32 gross and subtle levels and ‘an increasing light of knowledge up to the discriminative discernment
between the seer and the seeable’
75
In this eightfold method Pātānjali sets out a reversal of the prakŗiti process of material evolution
and manifestation of the world, the subsequent ‘entanglement’ of the pure consciousness purușa
through the process of ‘ samyoga’ to give rise to the phenomenal individuality. There is a conscious
process by the yogin to remove the egoic content of each action, thought, feeling, intention and
volition, thereby removing the rāga attachment and dvesa aversion towards the world of names
and forms. .
b. Abhyāsa Practice and Vairāgya Dispassion
According to Vyāsa in his commentary on the Yogasūtra, there is a close interdependence between
the abhyāsa and vairāgya the former representing the positive pole of practice and the latter the
negative pole of dispassion
76
This shows how Pātānjali’s Science of Mind is able to interweave the psychological, ethical and
soteriological dimensions to construct a technology of mastering the mind and unfold the true identity of the individual.
.The river of the mind, according to Vyāsa, flows in both directions, one
ending in Kaivalya or liberation through Viveka or discrimination and the other ending in repeated
births in the wheel of samsāra. Dispassion reduces the flow towards the sense-objects and
discrimination opens ‘the floodgate of discriminative knowledge’. The nirodha of mental
modifications requires both means for the mind to flow towards the high ground of liberation.
Sūtra I.5 classifies the five types of modifications of the citta as afflicted klișța or non-afflicted aklișța, the former leading to du
ḥ
kha suffering and the latter to leading to discernment and liberation. The conscious practice by the
yogin leads away from ignorance to knowledge and emancipation through creating the right cognitive and moral conditions. Knowledge leading to
75
I. Whicher, The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana, p 190
76
Hariharananda Aranya, Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali, I.12 p 35
33 liberation implies ‘purity and clarity of mind and is a condition arising from
sattva, the illuminating constituent or power of the mind’
77
These two methods of abhyāsa and vairāgya are to be practiced together as each fulfils its function
in Yoga praxis. The practice requires a sense of detachment, particularly from the results as the acquisition of powers would lead to an imbalance of ego inflation.
Vairāgya without practice is not only ineffective but can lead to further delusion and confusion. When the two are practiced together
in a balanced way, there is concentration of mind and purpose and takes one towards nirodha of the
vŗtti. Practice needs to be carried out with proper attention, over a long period of time without interruption to be firmly grounded
. The other direction of flow of the modifications going towards ignorance implies a ‘confused or delusive sense of identity rooted in the various impurities of the
mind’ which arises from tamas, the delusive constituent or power of the mind.
78
. Vyāsa states that this form grounding in practice is required so
that the yogin is ‘not easily overcome by any latent impressions samskāra of the fluctuating kind’
79
The second method of vairāgya or dispassion is defined by Pātānjali as ‘the knowledge of mastery
in one who does not thirst for any object either seen or heard of’ .
80
77
I. Whicher, The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana, p173
. One of the reasons for the modifications of the
citta is the externalisation of the mind and engagement with the world of objects. The
samskāra and vāsanā create desires for the things, beings and happenings of the world with a tendency to repeat the experiences which are pleasurable and stop those which are painful.
There is a constant rāga attraction and dvesa aversion towards external and even internal objects
according to the texture of the vāsanā. The mastery for the yogin then is in consciously disengaging
from everything which takes himher away from steadiness of practice. The normal momentum of the externalisation of the mind is broken through dispassion.
78
Hariharananda Aranya, Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali, YS I.14
79
Ibid., p37
80
Ibid, YS I.15, p37
34 With a comprehensive programme of practice based on a systematically set out Science of Mind, the
yogin reduces the modifications of the mind to a high degree. With this come the one-pointedness ekāgratā of the mind which, like a powerful searchlight is able to illumine the subtlest aspects of
one’s consciousness and with the practice of meditation, is able to attain absorption in the pure consciousness of
purușa .
c. Preparation for Samādhi: Pratyāhara, Dhārana and Dhyāna
