satisfy us he always remains in the background. He is the common factor in all our
efforts to find happiness through ever-changing forms and, therefore, he must be the
real object of our search. Simple reasoning, is it not? He is thus not only the constant
background of consciousness (IV-18) which illuminates the mind in all its activities
but also the hidden drawing force of desire in all its forms and phases.
One important consequence of the Purusa being the ultimate goal amidst all the
changing objectives which we pursue is that no condition of existence attained by the
Yogi, however exalted it may be, can give him abiding peace. The Divine urge within
him will, sooner or later, assert itself and make him dissatisfied with the condition he
has attained, until he has found the Purusa in Self-realization. For the consciousness
of the Purusa alone is Self-sufficient, Self-contained and Self-illuminated and until
this is attained there can be no real security, no real freedom and no abiding peace.
- The cessation (of desire) for dwelling in the consciousness of Atma for
one who has seen the distinction.
When this fact is realized even the subtle Vasana which binds the Yogi to the
transcendent bliss and spiritual illumination of the Atmic plane ceases and he bends all
his energies to tear down the last and the finest veil which hides the face of the Be-
loved. The distinction indicated by Visesa has already been discussed in the previous
Sutra. It is the distinction between our true objective which is Self-realization and the
innumerable and ever-changing objectives which we pursue in our search for happi-
ness. The phrase Atma-Bhava is used for the exalted consciousness functioning on the
Atmic level—the last stage before Kaivalya is attained. The word Bhava is a technical
term used in Yoga for denoting the functioning of consciousness on the spiritual planes
where perception is synthetic and all-inclusive and not of particular objects as on the