13
III. Methodology
a. Introduction
The main method will involve a close, detailed reading and conceptual analysis of the key terms in the first six verses of the
Yogasūtra. This will be based on looking at the root meanings of the Sanskrit word and then examining the connotations for each word with philological rigour. The
mapping of these concepts in this manner will elucidate the elements of the Science of Mind in Pātānjali ’s text. Those verses in the Yogasūtra which provide important linkages to the overall
framework will also be taken into account. In this way it is proposed to build up a psychological understanding of these key verses.
b. The tradition of commentaries and the sūtra style
One of the unique features of Indian philosophy and theology is that most of the writing is in the form of commentaries and sub commentaries of the sacred texts
19
19
G Feuerstein, The Yogasutra of Patanjali, a new translation and commentary, Wm Dawson and
sons,UK,1989, pxii
. Over the centuries these commentaries would make a substantial body of literature related to a particular text. The
Yogasūtra of Pātānjali as noted above is a case in point. This is written in the sūtra literally ‘thread’ style which highly condensed aphorisms which summarise the essentials of the school of thought.
This is perhaps one way in which the oral tradition was maintained with the memorisation of the sūtra literature for passing from the teacher to the disciple. The commentary bhāșya, or an
explanation of the sūtras, would then bring out the meaning of the aphorisms in line with the
particular school of thought. There exist also further explanations of the commentaries called the varttikā-s.
14 Whiteman
20
has noted that the sūtra style is characterised by the lack of verbs but not verbal
adjectives or nouns and the omission of prepositions. The meaning to the string of nouns and adjectives of the verses is therefore dependant on the construction of the compounds. He sets out
the categories of Sanskrit two word compounds. This has a bearing on the exegesis of the verses as an understanding of the structure of the
sūtra style of writing allows the consideration of the limits and scope of interpretation.
SECTION TWO
I. THE SCIENCE OF MIND
CITTA ŚĀSTRA
21
a. Introduction AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF
YOGASŪTRA
Pātanjali’s Yoga deals primarily with the functioning of human mind and it is in the second verse of the
Yogasūtra that he immediately defines the nature and purpose of Yoga. The mind can be seen as an instrument which manifests the dynamic interplay,
samyoga, between the purușa dŗśtr and prakŗiti dŗśya or ‘the seen’. The mind therefore is of great significance in two ways: firstly, in
determining how the world and self are cognised and experienced and secondly, as an instrument for removing ignorance about the ‘true reality’ of one’s identity from which arises a misidentification
with the limited ego and consequent suffering. This entanglement of the
purușa with the prakŗiti in the citta or mind , its nature and the mental processes, is the basis of the ‘psychological’ understanding of the person and the human
predicament. Citta is the single most important psychological concept employed in Classical Yoga.
20
J Whiteman , Aphorisms on Spiritual Method, The Yogasutras of Patanjali in the Light of Mystical Experience,
Colin Smythe, London, 1993, p98
21
This is a Sanskrit term designated by the author to describe the Science of Mind
15 We will begin with the detailed examination of this concept, and its principles as the primary starting
point of Pātānjali ’s Science of Mind.
b. Citta , its nature, structure and functioning
Kategori