Unity, named by Eliade the supreme goal of life in the Indian tradition,
and “a dream that has obsessed the human spirit from the beginnings of
its history.”^71 Yoga seeks to counteract dis-integration, whose forms in-
clude physical illness and mental distress, to help bring about states of
higher knowing and being. Samadhi ̄ is the quintessential form of reinte-
gration—the recovery of Unity. The polarity of integrated higher knowl-
edge and states of disability opens perspectives on meanings of well-
being, both psychophysical and spiritual. Vyadhi ̄ implies dis-integration
or fragmentation. Yoga counteracts dis-integration, which manifests as
physical and mental dysfunction and distress.
Yoga’s final three limbs or components are called antar ̄a ̇nga, the
‘internal limbs’ (antar, ‘inner’; a ̇nga, ‘limb’), as distinguished from the
first five ‘external limbs,’ bahir ̄a ̇nga(bahis, ‘outer’) [YS 3.7]. The internal
limbs are progressively pure meditative stages. In Yoga’s inner limbs, the
mind’s activity is confined within increasingly focused spheres: first on a
particular object of concentration (dhara ̄ Ón ̄a), then with unwavering
awareness of the object in the state of meditation (dhyana ̄ ), and finally, in
the eight stages of samadhi ̄ , in increasing meditative absorption.
Dhara ̄ Óna ̄, dhy ̄ana, and samadhi ̄ are together called samyamaÓ , by which
one attainsprajña ̄: higher, liberative knowledge [YS 3.4,5].
Sixth Limb: Concentration—Dh ̄araÓn ̄a
Åsanaand pr ̄aÓnay ̄ ama ̄ are practiced to reduce distractions arising from
the body/mind, and pratyah ̄ ara ̄ consists in elimination of mental distrac-
tion from sensory sources. On the foundation of these preliminary com-
ponents, dh ̄araÓna ̄ is a further refinement of consciousness undertaken to
confine the mind’s activity within particular boundaries.
De ́sa-bandha ́s cittasya dhara ̄ Ón ̄a.
Concentration (dh ̄araÓn ̄a) is the confining of the mind to one place
[i.e., to an object of meditation].
YS 3.1The word dhara ̄ Ónais also derived from the verbal root √dh ̄a, which has
meanings including ‘to hold,’ and refers to holding a chosen object in the
mind. Objects that may be chosen for concentration include points in the
body, mantras or sacred sounds, or an image of a deity or revered master
[TV 3.1]. Concentration on an object in dhara ̄ Ón ̄a is not worship of the ob-
ject or what it represents; the object merely serves as a single focal point
for the mind’s complete attention.
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