi Pada of Yogasutra of Patanjali in details.
Samadhi Pada is the first chapter of Yogasutra. Samadhi is made from 2 words ‘ Sama’ in hindi or Marathi it means mixing or getting one with. ‘ dhi’ to be.
It basically means mixing or getting one with your consciousness. You totally immerse yourself with your individual consciousness and achieve liberation or Nirvana. It is the epitome of enlightenment and meditation where the person doing meditation I.e. the meditator, the act of meditation and object on which the meditation is done are ONE.
Everything around you becomes one whether you meditate of an idol or moon or space or just your breath they all become one.
Every religion out in the world talks about it. Being one with THE ONE. Therefore it is said that Yoga does not have a religion it is applied to all the religions across the universe.
There is no differentiation between who performs it. Just the act of meditation is enough.
Now lets get back to the text.
Samadhi Pada has 51 Sutras
They discuss about what is yoga, bhuddhi that is matters of mind, samdhi and types of samadhi , concept of Ishwara, concept of yogantaraya, what is rithambara, what is param gyana or the ultimate truth.
Now lets talk about each sutra. Where there is need I will made a separate blogpost of it but right now in this article we will in brief see what each sutra tells us.
Sutra -1
‘ Atha Yoganushasanam’
Atha – Now
Yoga – practice of yoga
Anushasanam – discipline
So now yoga starts with discipline. When practising yoga the most important factor is discipline. We need to train ourselves to do things that are told in the book without which you will not able to land anywhere. All the below mentioned practices need disciple of mind, actions and words.
Many books say a different explanation to this sutra but in reality this is what I understand from years and practice of Yoga.
Sutra – 2
‘ Yogaschittavrittinirodaha’
Yogas – yoga is
Chitta – mind
Vritti – percepetions,modifications of mind
Nirodha – to stop
This is one of the most reverted sutra in Yoga. It is the definition of yoga. ‘ Cessation of all mental functions’. Simply put to stop thinking and allowing yourself to be carried away with your emotions.
This sutra needs it own blogpost since explanation is needed to understand it properly.
Sutra – 3
‘tadadristuswarupeavasthanam’
Tada – then or when
Dristu – the seer
Sawrupe – swa – self, roop – face original form
Avasthanam – avas – here, in – sthnam – place
Then the seer sees ones real form in that place I.e. sees original self.
Sutra – 4
‘vrittisarupyamitaratra’
Vritti – mental modification or perceptions
Sarupya – sa – same / rupa – face or original form
Itaratra – as others
This sutra means that when mental modifications or perceptions are not aligned then it sees that the seer does not see his true self but like others.
In layman’s terms
Seer not able to identify themselves properly and sees himself in different forms eg. Imagine you enjoying an opera or a play get immersed in it that you start identifying yourself with the protagonist.
So the sutra from 2 to 4 discuss about ultimate aim of yoga.
It tells us about
what is yoga?
How seer sees his true self?
When the seer identified itself with false self?
For further read please check out the next post
Love light
Aarti