Chapter 108INFINITY COMING BACK TO ITSELFWe are now about to conclude our study of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali; and the
Kaivalya Pada, which is the last section, is about to end with a description of the
liberation of the spirit. In our previous study of the sutra, mention was made of a
state of spiritual experience known as dharmameghaḥ samādhiḥ (IV.29). This unique
description of that condition appeared first in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and was
mentioned later on in certain other textbooks of yoga.
It is indicative of the new outlook of the yogin at this heightened stage of experience
when virtue seems to be the only thing prevalent everywhere and anywhere. There is
no such thing as vice or evil. It is goodness and positivity that rains upon him like a
shower of nectar, because divinity reveals itself in its fullest glory. All negative
elements get absorbed into the supreme positivity of eternity. This is to give an
outline of what is likely to happen in this condition of dharma-megha samadhi.
Dharma is virtue, but it means many other things also. In Buddhist psychology and
in certain other systems of thought, dharma is indicative of properties not merely
ethical, but also physical, psychical and metaphysical. The gunas of prakriti also may
be considered to be dharmas of prakriti. The word ‘dharma’ was also used earlier in
the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in a different sense from the meaning of virtue.
The qualities of prakriti assume a new character in this condition. They do not any
more remain as binding chains, but as pointers to the liberation of the spirit. The
knots into which the gunas of prakriti tied themselves for the purpose of bringing
about individualistic experience get loosened, and there is a dispersion of the gunas
into their original resources. There is no meeting of the gunas for the purpose of
bringing about any concrescence in the form of objects or bondage of any kind. There
is, on the other hand, a return of the gunas to their primeval status of equilibrium,
called samyavastha.
These gunas of prakriti cause bondage when they group themselves into forms and
create the appearances of objects which become the content of the experience of the
individuals. But when they withdraw themselves into their causes, the constituents of
the objects naturally get dispersed and the objects themselves cease to exist—just as
when we pull out every brick of a building, the building itself ceases to be. The gunas
of prakriti are the building bricks of all the forms appearing anywhere in the cosmos.
Thus, the gunas have no function to perform any more. They become kritartha; they
have performed their duty in respect of the individual concerned. And then, what
happens to them? They do not any more remain as forces tending towards names
and forms in space and time. Parinama krama samapti of the gunas takes place.
Tataḥ kṛtārthānāṁ pariṇāmakrama samāptiḥ guṇānām (IV.32): Because of the fulfilment
of the purpose of the gunas, they return to their sources. What is the fulfilment of the
purpose? The purpose of the gunas was to create experience for the individual, and
this experience was intended as a kind of training towards the liberation of the spirit.
When that has been executed properly and the function fulfilled, these constituents
are withdrawn back. There is at once the cessation of klesas and karmas, says the
sutra: tataḥ kleśa karma nivṛttiḥ (IV.30). There is a sudden cessation of every trouble
from every corner, like the rise of the bright sun in the clear sky after a heavy