Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.27 (Parisamvad)

Patanjali Yoga Sutra Transcribed from Parisamvad at The Yoga Institute.

Chapter 2, Sutra 27

 

Tasya Saptadha Prantabhumih Prajna

Tasya: to one
Saptadha: sevenfold
Pranta: final
Bhumih: stage, level
Prajna: discrimination, insight

For Him There Is Advancement To The Highest In The Seven Stages Of Knowledge

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Smt. Hansaji J Yogendra:

“This is the final culmination of the state of a person. Now the point is that the person has reached the Rutumbara state where only pure knowledge exists. Everything else is gone. Then there is Vivek Khyati, he is remaining in Aviplava state, in the state throughout. Nothing can disturb that state. And now his Chitta is going to uplift. And these are the seven stages in which a person, step-by-step is releasing or uplifting himself.

Out of these seven stages, the first stage is where he knows thoroughly well now, what is worthless and worthwhile in this world. I really enjoy these words – worthless and worthwhile I feel that in our life also, we need to judge what is worthless and worthwhile.

The second stage is total Vairagya (detachment) because the reason for which Prakriti and Purusha united, that reason is understood and they are separated, released. So the deep Vairagya, released state comes in.

The third stage is, whatever he wanted to achieve, he has achieved because he has gone to the Samadhi state and has reached the level of Moksha. The fourth stage is he has achieved the height of knowledge

And then the final three things happen where the Chitta/mind has done its job of Bhoga and Apavarga, i.e. it has helped him experience the world and brought him above that. The Chitta has finished its work. The wisdom has come and the person has realized that the Purusha and Prakriti are separate. So the second stage is that the Chitta releases, it goes back to its roots, which is Prakriti, matter. So the Chitta is over and then the final stage is that the consciousness is revealed and the consciousness is the only thing which is shining.

So this is how they are trying the put these seven stages theoretically for us. But from all this theory, the point is that after all these stages, finally, the consciousness remains. So what we have to work on is very clear and the path which we have to adopt to reach this state is explained next.

So now, from our side, these words have to be understood – worthless and worthwhile, Vairagya (detachment), working hard on ourselves to see that we do some Karma, because the first four are action oriented stages where you are sitting in meditation, understanding what is right and wrong and reflecting on the whole day’s actions of what was worthless and worthwhile. Detachment has to come from this world. Here the Bhagwad Gita comes handy which says do your duty and leave the rest. Rest of the things come automatically. We have to just understand these things logically because to understand consciousness, our own Chitta is of no use. The Chitta has to dissolve – Chitta Vrutti Nirodha has to happen. So such practices have to be done in life.”

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