कायरूपसंयमात् तद्ग्राह्यशक्तिस्तम्भे चक्षु: प्रकाशासंप्रयोगेsन्तर्धानम् ।।२१।।

काय – body, रूप – form, संयमात् – by performing संयम, तद् – that, ग्राह्य – to be grasped or known, शक्ति – power, स्तम्भे – on the obstruction, चक्षु: – eye, प्रकाश – light, असंप्रयोगे – on the absence of contact, अन्तर्धानम् – invisibility

By performing संयम on the outer form of the body, invisibility is attained. This occurs when perceptibility is obstructed by blocking contact between light and the eyes.

वाचस्पति comments here that body can be seen since it has colour and when rays of light strike this, the body becomes visible to others. By संयम, a योगी can obstruct this process such that he or she is not visible in broad daylight. The Vedic metaphysics suggests that a body is visible due to application of तमस् on the तन्मात्रा of रूप and by manipulating this तन्मात्रा, a योगी can prevent light bouncing back off it to the eye of the receiver.

As per the evolution of तत्व as per सांख्य, we see that form, visibility and sight emanate from the तन्मात्रा of रूप, when the तमस् गुण is intensified. A योगी thus minimizes the तमस् गुण that allows sight such that the light rays do not have a sufficiently dense surface to bounce back to an observing eye. To go back to basics, चित्त is the substratum from which the gross or स्थूल evolutes come out of and when a योगी covers himself with the तत्व आकाश, the physical form lightens up thus making the person invisible to others.

सोपक्रमं निरूपक्रमं च कर्म तत्संयमाद् अपरान्तज्ञानम् अरिष्टेभ्यो वा ।। २२।।

स – with, उपक्रमं – approaching, beginning, fruition, निर् – without उपक्रमं – fruition, च – and, कर्म, तत् – these, संयमाद् – by performing संयम, अपरान्त – death, ज्ञानम्, अरिष्टेभ्यो – by omens, portents, वा – or

कर्म is either quick to fructify or slow. By संयम on कर्म, or on omens, ज्ञानम् of one’s death arises

Says व्यास that just as a wet cloth that is spread out fully under the Sun dries up quick and a twisted/ bunched dries slow, योगी can access personal कर्म and know its fruition as to when each कर्म will fructify (an earlier सूत्र said that कर्म determines life longevity). योगी can thus know the precise time of death of their body. आदिशंकर adds here that the purpose of ज्ञान of one’s death enables a योगी to provoke urgency in fulfilling one’s obligations in human life (meaning taking योग seriously and gain मुक्ति).

पतंजलि adds here that ज्ञान of death can also be known through omens which are of three types – personal, those associated with other beings and those associated with देवता. So when one blocks their ears and cannot hear the sound of fire burning, or not seeing any light when one blocks one’s eyes, they can know that their death is near. Or if one sees यमदूत or one of their departed ancestors. Or if one sees देवता or seeing beings which are not seen by others.

मैत्र्यादिषु बलानि ।। २३।।

मैत्रि – friendliness आादिषु – etc., बलानि – strength

By संयम on friendliness and such other things, strengths are acquired.

1.33 refers to four values – मैत्री, करुणा, मुदित & उपेक्षा. A योगी cultivates मैत्री towards those who are happy and then does संयम on that feeling, he can make whole world happy and his efforts to gain मैत्री will always be successful. He destroys envy and hatred from his heart, says हरिहरानन्द, becomes free from malice and harshness, no thoughts of harming others ever enters his persona such that all people,whether malicious or not, find him to be a source of comfort and friendship.

By cultivating संयम on the feeling of करुणा, the power of करुणा rises and he can lift the suffering out of their pain, says वाचस्पति. By doing संयम on मुदित towards the pious, one attains the power of joyfulness. Equanimity on those doing पापकर्म (उपेक्षा) is not a feeling but an absence of other feelings – संयम on उपेक्षा would thus seem to require a distinct state of mind as an object of focus, else the meditator has nothing on which to focus.

Key point to note here is that through sheer intensity of total absorption on a feelings as listed above, the चित्त of a योगी becomes so pervaded and charged with that feeling that it emanates out and affects other people. Thus, just as laughter can be contagious and so can feelings of sadness and anger, principle of संयम simply enhances and expands on these occurrences. Since all feelings are in our चित्त which is the seat of emotions, संयम simply manifests what is already latent in it.

बलेषु हस्तिबलादीनि ।। २४।।

बलेषु – on the power, strength, हस्ति – 🐘, बल – strength,आदीनि – etc

(By practicing संयम) on बल, (योगी) attains the बल of an 🐘, etc

By doing संयम on the बल of an 🐘, योगी acquires such a बल. By doing संयम on गरूड, one gets the बल of गरूड. By doing संयम on बल of वायु, one gets such बल, etc. In short, concentration by a योगी on any aspect of बल available in प्रकृति, योगी is able to awaken similar बल within himself (since everything inherently exists in a latent form within one’s own प्रकृति).

प्रवृत्त्यालोकन्यासात् सूक्ष्मव्यवहितविप्रकृष्टज्ञानम् ।। २५।।

प्रवृत्त्या – cognition, higher sense activity, अलोक – light, न्यासात् – by directing, सूक्ष्म – subtle, व्यवहित – concealed, विप्रकृष्ट – remote, ज्ञानम्

By directing the light of cognition, one obtains ज्ञानम् of subtle concealed and remote things.

When रजस् & तमस् are eliminated by a योगी, सत्व manifests. And since सत्व is luminous, everything gets revealed to such a योगी. Essentially, while the चित्त of an 🐜 or 🐘 or humans is the same, limitations are imposed on account of the particular body one is equipped with. These limitations or क्लेश enables the senses of each of these bodies to work within the range permitted by their respective bodies. However, if सत्व descends into a योगी, dimming of तमस् negates the physical limitations and dimming of रजस् eliminates the psychological limitations. In such a state, with सत्व dominant, योगी transcends the senses and their contact objects beyond their normal reach. Such a योगी then acquires powers to see the objects which are subtle, hidden or even located far away since wherever anything is located, it is still within प्रकृति only and thus within access to the योगी.

भुवनज्ञानम् सूर्ये संयमात् ।। २६।।

भुवन – regions, world’s, ज्ञानम्, सूर्ये – on the ☀, संयमात् – by संयम

By performing संयम on the ☀ (the point in the body known as सुशुम्ना नाडी) arises ज्ञान of the different realms within the universe.

संयम here is on the disc of the ☀. वाचस्पति & हरिहरानन्द take this as to be the doorway to the सुशुम्ना नाडी. हरिहरानन्द adds here that when the entrance to the सुशुम्ना is opened, the various regions of the universe are revealed. What must be noted is the वैदिक idea that the entire ब्रह्माण्ड (macrocosm) can be discovered/ known within पिंडाण्ड (microcosm). The पुराण have elaborate descriptions of the 14 लोक within the ब्रह्माण्ड (these लोक represent deep meditational secrets – I am skipping the details here since translations will seem way too colourful and a learned Guru will be a better source to convey these ideas).

चन्द्रे ताराव्यूहज्ञानम् ।। २७।।

चन्द्रे – on the moon, तारा – stars, व्यूह – arrangement, ज्ञानम्

(By संयम) on the चंद्र (part of the body known as lunar entrance), ज्ञान of the objects in the sky manifests

Post death, जीव may depart from two paths – the solar path or the lunar path. While those who travel with the ray going through the solar region reach ब्रह्मलोक, those reaching the lunar region have to return to the Earth. As the Sun is self-luminous, so is the ज्ञान of the solar entrance but since light of the moon is reflected light, the power of perception required to know a luminous object is of the kind required to know the luminous stellar systems. By development of the knowledge attainable through the senses, IE by proficiency in knowledge of gross objects, attainment of stellar regions can be known. Since the जीव leaving the body by means of one of the sense organs (eye, ear, etc) reach the lunar region, this passage is called as चंद्र (or lunar entrance)

ध्रुवे तद्गतिज्ञानम् ।।२८।।
ध्रुवे – on the polestar, तद् – their (the stars), गति – path, ज्ञानम्

(by संयम) on the polestar comes the ज्ञानम् of movement of the stars

Says भोजराज that by this संयम, a योगी can distinguish stars from planets and determine when a given celestial body will be situated in any particular sign of the zodiac. आदिशंकर takes this सूत्र to refer to astrological discipline where by understanding movement of the stars and how their influences neutralize, enhance and affect each other, one can determine good and bad fortunes of living beings.

नाभिचक्रे कायव्यूहज्ञानम् ।। २९।।
नाभि – navel, चक्रे – on the wheel, काय – body, व्यूह – arrangement, ज्ञानम्

(By संयम) on the navel plexus of the body comes ज्ञानम् of the arrangement of the body

संयम on the नाभिचक्र enables the योगी to understand everything about the constituents and inner workings of the body. विज्ञानभिक्षु compares नाभिचक्र to the root of the banana tree from where the whole plant grows while भोजराज states that नाभिचक्र is the root of the Nadis (subtle veins) that pervade the entire body.

कण्ठकूपे क्षुप्पिपासानिवृत्ति ।। ३०।।
कण्ठ – throat, कूपे – pit, hollow, क्षुत् – hunger, पिपासा – thirst, निवृत्ति – cessation, subdual

(By संयम) on the pit of the throat comes the cessation of hunger and thirst

विज्ञानभिक्षु takes the pit of the throat to extend from base of the tongue to the stomach. भोजराज adds here that sensation of hunger is caused by the contact of प्राण with this place.