We are told that there are two principal methods, vairagya and abhyasa: abhyāsa
vairāgyābhyāṁ tannirodhaḥ (I.12). The masterstroke of Patanjali’s method may be said
to be what is called the double attack on the mind, namely, vairagya and abhyasa,
the detachment of the mind from objects of sense—not only objects of sense, but
even conceptual objects—and the habituation of the mind to a steady practice on a
given concept of the nature of Reality. Then Patanjali explains what the practice is.
Patanjali proceeds very systematically, giving us a detailed account of the practice
which follows—the immediate withdrawal of the mind from the objects by means of
the practice of vairagya. We are given the methods of meditation, the samadhis or
the samapattis, as they are called—savitarka, nirvitarka, savichara, nirvichara,
sananda and sasmita—the processes by which the mind rises gradually, stage by
stage, from the grosser to the subtler levels in its communion, in its meditations. But,
one should not imagine that this is an easy process. The author immediately
mentions to us that there are serious obstacles; nine obstacles are mentioned, which
are also accentuated by certain other subsidiary obstacles.
One has to be cautious, therefore, in spite of the fact that there is a great energy put
forth towards the direction of yoga, because these obstacles are very strong. Hence, a
detailed statement is made of what these obstacles are and how they can be
overcome. Methods are prescribed, subsequently, by giving certain techniques of
lower forms of meditation on lesser degrees of reality, so that there is not a direct
attack upon the mind but a gradual control effected through stages, so that one does
not feel the pain of the restrictions that are imposed upon one’s own self—the mind.
Then, a conclusion is brought about towards the end of the Samadhi Pada by
describing the higher states of the communion of the mind with Reality—the
samapattis, or samadhis, rising from what they call the sabija, or the samprajnata
samadhi, to the higher state of absolute samadhi—nirbija. This is the content,
essentially, of the Samadhi Pada, and we are told that the teachings given in this
section are meant for the highest type of aspirant, not for beginners.
Sadhana PadaIn the Sadhana Pada details are given in a more diffused form for beginners, where a
further analysis is made on the nature of the painful modifications of the mind—the
afflictions which cause agony to the whole system: avidya, asmita, raga, dvesa and
abhinivesa. It is these afflictions, these modifications which cause pain, that are the
causes of karma. There is a description of the nature of karma and how karma
binds—how the impressions formed in the process of the experience of objects cause
bondage by creating in the mind certain grooves which compel the manifestation of
similar experience in the future, and so on. The karmas have to be broken through
by a discipline, and those disciplines are described through the eight stages of yama,
niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, of which
the stages up to pratyahara are dealt with in the Sadhana Pada.
Vibhuti PadaThe stages up to pratyahara are designated as the outer court of yoga, the inner
court beginning with the Vibhuti Pada—dharana, dhyana and samadhi. A definition
is given of what these techniques of concentration, meditation and samadhi are, and
how samyama can be practised. That is, direct communion can be effected by the