On Absorption

अथ योगानुशासनम् ॥१॥

atha yogānuśāsanam ||1||

Now, the teaching of yoga.

"Now" signals a formal beginning, and also that the student is ready. The word for "teaching" implies something handed down rather than invented.

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥२॥

yogaścittavṛttinirodhaḥ ||2||

Yoga is the stilling of the movements of the mind.

The definition on which the whole text rests. The "movements" (vritti) are the ripples of mental activity: every thought, perception, memory, and fantasy. Yoga is not their suppression by force but their settling, the way a lake settles once the wind stops.

तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम् ॥३॥

tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe'vasthānam ||3||

Then the seer rests in its own true nature.

The "seer" is pure awareness (purusha), the one who sees but is not itself the content of what is seen. When the mind is still, awareness is no longer mistaken for its contents.

वृत्तिसारूप्यमितरत्र ॥४॥

vṛttisārūpyamitaratra ||4||

At other times, the seer takes on the form of the mind's movements.

Ordinarily we identify with whatever the mind is doing: anxious when it is anxious, angry when it is angry. Awareness seems to take the shape of its contents, like clear water taking on the color of what is behind it.

वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टाक्लिष्टाः ॥५॥

vṛttayaḥ pañcatayyaḥ kliṣṭākliṣṭāḥ ||5||

The movements of the mind are of five kinds. They may be harmful or harmless.

"Harmful" (klishta) means tied to the afflictions described in chapter 2; "harmless" means movements that lead toward freedom, such as a correct insight. The goal is to move from the first to the second, and eventually beyond both.

प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः ॥६॥

pramāṇaviparyayavikalpanidrāsmṛtayaḥ ||6||

They are: right knowledge, error, imagination, sleep, and memory.

प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ॥७॥

pratyakṣānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni ||7||

Right knowledge comes from direct perception, inference, and reliable testimony.

विपर्ययो मिथ्याज्ञानमतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम् ॥८॥

viparyayo mithyājñānamatadrūpapratiṣṭham ||8||

Error is false knowledge, based on a form that does not match the thing itself.

The classic example is seeing a coiled rope in dim light and taking it for a snake.

शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः ॥९॥

śabdajñānānupātī vastuśūnyo vikalpaḥ ||9||

Imagination is knowledge that follows from words but has no real object.

Thinking built from words and ideas alone, with nothing in reality corresponding to it. This includes useful abstractions as well as fantasy.

अभावप्रत्ययालम्बना वृत्तिर्निद्रा ॥१०॥

abhāvapratyayālambanā vṛttirnidrā ||10||

Sleep is a movement of the mind that rests on the absence of content.

Even dreamless sleep counts as a mental state, because on waking we can say, "I slept well and knew nothing." Something registered the nothing.

अनुभूतविषयासंप्रमोषः स्मृतिः ॥११॥

anubhūtaviṣayāsaṃpramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ ||11||

Memory is the retaining of an object once experienced.

अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः ॥१२॥

abhyāsavairāgyābhyāṃ tannirodhaḥ ||12||

These are stilled through practice and detachment.

The two great pillars of the whole method: steady effort in one direction, and letting go in every other.

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽभ्यासः ॥१३॥

tatra sthitau yatno'bhyāsaḥ ||13||

Practice is the effort to remain steady in that stillness.

स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढभूमिः ॥१४॥

sa tu dīrghakālanairantaryasatkārāsevito dṛḍhabhūmiḥ ||14||

Practice becomes firmly grounded when it is kept up for a long time, without interruption, and with devotion.

Three conditions: duration, continuity, and sincere care. Any one missing, and the practice stays shallow.

दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम् ॥१५॥

dṛṣṭānuśravikaviṣayavitṛṣṇasya vaśīkārasaṃjñā vairāgyam ||15||

Detachment is the mastery of one who no longer thirsts for objects, whether seen in this world or promised in scripture.

"Promised in scripture" refers to heavenly rewards. True detachment lets go of spiritual ambitions as well as worldly ones.

तत्परं पुरुषख्यातेर्गुणवैतृष्ण्यम् ॥१६॥

tatparaṃ puruṣakhyāterguṇavaitṛṣṇyam ||16||

The highest detachment is freedom from craving even for the qualities of nature, which comes from knowing pure awareness.

The "qualities" (gunas) are the three strands of nature — clarity, activity, and inertia — that make up everything in the world, including the mind. Once one knows awareness directly, even the subtlest pleasures of nature lose their pull.

वितर्कविचारानन्दास्मितारूपानुगमात्संप्रज्ञातः ॥१७॥

vitarkavicārānandāsmitārūpānugamātsaṃprajñātaḥ ||17||

Absorption with awareness of an object is accompanied by reasoning, reflection, bliss, and the pure sense of "I am."

The first kind of samadhi (absorption) still has an object, and moves through four stages from coarse to subtle: thinking about the object, reflecting on its subtle nature, a joyful stillness, and finally the bare sense of existing.

विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वः संस्कारशेषोऽन्यः ॥१८॥

virāmapratyayābhyāsapūrvaḥ saṃskāraśeṣo'nyaḥ ||18||

The other kind follows from the practice of letting all content cease. Only latent impressions remain.

Absorption without any object. Nothing appears in the mind, but the seeds of future thoughts (samskaras) are still present, not yet burned up.

भवप्रत्ययो विदेहप्रकृतिलयानाम् ॥१९॥

bhavapratyayo videhaprakṛtilayānām ||19||

For those who are bodiless or absorbed into nature, this state arises from birth.

Some beings, according to the tradition, are born into a state resembling absorption, as a result of past practice. Because it is not the result of insight, it does not by itself bring freedom.

श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक इतरेषाम् ॥२०॥

śraddhāvīryasmṛtisamādhiprajñāpūrvaka itareṣām ||20||

For others, it comes after faith, energy, mindfulness, absorption, and wisdom.

The normal path, in five steps. The same five qualities appear as the five "faculties" in early Buddhism.

तीव्रसंवेगानामासन्नः ॥२१॥

tīvrasaṃvegānāmāsannaḥ ||21||

It is near for those whose practice is intensely earnest.

मृदुमध्याधिमात्रत्वात्ततोऽपि विशेषः ॥२२॥

mṛdumadhyādhimātratvāttato'pi viśeṣaḥ ||22||

Even then there are differences, depending on whether the effort is mild, moderate, or intense.

ईश्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा ॥२३॥

īśvarapraṇidhānādvā ||23||

Or it comes through devotion to the Lord.

A second, alternative path: surrender to Ishvara, the Lord. Patanjali offers it as an option, not a requirement.

क्लेशकर्मविपाकाशयैरपरामृष्टः पुरुषविशेष ईश्वरः ॥२४॥

kleśakarmavipākāśayairaparāmṛṣṭaḥ puruṣaviśeṣa īśvaraḥ ||24||

The Lord is a special kind of awareness, untouched by the afflictions, by action, by its results, or by stored tendencies.

Ishvara in the Yoga Sutras is not a creator God but a uniquely free awareness, never bound, which serves as a model and a teacher.

तत्र निरतिशयं सर्वज्ञबीजम् ॥२५॥

tatra niratiśayaṃ sarvajñabījam ||25||

In the Lord, the seed of all knowledge is unsurpassed.

पूर्वेषामपि गुरुः कालेनानवच्छेदात् ॥२६॥

pūrveṣāmapi guruḥ kālenānavacchedāt ||26||

Not limited by time, the Lord was the teacher even of the earliest teachers.

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥

tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ ||27||

The Lord's name is the sacred syllable, Om.

तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम् ॥२८॥

tajjapastadarthabhāvanam ||28||

Repeat it, and contemplate its meaning.

Silent or spoken repetition (japa) of Om, joined with reflection on what it points to.

ततः प्रत्यक्चेतनाधिगमोऽप्यन्तरायाभावश्च ॥२९॥

tataḥ pratyakcetanādhigamo'pyantarāyābhāvaśca ||29||

From this comes inward-turned awareness and the removal of obstacles.

व्याधिस्त्यानसंशयप्रमादालस्याविरतिभ्रान्तिदर्शनालब्धभूमिकत्वानवस्थितत्वानिचित्तविक्षेपास्तेऽन्तरायाः ॥३०॥

vyādhistyānasaṃśayapramādālasyāviratibhrāntidarśanālabdhabhūmikatvānavasthitatvānicittavikṣepāste'ntarāyāḥ ||30||

Sickness, dullness, doubt, carelessness, laziness, craving for pleasure, false views, failure to reach a stage of practice, and failure to stay in it — these distractions of the mind are the obstacles.

दुःखदौर्मनस्याङ्गमेजयत्वश्वासप्रश्वासा विक्षेपसहभुवः ॥३१॥

duḥkhadaurmanasyāṅgamejayatvaśvāsapraśvāsā vikṣepasahabhuvaḥ ||31||

Pain, low spirits, trembling of the body, and irregular breathing come along with these distractions.

तत्प्रतिषेधार्थमेकतत्त्वाभ्यासः ॥३२॥

tatpratiṣedhārthamekatattvābhyāsaḥ ||32||

To prevent them, practice focusing on a single principle.

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥३३॥

maitrīkaruṇāmuditopekṣāṇāṃ sukhaduḥkhapuṇyāpuṇyaviṣayāṇāṃ bhāvanātaścittaprasādanam ||33||

The mind becomes clear by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion toward the suffering, gladness toward the good, and equanimity toward the wrongdoer.

A practical sutra about relationships. The four attitudes are the same as the four "immeasurables" of Buddhism. Each one dissolves a specific reaction: envy, coldness, cynicism, and resentment.

प्रच्छर्दनविधारणाभ्यां वा प्राणस्य ॥३४॥

pracchardanavidhāraṇābhyāṃ vā prāṇasya ||34||

Or through exhaling and holding the breath.

From here to 1.39, Patanjali lists alternative methods for steadying the mind. Each sentence begins "or," meaning any one of them can work.

विषयवती वा प्रवृत्तिरुत्पन्ना मनसः स्थितिनिबन्धनी ॥३५॥

viṣayavatī vā pravṛttirutpannā manasaḥ sthitinibandhanī ||35||

Or a steady mind arises when perception turns toward a subtle object of the senses.

विशोका वा ज्योतिष्मती ॥३६॥

viśokā vā jyotiṣmatī ||36||

Or through a sorrowless, luminous state.

वीतरागविषयं वा चित्तम् ॥३७॥

vītarāgaviṣayaṃ vā cittam ||37||

Or by focusing the mind on someone who has gone beyond desire.

Contemplating a person who is free — a saint, a teacher, an ideal — draws the mind toward that same freedom.

स्वप्ननिद्राज्ञानालम्बनं वा ॥३८॥

svapnanidrājñānālambanaṃ vā ||38||

Or by resting the mind on insights from dreams or deep sleep.

यथाभिमतध्यानाद्वा ॥३९॥

yathābhimatadhyānādvā ||39||

Or by meditating on whatever one finds uplifting.

A generous sutra: the method matters less than the steadiness it produces.

परमाणुपरममहत्त्वान्तोऽस्य वशीकारः ॥४०॥

paramāṇuparamamahattvānto'sya vaśīkāraḥ ||40||

The mastery of such a mind extends from the smallest atom to the greatest magnitude.

क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृग्रहणग्राह्येषु तत्स्थतदञ्जनता समापत्तिः ॥४१॥

kṣīṇavṛtterabhijātasyeva maṇergrahītṛgrahaṇagrāhyeṣu tatsthatadañjanatā samāpattiḥ ||41||

When the movements of the mind have died down, it becomes like a clear jewel, taking on the color of whatever it rests on — the knower, the act of knowing, or the known. This is absorption.

A crystal placed on a red cloth looks red. A still mind, placed on any object, takes on that object's form completely, without distortion.

तत्र शब्दार्थज्ञानविकल्पैः संकीर्णा सवितर्का समापत्तिः ॥४२॥

tatra śabdārthajñānavikalpaiḥ saṃkīrṇā savitarkā samāpattiḥ ||42||

When this absorption is mixed with ideas formed from words, meanings, and knowledge, it is called absorption with reasoning.

स्मृतिपरिशुद्धौ स्वरूपशून्येवार्थमात्रनिर्भासा निर्वितर्का ॥४३॥

smṛtipariśuddhau svarūpaśūnyevārthamātranirbhāsā nirvitarkā ||43||

When memory is purified and the mind is as if empty of itself, so that only the object shines forth, it is called absorption beyond reasoning.

एतयैव सविचारा निर्विचारा च सूक्ष्मविषया व्याख्याता ॥४४॥

etayaiva savicārā nirvicārā ca sūkṣmaviṣayā vyākhyātā ||44||

In the same way, absorption with reflection and beyond reflection, concerned with subtle objects, have been explained.

सूक्ष्मविषयत्वं चालिङ्गपर्यवसानम् ॥४५॥

sūkṣmaviṣayatvaṃ cāliṅgaparyavasānam ||45||

The range of subtle objects extends all the way to the unmanifest.

"The unmanifest" is nature in its unformed root state, the subtlest thing there is apart from awareness itself.

ता एव सबीजः समाधिः ॥४६॥

tā eva sabījaḥ samādhiḥ ||46||

These are all absorption with a seed.

"With a seed" means there is still an object, and still latent tendencies that can sprout into future thought.

निर्विचारवैशारद्येऽध्यात्मप्रसादः ॥४७॥

nirvicāravaiśāradye'dhyātmaprasādaḥ ||47||

With mastery of absorption beyond reflection, the inner self becomes clear.

ऋतंभरा तत्र प्रज्ञा ॥४८॥

ṛtaṃbharā tatra prajñā ||48||

There, wisdom is filled with truth.

श्रुतानुमानप्रज्ञाभ्यामन्यविषया विशेषार्थत्वात् ॥४९॥

śrutānumānaprajñābhyāmanyaviṣayā viśeṣārthatvāt ||49||

This wisdom is different from what is known by hearing or inference, because it has the particular thing as its object.

Reading or reasoning gives general knowledge about things. This insight knows the thing itself, directly.

तज्जः संस्कारोऽन्यसंस्कारप्रतिबन्धी ॥५०॥

tajjaḥ saṃskāro'nyasaṃskārapratibandhī ||50||

The impression born from it blocks other impressions.

Each experience leaves a trace. The trace left by this insight is strong enough to prevent the old, scattered patterns from re-forming.

तस्यापि निरोधे सर्वनिरोधान्निर्बीजः समाधिः ॥५१॥

tasyāpi nirodhe sarvanirodhānnirbījaḥ samādhiḥ ||51||

When even that is stilled, everything is stilled, and there is absorption without seed.

The end of chapter 1 and the end of the path: nothing remains to sprout, so awareness stands alone.