Verse 1.19

भवप्रत्ययो विदेहप्रक्रतिलयानाम्  ||1.19||

The State of Samadhi arises naturally, as a consequence of Birth,

 for the Gods^* and for those Yogis who have  merged with  Nature .(1.19)

* Videhas- (Beings) without bodies –Gods.

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Born into a  State where the mind is stilled,

 Far into the journey are these  blessed  two,

The Ones without bodies,

And those one with Nature,

The Final destination is near,

But yet so far !

©Ravi Easwaran

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Verse 1.18

विराम्प्रत्ययाभ्यसपुर्वः संस्कर्षेशोSन्यः  ||1.18||

A deeper State of Samadhi is reached by this constant practice

of cessation of experiences in the mind (cessation of thoughts)

and accompanied by only residual impressions.     (1.18)

Honed by constant practice,

On the Stones of Dispassion,

Soaring above the sense of “I”,

Thoughts have ceased, the mind is dead,

Enter ye into a State of Samadhi indescribable,

The Experiencer has been left behind.

(Notes: In 1.17 is described the first four stages in the journey, the fourth stage being where the “I” sense is transcended. This having been done, the Samadhi referred to in 1.18 can really not be described since the “I” is necessary for the recall. Hence even Patanjali refers to it as “anya” –the other)

 ©Ravi Easwaran

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Verse 1.17

वितर्कविचारनान्दस्मितानुगमत संप्रज्ञातः | |1.17 | |

Samadhi is composed of four consecutive stages ie Gross thoughts,

Subtle thoughts, bliss and the sense of “I”.    (1.17)

The Journey is long and arduous,

It traverses the regions four,

The first littered by Thoughts Gross and evil,

Then the land of the pleasant and Subtle,

Bliss is the State which lies beyond the yonder,

And fourth the wondrous “I”

©Ravi Easwaran

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Ch.1 Sutras 15 &16

दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम्   ||1.15||

तत्परं पुरुषख्यातेर्गुनवैत्रष्ण्यं                       ||1.16||

Detachment  is the state where the mind becomes indifferent to objects seen or heard. (cognized by the senses)                                        ||1.15||

This detachment becomes supreme, when desire for even the three Gunas (attributes of nature)  is extinguished, through the glimpse of the Universal  Consciousness.                                                         ||1.16||

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The target hit, the mind stunned into silence,

The Objects remain but not the thread that binds,

As the Lotus lies in the water but the waves wet it not,

So the mind remains in the world of Senses,

But the Senses taint it not.     

Behold  the  sun behind the clouds of darkness,

A vision of the Universal Consciousness,

The attraction of the three attributes fade for ever.

©Ravi Easwaran

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Ch.1 Sutras 1.13 & 1.14

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽभ्यासः || 1.13 ||

स तु धिर्गकालनैरन्तर्यसत्करासेवितो द्रढभूमिः ||1.14||

(The effort to still the modifications of the mind is known as Practice.

Such Practice continued for a long time, with the right attitude, becomes firm.)

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O Seeker of the Truth,

String the Bow  and Sight the Target,

Practice turns effort to effortlessness,

The Archer and the Arrow become one.

The Arrow and the Target become one,

Which  is the target and which is the missile ?

And which , indeed, is the Archer ?

Does the Archer shoot the Arrow ?

Or does the Arrow shoot itself ?

Ch 1. Sutra 12

अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तान्निरोधः |:1.12||

Through   Practice and Detachment   the modifications cease to be.

Abate the winds,

With the shield of Detachment,

The Oil of patient Practice

Stills  the Waves,

The Seas become Serene.

©Ravi Easwaran

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Ch 1. Sutra 1.11

अनुभूतविषयासंप्रमोषः स्म्रति: ||1.11||

That modification of the mind  where past experiences have not been lost  is known as Memory.

Images of experience past,

Yet vanquished not by the great destroyer,

Triggered by the senses five,

Arise from Memory,

The present experience is cognized !

©Ravi Easwaran

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Sutras 1.09 & 1.10

शब्दज्ञानानुपाति वस्तुशुन्यो विकल्पः ||1.09||

Knowledge based only on words and devoid of substance is termed Imagination.

अभावाप्रत्यायलंबनाव्र्तिनिद्रा ||1.10||

The modification of the mind which contains no experience is called Dreamless Sleep.

Described by the tongue ,

Seen Vaguely in a  dream,

Forms,  imagined and unreal, emerging,

From the Eye of the Mind.

The physical sheath is laid to rest,

The Harbinger of Dreams is loath to enter,

Where Awareness has shut its eyes,

Such is the State of Dreamless Sleep.

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(Ch. 1. Sutra 7 & 8)

प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ||1.07||

True Knowledge consists of Sensory perception, inference, and knowledge from the scriptures.

विप्रययो मिथ्यज्ञान्मतद्रुपप्रतिष्टं ||1.08||

False knowledge is based on understanding not corresponding to reality.

Perceived  by the mortal senses five,

Else with roots in knowledge past,

Gospel from  the Ancients,

Seen with  the detachment of a Sage’s Eye,

These be the forms of Knowledge True.

These very same, through darkened vision,

Understanding clouded by the passions five ,

Herein the seeds of false Knowledge lie.

©Ravi Easwaran

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Ch1. Sutras 5-6.

व्र्त्तयः .पञ्चतव्य्यः क्लिष्टाक्लिष्टाः ||1.05||

These modifications are of five classes, some painful, other not painful.

प्रमनाविप्रययविकल्पनिद्रस्म्र्तयः  ||1.06||

They are True knowledge, false knowledge, imagination, dreamless sleep and memory.

 The Mind takes the form of  Waves,

 Waves of thought that give it Life,

Some leave their marks, Others  pass without strife,

Nourished by the fire of  five different wombs ,

One is   Knowledge  true

and  the Other Knowledge false,

A third springs from the eye of the Mind,

A fourth awakens from the depths of Sleep,

The Fifth  from the stirrings of Memory.

©Ravi Easwaran

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Ch.1 Sutras 1- 4

अथ योगनुशषणं ||1.01||

Now Begins the Study of Yoga

योगश्चित्तव्र्त्तिनिरोधः ||1.02||

Yoga is the cessations of  modifications of the mind.

तदा द्रष्टु:स्वरुपेअवस्थानं | |1.03||

Then, the witness regains his own form.

व्र्तिसरुप्यमितिरत्र  | |1.04||

At other times he is identified with the Modifications.

Now begins the Study of   Yoga:-

Yoga, indeed, is the Silence of the Mind,

In this Silence,

The Witness regains his own true nature,

Else, he appears in  the  form  of the Mind

©Ravi Easwaran

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