Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.46, Parisamvad

Patanjali Yoga Sutra Transcribed from Parisamvad at The Yoga Institute.

Chapter 1, Sutra 46

Ta-Eva-Sabijah-Samadhih

Ta: these, those, they
Eva: only
Sabijah: with seed
Samadhih: deep absorption of meditation

These Are The Samadhis With Seed (Having An Object For Meditation)

Listen to the audio:

Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra:

“So we are on the 46th Sutra. These are about ‘Samadhis‘. We use only one word ‘Samadhi‘, but there are so many types. They could be gross- some definite object, or they could be subtle- towards ideas. And the mind has to be concentrating for long, and the knowledge that is gathered is very special. In these Samadhis, there are four kinds; whether I want to go into deep depths and understand the essence.

Now these are ideas which are very difficult for us to understand, but they are part of the study. The point is the so called attention, concentration. We no doubt are able to keep the mind somewhere, but that is very gross. We are not able to penetrate into the essence and that is what would give us the real knowledge. A Yogi sitting quietly for hours, in a quiet place, he is in touch with that essence and he understands. So these are described in detail. We can only know them by their names, Sabija (with seed) and Nirbija (without seed), Savichar (with thought) and Nirvichar (without thought).”

Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra:

“Till now, whatever discussion we have done on Samadhi, it all comes under one group known as Sabija Samadhi. And then the second group will come which is the Nirbija Samadhi which is the final plunge. But the point is Sabija. Till now you had an object, so automatically your Citta is working. The Citta is not quiet, it is focussed on an object and we use the Citta to remain steady. Personally I feel that for a householder, till this stage it is perfect because you have responsibilities, duties, you have to life your life, you have to keep your Citta intact. Citta has to run, it has to be directed, it has to become one-pointed.

So till these varieties of Samadhis, the householders benefit a lot. The moment you sit quietly without any thought, even for some time, the capacity of the mind improves. So all these various things which we were talking of last time, the Alinga state, the five elements, ahamkara, Mahat and Prithvi itself which we can concentrate on, it is a stage and householders can reach here. And after that, if you have nothing to do in householdership, no other responsibilities or duties, then you can plunge to the other level which is Nirbija where the person remains blank for a long time.

In Sabija, the Citta remains intact, it is working, it can be put to some object of concentration. To come to this stage, it takes a long time and effort, where we have to train the Citta and it is in the state of Mudha and Vikshipta, full of thoughts and ideas and opinions and we have to stop that and make it totally steady, but it is still being used.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.46 (Parisamvad)