28th Sutra of the Sadhanapada is an introduction to the famous Ashtanga Yoga. The Ashtangas have been introduced. And what is the purpose of the Ashtangas has been mentioned in this Sutra No. 28.
The Sutra is
योगाङ्गानु॑ष्ठा॒नाद॒शु॒द्धिक्ष॒ये ज्ञा॒नदी॒प्तिरा विवेक॑ख्या॒तेः ॥ २.२८॥
yogāṅgānuṣṭhānādaśuddhi-kṣaye jñāna-dīptir ā viveka-khyāteḥ ॥ 2.28 ॥
Yoga Aṅga Limb of Yoga. Limbs, Yoga Aṅga it is Limb of Yoga, Anuṣṭhāna - it is anu plus sthāna it is anuṣṭhāna. That is following a regular, repetitive, successful process. That is called as anuṣṭhānam. Normally it is understood as a regular systematic practice without break anuṣṭhānam. Aśuddhi is impure. Kṣaya disappears. Jñāna is knowledge. Dīpti is illumination. Till up to Viveka is discrimination. Khyāti is knowledge. Viveka Khyāti - That is what we have seen in the earlier Sutra. So Yoga Aṅga, Anuṣṭhāna, Aśuddhi Kṣaya, Jñāna Dīpti, Viveka Khyāti. These are the wonderful words which come here in this particular Sutra.
And then the rough understanding is Viveka Khyāti comes by Yoga Aṅga Anuṣṭhāna, by which Aśuddhi Kṣaya and Jñāna Dīpti comes. How beautiful. By the practice of Yoga Aṅga, that is Yoga Aṅga Anuṣṭhāna, Aśuddhi Kṣaya, Aśuddhis will disappear. And by the disappearance of Aśuddhis, Jñāna Dīpti, illumination of the knowledge. And then Viveka Khyāti comes. So Viveka Khyāti rises, expresses, or we experience Viveka Khyāti. We stabilize Viveka Khyāti, the discriminative knowledge, by removal of Aśuddhis and by Jñāna, knowledge, illumination of the knowledge. And that happens by the practice of Yoga Aṅgas. By the sustained practice of the Yoga Aṅgas, the impurity is destroyed and the light of wisdom, Jñāna Dīpti, shines. And the discriminative knowledge comes into it.
So this sutra is an opening for requirement of systematic practice. There is a need for a systematic, regular, organized practice and sādhana is a must.
All of us being practitioners of Yoga, some of you may be teaching Yoga, Yoga instructors, you should remember this beautiful sutra. It is called Yoga Anuṣṭhāna. It is not just Abhyāsa. Anuṣṭhāna has a more deeper meaning. It is a sustained practice. And by the sustained practice Aśuddhis are gone. We have already seen in earlier sutras what is Aśuddhi. And then Jñāna Dīpti comes. And from there Viveka Khyāti, which was described in the earlier sutra. So Anuṣṭhāna is a very important one which has a meaning that the practice of a particular technique or a particular routine is to be repeated exactly in the same manner.
For example, if an Āsana is practiced, say Padmāsana or say Sarvāṅgāsana, and that practice has to be repeatedly done as a routine in the same manner. Whether it is a Prāṇāyāma technique, whether it is a Dhyāna technique, that is Anuṣṭhāna. So that practices will give rise to Jñāna Dīpti. And you should remember this Jñāna Dīpti, the clarity, the knowledge is from within. It doesn't come from outside. It is from within. Knowledge always comes from within. But still rises up to the Viveka Khyāti. So Viveka, discrimination, then Jñāna Dīpti, then Viveka Khyāti. So it passes through the illumination of the knowledge.
It is a very important sutra. So the broad effect of the practice of Yogāṅgas is given in this sutra. And it is a gradual removal, dissolution and ultimately disappearance of all the impurities, all Aśuddhi Kṣayāt. And it is a gradual process of course. And these impurities, deficiencies may be of any type, may be bodily, may be of the mind and the complex continuous. As the impurities go on reducing, then the knowledge, clarity, clear vision, then thought will come.
That is how it was described earlier as the Ṛtambharā Prajñā. And that is the explanation which we have seen in the first chapter 44th sutra and even the earlier that Viveka Khyāti. And that successive unfoldments, for that Anuṣṭhāna is a very very important dimension. And this discriminative knowledge, that is the Viveka Khyāti, is the most important exposition, most important dimension.
And of course this is the most important suggestion for the practice of the yoga. And we shall see the next further important sutra about the Yoga Aṅgas. Let us see those sutras.
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/DNCF3FGulS4?si=fIAlO9gBTwoOoK7a
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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
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