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29th Sutra of the Samadhi Pada is very well known, quite famous, very popular sutra listing out the Ashtangas. 29th Sutra
य॒मनि॒य॒मा॒सनप्रा॒णायामप्र॒त्या॒हारधा॒र॒णाध्या॒नस॒मा॒धयोऽष्टा॑वङ्गा॒नि ॥ २.२९॥
Yama Niyamāsana Prāṇāyāma Pratyāhāra Dhāraṇā Dhyāna Samādhayo'ṣṭāvaṅgāni.
Yama is, of course all of us know, self-restraint. Niyama are the rules, niyama. Āsana is the posture. Prāṇāyāma, prāṇa plus āyāma, expansion, that is control of the prāṇa. Pratyāhāra, prati āhāra, withdrawal and total subjugation of the senses. Dhāraṇā is the concentration, generally what we understand in English. Then Dhyāna is the meditation. Samādhi, the state of the citta. And aṣṭa is the eight, aṅga are the limbs, of course āni is the plural, aṅgāni. So Yama are the restraints, rules of restraint. Niyama are the rules of observances. Āsana is the posture, Prāṇāyāma is the breathing, control of the breathing, and achieving the control of the prāṇa. Pratyāhāra is the withdrawal of the senses, control of the senses, mastery over it. Dhāraṇā is the restraining of the citta. Then Dhyāna is the meditation, the uniform experience of the subject for the meditation. Then Samādhi is the state of the citta, where the subject of meditation, that is the object, is experienced without any forms.
That is how Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, Samādhi, aṣṭāvaṅgāni. So they are called as the aṅga, limbs, not steps, not stages, not one after the other. Means they are not sequentially arranged. It is not necessary that one has to be practiced after the previous one has been mastered. It is not like that. That means Niyama has to be practiced only after Yama is mastered. And Āsana after the Niyama, Prāṇāyāma after the Āsana. It is not like that. Because they are all aṅgas. Aṅgas means limbs, means connected in a body. When you see the body as a total, legs are connected, hands are connected. Even the fingernails are connected. Fingers are connected. All parts of the body are interconnected, interdependent and interrelated. And all the entire totality, we call it as a body. Exactly same way it is to be understood.
These are all the limbs. And not one after the other. It is not seven steps towards Samādhi. And it is not one step after the other. Because if we have to go to the third step, we have to climb the first two steps. But we have to give up the two steps. But in the aṣṭāvaṅgāni, they are not steps. They are not directions. And they are not branches also. They are the limbs, connected. Very important understanding it is. That is how it is to be taken. If it is sequential, Maharṣi Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtras mentions it.
If you see the 49th Sutra of the 2nd Chapter, he uses the word tasmin sati, Tasmin sati. After that, tatra in the 3rd Chapter, 2nd Sutra. Tadeva, 3rd Sutra of the 3rd Chapter. So tasmin sati, tatra, tadeva. He gives that it is after that. Related to that. Next to it. So the sequential order is mentioned by Maharṣi Patañjali. But here it is not. And it is all connected limbs. But of course in Haṭha Yoga, there is a sequential order for perfection. In the first lesson of the Haṭha Pradīpikā, 56th śloka, the mantra talks about the sequential perfection. So Haṭha Yoga prescribes.
But Patañjali Yoga Sūtra, Maharṣi has no sequential order decided by him. So if anywhere we come across, we should find that it is not mentioned in Maharṣi Patañjali. Apart from it, if we see even the upaṅgas of each aṅga, say Yama, within that the upaṅgas are there. Niyama, there are upaṅgas in that. And each Sutra of the benefits, the perfection of mastering one particular aṅga, if we see the meaning, benefit, and the result of the practice, it is something very high. And if you have to achieve those heights, the timeline will be very long. And after that again the second one, again the third one. So it is very clear that it is not the sequential order, or not the steps. These are the eight aṅgas. So because these eight aṅgas have been mentioned in the Patañjali Yoga Sūtra by Maharṣi Patañjali as the Yoga Aṅgas, we have seen the purpose of these Yoga Aṅgas in the earlier one, Viveka Khyāti hi. We have seen that earlier one. But generally it is taken for granted. Patañjali Yoga means Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. And Aṣṭāṅga Yoga means Rāja Yoga. These are all the various interpretations of the various masters who have expressed, interpreted.
But Patañjali, Maharṣi Patañjali makes it very clear that it is Yoga Aṅgāni and not stepwise. But they are all interconnected, interdependent, interrelated. Any practice can be taken up at any level. We have seen even in the first chapter itself, Īśvara Praṇidhānād vā was told. Prachardana Vidhāraṇābhyāṁ vā Prāṇasya was told. Dhāraṇā was told. Dhyāna was told. So it is not that all these have to be practiced for the citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ. Any one practice intensifying leads to the goal, leads to the final stage because they are limbs connected.
Like a flower or a seed in a huge tree is connected to its root. Similarly, all the eight aṅgas are connected and they are the aṅgas, like the limbs of a body. So Yama Niyamāsana Prāṇāyāma Pratyāhāra Dhāraṇā Dhyāna aṣṭāṅgāni, ending with the Samādhi. Let us see the next sutra.Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः|| To Be Continued.. ----------------------------------------
These are transcription of session delivered by Vice-President of Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra, Sri M. Hanumantha Rao Ji.
Audio Link - https://youtu.be/y1Jzwz1x27I?si=tbCfFQZrAEirIkYb
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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्धयसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥
Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26
