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The 33rd Sutra of the Kaivalya Pāda, the penultimate, the last but one sutra of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras and the last but one of the entire Yoga Darśana. The 33rd Sutra is another wonderful sutra which says that
क्षणप्रतियोगी परिणामापरान्तनिर्ग्राह्यः क्रमः ॥ ४.३३॥
Kṣaṇapratiyogī pariṇāmaparāntanirgrāhyaḥ kramaḥ
Kṣaṇa, pratiyogī, pariṇāma, aparānta, nirgrāhya, krama - these are the words - kṣaṇa, pratyogī, pariṇāma, aparānta, nirgrāhya, krama. Kṣaṇa is instant, instantaneous, the smallest indivisible unit of time, instant - Kṣaṇa it is. It is not kāla, it is kṣaṇa, smallest, minutest, further indivisible unit of the time. Pratyogī, praty is opposite, counter, Yogī is one who helps, cooperator - Pratyogī, pratyogitam is opposite, counter-opposite, it is something like, seems to be against but actually helping, that is called pratyogī, seems to externally, outwardly seems to be against, but actually it is cooperating, pratyogī. Pariṇāma, transformation. Aparānta, aparānta it is called, Apara anta it is, Parānta and aparānta, aparānta it is, Ultimate end point, the last point. Nirgrāhya, niḥ, that is nirgrāhya, without any reminder, remainder, Grāhya grasped, totally comprehensive, completely grasped. Krama is sequentially.
And the general understanding of this particular sutra is, krama is the pratyogī of kṣaṇa and is nirgrāhya at the pariṇāma. Krama, that is the sequentiality, one after the other, is the pratyogī of the kṣaṇa and is nirgrāhya at the pariṇāma. “That is, succession is the uninterrupted sequence of moments, cognized as distinct on the cessation of evolutionary change.” This is Swami Vivekananda's translation. That is, it is a definition or explanation of krama, continuity, sequentiality is counter-cooperator, pratyogī, of the kṣaṇa and it is comprehended, nirgrāhya, completely, at the end point, pariṇāmas. The interval of time, there is a need to understand the importance of these particular words, Kṣaṇa and krama. Kṣaṇa is the interval of time corresponding to each of the successive states, that is kṣaṇa. When the two events are happening, two successive moments are happening, two successive instances or incidents are happening, that interval of time is called kṣaṇa. Kṣaṇa is not just a minute. It is the interval between two successive events. We have seen earlier in the Yoga Sutras, kṣaṇa is exactly the interval between two thoughts. Not even that, we have already said that kṣaṇa is a thought stays and drops and that staying and dropping, that is kṣaṇa. So kṣaṇa may be called the smallest unit of time, which cannot be broken up further. Then krama stands for the process consisting of a relentless succession of discontinuous changes, discontinuous changes, the changes are not discontinued and underlying all kinds of phenomena. This is is a very important dimension, what krama means. This process is ultimately based upon the unit of time, Kṣaṇa has a projection.
As an example, if you have to give an example of a film on a screen. There will be an aperture and a series of pictures will be moving and a light is projected on that but the speed of the movement of the film is so fast and every time the film is moving and the light is passing through the aperture, projecting on the screen in front. But when we see, we don't see the gaps, we see the continuity, continuity is perceived because of the speed it has, because of its krama and the kṣaṇa and the interval between two kramas is the kṣaṇa. That's why we see a sequentiality. The kṣaṇa gives rise to the sequentiality but the succession is so rapid, we are not conscious of the discontinuity. As even scientifically it is proved that the light is a wave and also a particle, it is a wave and also a particle. If it is a particle, in its movement there is an interval between two particles and there is a speed to it, there is a velocity to it, there is an acceleration to it, all the properties of a particle but it is so fast, the movement is so fast, it seems, it looks as if it is a wave, it is both.
So the whole manifested universe which we are perceiving in this world, entire world, all the trees, mountains, buildings, everything in this world undergoing a change, a sequential change is happening, it is a discontinuous movement, Krama is there and the kṣaṇa is there. And because of the kṣaṇa and the krama, we feel that there is no change, the transformation is not there, Pariṇāma is not there, we feel pariṇāma is not there because of the kṣaṇa krama it is but it is happening. We feel the huge buildings, the huge trees, the huge mountains are permanent even though they are undergoing a change within themselves. A new cloth is kept unused but still after some time there is a pariṇāma in the cloth, there is a change in the cloth. We have not noticed continuously because the krama is a discontinuous sequence and it is inherent. As we have seen in the third chapter, third Pāda, Vibhūti Pāda in the 53rd Sutra, Saṁyama on this kṣaṇa and the number of images which pass through our mind, number of thoughts which pass through our mind, if we are able to, if we can practice, if we are able to count our thoughts, please remember it is a wonderful method, counting our own thoughts in a particular time gap, initially, it may be difficult, but once we practice, it is a very wonderful method of the Yoga. So pariṇāma, nirgrāhya and the kṣaṇa and the krama.
Swami Vivekananda wonderfully concludes this beautiful Sutra in his own inimitable way. Swami Vivekananda, “Patanjali here defines the word succession, the changes that exist in relation to moments. While I am thinking many moments pass and with each moment there is a change of idea but we only perceive these changes at the end of a series. So perception of time is always in the memory. This is called succession. But for the mind that has realized omnipresence, all these have finished. Everything has become present for it, the present alone exists. The past and future are lost, this is time controlled. And all knowledge is there in one second, everything is known like a flash.” How beautifully Swami Vivekananda comments on this particular Sutra, that the innumerable kṣaṇas. Just as the human eye is not able to perceive the gaps between the pictures in a cinema film, being screened because they last for less than say one tenth of a second and so cannot grasp the discontinuity of the pictures. The same way the innumerable kṣaṇas follow each other so rapidly that the ordinary mind's citta is unable to grasp the discreteness and so an illusion of the continuity of krama and kāla is created. Thus it can be seen that krama and also kāla is a pratyogī, it is a counter cooperative for the kṣaṇa it is. And we should always remember that Maharishi Patanjali has not used the word kāla he keeps on using the word kṣaṇa. Concerned with this unique theory of illusoriness, continuous movement of time is illusion. How beautifully Patanjali explains this and let us see the last Sutra of the Yoga Darśana.
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/e5uMxz66ra4?si=RaeNnpXEMcaLjlOD
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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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