Vibhuti Pada- 3rd section of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras
- The power a living entity can manifest when purified by sadhana(practice) and samadhi- inner absorption.
- Earlier chapters- Yama Niyama, Asanas, Pranayam and sense withdrawal -
- Vibhuti Pada Chapter explains how concentration can break through constraints of matter and time - leading to manifestation and great powers. However the absorption in those powers is a distraction from the true purpose of life- which is service to the Divine.
Chapter Sections
- (1-8) Establishing Samyama Concetration
- (1-4) Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi on one object = Samyama
- Dharana- fixing the mind
- Dhyana- continuous flow of focus
- Samadhi - where only the objec remains
- (5) Mastery of Samyama leads to wisdom
- (6) Samyama must be applied in stages, gradually and not too fast
- (7) Samyama more subtle and internal than Pratyahara, Yama, Niyama,Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi
- (8) But Samyama is external to seedless samadhi- true union with the divine, no seeds for vikalpa or changes leading to different bodies.
- Patanjali Yoga Sutras: From Irregulation to Focus and Concentration - all steps
- (9-16) Modifications of the mind
- (9) Nirodha parinama: Mind still in lower amadhi as modifications still happening. One keeps bringing the mind back from various modifications- lower samadhi bec modifications havent stopped.
- (10) Prasanta Vahita: Flow of continous control of the mind becomes steady
- (11) Samadhi Parinama: Mind is now able to take in only one object, excluding all others and focus on it continously - this samadhi
- (12) Ekagrata Parinama: Mind becomes abolsutely steady. Idea of time vanishes - the more time passes unnoticed, the more concetrated we are
- (13) Transformations of form, time and state -
- example gold made into bracelet is change in form. Seen over time is tranformation of gold over time. Bracelet maybe thick or thin, gold maybe dull or bright- is change in state.
- Similarly, from verses 9,11 and 12: the mind - stuff is changing into Vrittis -- this is change as to form. That it passes through past, present and future moments of time is change as to time. That the impressions vary as to intensity within one particular period, say, present, is change as to state. The concentrations taught in the preceding aphorisms were to give the Yogi a voluntary control over the transformations of his mind - stuff, which alone will enable him to make the Samyama named in 3.4
- (14) - That which is acted upong by these 3 transformation sis the "qualified".
- qualified is the substance which is being acted upon by time and by the Samskaras, and getting changed and being manifested always.
- (15)- The succession of changes is the cause of manifold evolution.
- (16) - Samyama on this change in the Samskaras leads to knowledge of past present and future -
- When the mind has attained to that state when it identifies itself with the internal impression of the object, leaving the external, and when, by long practice, that is retained by the mind and the mind can get into that state in a moment, that is Samyama.
- If a man in that state wants to know the past and future, he has to make a Samyama on the changes in the Samskaras (3.13). Some are working now at present, some have worked out, and some are waiting to work. So by making a Samyama on these he knows the past and future.
- (17- 33) Siddhis - Fruits of applying samyama- Powers:
- (17) Understanding animal sounds and language - Word, Meaning and knowledge together form sense objects. Ordinarily these three are inseparable; but by practice the Yogi can separate them. When a man has attained to this, if he makes a Samyama on any sound, he understands the meaning which that sound was intended to express, whether it was made by man or by any other animal.
- (18) Knowing past lives: Experiences saved as fine waves on chitta. Samyama on these wave impressions helps one know the past.
- (19 and 20) Knowing other's minds - maybe this is what makes Sunil Grover so succesful in his mimicry. Each man has particular signs on his body, which differentiate him from others; when the Yogi makes a Samyama on these signs he knows the nature of the mind of that person. He would not know the contents of the mind by making a Samyama on the body. There would be required a twofold Samyama, first on the signs in the body, and then on the mind itself. The Yogi would then know everything that is in that mind.
- 21 - Body and senses - invisibility and 22 words being spoken
- 23- knowing time of death
- 24 - excel in qualities like mercy, tolerance and forgiveness
- 25 - gain strength by samyama on the elephant. Infinite energy is at the disposal of everyone if he only knows how to get it. The Yogi has discovered the science of getting it.
- 26- Samyama on light in the heart(maybe brahmajyoti) can see distant things and things obstructed like behind the mountain.
- 27- on the sun gives knowledge of the world
- 28- on the moon gives knowledge of the stars
- 29- polestar gives knowledge of the motion of all stars
- 30- on the navel - gives the constitution of the body
- 31 - on the hollow of the throat you can subside hunger
- 32- on nerve kumra comes fixity of the body
- 33- light on top of head get darshan of siddhas (beings a little above ghosts - siddha does not refer to those who have become free in this verse)
- (34- 49) Siddha - Higher realizations
- 34- Pratibha-
- those who have spontaneous enlightenment from purity- they get these powers automatically without any samyama.
- When a man has risen to a high state of Pratibha, he has that great light. All things are apparent to him. Everything comes to him naturally without making Samyama.
- 35- on the heart comes knowledge of the lind
- 36,37- Seeing the self separate from the modes, separate from sattva, situating oneself in shidh sttva- one sees the self and the Super soul- the Supreme Lord. Knowledge of belonging to brahmajyoti and heightened supernatural hearing, touching, seeing, tasting and smelling.
- 38- but these are powers and cna be distraction to our true goal
- 39-49 Further powers - entering other's bodies while being in your own, levitation, elements mastery, perfection of body and senses
- Samyama gives perfections and powers, but they are still part of prakriti
- Liberation- Going Beyond Siddhis
- Kaivalya arises when sattva and purusha are equal in clarity.
- When nature has been conquered, and the difference between the Purusha and nature realised -- that the Purusha is indestructible, pure and perfect -- then come omnipotence and omniscience.
- Giving up these powers- yogi overcomes the final seed of eveil: When the Yogi has seen all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he reaches the goal. What are all these powers? Simply manifestations. They are no better than dreams. Even omnipotence is a dream. It depends on the mind. So long as there is a mind it can be understood, but the goal is beyond even the mind.
- 52 - beware of celestial beings and praise by them - they may tempt so you lose your perfection
- 53- we need discrimination to detach from these powers and celestial temptations - by making a Samyama on a particle of time, and the time preceding and following it. even those that cannot be differentiated by species, signs or place can be discriminated by the above samyama
- The misery that we suffer comes from ignorance, from non - discrimination between the real and the unreal.
- Clear discrimination brings freedom.
Summary
3.1-3.8 The tool- samyama
3.9-3.16 - Inner Transformations
3.17-3.49 - Powers and Siddhis
3.50-3.55 - Transcending powers - viveka(discrimination) - kaivalya
