Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.23 (Parisamvad)

Patanjali Yoga Sutra Transcribed from Parisamvad at The Yoga Institute.

Chapter 2, Sutra 23

 

Sva Svamisaktyoh Svarupopalabdhi Hetuh Samyogah

Sva: of being owned
Svami: of being owner, master
Saktyoh: of the powers
Svarupa: of the nature, own nature, own form
Upalabdhi: recognition
Hetuh: that brings about, the cause, reason
Samyogah: union, conjunction

The Reason For The Coming Together Of The Seen And The Seer Is For The Seer To Unfold The Awareness Of His True Nature And Power

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Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra:

“There are two things – Sva Shakti is Prakriti and Swami Shakti is Purusha. Basically Purusha has lost his identity. He is entangled with Prakriti and so now he doesn’t know what he is. Now, to understand ‘Who Am I?’ I should go through some process. So Prakriti is showing the world and Purusha is watching (Drashta) and while watching, some wisdom comes. His attention suddenly goes to himself and then he realizes that he is different from Prakriti. And slowly that realization dawns, that knowledge comes. Right now all these things are there because of ignorance, then once knowledge comes, the Purusha is freed from Prakriti.

This is the whole scenario. There is a horse and carriage. The carriage is beautifully decorated. It has four wheels, five horses which are showing us the world (symbolically the five senses) and the person who is holding the reigns is the mind. The carriage is ready but will not work unless somebody, i.e. Purusha comes and sits in the carriage. Then the carriage starts moving here and there and then Purusha is watching the world, experiencing the world and understanding what it is.

As long as the Purusha gets entangled in the world, it is suffering, but as soon as knowledge dawns, that he is different from the carriage. If he is there, the carriage moves. Once this understanding comes, he doesn’t need the carriage or the world. He is free.

So we have to understand this sutra in that fashion and see to it that the understanding of these two strengths should be there. Both Prakriti and Purusha are equally strong. Purusha is Prakriti’s lord. If Purusha is there, Prakriti can show its colours, otherwise there is nothing. The Purusha is not always going to remain with Prakriti. The moment knowledge comes, Purusha will leave Prakriti.

There are 2 or 3 sutras which are explaining the same thing. What this sutra is saying is that these two strong elements have come together because of ignorance and once knowledge dawns, they are separate. “

 

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