दु:खदौर्मनस्याङ्गमेजयत्वश्वासप्रश्वासा विक्षेपसहभुव: ।।३१।।

दु:ख – pain, दौर्मनस्य – dejection, अङ्गमेजयत्व – trembling of limbs, श्वास – inhalation, प्रश्वास: – exhalation, विक्षेप – distraction, सहभुव: – occur with, accompany

Suffering, dejection, trembling, inhalation and exhalation accompany (the distractions or अंतराया given in the previous सूत्र)

दु:ख – pain. Tradition points to three sources of दुःख viz अधिभूत (suffering from others in society), अधिदैव (from nature like heat, cold, lightning, etc) and अध्यात्म (from within our own body and mind)

दौर्मनस्य – dejection which happens when one’s desires are obstructed, अङ्गमेजयत्व – trembling of limbs and this causes interference with one’s आसन (postures adopted in day to day living),

श्वास – excessive intake of external air is a defect that happens involuntarily and interferes with the प्राणयाम breathing technique known as रेचक,

प्रश्वास: – expelling gas is a defect that happens involuntarily and interferes with the प्राणयाम breathing technique known as पूरक,

व्यास says that such obstacles disappear when the mind is not distracted and consequently a person who has control over the mind does not experience the अन्तराया covered above.

तत्प्रतिषेधार्थम् एकतत्वाभ्यास: ।।३२।।

तत् – their (these distractions and their accompaniments), प्रतिषेध – repel, eliminate, negate, अर्थम् – for the sake of, एक – one, single, तत्व – object, अभ्यास: – practice

अभ्यास (of fixing the mind) on one object (should be performed) in order to eliminate these disturbances

अभ्यास here is a continuation of earlier arguments that focus on ईश्वर with a one-pointed चित्त and with भक्ति will negate these disturbances elaborated earlier.

PA: The main reason is as you already know glue of constant attachment with objects that attract us because of past sanskaras impressions; attachment to fame; to being praised; being having a status and being respected; a standing in society; also attachment to belief systems provided by the society; power and fame; the list just goes on …With all this comes some pleasure but maintaining this and keep it or enhancing it creates  attachment and this causes fear – fear of losing it because of being attached to all that. This glue of attachment sticks strongly and is carried over from one life to the other and we have to go through these life situations again. We never learn in our formative years these basic things about things come and go and not to take the life situations seriously. In our schools we never learn about these concepts and before we know we have completely entangled ourselves in this maya janjaal 😃 we realize how unfree we are ( I never forget the tatva Bodha the first Sloka talking about being really freee !!). With this realization Then we start a journey on this path which luckily, we find like-minded people like in this group🙏😊

मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम्।। ३३।।

मैत्री – friendship, करुणा – compassion, मुदित – joy,उपेक्षणां – equanimity, सुख – happiness, दुःख – suffering, पुण्य – virtue, अपुण्य – vice, विषयाणां – towards objects, भावनात: – from the mindset and attitude, चित्त -mind, प्रसादनम् – lucidity

By cultivating an attitude of मैत्री towards those who are happy, करुणा towards those in distress, joy towards those who are virtuous and equanimity towards those who are non-virtuous, lucidity arises in the mind.

This is a brilliant सूत्र not just for a योगी but any साधक. व्यास says that to attain a प्रसाद state in our mind is an essential pre-requisite to attain steadiness of the mind. He adds that when one cultivates the attitude given here, सत्व is generated and since clarity is the nature of सत्व, mind becomes better placed to acquire विवेक-बुद्धि. In आर्शधर्म, cultivation of values is not to secure brownie points from a distant God. Instead, its primary purpose is चित्त शुद्धि which then increases सत्व-quotient within us thus making us better placed to pursue higher goals. भोजराजा makes an interesting point – just as arithmetic is important not much in its own right but to arrive at a total sum of something, attitudes mentioned in this सूत्र are important to prepare the mind for ध्यान.

वाचस्पति मिश्र gives more insight here. By being a well-wisher for those who are happy, the contamination of envy is removed. By having करुणा towards those who are miserable, contamination of the desire to inflict harm on others is removed. By equanimity towards the impious, the contamination of intolerance is removed. These negative traits are aspects of रजस् & तमस् which will weigh down सत्व within us and प्रसाद-भावना in our mind will remain a distant goal.

हरिहरानन्द suggests that envy arises even when we encounter people whom we do not care about experiencing happiness; even pious people invoke feelings of envy and we take a cruel delight when we find an enemy in misery. By projecting our happiness onto enemies who may be happy or projecting करुणा that we feel for our friends onto enemies too when they are unhappy, mind attains प्रसाद-भाव. Such a mind then is able to attain to fixity in pursuit of the goal of योग.

प्रच्छर्दनविधारणाभ्यां वा प्राणस्य ।।३४।।

प्रच्छर्दन – by exhaling, विधारणाभ्यां – by retention, वा – or, प्राणस्य – of the breath

Or (stability of the mind is gained) by exhaling and retaining the breath

प्रच्छर्दन is the expulsion of the stomach air through nostrils by means of special techniques and विधारणा is restraint of the breath. वाचस्पति elaborates that these special techniques involve slowing down the exhalation and lengthening the retention of the breath within the body. And while inhalation is not specified in this सूत्र, it occurs naturally and thus all three are involved here. हरिहरानन्द says that these techniques lead to body becoming lighter and mind steady. If breath is subdued, mind also becomes so since both are connected.

हरिहरानन्द notes that during प्रच्छर्दन & विधारणा, the nerves of the body relax. He adds that the chest and body must be kept still so that the process of breath control is undertaken by the abdominal muscles. At a certain stage, प्रच्छर्दन & विधारणा will occur in a unified fashion; no separate effort is required for each. Key point to note is that one must practice ध्यान with breath control or else the mind can get more disturbed rather than less so. Only when the one-pointed ध्यान of the चित्त is cultivated along with प्राणायाम does the mind become free of वृत्ति.

विषयवति वा प्रवृत्ति: उत्पन्ना मनस: स्थितिनिबन्धनी ।। ३५।।

विषयवति – containing a sense object, वा – or, प्रवृत्ति: – activity, inclination, उत्पन्ना – arises, मनस: – of the mind, स्थितिनिबन्धनी – causing steadiness

Or else, focus on a sense object arises, and this causes steadiness of the mind

While विषय can refer to any sense object, व्यास and others understand this सूत्र to refer to super sensuous experiences. If one concentrates on the nose, one will experience a super normal sense of smell, on the palate, one can experience super-normal colour, on the tip of the tongue, super normal taste, on the middle of the tongue, super-normal touch and on the root of the tongue, super-normal sound. These experiences fix the mind, eliminate the doubt and are a doorway to समाधि. Thus, a sense object can be used as an आलंबना for the mind.

व्यास makes a helpful point here saying that even though the true nature of our reality may be revealed by शास्त्र, or by inference or by teachings of the Gurus, one tends to remain sceptical of their wisdom and be afflicted by doubt as to their incredible claims. And this brings to fore the challenge Gurus are aware of viz how does one make people dedicate themselves of ईश्वर. This is especially so since the literature of ईश्वर will delve into a lot of abstract philosophy which any normal person may be discouraged to get into. पतंजलि therefore makes the point that to encourage anyone to scale Everest (for example), one needs to tell the person to climb the hillock behind the house and experience joy from this small achievement itself. They will then work towards scaling new heights and eventually scale Everest too. प्रत्यक्ष प्रमाण is always more credible than आगमा 😂 (see I. 7 again).

Having gained a personal experience of super sensuous सिद्धि after a few days of practice through one’s own senses, then one will then develop श्रद्धा in words of the शास्त्र or गुरू with greater conviction. Reliance of second-hand knowledge gained from the शास्त्र alone can make our pursuit “belief / faith driven” but not “experience driven”. हरिहरानन्द said that practice of fixing the mind on tip of the nose for a few days in a state of fasting or meagre diet in a place with no disturbances gave him access to a novel aroma pervading the air. And such experiments may be done to remove doubts on the claims of the सूत्र and get deeper in the साधना process.

विशोका वा ज्योतिष्मती ।। ३६।।

विशोका – painless, वा – or, ज्योतिष्मती – effulgent, luminous

Or (steadiness of the mind is gained when) the mind is pain-free and luminous

How can mind be made luminous? What does a luminous mind mean? Luminosity here means illumination of ज्ञान inherent in सत्व that reveals things as they are. Just as sky, बुद्धि when manifesting in its pure सात्विक् nature is luminous and all-pervading like the sky. It is preponderance of तमस् that limits this all-pervading potential. And of course, another trait of सत्व is happiness and hence the “painless” reference is given in this सूत्र.

व्यास gives out two ways in which mind can be made luminous – one being object-based and another being subject-based. For the former, one means is to concentrate बुद्धि on the Lotus chakra in the heart and when one attains skill in doing this, one’s sense activities attain luminosity of the Sun, moon, planets and gems. For the latter, mind is fixed on the sense of “I-am-ness”. Free from रजस् & तमस्, mind becomes calm and unlimited in this state and only aware of a sense of I-am. विज्ञानभिक्षु says that here, the ego is not refracting out into the objects of the world but is the highest function of the ego reflecting on the light and consciousness of पुरुष Itself.

Note: This may be unclear now but as we progress, words used here will become clearer.

PA: Fantastic! The idea of object and subject based will be clearer later as you said .. but what is object and subject. Here? For the latter does this actually mean to consciously focus on what I am not. 

I am not the body

I am not my prana

I am not my intellect

… and further?

UV: The answer to your question has been given by Adi Shankaracharya in his famous Shloka called as Nirvana Shatakam and you will get what you are seeking. Just google on these words and you will get what you seek.

UV: A photograph sourced from Google that covers all aspects attached to us that come under the idea of “objects”

वीतरागविषयं वा चित्तम् ।।३७।।

वीत – without, राग – desire, विषयं – object, वा – or, चित्तम् – mind

Or (the mind becomes steady when it focuses on) one who is free from desire as its object.

पतंजलि says here that the goal of योग can be obtained by meditation on a pure-minded योगी. व्यास says that when contemplating the minds of those who are free from desire, one’s own mind becomes tinged by the purity of their minds. गुरु-शिष्य परंपरा is also based on this premise wherein if a शिष्य has approached someone who is free from desire, he can learn from such a person and thereby bring calm to his own mind too. How does one find such a Guru and what if such a Guru turns out to be a cunning person?

This is a legitimate concern no doubt but the point to note is that the सूत्र has given an option by which a योगी can attain his or her goal and if such a गुरू is available and willing, a साधक can use this option to help attain the goal of योग. (Note: 64 गुण of श्रीराम appear in the very beginning of श्रीरामायण to ensure that we read the इतिहास not as a story but to read all events of श्रीराम keeping these गुण in mind. We find words like समाधिमान् viz concentrated mind, साधुः viz pure or दीनात्मा viz compassionate and get a sense of how a calm mind operates in the world. Biographies of saints like Eknath who represent a living embodiment of calm of mind may again be helpful here).

स्वप्ननिद्राज्ञानालंबनम् वा ।।३८।।

स्वप्न – dream, निद्रा – sleep, ज्ञान – knowledge, आलंबनम् – support, वा – Or

Or (the mind can be steady when it has) the knowledge attained from dreams and sleep as its support.

This is a curious सूत्र. व्यास just states that a योगी can take any object that came to him in his स्वप्न and/or निद्रा. वाचस्पति makes the point that if one dreams of ईश्वर (say a form of शिव) in their dream, they can use that as an आलंबनम् and fix themselves on it. However, given that objects dreamt are based on संस्कार imprints during waking life, this means such dreams can only happen if one thinks of ईश्वर during waking state also. आदिशंकर gives his own unique take on this saying that चित्त is free of thought during deep sleep which is also the goal of योग (albeit this state is on account of तमस् driven by अविद्या) and if one wakes up and does ध्यान on this state by cultivating सत्व, one will be able to make the mind steady.

विज्ञानभिक्षु take is interesting. He says that waking state is akin to a dream state for a self-realized आत्मा because the objects of the waking world are as perishable as objects during dream. Through detachment of the world that results from such a contemplation, the mind attains its desired steadiness and stability.

HB: Perhaps they are referring to the sub-conscious and not dreams literally

UV: Commentaries do not refer to any state other than dreams only

HB: It’s like understanding psychodynamic theory which was originally conceived and written in German language .. it is believed that lot may have been lost while translating the original transcripts

PA: We do experience this that the dream world appears as real as the real world in terms of images and especially emotions.

यथाभिमतध्यानाद् वा ।।३९।।

यथा – according to, अभिमत – that which is agreeable, ध्यानाद् – from meditation, वा – Or

Or (steadiness of the mind is attained) from meditation upon anything of one’s inclination.

Anything that works, works. Tradition is open to innovation. One cannot prescribe any rigidity or limitations in the means available to attain the goal. पतंजलि thus adds this सूत्र leaving a योगी to pursue a path that is his choosing as long as the end goal of stabilizing the mind is clearly understood. How does one attain a calm & pleasant mind given the busy nature of life in modern world? श्रीमदभगवद्गीता gives a clue – stick to स्वधर्म. And what is your स्वधर्म? That धर्म which is tuned to our aptitude or स्वभाव is the best thing to do since I will find it most easy to remain focussed in the activity that I am engaged with. And what is the benefit of sticking to our स्वधर्म? Our mind has a higher probability of not getting distracted since I am engaged in a zone that is tuned to my aptitude. And over time, by remaining in a state of calm, we will be able to pursue योग more effectively. This will enable us to eventually attain our स्वरूप, our पुरुष status.

In this context, the episodes of व्याधगीता where the योगी is a butcher, various महाराष्ट्र / Nayannar/ Alwar saints who pursued all kinds of professions but represent highest योगी’s state make us realize that what we do, what we engage with, what we pursue, etc does not matter. Whatever we do, one can look at opportunities to identify an approach to attain calm of mind. Also, one note of caution – a lazy person may choose to cultivate a sleep-eat only lifestyle and say that this is helpful in gaining calm of mind – पतंजलि should not be seen to make such a suggestion since mind is expected to cultivate सत्व and not तमस् (become विभीषण and not कुंभकर्ण)

PK: Very interesting and though very difficult I can sorta see what he is getting at … only theoretically of course 😂😂

परमाणुपरममहत्त्वान्तोsस्य वशीकर: ।।४०।।

परम – finest, most distinguished, अणु atom, – परम, महत्त्व: totality of matter, अन्त: – up-to, अस्य – his (the योगी) वशीकर: – mastery

The योगी’s mastery extends from the smallest particle of matter to the ultimate totality of matter

व्यास explains that the mind can become steady by entering into anything at all in manifest reality – from the minutest object to the totality of all प्राकृतिक matter. Since the mind is potentially all-pervading and underpins all physical forms, it can pervade any form of any dimension and assume that form’s shape and qualities. The “how” of this will be covered later in the विभूति पाद (third part) of the योगसूत्र.