Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.21 (Parisamvad)

Patanjali Yoga Sutra Transcribed from Parisamvad at The Yoga Institute.

Chapter 2, Sutra 21

 

Tadarthah Eva Drsyasya Atma

Tadarthah: for the purpose
Eva: alone
Drsyasya: of the seen, nature – Prakrti
Atma: spirit, seer, Self

The Knowable Material World Is Only For The Experience Of The Self

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Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra:

“They say that the knowable material world is only for the experience of the spirit. The point is that this whole world is for experience. The spirit within is Purusha or consciousness and Prakriti is the material world. The nature of Prakriti is explained in the two earlier Sutras viz. it has its own character and is made of 3 Gunas which are continuously active. Now what we have to do is experience, learn from our experience and go above the experience. Without experience, learning is impossible. So go through the world, understand what it is, face it. Either you learn and go above that or get entangled in the world – with happiness you be happy, with unhappiness you be unhappy, with confusion you create more confusion, you go on doing lots of Karmas so that they bind you, all this also can happen.

A wise person understands that the Purusha is just a seer/observer. So we start seeing the world and understand that this world is not worth getting attached to. So go above that. This is such a beautiful thing.

What I feel is that in our daily practical life, if we want suffering, we suffer, if we want wisdom from the world, do that. It is our choice. The world is there in front of you. The plate is put, now what do you want to do of it is up to you. So this thinking should continuously be there in our mind.”

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