Patañjali's yogasūtras 1:5-6

As we go forward, it helps to note that the yogasūtras were not written  as a teaching tool. Concepts are not explained in order, starting from the simple, going to the complex. Rather they presuppose a knowledge of the entire system. Scholars believe that they were a way of preserving the expert tradition. That makes it harder for us to understand the sūtras, and the interconnecting concepts, till we have read about them all*. But having studied them for a year, I believe the effort was more than worth it. 

{1:5}
वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टाक्लिष्टाः 

वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टाः अल्किष्टाः 

Modifications [of the mind are] five-fold [and are] painful [or] non-painful

वृत्तयः - nominative plural of वृत्ति - activity, modification

पञ्चतय्यः - five-fold agreeing with वृत्तयः

क्लिष्टाः - tormented, injured, pained - adjective agreeing with वृत्तयः from √kliś (9P) to torment, to afflict 

अल्किष्टाः - not connected with pain or suffering

Importantly, the vrittis (activities of the mind) are classifed as kliśṭa and 

akliśṭa, because of their connection to a central yogic concept - that of 

kleśas (suffering, affliction) which are treated in Ch 2, sūtras 2-12. 

At one level this  sūtras refers to simple experiences - a beautiful sunset, freshly cut grass, road-kill, the living dead; or even neutral experiences - stirring tea, combing one's hair. Interestingly what is pleasurable for one person, may not be so for another. Not everyone loves the opera, blue cheese and wasabi. There are people who don't like dogs or are downright scared of them. The reason for these individual reactions is treated later in the sūtras. But it bears reflection at this stage.

{1:6}

प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः 

प्रमाण विपर्यय विकल्प निद्रा स्मृतयः

[These are] right knowledge, wrong knowledge, fancy/imagination, sleep and memory

प्रमाण - right perception (sing., neuter., nominative)

विपर्यय - misapprehension, error (sing., masc., nominative)

विकल्प - contrivance, imagination (sing., masc, nom)

निद्रा - sleep (sing., fem., nom)

स्मृतयः - स्मृति remembrance, memory from √smṛ (the plural ending is because all five states are in a compound ending with  स्मृति)

Pramāṇa and viparyaya comprise of all those activities in the mind which are formed by direct contact through one of the sense organs. Vikalpa, and smṛti are internal processes produced in the mind without any contact with the outer world. Notice that in our waking state, we can control Vikalpa (imagination), but in the dream state we have no control on it. These states, including nidrā are explained in detail in the next five sūtras.

*If you can, please read about Sāṃkyha and Yoga in  M. Hiriyanna's excellent and affordable book "Essentials of Indian Philosophy" http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=m+hiriyanna

Patañjali's yogasūtras 1:1-4

Long on the 'to do' list, but never attempted, I'd like to thank @waynemcevilly for making me believe that I could translate Patañjali's yogasūtras. This introductory post needs to  be a teeny  bit long, so bear with me. Subsequent posts will be more compact.

A few provisos before we proceed:

a) This is primarily a linguistic exercise, not a philosophical one. My intention is merely to remove the language barrier, and let you draw your own conclusions. Find your own inspiration.

b)  I'll use some visuals and quote certain commentaries when it makes it easier for me to explain what I understand of the sūtras. Zero intervention is impossible, but I'll keep it to the minimum.  

c) Since a lot of you are learning Sanskrit, I will provide as much grammatical detail as possible e.g. verb class, case, person, number, mood, tense, derivation, analysis of compounds, prefixes, suffixes and so on.

d) These are sūtras, not prose or verses, so anything superfluous is left out. Very often we have to supply connecting words, esp. verbs. 

e) You can listen to the yogasūtras here: http://www.kofibusia.com/yogasutras/index.php

And now, Patañjali's Yogasūtras:

अथ योगानुशासनम् {1:1}

(अथ योगस्य अनुशासनम्) 

Now then, the instruction [of] Yoga

अथ - now, then; after this; (indeclinable)
योगः meditation, discipline, endeavour, self-concentration masc., noun from √yuj (7P) to yoke, harness, to make ready, to lead towards

अनुशासनम् - direction, instruction, discipline -  nom., neuter noun from anu √śās (2P)- to instruct, to rule 

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः {1:2}

योगः चित्त+वृत्ति निरोधः 

(योगः चित्तस्य वृत्तयः निरोधः [अस्ति])

Yoga is the inhibition of the activity [modification] of the mind

चित्त - mind, thinking; neuter noun

वृत्ति - activity, modification, use; fem noun

निरोधः - stoppage, blockage; masc. noun from ni √rudh (7P) to obstruct

But why would anyone want to stop modification of, or activity in the mind? Well, think of it this way - the mind is constantly bombarded with thoughts  which I imagine like this:

And when the mind is filled with thoughts, I imagine it look like this, only the spots are whirling rapidly. (The net result will be discussed in sūtra 1:4):

तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेSवस्थानम्  {1:3}

तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपे अवस्थानम्   

Then [when the activity of the mind is stopped] the seer* dwells in his own form

तदा - then; indeclinable correlative

द्रष्टुः - the seer*

स्वरूपे - in [his] own form; locative singular of स्वरूप neuter noun - appearance, character

अवस्थानम् - dwelling, situation, residence; nom., neuter noun from ava √sthā (Supply 'is' अस्ति) 

*the seer refers to  puruṣa, the spiritual element in Sāmkhya ontology, which underpins Yoga. I've dealt with it briefly in para 6 here:
http://all-about-sanskrit.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/are-yogic-siddhis-real-essay-i-wrote-in.html

वृत्तिसारूप्यमितरत्र {1:4}

वृत्ति सारुप्यम् इतरत्र  

वृत्त्याः पुरुषस्य सारुप्यम् इतरत्र

As a result of activity [in the mind] [the] identity [of the seer] is elsewhere

वृत्ति - activity, modification, use; fem noun

सारुप्यम् - likeness, identity of appearance; neuter noun

इतरत्र  - elsewhere; indeclinable.

The idea simply is that you train your mind to still itself, and void itself of all thoughts. That way, the spiritual element (the seer*) who is entangled in the material world, manages to detach itself and rest in its own form. You would take your mind from this:

To this:

To this:

Bringing us to {1:3}  तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपे अवस्थानम् Then the seer* dwells in his own form.

  

Stilling the mind: Patañjali's yogasūtra 1:33

Critical to the process of yoga, is 'single-pointedness' (ekāgratā) of the mind, a prerequisite of which is serenity, calmness. While reaching samādhi is a process that requires instruction from a practising expert, there is a lot that we can do ourselves in the earlier stages, by following the yogasūtra of Patañjali. Chapter 1, sūtras 27-41 list a range of activities through which we can still our minds and put ourselves on the path to samādhi. Of them all, the most challenging, and perhaps the most fruitful is 1:33. I believe that negativity is debilitating. Anything that is toxic, causes misery and anxiety should be ejected or resolved as soon as possible. But the question is how? 

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्य विषयाणां भावनातश्चित्त प्रसादनम् {1:33}

The mind is made calm [and] serene by cultivating [attitudes of] friendliness, joy and compassion; [at the same time] being indifferent to joy and/or grief, vice and/or virtue.

चित्त - heart, mind, reflecting; neuter noun 

प्रसादनम् - serenity, clearness, calmness - masculine noun, here in accusative (चित्त+प्रसादनम् to [achieve] calmness of the mind)  

मैत्री - friendliness, benevolence; nom., fem., noun 

करुणा - kindness, compassion; nom., fem., noun

मुदिता - gladness, joy; nom., fem., noun

भावनातः - भावना - feeling, cultivating - fem., noun with ablative ending तस् which gives a sense of cause (hetu). As a result of feeling [the above mentioned] The mind becomes serene.   

सुख - delight, happiness, pleasure; neuter noun

दुःख - grief, misery, sorrow; neuter noun 

पुण्य - pure, meritorious; neuter noun

अपुण्य - vice, impure; adjective

विषयाणां - with relation to [of the above mentioned] subjects, topics; genitive plural

उपेक्षाणाम् - genitive plural of उपेक्षा - indifference, overlooking, neglect [of the above mentioned] The mind becomes serene.

Now this is obviously easier said than done. I've worked on it very hard, and managed only to reach an intermediate stage. I can neither rise above the pairs of opposites, nor can I cultivate friendliness et. al. when I dislike someone or something. But in trying, what I have managed is aptly captured in "Fiddler on the Roof". The Rabbi tells his community - there's a blessing for everything. They ask - is there also a blessing for the Tsar (who persecutes them)? And he replies after some thought: 

Lebisch: Rabbi! May I ask you a question? 

Rabbi: Certainly, Lebisch! 


Lebisch: Is there a proper blessing... for the Tsar? 


Rabbi: A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep

the Tsar... far away from us! 

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How siddhis arise: Saṃyamaḥ

My last post was Patañjali cautioning us that siddhis are a distraction on the path to samādhi, and must be ignored. Yet he spends nearly an entire chapter enumerating and describing the siddhis. The process of achieving samādhi is a complex one and best learnt from a practising expert. However one can get some understanding of how siddhis arise by looking at sūtras 1-6 of Ch 3. I.K Taimini describes  reading the yogasūtras as having a map - it can give you an idea of distance, topography etc., but unless you visit the place, experience it yourself, you will not really know the reality of what is there.

It is the application of संयमः (saṃyamaḥ) on an object or process that gives rise to siddhis, which are extra-ordinary powers.  संयमः (saṃyamaḥ) is a technical term that consists of dhāraṇā, dhyānam and samādhi, which are now described:

3:1

देशबन्धश्चित्तस्य धारणा 

देश बन्धः चित्तस्य धारणा 

देश place, spot

बन्धः confining, fixing 

चित्तस्य of the mind/of thinking/of thought

धारणा concentration, steadfastness, act of holding

The confining of the mind, or thought process to one particular spot is called dhāraṇā. Expert commentators tell us that it could be an actual spot (bindu), a yantra, an image of a god - be it Krisha, a baby Jesus, a mental or physical image of the sun or moon or even an apple. It depends on what can hold your mind in the strongest way. 

3:2

तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानम् 

तत्र प्रत्यय एकतानता ध्यानम्  

तत्र there, in that place

प्रत्यय content of consciousness (whatever your mind is thinking of in dhāraṇā)

एकतानता - stretching, an unbroken stream (of the same thought)

ध्यानम्  is meditation, contemplation

So when our parents told us as kids ध्यान से पढ़ो (study with dhyāna) they meant be attentive to the exclusion of all other thoughts, and now you know where it comes from!

3:3  

तदेवार्थमात्रनिर्भासं स्वरूपशून्यमिव समाधिः 

तत् +एव अर्थ मात्र निर्भासं स्वरूप शून्यम् इव समाधिः 

तत् +एव that itself

अर्थ object

मात्र only

निर्भासं shining, appearing

स्वरूप  true or essential form

शून्यम् empty, void

इव like, as if

समाधिः trance, state of meditation

When there is consciousness only of the object (being concentrated upon) and not of the mind itself - this is samādhi. 

Basically, the mind loses awareness of itself, and only consciousness of the object remains. 'svarūpa śūnyam iva' The mind's own form disappears, as it were. 

3:4

त्रयमेकत्र संयमः 

त्रयम् एकत्र संयमः 

त्रयम् the three  (dhāraṇā, dhyānam &samādhi)

एकत्र in one place, jointly 

संयमः this is saṃyamaḥ

Swami Vivekananda in his commentary on PYS says that the powers of the mind are like rays of light dissipated. And when concentrated, they illumine. (A bit like rays of the sun being concentrated by a magnifying glass.) He says there is no limit to the power of the human mind, and the more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point. He exemplifies by referring to a chemist working in his lab or an astronomer studying the stars through a telescope. What they achieve is the result of concentration.

When this concentrated power of the mind saṃyamaḥ, the composite of  dhāraṇā, dhyānam, samādhiis is applied (विनियोगः)  it pierces the outer form of an object to unravel its inner reality. And the practitioner, the yogi gains to access to knowledge way beyond the ordinary. For instance by applying saṃyamaḥ to sound, he/she can understand all language, and sounds made by any living being (3:17).  

From the next post, I will translate individual sūtras in detail. 

Patañjali’s Yogasūtras Vibhūtipāda 3:38

On popular demand, in the coming weeks, I'll be translating verses from Patañjali’s Yougasūtras, which form the philosophical foundations of Yoga. As a literary genre, sūtras are situated between the early (prose) upaniṣads and  metrical śāstric literature. While dating ancient Indian texts is notoriously difficult, most scholars agree that the sūtras were in vogue around the 2nd cen BCE. In a sūtra, all unnecessary words are discarded, keeping only those which are essential to the concept.

Let's make a start by looking at a very basic translation. I start with the vibhūtis - or siddhis, special powers that accrue to the yogī as a result of the practice of yoga. You can read my blog post about siddhis here: 

http://all-about-sanskrit.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/are-yogic-siddhis-real-essay-i-wrote-in.html

Before we go on to describe the siddhis, an unequivocal warning from Patañjali - siddhis are an obstacle on the path to samādhi

PYS 3:38

ते समाधावुपसर्गा व्युत्थाने सिद्धयः 

ते समाधौ उपसर्गाः व्युत्थाने सिद्धयः  

सिद्धयः ते  समाधौ उपसर्गाः व्युत्थाने 

[The] unusual skills, they (are) obstacles with respect to samādhi, in [taking the mind] opposite from it's inward path*

सिद्धयः - the powers = feminine nominative, plural noun

ते - they = masculine, plural, nominative pronoun agreeing with उपसर्गाः  

उपसर्गाः- misfortunes, seizures, troubles = masculine, nominative, plural noun. In prose, here we would supply सन्ति (are)  ते  उपसर्गाः सन्ति 

समाधौ - locative singular of समाधि = with respect to samādhi, a masculine noun meaning here, intense application of the mind, profound meditation 

व्युत्थाने - in rising up, opposing = locative, neutral noun व्युत्थान from vi+ut +√sthā 

*The inward path of the mind is assumed, in trying to reach samādhi. The sūtras are mnemonic devices used to condense masses of information that students learning from a teacher would be familiar with. It makes the complex ones very difficult to read, and through the ages many commentaries have been written on them. The most famous being the Yogabhāśya attributed to Vyāsa; the Tattvavaiśāradi of Vācaspati Misra, and of course one by the Adi Śankarācarya. 

Yoga is one of the 6 schools of ancient & medieval Indian philosophy, and twinned with and distinguishable from Sāṃkhya  only in the fact that it admits a god. Sāṃkhya is an atheist philosophical system.In more recent centuries, every scholar and philosopher of repute has written a commentary, from his own philosophical standpoint. More than ever, then, it is recommended that you read at least 3-4 commentaries to get to the soul of the sūtra.  

My favourite commentary is Rāja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda. For translation I use "The Science of Yoga" by I.K Taimini.

If you wish to listen to and memorise the sūtras you can listen to them here:

http://www.kofibusia.com/yogasutras/index.php

Sāmaveda 1:8 translation & grammar

आ ते वत्सो मनो यमत्परमाच्चित् सधस्थात् अग्ने त्वां कामये गिरा

आ ते मनः वत्सः यमत् परमाच्चित्  सधस्थात् अग्ने त्वाम् कामये गिरा 

अग्ने आ ते मनः चित् परमात् सधस्थात् यमत् वत्सः त्वाम् गिरा कामये 

Indeed O Agni, aiming to draw your mind from [your] most excellent abode, Vatsa longs for you by means of [this] hymn. 

आ particle showing assent, 'Verily! Indeed!'
वत्सः nominative, masc, singular. Name of seer
त्वाम् accusative, singular, pronoun - to you (तुम को in Hindi)
गिरा feminine, instrumental, singular of गिर् = speech, voice. As adjective it has the sense of invoking, praising. In Vedic times it was always by a hymn
कामये - "[I] long for" 1st person, singular, causative verb in ātmanepada
अग्ने! - 'O Agni' vocative case
ते - your (short form for तव)
मनः - mind - neuter, nominative, singular
परमात् - most high, excellent - ablative adjective agreeing with सधस्थात् 
सधस्थात् neuter, ablative singular "from [the] abode" (सधस्थ neuter noun = spot, abode region. Derived from √sthā to stand/stay)
चित् - verb = to intend to, aim*  
यमत् = present participle drawing, moving*
Griffiths uses the optative May I draw - but there is no evidence for this. It's probably to make the translation elegant.

*Motion is listed by Apte as 'yaman' and I wonder if I'm force fitting it to suit Griffith's translation. Similarly 'cit'. A root form of the verb is used in compound, but परमाच्चित्  doesn't look like a compound to me. I'm not an expert in Vedic grammar, so it could be that both are governed by rules I'm not aware of.  For now even though I'm not totally happy with these two, I'm posting as is. If you have an explanation, please leave a comment! I'd be grateful.

Sāmaveda 1:6 Translation

त्वं नो अग्ने महोभिः पाहि विश्वस्या अरातेः उत द्विषो मर्त्यस्य (Sāmaveda 1:6)

Vigraha & Anvaya

त्वम् नः महोभिः पाहि अग्ने विश्वस्या अरातेः उत मर्त्यस्य द्विषः 

Agni, protect us with [through] your might, from all adversity/malignity [and] from the enmity/hatred of mortals.

अग्ने - vocative - addressing Agni

त्वम्  - you

नः - us (this is a short form for अस्मान् =हम को) 

महोभिः - ablative plural पञ्चमी विभक्ति बहुवचन of Might (महन् neuter noun)  = might or great deeds से*. The ablative has a sense of source =from, as a result of 

पाहि - protect (Imperative - You protect [us])

विश्वस्या - of the world/universe=all (feminine genitive singular adjective agreeing with अरातेः

अरातेः - from adversity/malignity (ablative singular of feminine noun अराति = adversity, malignity. Declines like शक्ति)

उत - and, even

मर्त्यस्य - of mortals (masculine, genitive, singular)

द्विषः - Enemies, hatred (nominative, plural of द्विष् m/n) 

* could also be ablative plural of मह (neuter noun meaning great deeds)

Samskrit or Sanskrit? The Mighty anusvāra

Last week, we had a bit of a flutter on the English spelling of संस्कृत in our Twitter group. Some people spell it Sanskrit, others Samskrit or Samskrut. I think this is the perfect opportunity to revisit the अनुस्वार (anusvāra), which, as you know, is the dot above the line in a Devanagari word. It marks a nasal sound (anunāsika). For example in संस्कृत, कंकर, गंगा, चंचू  रंजन, दंत, पंपा I I'd like you to study this table* before we proceed:

The confusion is caused by the way Sanskrit is transliterated/romanised. The anusvāra is represented by an m with a dot underneath it - 'ṃ'. This is pronounced according to its surroundings. When it precedes consonants from the five rows of stops i.e क varga, च, ट, त & प varga - it is pronounced as the 'varga' nasal - which means गंगा is गङ्गा,  चंचू  is चञ्चू ,  रंजन is रञ्जन, दंत is दन्त and पंपा is पम्पा I 

In academic writing if you leave the dot out from under the m, your marks will be cut for making a spelling mistake. But outside the classroom, it doesn't seem to matter so much. Hence the confusion.

As you can see from the table above, स, श, ष and ह are also assigned to the five vargas by ancient grammarians. Since the anusvāra precedes a स in "Sanskrit", and स belongs to the त varga, the anusvāra denotes a न, not a मI So you know right away that 'Samskrit' is incorrect. The English/romanised spelling with 'm' is a misguided attempt to represent the anusvāra of the Devanagari spelling - but without a dot below the 'm' it neither corresponds to the spelling, nor to the pronunciation.  

Now coming to 'kri' vs 'kru' for कृ।  The syllabic ṛ was lost in India by the time of the Pali language long before the common era. It has been  pronounced either ri in North and East India, and ru in Western and Southern usage. So the verb गृह्णामि (I sieze/grab) is pronounced gruhṇāmi in some parts of the country, and grihṇāmi in others. So too, with Sanskrit vs Sanskrut. In the sense that it is attested local pronunciation, kri vs kru is neither right nor wrong. It's just what you grow up with.

I would like to thank @kishoredattu for raising this question, and  @thinkeron and @deshrajeev  for contributing their thoughts and response to it.

It is also an opportunity to revisit transliteration in general. Pl see the table here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Alphabet_of_Sanskrit_Transliteration)

I am guilty of simplification myself. Throughout this post I have spelt this famous past participle as 'Sanskrit' for reasons of convenience, because we are used to it. Really it should be saṃskrita. Also because the त at the end is actually त् + अ  like अनुस्वार is anusvāra  not anusvār. 

Talking of which, please also see: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7261097102178676559#editor/target=post;postID=388453601051482365 on the all important 'a' in Sanskrit.

*The table is taken from Robert & Sally Goldman's Sanskrit Primer.

I'm eternally grateful to Dr. Renate Sӧhnen-Thieme not just for her help in understanding this topic, but for helping me realise how precise Sanskrit is.