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Yoga-lG Basis, Practice & BenefiG
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S. RAMASWAMI,
Trutcc, Eritlwwlurlt loga Hndhaa' MADEAS,
Yogcna Chi rtrsy a
Padena Vacham
Malam Sarirarya
Cha Vaidyahena
I
Yopalarottam Prevaram
Muninam
Patanjalio Praniali
Ranatosmi
h
l'he term Yoga is bcing
used qrrite extensively thesc
dav" 16 .o"o*pai s e vari ety
of practices
for diffcrcnt crds,
Phyri cal cxerci rl , mcdi tati onr
certai n Lri yas, mcntal atti tuC."
towarda work and rcsuttg arc
romc of thcm,
.'n'idcly
propa.
gatcd and
$i acti scd.
Thi r
seri es of arri cl es i s ai rncd a
bri ngi ng tbe trrdi ti onal coD-
cept and practi cc of Yoga ar
. formulared by the great Pat-
anj al i .
Pat anj al i wes a Ri shi . A
.Ri sbi i s one who cxprcsl e!
Truth as expcri cnccd by hi m
(Rahasassaryavachaaaha).
Tbc
Vcdas contain such crprcr.
rionl of variors Rirhis, Actu-
PATANJALI
rlty Thc Vcidic religion
io
Lnown m Arsa. or rhosc of
Ri rbi r. Thc rcri prurcr,
' sccn'
or c:prcssed by thc Rishis
erc callcd Vcdas.
Thc Vaidic treclations
(Deruana) bi l ongcd to two
catcgori rE. Pravri tti Merga
whi ch cnunci ated tbc vari ous
rdigiour
ritcs (Kartne) and
urociatcd Mantrar, lcading
to worldly happiaco and or-
derly lifc
(dharma).
Tbere
wqr thc otter group
of Rishir
wbo promulgatcd thc Nivrirti
Marga'
rhe
way ol ralvation,
a frecdom from rcbinh,
sorrow, anC suffering and
ettai Dment ofpeace at heart.
JanaLa,
Yagnavaltya, Kapila
and of
coursc Patanjali arc
forcmorr among them, apart
fiom thc lcsr known whosc
i ombrtal
words ari ti ng out of
intenre
Semadhi are ro bc
fourrd i l the vast Vai di c
l i tcrature,
cspeci al l y thc
Upanirads.
THE TWO P TIIS
Of thc ri x Vai di c Dstranas,
Yoga ir pcrhapc the roo.t
comprcbcnsivc. Yoga, SamI'
ya and Vcdanta form a clore
group of Darranas and rcvcal
the hcight of
Vaidic wirdom.
Ewn
rhough rbcrc are somc
minor
diffcrcnccs DtDottg
these
systems,
onc with o dceP
rridy
sill bc abtc to cerilY
reconcilc
rbc apparcnt diffcr'
r-
encer.
There n no mrstating
thc
Bcncral
direction of tberc
cnquirier
or thc .imilariry ol'
erpcrienccr, ell arising out of
itnmenre
absorption in Trurh
(Samadhi)r
Human happincgr is at its
highcst when the pcople havc
good health, express then-
relvcr wcll and havc clear
oi nds. Bhartrubari , the great
phi l oopher
and grammari an
cmpharirer
thc necd for thc
purity
of rhree human acrivi-
tics (Trikaranasuddhi)
and re-
fcrs to thrce great Sastras,
viz. Medicinc (Vaidya or
Chilitsa) Grammer (Pada or
Vyakarana), and Yoga as thc
rcspccti vc means for the puri .
fi cati on ofthe rhrec karanas,
viz. of Body (kaya), Speech
(vaL) and Mi nd (Manas)
SUTRA LANGUAGE
And Mahari shi Patanj al i i s
bel i evcd to have wri rreu rhc
' trcati sc
on thcse rhree sub-
jccts.
Lcgend hes it that whcn
an anci ent peopl e
sufferi ng
from tbe defi l cmcng of thci r
activitier' pra).d Ishwara for
gui dancc, Patanj al i i n thg
form ol a scrpent fel l i nto
tbei r prayi ng arms (Patam f
Anj ah) and wr ot e t hcsc
Sastras, as b cvi dent i n thc
Dhyanarl oka appeari ng i n
rhe begi nni ng of thi s arti .
cl c. Thc Yogasastra i tscl f i s
wri rtcn i n crypri c aphori sml
(Surra)
i n
four ChaPtcrs.
Bci ng ured by a grammari an,
thc Sutra l anguage of Patan.
jali
is of a vcry high order
and thc choicc of words is
admi rabl c. The systeB i !
comprcbensi ve, Bhowi ng the
place, practice atrd the bcnc-
fits of rany sub-systcnr
of
Yoga, such ar Gnana, Bhakti'
Karma, Kriya, Laya, Hatha.
Mantra,
Japa,
Raj a etc. Thc
195 Sutras have bcen comm-
ented upon (Bhashya) i n de'
rai l by Ri shi i Vyasa and fur.
ther cl uci dati ons
(Vi varana)
have been madc by Vacbas
pati Mi sra. Another vi vara'
na i n the name of Sankara'
charya alsr is availablc.
ON' fHE TYORD ' YOGA'
The oost common
i nl er'
pretati on of the word
l oga
i s
i ntegrati on, deri ved from the
root Yuj
(Yujir Yoge)' Such
an i ntegrati on
woul d requi re
two separatc thi ngs or
Pri nci P'
l es
(Tattwa) and a novcmcnr
between cach oth.r, necessit-
ati ng acti vi ty i n atl l cast ei th'
er of the two principles. Yoga
i s, thcrefote, both the mear,s
and tbe actual merger of
l eparate Tattwas On
thi s
bari s, many yoga sYstms
have come i nto vogue-some
Vai di c and some others non'
Vai di c. The conj oi ni ng of
Ji vatma
and Paramatma
i s
Yoga, as per Sri mad Bhaga-
wata. Therc arc other scbool s
whi ch procl ai m that thc con-
j oi ni ng
ol Prana wi th APana'
Sakrhi i n Mul adhara and
Srva
i n Sahasrara or mi nd and
setf as thc goal of Y..ga
and
enunci are
l he means fur
such
an intcgration.
Howcvcr, suffice
i t to say that
al l system, basr-
cal l y recogl i zc
that acti vi ty
i s neccssarv tor
Yoga and all the constiiucnt
pr i nci pl es
have a cer t ai n
About the Artbot
Mr. S.Ramaswami, has been
studtnt of PnJ Krishnamachatl
otstt two decades in theory and
:tice of Toga. Aput
fron
Togosanas and Prana2ama, has
studi ?d fogd texts such as Pal an-
fo gatul ras, Hal hryo go!/a'
,
Upunisads as Chandog2a,
Tailhiil a,Sa c t as a a tat a, I s ao a s7 a
Gi ta etc,, Adh2a\ona
(chant'
)
of
the whoh of Taithirilo
of Tojur Veda
laii s ads, M antraPrusanam
e tc
from
tfu Athal ta.
Has ol .
power
(Saklhi)
and thcre is
'no
Tattwa
without its dirtin-
guishiag
characterietics (gun-
asJ.
THA
"HREE.
PRINCIPLE3
Patanj al i ,
i n the rreati cc
on
Yoga,
recogni zes
three
di s-
!1",
pri nci pl es
(Tatrwa,1.
Thcy
are (i ).
purusha,
(i i )
pre-
kr i t l ( i i i )
f 5eeya.
I r i s neces-
sary
to di l ate
on thcse
thrcc
a l i ttl s
rn6yg,
Purusha
l i reral l y
means thc
' i ndwel l i ng
pr i nci pl er ,
I r i r
al so knowr r
as t he obger vr r
(Drasta),
the
experi encer
( Bhokt a) ,
t he owner ( Swami
or
At ma) ,
t he
l i vi ng
enr i t y
t , ! l : i ) f i nt el t i gence
ener gy
( Chi r hi
Sakr hi )
et c.
Accor d_
i ng
to Patanj al i ,
the sel f
or
Arman
i s toral
i ntel l i genc6
(Dri si matra)
pure
l Sui ' dha.r
and
nonchangi ng;
howcver,
i s
eonsarai nd
to oversee
thc
preseni ati on
of rhe
mi nd
(Chi tra
Vri rhi ).
In normal
exi sr encc,
t hcr cf or c,
er en
though
Purusba
ig differenr
from rhe
engul fi ng
mi od, i t i s
not enti rel y
frcc ofi t.
i n the form of encrgy (Agni ),
air (Vayu)
fluid (ep) and
solid (Prithvi).
lt includcr
ihe 6ve instrumcnts
of pcrcep-
ti on
(Gnanendri yas)
and
the
f,ve i nrtruornts
of acti on
(Karmendri yas)
and the
mi nd (Chi rra)
whi ch i s evcr-
changi ng
wi t h r hr ec qual i t i es
whi ch
arc cl ari ty (pi akasa),
acti vi ty
(kri ya)
and i nerri a
(Sthi thi )
Ir coutd be observed
t hat
cven
t he
mi nd,
whi ch
coul d
be
mi srakcu
f o r
one' l
scl f i s actual l v
oarr
of thc observed
ar al l rhc
mental
Eodi fi cati on (Chi tta.
vr i r hi )
i ncl udi ns)
r he
. l
_
exi rt
-
Gel i 6g, (Asn,i ro)
are
overseen
by the
i ndwel l i ne
Purusha.
Prakri ri
can
be
oi
no use except t o r hc
At man
and- r he i ndi vi dual
soul
Ui va)
makFs
_
use
of t hi s pr i nci pl e
el ther tor
experi enccr
(Bhoga)
or renunci ati on
(Apavarga).
The di chotomy (Vi vetai
i f
At mi c powcr ( chi t i saLt hi )
and
ment al
power ( chi r r ar akt hi )
i s
ttre greatest
revctari on
of the
Upani sadi c
phi l osophi es,
and
i s of i mmense
practi cal
urc ro
r he spi r i r ual
aspi r ant .
WARA
visesha),
unaffccted by affiicr.
ionr (Llera),
dced (kerme),
result
of action (vipaka)
ot tbo
dmirc
ficr action (Asrya).
tn
him arc contained ell poten-
tial Lnowledgc or onnisciencc
(Sarvagna Bi j am).
He i s the
fi rst teacher (Purwshamguru)
but unlimited by tirne. Hc ir
known by the repetition (J8pa)
ofHi i sacrcd word Pranava.
the
j apa
bei ng done by con.
templ ati ng
on thc Eeari ng
of rhe mysti c syl l abl e. Such
con' et npl at i on r eoovcc aI I
i nterference!
(antataya)
i n
the path ofYoga.
FIVE MENTAL LEVELS
Vrasa, rhe commeotator
orr the Sutras, cl assi fi eA mcn"
tal
l evel s of humani ty i nto
6ve. At one extremc i s rhd
Kshi pta or demented condi -
tion, which group hcts con.
centrati on. There are then
those who are in the covcred
or tofal l t i nfatuated rtagc
(Muda).
Such pcopl e do not
admit evcn the reparate ehF
stencc
of the di sti nct i ndwel l .
ing intelligtnce principle
(Purusha)
or the all
-
pervad-
i ng unl i oi ted cosrbi c pri nci .
pl e, Iswara. They l i ve by thc
di ctates ofthe
gcnses
and
' thc
undi ffercnri ati ng mi nd arrd
are affi i ctcd. The thi rd, rhc
restlcar stage (viLshipta)
is onc
i n wti i ch tbc i ndi vi dual
l ean8
towards real i zi ng hi s truc
natrtre, but i r constanrl y dl s.
tractcd by the srnrcs ri nd a
miod afiicreil by acquircdhr.
biti (Samrlara)
arisirit out of
Prakri ti
or creared pri n
Unl i ke
sankya'
erpcci al l y
pl e i s rhe
**ra.-
ori ri r"l '
the Ni ri swara
Samkya
phi l o'
i*,ogy.-,
u* rii"ilil.1
sophers' Yoga recognizer
rhe
u,,d- io.
"*p,.,,,
h tu';;;";;;:
t'lT::.:l
;':;"'i;.
;:*:
It i ncl udcs
everytbi ns
rhc
;;;;;,;J;::"",i J i "*""",
obscrvcr
(Drashra)
exp-cri cn-
even though. ro gea a hang
of
".t...
J,
i s rhe
phenomenal
the term-i s-b.-yo"n"j
-rf,.
.orn.
worl d,Eadc
upofi tsfi vebasi c
prehensi on of many
mi nds,
gl oj t
asPggts (Panchabhur4)
l ccordrngtopat..i .l i ,
l "wera
oI
spacc (Akasa),
and mattei
i s one spei i al
pur*.t
a(,pu"urU"
bcginningless previous karmas.
Thcy altcrnate bctwccn seve-
ral cxpericnces
(Bhoga) and
renunci ati on
(l pavarga). Thi s
rpi ri tual restl erl ness i r di scer'
ni bl e i n. al l who are di ssati s'
fi cd wi th mundane and
Phen-
omenal exi stence. Such pe:-
pl e do occari onal l y get i nl o
n st at e of t ot al absor pt i on i n
a hi gher pri nci pte or a statc
of Samadhi . but such experi -
chces are few and far between
and accordi ng to Vyasa wi l l
not come undef the term
Yoga. Wi thout the grace of
l shwara and practi te of ren-
unci ati on, they conti nue to be
i n a state of restl etsness.
However, when they take up
thc practicc of Yoga, they
are known as Yogaruda,
those wanting to .trcad the
path of Yoga.
SAMADHI : TWO KINDS
Two othcr levels, which
fall into Yoga are called
focussed
(Ekagra) and un'
affectcd or protected
(Ni ro-
dha). These actual l y l ead
to two ki nds of samadhi , one
i n whi ch t he ment al ener qi es
arc absorbed i n a si ngl e i tem
or obj ect . The ot her
Samadhi i s one i n whi eh the
mental energy (Chi ttasakthi )
.<.
remai ns undi s-
turbcd by sen-
ses or
gamskaras.
Thi s i s cal l ed
Ni rodha stage and i s the ul -
ti mate obj ecti ve of Yogasas.
tras as propounded by Pa an-
i al i .
Thi s Ni rooha i s beyond
the fi ve ari matc mental statcs
(Cki ttavri thi )
i n whi ch the
mi nd exi st s al l t hr ough I i f e.
What are those normal men-
t al st at es, whi ch t he Yog
t r anscends t o r each Nl r o-
dha? What t hen happens
to Chi tta
and Purusha? Are
there Yoga benefi ts other
than the transcendental ?
I