forcefully, so powerfully, that we cannot have even the idea that there is another
realm existing. When we are liberated from the clutches of this force of the earth-
consciousness, we will find ourselves in another realm, and there the laws of that
level will have an impression upon us and exert pressure upon us. There, again, we
will have a new consciousness of a new world of new experience, and that realm will
be regarded as the only reality. At every stage of experience, in every level or realm,
that particular realm only will be regarded as the whole reality so that neither the
past will be known, nor will we be aware of the future.
All these stages have to be passed through, and many births may have to be taken to
become fit to receive the conscious call of the purusha. Manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid
yadati siddhaye, yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ (B.G. VII.3). After
thousands and thousands of births in various species of beings, we come to the level
of this consciousness of there being something transcendent and spiritual. And even
among those who are so conscious, a few only will succeed, says this famous verse of
the Bhagavadgita.
Chapter 107THE BESTOWAL OF A DIVINE GIFTA very important aphorism now comes before us which points out that even at an
advanced stage, one cannot be too confident that obstacles may not recur. This is the
meaning of the sutra, tat cchidreṣu pratyayāntarāṇi saṁskārebhyaḥ (IV.27), which is a
very small statement with a very large significance and meaning. The movement on
the path of yoga is not a smooth and unobstructed, unimpeded progress. Sometimes
there are retrogressions, and even in highly advanced conditions of yoga the
previously existent samskaras in the mind may come up to the surface and prevent
the continuous flow of consciousness. This is the reason why we find, many a time, in
the lives of saints, sages and yogis, that novel features and behaviours manifest
themselves which cannot be understood by the public eye. It is not that they have
turned back from the path of yoga; it is because they have to face that which was
already inside but had been kept controlled by hard thinking and strenuous
meditation.
Very powerful acts of concentration of mind keep the vrittis in respect of objects
under subjection. If the practice is continuous, done daily without any break, and the
meditation becomes a habit with us, these vrittis in respect of objects of sense will
never be allowed to come to the surface, so that it may appear that there is a
continuous flow of consciousness in the direction of the aim of yoga. That may be so
for a time—for such time as opportunities do not arise for those subjected vrittis to
rise to the surface. It is impossible for even a Hercules in yoga to keep up this
continuity of consciousness in meditation, because it is a labour and an effort of the
mind which has to be exerted against the normal tendencies in respect of physical
objects.
When we do it for years, naturally it has a fatiguing effect upon the mind. The power
of the will may overcome this fatigue, due to which the meditation may be kept up for