Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 111

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar and of the body through medicine. When a yogi sincerely practices yoga as outlined in this Patanjali Yoga Sutra, the penultimate stage is he attains to a very particular Samadhi called Dharma Megha Samadhi. Dharma Megha Samadhi means where there is absolutely no covering at all to his intuitive mind. We all know that if we have to acquire knowledge, we have to work very hard. Two stages we have to go through. First, we have to have concentration, second, it always takes place through stages, lower stage, a little bit higher stage, still higher stage until the ultimate stage comes. This is what is called tuition. But when a person advances, he attains to a particular stage. It is not a stage actually, it is the ultimate status is called intuition. Dharma Megha Samadhi is called intuition. As clearly as we are seeing each other, so clearly a yogi comes to know everything. For us, what is the problem with us? First problem is a subjective problem, second problem is a time problem, third problem is a space problem. Every object is limited by our subjectivity, time and space. Very interesting topic by itself, not only philosophers and spiritual people but even scientists also use this measuring stick. When I look at you or you look at me, we are separated by two things, time and space. So you are there, I am here, this is a distance. By the time your mind comes and reaches me through your eyes, even though it is a very very small amount of time, already there is a smallest difference of time is there and that is a distance and that can bias our understanding. Distance can bias our understanding. These are limitations of the object but there is even worse limitation which is called subjective limitation. What is subjective limitation? Both physical as well as mental. A person has got cataract or if two people or deaf people, if the eye is defective because these are called instruments of knowledge. If there is any smallest defect in our instruments then these instruments also cause misinformation, wrong knowledge. Even worse than that is what we call the mental limitation. If a person is interested then he will notice everything. The point we are illustrating is if we have got keen interest in something, whether you are reading a book, watching a TV, observing another person, whatever action you are doing, if we have interest, concentration will come and the keenness of observation, the power of observation definitely would increase. If we want to be progressing in spiritual life, we should be extremely keen with regard to our actions, every action, every thought or whatever it is. When a yogi almost attained his goal, what is the goal? What is the Samadhi? Nirvikalpa Samadhi, that is the goal, he has to attain Nirvikalpa Samadhi, he has almost reached but before he reaches that which makes him really attain to that state and get established in that state is called Dharma Megha Samadhi. Now what is the benefit of this Dharma Megha Samadhi? It is, it gives the knowledge of everything. In this world or in our experience, there are only two things. If we are normally asked how many things are there, we say infinite number of things, countless number of things but really speaking there are only two things, what Shankaracharya calls I and everything, only two, subject and object, the seer and the seen, the experiencer and the experienced, only two. Everything falls under the experience, there is only one and the subject is only one. When a yogi reaches this state, he comes to know everything, the knowledge of everything. Then what he comes to know is, everything other than himself is limited, changing every second through time and space, impure and it is called Anatma. From the Sankhya point of view, I am saying this, Anatma means what, non-self, non-self means what, Mithya, Mithya means what, ephemeral, ephemeral means what, not to be counted as existing. So what is it that remains, I, the pure self which is unlimited by time, space, causation without any limitation and all bliss, all knowledge condensed in three simple words Sat, Chit and Ananda. I am that Sat, Chit, Ananda. This is what he observes. Now why is it we are not able to progress in spiritual life? Because we also know every object in this world is changing, every object in this world is constantly changing. Do you know what I am talking about? We say time, what is time? Another name for time, change, every millisecond, so many things have changed and I will just give you something, take it in a light vein, I just came few minutes back and I started my talk and within this time how many thousands of people have died or hundreds of people and if you take creatures, how many billions of creatures have been born, have been dead is countless. I am only talking about human beings, how many hundreds, every day nearly 200,000 people die, every single day, therefore by the time we have breathed in and breathed out already some people are dead. So much change has taken place. What about us? Change is taking place. I have become older, I have become what? Older. This is what? Tada sarva avarnam ala apetasya jnanasya anantyat gneyam alpam. So when a person attains to this Samadhi called Dharmamik Samadhi then everything becomes intuitive. You know what is intuition? Intuition means as though an object is the closest to me. If you are at a long distance I cannot see you properly. As you come near, provided that my eyesight is okay, my mind is also okay, everything becomes absolutely clearer. For an intuitive person as though every object in this world, it may be for other people billions of miles away like galaxies but for a yogi as though it is just in front of him and also bigness and smallness doesn't affect him. You know how much we are limited? If you want to see a virus, a microbe, you need a special instrument. If you want to see something which is long distance you need a telescope. And suppose you go nearer the sun, can you stand? Your body itself will melt long before that. But for a yogi as though it is just near him, it is not big at all, he is bigger than everything and this great truth the Puranas are telling us. You know Sri Krishna, Upala was playing and he had eaten mud and promptly his elder brother Balarama went and conveyed the news to his mother, Kanaya is eating mud and immediately she caught hold of Kanaya and said, did you eat mud? He said, mom, don't believe that fellow's words, it is his nature to tell everything against you, I don't believe you. The mother says to him, I don't believe you. Why do you go through all this rigmarole of questioning? I open my mouth, you peer into it, that's finished. If there is mud, there is mud, this is alright, open your mouth and she looked. What did she say? The entire universe and in that universe there is India and in that India there is Brindavan, in that Brindavan there was one Yashoda and one Kanaya and she was looking and that Yashoda whom she was looking at was looking into the mouth of Kanaya and that second Yashoda was seeing another universe, universe within the universe within the universe. What is the Purana trying to tell us? The whole universe is nothing but the smallest atom because who contains it? Kali, Rudra, Brahma and Bhandu. The whole incalculably great universe is in the stomach of mother Kali, God. Sri Ramakrishna's gospel, we get a very beautiful description. Sri Ramakrishna was very fond of whenever he hears some good quotation, he not only quotes it but he also acknowledges his copyright of somebody from whom he heard. Who is great? He says this whole universe is so big we cannot imagine and this whole universe is contained in God. Naturally God is the biggest of bigger object, isn't it? He says no, that great God in whom this whole biggest universe is contained is contained in the heart of a devotee. Now tell me who is great? Ramakrishna says. So what is it for an intuitive person who attains to this Dharmamega Samadhi, everything is absolutely present. When such a thing happens, when a person attains to this Dharmamega Samadhi, what is the result of it? Tataha Klesha Karma Nivruthi. All his bondages fall down. Kleshas means avidya, asmita, raga, dvesha and abhinivesha. The entire rigmarole of bondage, it simply dissolves. It simply gets destroyed because when there is no desire, there is no action. When there is no action, there is no experience. When there is no experience, there is no raga attachment or dvesha aversion. When there are no attachment or aversion, there is no attachment to those objects at all, a mind even does not even think about them. When a mind doesn't think about it, that mind becomes free from those particular objects which a person is attached before and incidentally even hating somebody is a greater attachment than even loving somebody. Suppose you are loving someone and you are hating somebody, whom do you think more? Who affects you more? Who raises your blood pressure? So that is why in Hindu philosophy, it is accepted, you hate God to the greatest limit of your power and you will reach Him very soon. Ravanasura, Hiranyakashyapu and Kamsa, Shishupala, Dantavakra, all of them deliberately chose to attain to God by accepting the negative, neti neti, I don't want to love you, then what do you want? I want to hate you. And they attained very, very fast, God Himself came down. But the point here, when a person attains to Dharmamaya Samadhi, all kleshas disappear along with the klesha. Klesha means causes of bondage. When they disappear, all the actions that follow any desire, you must always remember wherever there is a desire, there would be an action. Everything disappears, totally disappears, not only that. When a person's mind becomes so pure, it is not limited by time, space, object, causation, no limitation is there. Then whatever is in front of him, all that knowledge he will have, this is the Sankhya viewpoint. Now, when a person attains to that knowledge, he becomes almost free. Why is he free? Because he sees the impurity, the ephemerality, the unreliableness, the limitedness, the unhappiness that is caused by attachment to this object, he is crystal clearly he is able to see it. Simple example Vedanta gives is, supposing there is a blazing fire, a pit is there and a blazing fire is there, which person willingly is going to jump into that fire? The moment if anyone pushes him nearer, what would be his natural impulse? To run away from that place. So when a yogi is able to see the undesirability of an object, he will simply, he turns his mind away. That means he will have no identity with that object. And according to yoga, when a person is not identified with the thought that arises in the mind, then what is he? He is himself. Other times he is other self. Other self means identifying himself with whatever thought comes. I am happy, I am unhappy, I am angry, I am not angry, I am elated, I am depressed, all those thoughts. But now I am myself. When a yogi attains to that state of intuitiveness, then what happens? There is no mala. Mala means impurity. Impurity means a screen that which obscures the knowledge of the object. Then his knowledge becomes infinite. Now according to Vedanta, the knower and the knowledge are one. The knower and the knowledge is one. So when a person's knowledge is infinite, what does he become? Infinite. This is a very beautiful, little bit difficult idea to understand, but I will give you a simple explanation. Now you are looking at me and you have a knowledge, you have knowledge of me. You know what happens? For a moment, you have become me and that's how you have got this knowledge. Like you know, there is a mould and whatever you pour into this mould, that poured object also takes the form of that mould with a melt iron or copper or brass or whatever it is. That is how images are made. First mould is made and then the melted metal is poured into it and when it cools down, it is exactly the form of that mould. As if your mind has become the mould and it comes and falls upon me, I am the melted object and when you withdraw your mind, what comes? Knowledge of myself. Apply this to every object in this world. Every millisecond, this we are going, identifying ourselves with the object in front of us, that is how we get our knowledge. Here what is important for us, Patanjali is clearly indicating to us, when a person has no obstructions to his intuitiveness, what happens, everything, every knowledge becomes his. Every knowledge means, I also explained in my last class, if there are a thousand pots, clay pots and the knowledge of how many objects do you require? Only one knowledge. What is it? If you have the knowledge of the clay, you have the knowledge of all the thousand clay pots. Not only thousand, if you make a billion clay pots, because what is a pot, nothing but clay. In such a person's mind, that yogi's mind, naturally what is called dispassion arises. The moment he comes to know the ephemeral nature, the limited nature of something, instantaneously dispassion will arise. As soon as dispassion comes, he withdraws his mind from everything else. As soon as he withdraws his mind, who remains? It is like, you know, it is a room full of people and there is a powerful person and he doesn't like any of them, he kicks all of them out. As soon as all these people are kicked out, who remains in that room? Only that particular person. Like that, when all the objects are totally removed, mind itself will die without any thought. This is something very important fact. Every object comes into our mind in what form? In the form of a thought called vritti. The moment we are not interested in that object, this vritti disappears. And when the vritti disappears, with the last disappearance of the last vritti, the mind itself will disappear. Because what is a mind? Nothing but vritti. When there is no vritti or thought, there is no mind. When there is no mind, as if there is only one that stands there alone. Who is it? Purusha. The soul, the Atman, the Brahman. That's what he wants to say. The whole universe with all its objects of sense knowledge becomes as nothing in comparison to that infinite knowledge which is free from all obstructions and impurity. I also raised a small discussion with regard to this. Do you know what it is? It is believed that a knower of Brahman knows everything, because Brahman is everything. A knower of Brahman knows everything. So the discussion, the question that was raised was, as an example, would Srinag Krishna know the knowledge of nuclear fission? Is it true? Yes, it is true. He will not know. But. I said there is a but. What is the but? He doesn't know because, not because he doesn't have the capacity to know, but because he is not at all interested in it. Because why are we interested? One person likes this, another person likes something else. Why? Only one purpose. We don't like any object in this world. We like only the happiness that comes out of that object. Is it not? And here he is, all the happiness is his own nature, Ananda Swaroopa. Because he is Ananda Swaroopa, there is nothing, he doesn't want anything else. He is getting infinite happiness because he is infinite. Therefore every object in this world, it doesn't mean anything. But if you ask the question, suppose some scientist goes and requests Srinag Krishna, Sir, you please grant me the boon of the secret of nuclear fission. And immediately he will give that knowledge. In what form he gives? What am I talking about? I am talking about Mother Saraswati, a nuclear scientist. How does he get his knowledge? By himself? Or is Mother Saraswati bestowing it upon him? Is he worshipping Mother Saraswati? Yes. In what form? It's not in the form of name and form. In what form? In the form of serious scientific quest with discipline, with focus and with only object I want to know. And Mother is pleased, as soon as his mould is ready, she pours that image called nuclear fission into that mould. Here is a musician. He prays to the same Mother Saraswati. What does she give? Knowledge of music. Here is another person, he wants the knowledge of interpersonal relationship. Yes, she will give it to him. Whatever a person wants, Mother Saraswati gives that knowledge to that person. In other words, God in the form of knowledge is called Mother Saraswati. And whatever a person desires, here desires means you have to be very careful. The word desires means every beggar desires, I would like to be a billionaire, but he would not like to do anything about it. Desire means intense desire, intense self-effort in the right direction, in the right way, with the right instrument, then the result will be that outpouring of knowledge. Swami Vivekananda puts it so beautifully while defining the word education. What is education? Definition of education? Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man. What is the point here? When a yogi attains to this state, he has become infinite, because he is infinite, not become. Now he knows, previously he did not know I am infinite, now he knows I am infinite. That is called attaining. That is called reaching. When a person reaches this state, then there is nothing remains unknown to him. Everything becomes known. I raised this topic, then every knower of Brahman knows everything, yes he knows everything, but he doesn't pay attention, but that's why it is not manifest. But if he desires either to know himself or to give it to somebody, then he will assume that special form and pass on that knowledge to the other people. Now I will give you a beautiful example also. There was a devotee, Upendranath Mokopadhyaya. He used to come to Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna was very intelligent, very intelligent person and by the way, no spiritual person is an unintelligent person. A stupid fellow cannot become a spiritual person. He may not know many things, but his spiritual intelligence is very great. Sri Ramakrishna asked that young man, why are you visiting me so frequently? Then he says, he was a very frank man, he said, I want money, I want to become wealthy. He said, all right, bring jalebi and I will make you wealthy. And he brought jalebi, Sri Ramakrishna ate jalebi and this man became what? Wealthy. The point is, how did he become wealthy? Yes, money poured from the Akasha, from the sky? No, he had got that intelligence, I have to do this, next I have to do this, next I have to do that. It took a long time and he became one of the millionaires, established one of the very popular Bhoshmati, that is a monthly magazine, I think Dainik Bhoshmati, even daily newspaper in Bengali and his wife also, he also married a wife who was born with that good luck. The point I am making is, Sri Ramakrishna can also pour money from there. There is a hymn called Kanaka Dhara Stava by Shankaracharya, Kanaka Dhara means the raining of gold. You know the story, Shankaracharya was begging food as a Brahmachari and he went to a poor widow's house and she felt motherly, she didn't have anything excepting one, what we call amlaki, I don't know how to, gooseberry, we call it amlaki. And then that too dried, amlaki can be dried, with tears in her eyes she said, my son, I have nothing else to give you, please accept this. He was so moved by her condition, immediately he prayed to mother Lakshmi and the whole compound early morning was filled with what, guess, golden amlaki, what does that show, why am I mentioning, these are all true things, if we don't have faith, that's our misfortune. But the whole point is, there are Gods, there are Goddesses, different powers of God are called Gods and Goddesses and if we sincerely pray, all the miracles will happen. But in this particular case, Sri Ramakrishna did not rain any wealth, but he indicated how wealth could be got by that young man. The most important event that happened was, even though he got all this money, he did not become a worldly person, he spent it mostly in the service of God and his devotees. Especially we say he served Sri Ramakrishna, he served Sri Ramakrishna's disciples and Ramakrishna ordered enormously and because of him so much of this literature had spread. I think if I am not wrong, the first translations of this, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna Kathamrita was published in the papers of Upendranath Mukhopadhyay and later on it became a separate booklet, etc. Anyway, when a person attains to this state of infinity, then that person, he is completely free because knowledge makes us free. Knowledge is power, power makes us free and a person of knowledge, self-knowledge, he becomes completely free. What is that freedom? I am this or that. So what? I am the self means I am the embodiment of bliss. If I am the embodiment of bliss, there is no object in this world after which I need to run because I myself can give bliss to everybody else. That is the understanding that any type of knowledge is a small bit of knowledge. I want to have the knowledge of a chair, it is a small bit for a person, for a yogi who attains to that state. In other words, saying, there is nothing that remains unknown by a yogi when he attains. What happens as a result when a yogi attains to this? Tathaha kritarthanaam parinama krama parisamapthihi gunanam. Then the sequence of mutations of the gunas comes to an end for they have fulfilled their purpose. Here guna means prakriti, gunas belong to prakriti, not belongs. Prakriti itself is manifesting in the form of what? Gunas. All the purpose of the gunas is to bring this human soul, bound soul to that state of perfect and gunas by holding his hand slowly brought him and say to a mirror, you know, a pure clean mirror and say, my man, look at yourself and he says, whoa, I thought I was somebody else. This is what I am. What does it mean? It means, aham brahmasmi, I am Brahman. As soon as he comes to know the guna salute him and say, our purpose is over. Now we have nothing else for it for us to do. Our job is finished. Here is something very wonderful. What happens? Tathaha, when a person attains to this infinite knowledge, what is infinite knowledge? I am infinite. I am Brahman. Then gunanam kritarthanam, the gunas attain to the perfection of their job. They have done their job. There is no more job. Then parinama krama parisamapthi, the parinama comes to an end. Swami Vivekananda describes, then are finished the successive transformations of the qualities, they having attained the end. Then all these various transformations of the qualities, which change from species to species. Since for a beautiful commentary I tell you. What does it mean? How does life start? In organic matter. What does it change into? Organic matter. What is inorganic matter? The manifestation of the gunas, tamo guna. Tamo guna becomes, attains a little bit of vraja guna, that becomes organic matter. Then you know from that bacteria, microbes, then slowly life evolves until it retains to a very intelligent, discriminative human being. In simple words, tamo guna slowly changes into vraja guna. Vraja guna changes into sattva guna. Sattva guna changes into more sattva. More and more and more and more manifestation of sattva guna. That is called the change in the gunas. Gunas means only three. Tamas, vrajas and sattva guna. So when a person is endowed with too much of sattva guna, what happens? He attains to this samadhi called dharma, mega samadhi, intuitive state. Then what happens? As soon as he attains intuitive state, he knows this is me. All this time I was thinking I was something else. But now I know this is me. As soon as the yogi comes to know, he could be really called, you are a real yogi. Means you are a realized soul. You are a saint. Then what happens? Kshana pratiyogi parinama aparanta nirkrahya kramaha. The changes that exist in relation to movements and which are perceived at the end of series or a succession is a change. All changes come to an end. Now tell me what is the opposite of change? Non-change. All changes coming to an end. What does it mean? It means somebody, something becomes changeless. And there is only one being in this world which is changeless. That is called purusha, soul, atman, brahman, whatever name you call. What are all the gunas doing? Changing. Changing what? From a lower state to a higher state. And ultimately the gunas have brought the man to his own nature. Now he became awakened person and he knows I am brahman, their job is finished, guidance is finished, teachings are finished, gunas have no further problem. Then what do they do? So he says, what are those qualities which has brought a person, a yogi to this last stage? Do you know what it is? It is called nirodha-vrittana. Vrittana means good samskaras, good impressions arising, nirodha means no, I don't want to think about that. Two thoughts, one is negative thoughts, not as we understand negative thoughts. Here negativity means those thoughts are undesirable, I don't want those thoughts. Whenever such a thought tries to arise, this nirodha-samskara says, no, it's not right, don't think of that. He becomes perfect so that he will never again think of that negative undesirable thought. Vrittana and nirodha, these are the two companions which are guiding the yogi until he reaches the last. Now what are vrittana and nirodha? Their effects are gunas, their job is finished. So what happens? These samskaras in the form of strong habits and thoughts merge in the mind and the mind merges in asmita-ahankara and the ahankara-egotism merges in the mahat and the mahat merges in the pradhana. The job of prakriti is finished. That is what he is telling, kshana-pratiyogi-parinama-aparanta-nirgrahya-kramaha. What is this sequence? This is the sequence of the mutations which take place at every moment but which are only perceived at the end of a series. What a beautiful aphorism Patanjali is telling. See what happens, you want to become a doctor, you want to become a psychiatrist, you want to become a spiritually progressive, whatever you want to become. How did you become? How does a person become? Gradual change. First he only starts, as an example here is a musician, a budding musician, how does he start? Sarigama padhani, then he progresses into raga, not raga, not Patanjali yoga raga. Here raga means what? Musical knowledge and then he slowly becomes very expert and one day he doesn't need the movement. He opens his mouth with closed eyes, better, without closed eyes, whatever particular type of song you or the audience would like to listen, it just flows him like water flows from the rain water. When the water flows from the higher place to a lower place, does it need any special effort? It just flows, it just comes. So like that these changes are taking place. What are the changes that are taking place? Before you came and sat here, you didn't have the knowledge of what I was going to talk. As I was trying to expound and convey my thought to you, minute by minute, your knowledge, I hope, is increasing. At the end, you know what I know, but only at the end you come to know, oh now I know. But do you realize how many steps you had to take, how many seconds you had to pass before you attain that certainty of knowledge. This is what is being said here, this is the sequence of the mutations which take place at every moment, but which are only perceived at the end of a series. When we say we have some knowledge, we are not recognizing all the changes that have taken place. We are only recognizing it at the very end. Swami Vivekananda, he gives a very beautiful explanation. Patanjali here defines the word succession, the changes that exist in relation to moments. While I think, many moments pass and with each moment there is a change of idea, but I only perceive these changes at the end of a series. This is called succession. But for the mind that has realized Omnipresence, there is no, what does it mean? There is no time gap. The moment he comes to know, that very instant everything is present, as if it is right in front of you. Everything has become present for it, to it the present alone exists, the past and the future has lost, time stands controlled, all knowledge is there in one second, everything is known like a flash. I will give you a small illustration to understand this. Suppose you are standing 50 feet away from me and this is the first time you are meeting me and you can see, there is Swami there. So now what happens, you have any unclear idea about me, how my face looks, how I stand, how I smile etc. You have some idea, but it is imperfect idea. What do you do then? Slowly you are progressing towards me, that means spatially you are coming nearer to me. That means time wise also you are coming to me, 5 minutes back you are at the back, 4 minutes back you are nearer, 1 minute back you are very near, this second you are the closest. We have to go through all these steps because we are ignorant people. But for a Yogi you know what happens, when Sri Ramakrishna looks at this, he may be 50 billion light years away, as though he is, how is it possible? I will again give another illustration to make this point clear. Swami Brahmananda was at Bellarmat. His disciple was in California, Hollywood and one day Swami Brahmananda was sitting there and telling to others, do you know that I can see what my disciple is doing in California, as if he is standing in front of him. This is the statement. Now if you analyze it, did that disciple come to Bellarmat and stood or did this Swami go there? Did Swami Brahmananda go there? Yes, he went there, not body wise, as all pervading Atman, he is already there, even the word he goes there is a wrong word, he is already there, as if he is sitting near him and even what the disciple doesn't know what he is thinking. Swami Brahmananda knows, because who is Swami Brahmananda? Not Swami Brahmananda, he is Brahman, Atman is all pervading, when all pervading, even some object which is 50 billion years away, how far is it from God, how far away is it? In fact, it is God only, therefore the knowledge of that object is one's own knowledge, really speaking. What a beautiful idea, you have to digest these ideas slowly. So that is what happens. Then 34th aphorism, purushartha shunyanam gunanam pratiprasavaha kaivalyam svarupa pratishthava chita shakti reti. Since the gunas no longer have any purpose to serve for the Atman, they resolve themselves into Prakruti, this is liberation. The Atman shines forth in its own pristine nature as pure conscious, when a person, Yogi reaches this state, gunas they just dissolve from him. Gunas means another word for gunas is Prakruti, the whole Prakruti, the whole mind, body complex, it resolves into itself because it has accomplished its purpose. Since the gunas no longer have any purpose to serve for the Atman, because it has brought the ignorant person that knowledge that you are Purusha, you are Brahman, then their job is finished. They resolve themselves into themselves, means into Prakruti and that state where a Purusha is no longer limited, bound by any gunas, by any Prakruti, means he has no body mind complex. That is what is that state called kaivalyam, what is called kaivalyam, moksha, mukti, liberation, freedom, kingdom of heaven, satori, nirvana, whatever name. But here he gives two names, kaivalyam is one, swaroopa pratishtava chiti shakti reti, this is the goal of Yogi. What is it? Dhadha drashtu swaroope avasthanam, to know who one is, that is the goal of Yoga. This Yogi has reached that goal, now he knows I am Purusha, I am the power. Here it comes, a beautiful explanation, all is immoral of forgetting and again striving and again going back. A person was clean and he muddied himself and he took water and cleaned himself, what did he attain? Did he attain anything new? What he was, he attained, that is what it says. Why? We don't know why. We call it Leela, but the person had attained, a Yogi has attained. So what is the definition of Yoga, Yogaha chittavrute nirodhaha, not having any obstruction between himself and his knowledge is called Yoga, dhadha drashtu swaroope avasthanam, vritti sarupyam, every other time if a person doesn't know who is himself, he has knowledge, either he knows I am this or he knows I am that. This means I am Purusha, that means everything else, I am a man, I am a woman, I am happy, I am unhappy, I am ignorant, I am knowledgeable, all these nonsensical identities created because of the identity with the thought, every passing thought, we are slaves to every passing thought. Maybe some of you are sitting and saying what is this Swami going on and on, you are an unhappy person, don't blame me, it is because you are identifying yourself with your own negative thoughts, that is what. Let me quote Swami Vivekananda here, nature's prakriti's task is done, this unselfish task which our sweet nurse nature had imposed upon herself, she gently took the self-forgetting soul by the hand as it were and showed him all the experiences in the universe, all manifestations bringing him higher and higher through various bodies till his lost glory came back and he remembered his own nature. Having accomplished that the kind mother went back the same way she came for others who have lost, also lost their way in the trackless desert of life and thus is she working without beginning and without end and thus through pleasure and pain, through good and evil, the infinite river of souls is flowing into the ocean of perfection, of self-realising. Only one point remains to be known, that point is Sri Ramakrishna's contribution to modern spiritual life, according to Vedantic teaching we are Brahman, each soul is nothing but Brahman, it is human way of expressing, each soul means what, how many Brahmans are there, only one because at this present stage we see innumerable things, we have to say each soul and what do you mean by each soul, what does Swami Vivekananda mean by each soul, do not limit yourself, here is a living thing, it is a soul, what about a chair, what about the table, what about the carpet, what about this light bulb, they are also nothing but souls, it is also going to realise one day, this is as I said you know inorganic to organic, organic to microbes, viruses or amoeba and slowly evolving, evolving, evolving until a person becomes a discriminative person and then he strives through spiritual practice and one day he realises this is me, so each soul is potentiality, what is the point, before Sri Ramakrishna, if you ask what is it that makes us forget our true nature, Maya and according to many many Vedantains, Maya is dangerous, Maya is the most inimical thing in this world because it makes us forget our true nature, it makes us go through all these sufferings through millions and billions of births, what did Sri Ramakrishna say, he did not say Maya is inimical, he said Maya is Mahamaya, Mahamaya is the divine mother, divine mother who has given birth, would any mother knowingly, consciously, deliberately make her children go through infinite suffering, rather she takes all the suffering for herself, she liberates, she tries to make them as happy as possible, that is what Sri Ramakrishna's interpretation of Maya is post Shankarites including Shankaracharya, Maya, Avidya is such a hateful thing, you will have to somehow destroy it and you have to do a lot of rigmarole, but Sri Ramakrishna says no, Maya is your mother, you pray to her, oh mother please let me know who am I and so he divided Maya into two categories, if you don't pray it is Avidya Maya, if you pray the same Avidya Maya becomes what, Vidya Maya, now you may say what difference are you making through your talk, what Shankara calls Maya, you call it Avidya Maya, is it not, no, what is Avidya Maya, preparing us for that higher state that is called Avidya Maya, so according to Sri Ramakrishna, Avidya Maya is also helping us through preparation because not only we learn through successes, more we learn through failures, tell me if I ask you the question, a person who is suffering more and a person who is enjoying more, who learns quicker and more, only a person who is really suffering, if you are never suffering, do you think that you will be a human being, all the developments that have taken place so far in any field you take, they are all due to what, suffering, suffering and necessity is the mother of invention, so also when a person starts suffering, then he starts enquiring how can I get out of this suffering, this is the greatest contribution, that's what Swami Vivekananda is explaining in his inimitable language, this mother nature takes the soul and makes him know who is he and when this task is done, then what does it do, it goes back to bring back every struggling soul to the same condition, is Prakriti our enemy or our greatest benefit, every experience we go through, happy or unhappy, good or evil is all a help, a boost to our progress in spiritual, what is the conclusion, the conclusion is that each soul is potentially divine and the goal is to manifest to this divinity within by controlling nature, external, internal and Swami Vivekananda gives this before he starts his special book called Rajayoga, so what is yoga, controlling nature, external as well as internal and you can do this through any of the paths, do this either through work, worship, psychology or through knowledge, one, more or all of these together and be free, this is the whole of religion, nothing else, churches, books, doctrines, dogmas etc., these are all secondary details, with this 34th aphorism, we have come to the end of the 4th chapter of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras and that means we have completed the Yoga Sutras, maybe it has taken 2 years but I am glad that I have taken it because I am the greatest benefited person in this, whether you get benefit or not, I don't know, I got the greatest benefit, I hope in the course, some of the ideas became clearer to you also, Rajayoga is one of the 4 yogas, you must remember, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Rajayoga and Jnana Yoga and for Rajayoga, the greatest authority is Patanjali Yoga Sutras and Patanjali Yoga Sutras are tough to understand because Sutra means aphorism, aphorism means very highly compressed cryptic statement but Swami Vivekananda gives his commentary and most of my talks are based upon his commentary, the speciality of his commentary is that he himself was a great yogi, he was a Dhyana Siddha, perfect in meditation, so he knows what he is talking about and he was a great scholar, he also studied all these things, Vyasa Bhashya, Bhoja Vritti, all these things he had studied and he has summarised for us in simple English language and even though some of the aphorisms are still tough for us to understand but it gives greater insight, the only thing we need to do now, this is called Shravana, only first of the 3 steps, what is the second step? Manana, you have to go and put your mind to work, go on thinking until you understand them without the least bit of doubt, what is the last or third step? You have to put it into practice, here is the essence, any spiritual teaching, if it is not put into practice, it is totally useless, not only useless, it could be highly dangerous because a person who reads books, who discusses spiritual topics, he might even get pride that I am a great learned person, he may try to appear to other people that I am a great spiritual person, in fact a person who does not study but who practices is far superior to a yogi who has come to this point, so with this our Patanjali Yoga Sutras exposition comes to an end, the only thing I would like to announce is from January our future talks will start and I have decided to take the Jnana Yoga of Swami Vivekananda, most marvellous books, what is Jnana, what is Jnana Yoga and whether it is the only path or it is one of the paths and how one can progress in spiritual life through that particular yoga, these most marvellous details, no one, I would say no one has done it in such a systematic way, we will be discussing them in our future class. Om Yogena Chittasya Padena Vacham Malam Sharirasya Chavai Dhyakena Yopakarottam Pravaram Muninam Patanjalim Pranjali Rana Tosmi I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of space through grammar and of the body through medicine.