The Bhagavad Gita - A World Scripture Today

From the Publisher's Note of the Bhagavad Gita - Text and Commentary by Sri Sivananda (Sivananda Press Durban SA), Divine Life Society of S.A. states the following:

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the world-scriptures today. It guides the lives of people all over the world. Mahatma Gandhi regarded it as the "Mother", to whom the children (humanity) turned to in distress. Sri Swami Sivananda wants us to study daily at least one discourse of the scripture, so that its great lessons are ever fresh in our memory.

There are so many commentaries on the discourses of the Bhagavad Gita. So in the undertaking of sharing this great work with you, there will be references from more than one book. In doing so, it will be noted which ones are being utilized.

See related posts:

• The Bhagavad Gita
• Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures
  

The Bhagavad Gita

Having completed the review of the Yoga Sutras has moved me to look at another great scripture that can help enlighten our lives. The Bhagavad Gita is a great yogic scripture to become familiar with and study. It is larger work than the Yoga Sutras. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia Wikipedia.

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit भगवद् गीता, Bhagavad Gītā, "Song of God") is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism,[1][2] and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world.[3] The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, comprising 700 verses. The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Krishna, who is regarded by the Hindus as the supreme manifestation of the Lord Himself,[3] and is referred to within as Bhagavan—the divine one.[4] The Bhagavad Gita is commonly referred to as The Gita for short.

The content of the Gita is the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince and elaborates on different Yogic[5] and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi describes it as a lighthouse of eternal wisdom that has the ability to inspire any man or woman to supreme accomplishment and enlightenment. [6] During the discourse, Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Svayam bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of his divine universal form.

See Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures

(From Archive December 1, 2008)

Scriptures can be defined as a sacred writings or books. There are many kinds of scriptures from different religious paths like Christian, Hebrew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. There are also scriptures from the yogic path like the Bhagavad Gita, The Ramayana, The Yoga Sutras, Shiva Sutras, The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, etc. Reading scriptures that appeal to us are a great way to deal with our present day stresses and myriads of demands we have everyday. This is also a tool that is part of a yoga practice. Test it for yourself and see if can make a difference.

The following quote sums it up nicely: "The teachings of the scriptures add another, deeper dimension to your awareness of the value of life. They have the capacity to point you toward the light hidden in your own being. They can expand your understanding of the world you live in" - Swami Chidvilasananda

See related posts:

All of the Yoga Sutra posts

Then Man Abides in His Real Nature YS I - 3

Yoga Sutra 1- 3- TADA DRASTUH SVARUPE 'VASTHANAM - Then the Seer [Self] abides in His own nature.

For the above sutra "How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following:

When the lake of the mind becomes clear and still, man knows himself as he really is, always was and always will be. He knows he is the Atman. His "personality," his mistaken belief in himself as a separate, unique individual, disappears. "Patanjali" is only an outer covering, like a coat or a mask, which he can assume or lay aside as he chooses. Such a man is known as a free illumined soul.

See:

• Resting Inside of theSelf YS I - 3
• Yoga Is ..... YS I - 2

All the previous posts of the Yoga Sutras. As you review the posts, you will see it is a continuous cycle to study to help know thy Self.

Resting Inside of theSelf YS I - 3

Yoga Sutra 1- 3- TADA DRASTUH SVARUPE 'VASTHANAM - Then the Seer [Self] abides in His own nature.

Swami Satchidananda - You are that true Seer. You are not the body nor the mind. You are the Knower or Seer. You always see your mind and body acting in front of you. You know that the mind creates thoughts; it distinguishes and desires. The Seer know that but is not involved in it.

He tells us in the commentary that to understand that eternal peaceful You, the mind must be quiet; otherwise, it seems to distort the truth. An analogy is given to demonstrate this by using a mirror. We are told that we are the Seer who wants to see itself. The question is asked how since it is the face that sees. We cannot see our own face. The face itself is the seer or the subject. What it sees in the mirror is its image, the seen or the object. It the mirror is corrugated, curved, concave or convex, will you be able to see your true face? No. In other words the face will appear distorted. Seeing this distorted reflection, we will know something is wrong with the mirror. Only if the mirror is perfectly smooth and clean will it give you the true reflection. Only then can you see your face as it is.

In the same way, the Seer, or true you, reflects in the mind which is your mirror. This is why we normally can't see the true Self, because the mind is colored or dirty. Another analogy is given with water. To see the true reflection, see that the water is clean and calm and without any ripples. When the mind ceases to create thought forms or when the chittam is completely free from vrittis, it becomes as clear as a still lake, and you see your true Self.

Swami Satchidananda ends the commentary telling us that the Seer can never misunderstand nor forget Itself. Only the reflection is distorted, so the Seer appears to be distorted.

See related posts:

• Yoga Is ..... YS I - 2
• How is your Mind? YS I -5, YS I - 6, YS IV - 15

Yoga Is ..... YS I - 2

Yoga Sutra 1- 2 - YOGAS CITTA VRTTI NIRODHAH - The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga.

Swami Satchidananda tells us that Patanjali gives us the goal of Yoga in this sutra. For a keen student this one Sutra would be enough because the rest of them only explain this one. If the restraint of the mental modifications is achieved one has reached the goal of Yoga.The entire science of Yoga is based on this Patanjali has given the definition of Yoga and at the same time the practice. "If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience Yoga."

The following is the transliteration of each word of the sutra :

YOGAS: Yoga - union
CITTA: of the mind-stuff
VRITTI: modifications
NIRODHAH: restraint

Swami Satchidananda informs us that Chittam is the sum total of the mind. And within the chittam there are different levels. The basic mind is called ahamkara, or the ego, the "I" feeling. This gives rise to the intellect or discriminative faculty which is called buddhi. Another stage is called manas, the desiring part of the mind, which gets attracted to outside things through the senses. Swami Satchidananda gives us an analogy of this with a scenario of us sitting quietly and then we smell something nice from the kitchen. The sense part (manas) records that we are smelling something from somewhere. The buddhi discriminates, breaking down that the smell is maybe a cheese aroma, and then wonders what kind of cheese. Once the buddhi decides the kind of cheese, the ahamkara, the ego or "I" decides it should have some cheese now. These three things happen one at a time, but so quickly that we seldom distinguish between them. These modifications give rise to the effort to get the cheese. The want was created and, unless we fulfill the desire to see and eat the cheese, our mind won't go back to its peaceful condition or state.

All the difference in the outside world are the outcome of your mental modifications... The entire outside world is based on your thoughts and mental attitiude. The entire world is your own projection. Your values change within a fraction of a second... That is why Yoga does not bother much about changing the outside world. There is a Sanskrit saying, "Mana eva manushyanam karanam bandha mokshayoho." "As the mind, so the man; bondage or liberation are in your own mind." An example is given of prisoners and guards. They are both within the same walls, however, the difference is the mental attitude. The guards come to work, and the prisoners would like to get out.

So, if you can control the thought forms and change them when you want, you would not be bound by the outside world. We can make our world heaven or hell depending on how we look at it. That is why the entire Yoga is based on chitta vritti nirodhah. If you control your mind, you have controlled everything. Then there is nothing in this world to bind you.

See some related posts:

• Misconception or False knowledge YS I - 6
• Pramana - Right Knowledge YS I - 6
• How is your Mind? YS I -5, YS I - 6, YS IV - 15
• The Return to Back to Pure Consciousness YS IV - ...
• Practice as a Tool
  
  

The Return to Back to Pure Consciousness YS IV - 34

Yoga Sutra - IV- 34 - PURUSARTHASUNYANAM GUNANAM PRATIPRASAVAH KAIVALYAM SVARUPA PRATISTHA VA CITISAKTER ITI - Thus, the supreme state of Independence manifests while the gunas reabsorb themselves into Prakriti, having no more purpose to serve the Purusha. Or, to look from another angle, the power of pure consciousness settles in its own pure nature.

Swami Satchidananda states in this final sutra "The power of pure consciousness settles in its own pure nature." That means that when the gunas withdraw, finishing their job, the Purusha--having gotten completely clean--stops running around. It is settled. It is happy in its own true nature. It is no longer seeking happiness and peace from outside, because it realizes it is happiness personified.

Swami Satchidananda takes us back to the first book, second sutra (YS 1-2) "Yogas chitta vritti nirodhah." "Restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga." YS 1-3 is "Tada drashtuh svarupe' vasthanam." "Then the Seer rests in its own state." The entire four books are the explanations of these two Sutras. Chitta vritti nirodhah is the practice. Svarupe'vasthanan is the experience. Satchidananda says that is why Patanjali talks about the experience at the end. "You just rest in your own true nature. You have played your games, you have gotten all your experiences, and now you are resting." By resting, Patanjali means that the true you is resting while your body and mind function.

It's not that your body and mind necessarily rest always. They have to continue to fulfill the jobs for which they were created. According to the prarabda, a momentum has been created like the wheel that has been set in motion. You gave a push earlier, and the body and mind are facing that now as prarabda. When you attain the jivanmukta state, the pushing hand is taken away, but the wheel won't stop immediately. It will continue until the momentum is lost. While the momentum continues, you just rest and watch what is happening as a witness.

Swami Satchidananda gives us the analogy of an actor. We are told that we are the witness, and then we are the actor. If we become the actor, we become responsible for our actions. When we are the witness we are not responsible for our actions because then we are not acting. So, either act and be responsible, or allow the mind and body to act and be a witness, totally free. We are further informed that Yogis do actions only for the sake of others and not for their own sake. It is the image-you or the ego-you that needs Yoga. It is to the ego or lower self, the individual self that the teaching is given.

See related posts:

• Karma Past, Present & Future - YS II - 12
• Jivamuktas Immune from Karma IV - 30
  

For the Jivanmukti - No Time Reality YS IV- 33

Yoga Sutra - IV- 33- KSANA PRATIYOGI PARINAMAPARANTA NIRGRAHYAH KRAMAH - The sequence [referred to above] means an uninterrupted succession of moments which can be recognized at the end of their transformations.

Swami Satchidananda translated this sutra without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following:

Time is a sequence of moments and, hence, a sequence of mutations of the gunas which take place at every moment. We only become aware of these moment-changes at intervals, when a whole series of of them have resulted in a mutation which is sufficiently remarkable to be apparent to our senses. An example is given of a that a bud on a flower has opened, but after a couple of hours we recognize the blossoming flower. Similarly, at the end of a series of thoughts and impressions, we may have an idea or make a decision.

But for the illumined soul (jivanmukti) , time has no reality. There is no sequence in his thought-pattern. He controls time, as it were, and know the past, present and future like a flash in the eternal now (III,53).

See Single Moments/Sequence in Time YS III - 53

Prakriti and the Free Soul YS IV - 32

Yoga Sutra - IV- 32 - TATAH KRTARTHANAM PARINAMA KRAMA SAMAPTIR GUNANAM - Then the gunas terminate their sequence of transformations because they have fulfilled their purpose.

Swami Satchidananda tells us that This is a beautiful Sutra to understand. The three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas) constantly intermingle; and , thus Prakriti functions. Why should they do this; or, in other words, why does nature function? The nature functions to give experience to the reflected Purusha. (In other words, the mind. The scriptures sometimes say Purusha itself, but the meaning is the Purusha reflected upon the mind-stuff.)

An analogy is given of a mother with a lot of children that went out to play and got dirty. One by one she cleans them up. Then says " you are clean. Go, and don't come t0 me again. My job is over with you. But I still have a lot of work to do with other children." Mother Prakriti is just like that. She stops functioning with a clean child (A jivanmukti).

That is what is meant in this Sutra. Prakriti-- the qualities and their continuous transformations--stop their action on the free soul because they have fulfilled their purpose. They have given enough experience to the Purusha.

See related posts:

• Samprajnata (Distinguished) Samadhi-YS I -17


• Avoidable Pain - YS - II - 16, YS II - 17


• The Seer or Purusha YS II - 20


• The Four Stages of the Gunas YS II - 19


• The Seen - Nature of the Gunas YS II - 18

When Infinity of Knowledge Is Revealed YS IV - 31

Yoga Sutra - IV- 31- TADA SARVAVARANA MALAPETASYA JNANASYANANTYA JNEYAM ALPAM - Then all the coverings and impurities of knowledge are totally removed. Because of the infinity of this knowledge, what remains to be known is almost nothing.

Swami Satchidananda asks in this short commentary What is impurity? He answers It is like the sensitive coating on photographic film. The "I" and "mine" coat our mental film and then want to "catch' everything they see. If not for the sensitive film, you may see many things, but they wouldn't affect you, because nothing would get recorded. A jivanmukta's mind is like an uncoated, crystal-clear mica sheet. It runs through the camera and pictures are shot, but nothing gets recorded. There's nothing to process, nothing to develop and nothing to fix. That means there are no "fixations."

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following for this sutra:

To man in his ordinary sense-consciousness, the universe seems full of secrets. There seems so infinitely much to be discovered and known. Every object is an invitation to study. He is overcome by his own sense of ignorance. But, to the illumined yogi, the universe does not seem all that mysterious. It is said that , if you know clay, you know the nature of everything that is made of clay. So, if you know the nature of Atman, you know the nature of everything in the universe. Then, all the painstaking researches of science seem like efforts of a child to empty the ocean with a spoon.

See related posts:

• Absolute True Consciousness YS I - 48, 49
• Wisdom - Seven Stages - YS II - 27 (Part II)
  Wisdom - Seven Stages - YS II - 27 (Part I)
• Discriminative Knowledge YS III - 55

Jivamuktas Immune from Karma IV - 30

Yoga Sutra - IV- 30 - TATAH KLESA KARMA NIVRTTIH - From that samadhi all afflictions and karma cease.

Swami Satchidananda has a long commentary for this sutra. Some of it has some repetition of the earlier descriptions of the three types of karma. The commentary begins with By dharmamegha samadhi all that affects the mind goes away. One becomes a jivamukta. Such a person is not affected by anything. He or she is there and things happen; that person is a constant witness. The body and mind, which were trained well before liberation, just continue certain functions because of their prarabda, or residual karma.

The review of the workings of karma, (all our actions which leave their results) are grouped into three sections as follows:

1. Prarabda karma -Karma to be experienced in this life. It is according to your prarabda that you come into this world with different qualities of body and mind. This karma dictates whether we are a girl or boy and we each have to undergocertainn experiences for which that type of body is needed.


2. Sanjita karma- Is the sum total of all your past karmas.


3. Agama karma - While experiencing prarabda karma we are creatinig new karma. To recognize the new karma, anything that happens unexpectedly is prarabda and consciously planned actions are new karma.

In the case of jivanmuktas, they have come into the world with human bodies because of their prarabda. Until they got liberated they were just like anybody else. Now, with their Self-knowledge, they decide not to do any new karma to bind themselves, sotherer is no agami for them. But that doesn't mean they are not doing any actions. Some things seem to be happening as they are seen doing many things, however, they are not. And because of this isolation from the mind and body, they are not affected by the reactions of the acts you see them perform. It is the mind that performs all the karmas.

So once you realize you are Purusha (the Self or cosmic man), it is known that karma belongs to the mind. With the isolation from the mind, the seeds of karma are burnt, not affecting the jivamukta- thus no further birth. But still, the prarabda that brought this mind and body remains. Until that is over, the body and mind will still function. ;Jivamuktas are neither blamed or praised for their actions. Just as you watch them acting, they watch themselves. All praise and blame go to the body and mind-- not to the jivamuktas.

See related post:

• Karma Past, Present & Future - YS II - 12

Dharma Megha Samadhi - YS IV - 29

Yoga Sutra - IV- 29 - PRASAMKHYANE'PY AKUSIDASYA SARVATHA VIVEKAKHYATER DHARMAMEGHAH SAMADHIH - He who, due to his perfect discrimination, is totally disinterested even in the highest rewards remains in the constant discriminative discernment, which is called dharmamegha (cloud of dharma) samadhi. [Note: The meaning of dharma includes virtue, justice, law, duty, morality, religion, religious merit, and steadfast decree.]

Swami Satchidananda informs us of this sutra that Patanjali is talking about a samadhi called dharmamegha samadhi -- the cloud of dharma samadhi. Dharmamegha means that all the beautiful qualities are there. One gets into that state when even the desire to be high is gone. Why? Because who desires to get high?Is it the one who is already high?No. As long as there is a desire to get high is there, you are not high; and when you really get high the desire fades away. You will have attained what it is to be attained, and all the desires drop out of you. It is only then that you are totally liberated.

We are further told by Swami Satchidananda that Saint Thirumooler says, "Even with God, please be without desire." That means that desire itself is a bondage. Ultimately, even the desire to get God should go. Then only will you have God. When will that desire go? When you get God. It's kind of a tricky thing. The fulfillment of this desire and becoming desireless happen simultaneously.

Dharmamegha samadhi cannot be attained by effort. So although effort is put forth, it can only go to a certain point. When you really reach that place even that effort goes away and it becomes effortless. At that point, further effort would keep you down.

Until we reach this stage, there is no harm in having certain good wants to help us stay away from the so-called undesirable wants. Then, when you are able to eliminate the undesirable ones, it is easy to eliminate the good ones also.

See some other posts related to samadhi:

• Minimize Obstacles and Attain Samadhi YS II-2
• Wisdom - Seven Stages - YS II - 27 (Part II)
  Wisdom - Seven Stages - YS II - 27 (Part I)
• Total Surrender Yields Samadhi -YS II - 45
• Samadhi - Contemplation YS III - 3
• Samyama - Last Three Limbs of Yoga YS III - 4
• Samyama - Internal Limbs of Yoga YS III - 7
• Further on Samyama - YS III - 8

Discrimination of Mind Stuff YS IV - 25, 26, 27, 28

Yoga Sutra - IV- 25- VISESA DARSINA ATMABHAVA BHAVANA VINIVRTTIH - To one who sees the distinction between the mind and the Atman, thoughts of mind as the Atman cease forever.

Yoga Sutra - IV- 26 - TADAHI VIVEKA NIMNAM KAIVALYA PRAGBHARAM CITTAM - Then the mind-stuff is inclined toward discrimination and gravitates toward Absoluteness.

Yoga Sutra - IV- 27 - TACCHIDRESU PRATYAYANTARANI SAMSKAREBHYAH - In between, distracting thoughts may arise due to past impressions.

Yoga Sutra - IV- 28 - HANAM ESAM KLESAVAD UKTAM - They can be removed, as in the case of the obstacles explained before. [See Book 2, Sutras 1, 2, 10, 11 and 26.]

Swami Satchidananda translated these sutras without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following for YS IV - 28:

That is, by meditation and by resolving the mind back into its primal cause (that is, attaining samadhi), as explained in chapter II, aphorisms 10 and 11.

There is a saying of Sri Ramakrishna that one needs to continue fanning oneself on hot days, but that it becomes unnecessary when the spring breeze blows. When a man attains illumination, the breeze of grace is continually felt and the fanning (the constant practice of discrimination) is no longer needed.

See related posts:

• Austerity, Study and Surrender YS II-1


• Minimize Obstacles and Attain Samadhi YS II-2


• Ego - Meditation YS II- 10, YS II - 11


• Viveka - Discrimination YS II - 26

No Meaning Without Purpose YS IV - 24

Yoga Sutra - IV- 24 - TAD ASAMKHYEYA VASANABHIS CITTAM API PARARTHAM SAMHATYA KARITVAT - Though having countless desires, the mind-stuff exists for the sake of another [the Purusha] because it can act only in association with It.

Swami Satchidananda translated this sutra without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following:

Every combination of individuals or forces in this world has to have a purpose for its action or existence; otherwise it would be just a meaningless, functionless collection of objects, brought together haphazardly. And this purpose must be external to itself. A congress or parliament would be just a collection of noisy individuals in a room, if it did not have a purpose of legislating for a community. A house is just a pile of materials, until an owner comes to inhabit and enjoy it. So with the mind-- that yelling parliament of conflicting interests and desires. It is nothing but a madhouse, until it is "called to order." It can only become purposive the external will of the Atman.

See preceding posts.

Unchangeable Consciousness YS IV - 22, 23

Yoga Sutra - IV- 22 - CITER APRATISAMKRAMAYAS TADAKARAPATTAU SVABUDDHISAMVEDANAM - The consciousness of the Purusha is unchangeable; by getting the reflection of it, the mind-stuff becomes conscious of the Self.

Yoga Sutra - IV - 23 - DRASTR DRSYOPARAKTAM CITTAM SARVARTHAM - The mind-stuff, when colored by both Seer and seen, understands everything.

Swami Satchidananda translated these sutras without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following for YS IV- 23:

The mind stands midway, as it were, between Atman and external object. Its power to perceive the object is only borrowed from the Atman. In a perfectly dark room, a mirror cannot reflect the man who stands before it. But when a light is brought in, the mirror immediately "perceives" the man.

Similarly, the individual soul is known in Hindu philosophy a s the "reflected," or the "shadow Atman." It has no separate existence. It is only the reflection of the Atman upon the mind, which gives rise to a separate sense of ego.

See related posts:

• Samprajnata (Distinguished) Samadhi-YS I -17
• Abhinivesa - Fear of Death YS II- 9Wisdom - Seven Stages -
• Wisdom - Seven Stages - YS II - 27 (Part II)
  Wisdom - Seven Stages - YS II - 27 (Part I)
• Dharana - Concentration YS III - 1
• Object Not Known by Sense Perception -YS IV 15, 1...

Endless Number YS IV - 21

Yoga Sutra - IV- 21 - CITTANTARA DRSYE BUDDHIBUDDHER ATIPRASANGAH SMRTISAMKARAS CA - If perception of one mind by another mind be postulated, we would have to assume an endless number of them and the result would be confusion of memory.

Swami Satchidananda translated this sutra without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following for YS IV -21:

If a philosopher - in order to avoid admitting the existence of the Atman - were to suggest that the mind is really two minds, a knower and an object of knowledge, then he would find himself in difficulty. For if mind A is known by mind B, then one must postulate a mind C as the knower of B, a mind D as the knower of C, and so forth. There would be an infinite regress, as in a room walled with mirrors. Furthermore, since each of theses minds would have an individual memory, the function of remembering would be reduced to a state of confusion.

See related post: Object Not Known by Sense Perception -YS IV 15, 1...

The Purusha/Atman is Luminous YS IV - 20

Yoga Sutra - IV - 20 - EKA SAMAYE COBHAYANAVADHARANAM - The mind-stuff cannot perceive both the subject and object simultaneously [which proves it is not self-luminous].

Swami Satchidananda - "The mind-stuff perceives objects outside. At other times, if is is clean enough, it can turn within and reflect the Purusha also. So, it can be either subject or object. As subject, it see other things. As an object, it is seen by the Purusha. But the Purusha can never be both. It is always the subject."

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood:

As we saw at the very beginning of this book (I, 2), the mind is not the seer, but the instrument of the Atman, which is eternally conscious. The mind is only intermittently conscious of objects, and its perceptions of them vary according to its own fluctuations. The mind is changing all the time, and so is the object of perception. The Atman alone, by remaining unchanged, provides a standard by which all perception can be measured.

We are given a partial quote from Swami Vivekananda that "Motion can only be perceived when there is something else which is not moving..."

We are given the statement - The mind is just as much an object of perception as any object it perceives in the external world. The mind is not self-luminous; that is to say, it is not a light-giver, like the sun, but a light-reflector, like the moon. The light-giver, the "sun," is the Atman, and the mind only shines and perceives by the reflected light of the Atman. The mind cannot perceive both itself and an external object simultaneously.

Object of Perception YS IV - 19

Yoga Sutra - IV- 19 - NA TAT SVABHASAM DRSYATVAT - The mind-stuff is not self-luminous because it is an object of perception by the Purusha.

Swami Satchidananda informs of this sutra that "The mind-stuff is not the subject. It is the object to the one subject who is the Purusha. The mental functions are what you, as Purusha, perceive. The perceived can never become the perceiver, nor vice-versa. If the perceiver is perceived by something, then he is no longer a perceiver, but, rather, the perceived. To really have this awareness, this isolation of perceiver and perceived, is Yoga."

Swami Satchidananda states that it seems that this should be easy, however, because of the quality of the mind is not that clear. The unclear mind drags us down and doesn't allow us to stay separated from the mind. "Maya (illusion) tricks us." We are given an example how we want something one day and then say we don't, then maybe two days later we want it again. We become convinced because of Maya that what we didn't want yesterday will be wonderful today. And this is because of our ego which is based in the mind. The ego doesn't allow us to know our true self, that we are the Purusha.

He finally ends the commentary on how when we do something we blame the mind and when someone does something to us we blame them, instead of their mind. A great example given is in Hatha Yoga when we lay in the corpse pose (savasana) we say we are not the body, the body is just lying there. However, when we get up and someone calls us plump, we get disturbed identifying with the body and not our true nature, the Self. So because of this constant slipping of awareness, we have to bring it back again and again and that is spiritual practice.

The Purusha & the Mind YS IV - 17, 18

Yoga Sutra - IV- 17- TADUPARAGAPEKSITVAC CITTASYA VASTU JNATAJNATAM - An object is known or unknown dependent on whether or not the mind gets colored by it.

Yoga Sutra - IV- 18 - SADA JNATAS CITTA VRTTAYAS TAT PRABHOH PURUSASYAPARINAMITVAT - Due to His changelessness, changes in the mind-stuff are always know to the Purusha, who is the Lord.

Swami Satchidananda translated sutra 17 without commentary. However, of sutra 18, he tells us that Patanjali speaks here of the changes in the mind-stuff. "The chittam changes constantly because that is its natural tendency. Mind is part a of the ever-changing nature. However clever we are, we can only keep the mind quiet for a little while. Therefore, our aim is not to keep the mind peaceful but to rise above the mind and realize the ever-peaceful Self."

Swami Satchidananda says that Patanjali informs us that the Lord, Purusha, is the owner of the mind-stuff. In other words, He knows all the changes that happen in it. "A changing thing cannot recognize the changes in something else, like an insane person cannot recognize the insanity of another person. So Purusha, being changeless, can always recognize the changing nature of the mind."

There are many posts on the Purusha and the mind.

• Asamprajnata or Non-distinguished Samadhi YS- I-18...


• Devotion to God- Isvara YS I-23,24


• Omniscience YS I -25; The Guru YS I-26

Object Not Known by Sense Perception -YS IV 15, 16

Yoga Sutra - IV-15- VASTU SAMYE CITTA BHEDAT TAYOR VIBHAKTAH PANTHAH - Due to differences in various minds, perception of even the same object may vary.

Yoga Sutra - IV- 16- NA CAIKCITTA TANTRAM VASTU TADAPRAMANAKAM TADA KIM SYAT - Nor does an object's existence depend upon a single mind, for if it did, what would become of that object when that mind did not perceive it?

Swami Satchidananda translated these sutras without commentary.

"How to Know God - The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali" translated and commented on by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood says the following for YS IV - 16:

In these two aphorisms, Patanjali refutes the philosophy of subjective idealism. Following Sankhya philosophy, he admits the reality of an objective world which is independent of our mental perception. Furthermore, he points out that the perception of an individual vary from those of another. The example given by the commentators is that of a young and beautiful married woman. She brings joy to her husband, causes other women to be jealous of her beauty, arouses lust in the lustful, and is regarded with indifference by the man of self-control. Which of these observers know her as she really is? None of them. The object- in itself cannot be known by sense-perception (I, 43).

See related post - Nirvitarka Samadhi YS I - 43