Sutras Ch 4 Notes

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras:
Commentary on Chapter 4 - Kaivalya Pada

Please note that work on this chapter is ongoing. I add stuff when I find the time (which at present is very limited). I have added a complete Sanskrit text for this chapter, since people have asked for this, but many sutras still have incomplete sections on translation and commentary. Meanwhile there is a complete set of notes from a retreat at Hawkwood (near Stroud in England) where Paul Harvey, founder of Viniyoga Britain, included Chapter 4 in his teaching in August 2000. Most recent update 05/08/08.

Your comments are welcome, but please don't expect miracles!

Main abbreviations are as follows (for a fuller list, see the general introduction to the commentary):

B Bouanchaud, The Essence of Yoga

D Patanjali's Yogasutras, translated by TKV Desikachar

H Swami Hariharananda Aranya, Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali (translated by P.N. Mukerji)

S The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, translation and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda

T IK Taimni, The Science of Yoga

V Vyasa's Yoga Bhasya, as translated by PN Mukerji in Swami Hariharananda Aranya, Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali.

YS 4.1

janmaoṣadhimantratapaḥsamādhijāḥ siddhayaḥ

Translations:
[B] Superior faculties originate from birth, the use of consecrated plants, recitation of mantra, ascetic discipline, and contemplation.
[D] Exceptional mental capabilities may be achieved by: genetic inheritance, the use of herbs as prescribed in the Vedas, reciting incantations, rigorous austerities, and through that state of mind which remains with its object without distractions (samādhi).
[H]
[S]
[T]

Commentary:
A

YS 4.2

jātyantarapariṇāmaḥ prakṛtyāpūrāt

Translations:
[B] Positive evolution is the result of one's innermost nature.
[D] Change from one set of characteristics to another is essentially an adjustment of the basic qualities of matter.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.3

nimittamaprayojakaṃ prakṛtīnāṃ varaṇabhedastu tataḥ kṣtrikavat

Translations:
[B] The causes of evolution do not set nature in motion, but withdraw obstacles, like a gardener opening an irrigation canal.
[D] But such intelligence can only remove obstacles that obstruct certain changes. Its role is no more than that of a farmer who cuts a dam to allow water to flow into the field where it is needed.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.4

nirmāṇacittānyasmitāmātrāt

Nirmāṇacittānyasmitāmātrāt

Translations:
[B] Individual consciousness develops only in contact with another individual consciousness.
[D] With exceptional mental faculties an individual can influence the mental state of other beings.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.5

pravṛttibhede prayojakaṃ cittamekamaneṣām

Translations:
[B] A single individual consciousness is operative over many others in varied manifestations.
[D] This influence also depends on the state of the recipient.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.6

tatra dhyānajamanāśayam

Translations:
[B] Then, that which arises from meditation produces no negative influence over others.
[D] Influence on another by one whose mind is in a state of dhyāna can never increase anxiety or other obstacles. In fact, they are reduced.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.7

karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṃ yoginastrividhamitareṣām

Translations:
[B] The yogi's action is neither black nor white; the action of others is of three kinds.
[D] And they act without any motivation while others who also have exceptional capabilities act with some motivation or other.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:

YS 4.8

tatastadvipākānuguṇānāmevābhivyaktirvāsanānām

Tatastadvipākānuguṇānāmevābhivyaktirvāsanānām

Translations:
[B] Consequences surely follow these inappropriate tendencies.
[D] Because the tendency of the mind to act on the basis of the five obstacles, such as misapprehension, has not been erased, they will surface in the future to produce their unpleasant consequences.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.9

jātideśakālavyavahitānāmapyānantaryaṃ smṛtisaṃskārayorekarūpatvāt

Translations:
[B] Despite differences in birth, place and era, our behaviour continually perpetuates itself because of the unity of form between memory and mental permeation.
[D] Memory and latent impressions are strongly linked. This link remains even if there is an interval of time, place or context between similar actions
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.10

tāsāmanāditvaṃ cāśiṣo nityatvāt

Translations:
[B] The desire for life is eternal, therefore, mental permeation has no origin.
[D] There is a strong desire for immortality in all men at all times. Thus these impressions cannot be ascribed to any time.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.11

hetuphalāśrayālambanaiḥ saïgṛhītatvādeṣāmabhāve tadabhāvaḥ

Translations:
[B] Cause, consequence, mental colouring, and object support are interdependent, and when they disappear, desire ceases to manifest.
[D] These tendencies are both maintained and sustained by misapprehensions, by external stimuli, by attachment to the fruits of actions and by the quality of mind that promotes hyperactivity. Reduction of these automatically makes the undesirable impressions ineffective.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.12

atītānāgataṃ svarūpato 'tyadhvabhedāddharmāṇām

Translations:
[B] The past and the future are always potentially present. Their manifestations depend on individual and universal laws as a whole.
[D] The substance of what has disappeared as well as what may appear always exists. Whether or not they are evident depends upon the direction of change.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.13

te vyaktasūkṣmā guṇātmānaḥ

Translations:
[B] Whether individual and universal laws manifest or not depends on the three constituent qualities of nature.
[D] Whether or not particular characteristics appear depends on the mutations of the three qualities.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.14

pariṇāmaikatvādvastutattvam

Pariṇāmaikatvādvastutattvam

Translations:
[B] An object's reality depends on uniting the changes of the three constituent qualities of nature.
[D] The characteristics of a substance at one moment in time is in fact a single change in these qualities.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.15

vastusāmye cittabhedāttayorvibhaktaḥ panthāḥ

Translations:
[B] The psyche's fragmentary nature creates a divergence between the object and one's grasp of it, even though the object itself remains coherent.
[D] The characteristics of an object appear differently, depending upon the different mental states of the observer.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.16

na caikacittatantraṃ cedvastu tadapramāṇakaṃ tadā kiṃ syāt

Translations:
[B] For an object to exist, the mind need not perceive it. Otherwise, without perception, would there be any objective reality?
[D] If the object were indeed the conception of a particular individual's mind, then in the absence of his perception, would it exist?
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.17

taduparāgāpekṣitvācittasya vastu jñātājñātam

Translations:
[B] The mind perceives objects or not, depending on the attraction they exert and the interest one has in them.
[D] Whether an object is perceived or not depends on its accessibility as well as the individual's motivation.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.18

sadā jñātāṣcittavṛttayastatprabhoḥ puruṣasyāpariṇāmitvāt

Translations:
[B] The spiritual entity is unchanging and always knows and is master of the ever-changing mind.
[D] Mental activities are always known to the Perceiver which is nonchanging and the master of the mind.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.19

na tatsvābhāsaṃ dṛśyatvāt

Translations:
[B] The mind cannot perceive itself as object.
[D] In addition the mind is a part of what is perceived and has no power of its own to perceive.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.20

ekasamaye cobhayānavadhāraṇam

Translations:
[B] And it is impossible to be conscious of the two simultaneously.
[D] The premise that the mind can play two roles is untenable because it cannot simultaneously fabricate and see what it fabricates.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.21

cittāntaradṛśye buddhibuddheratiprasaïgaḥ smṛtisaïkaraśca

Translations:
[B] If consciousness of one's own consciousness originated from another state of consciousness, there would then be infinite regression of phenomena and confusion of memory.
[D] In an individual with such a series of minds of momentary existence there would be disorder and the difficulty of maintaining consistency of memory.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.22

citerapratisaïkramāyāstadākārāpattau svabuddhisaṃvedanam

Translations:
[B] When the mind is not turned outward, it reflects consciousness itself.
[D] When the mind is not linked to external objects and it does not reflect an external form to the Perceiver, then it takes the form of the Perceiver itself.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.23

draṣṭṛdṛśyoparaktaṃ cittaṃ sarvārtham

Translations:
[B] Coloured by the spiritual entity that perceives and by what is perceived, the mind manifests all objects.
[D] Thus the mind serves a dual purpose. It serves the Perceiver by presenting the external to it. It also reflects or presents the Perceiver to itself for its own enlightenment.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.24

tadasaïkhyeyavāsanābhiścitramapi parārthaṃ saṃhatyakāritvāt

Translations:
[B] Although diversified by countless latencies, the mind exists on behalf of the higher entity associated with it.
[D] Even though the mind has accumulated various impressions of different types it is always at the disposal of the Perceiver. This is because the mind cannot function without the power of the Perceiver.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.25

viśeṣadarśina ātmabhāvabhāvanānivṛttiḥ

Translations:
[B] One with discerning perception is freed from all searching for the inner being.
[D] A person of extraordinary claarity is one who is free from the desire to know the nature of the Perceiver.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.26

tadā vivekanimnaṃ kaivalyaprāgbhāraṃ cittam

Translations:
[B] The mind is then absorbed in discernment, oriented towards serenity.
[D] And their clarity takes them to their only concern: to reach and remain in a state of freedom.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.27

tacchidreṣu pratyayāntarāṇi saṃskārebhyaḥ

Translations:
[B] When discernment lapses, disturbing inner mental experiences rush forth due to past permeations.
[D] In the unlikely possibility of distraction from this aim, disturbing past impressions are able to surface.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.28

hānameṣāṃ kleśavaduktam

Translations:
[B] It is said that to abandon these states is to abandon the causes of suffering.
[D] One must never accommodate even small errors because they are detrimental as the five obstacles.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.29

prasaṃkhyāne 'pyakusīdasya sarvathā vivekakhyāterdharmameghaḥ samādhiḥ

Translations:
[B] Moreover, with complete disinterest even in the higher understanding born of meditation, regardless of time, place, or circumstances, discernment brings contemplation borne on a cloud of virtuous harmony.
[D] There arises a state of mind full of clarity concerning all things at all times. It is like a rainfall of pure clarity.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.30

tataḥ kleśakarmanivṛttiḥ

Translations:
[B] Then, on this level, all action based on afflictions has vanished.
[D] This is, indeed, the state free from actions based on the five obstacles.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.31

tadā sarvāvaraṇamalāpetasya jñānasyānantyājjñeyamalpam

Translations:
[B] The knowledge is more or less infinite, all impurity has been repulsed, and little remains to be known.
[D] When the mind is free from the clouds that prevent perception, all is known, there is nothing to be known.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.32

tataḥ kṛtārthānāṃ pariṇāmakramasamāptirguṇānām

Translations:
[B] Then, for the constituent qualities of nature, their end is accomplished and their unfolding ceases.
[D] The three basic qualities cease to follow the sequence of alternating pain and pleasure.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.33

kṣaṇapratiyogī pariṇāmāparāntanirgrāhyaḥ kramaḥ

Translations:
[B] The succession of moments appears in the grasp of past and future changes correlative to the next moment.
[D] A sequence is the replacement of one characteristic by one that follows it. This is linked to moment. A replacement of characteristics is also the basis of a moment.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A

YS 4.34

puruṣārthaśūnyānāṃ guṇānāṃ pratiprasavaḥ kaivalyaṃ svarūpapratiṣṭhā vā citiśaktiriti

Translations:
[B] In liberation, the play of the constituent qualities of nature is no longer a source of meaning or interest to the spiritual entity; or, liberation is the supreme power of pure consciousness founded on itself. End.
[D] When the highest purpose of life is achieved the three basic qualities do not excite responses in the mind. That is freedom. In other words, the Perceiver is no longer coloured by the mind.
[H] T
[S] T
[T] T

Commentary:
A