are aware of the existence of the world. And so, we are controlled by the laws of this
world, and the world is not merely a physical substance of earth, water, fire, air,
ether. It is a mix-up; it is an association. What we call world, or samsara, is an
association of consciousness in a particular manner with the atmosphere outside.
Therefore, the extrication of consciousness from bondage is an extrication from
associations. It is not a giving up of things, as we usually say in a mood of vairagya.
We do not give up anything. We are only trying to release ourselves from the bondage
into which we have entered on account of having no control over ourselves, no
mastery over the processes of thinking, feeling, willing, etc.
The stages through which we have to pass, which are very gradual, are also very
scientific. That is, the most concrete of facts is taken into consideration first. The
immediate reality—which we cannot gainsay, which hits upon us as the only reality—
is taken into consideration first, and our debts to that realm are paid first. That the
most insistent demands are to be provided for before the milder ones, though they
may be deeper, is noticed further.
The world-consciousness we are speaking of, which is the real bondage of the soul, is
a very complicated matter. World-consciousness does not merely mean mountain-
consciousness, river-consciousness or building-consciousness, etc. This is only a very
glib way of describing a crude aspect of it. But the real world-consciousness is a very
complicated involvement. This is why we cannot understand ourselves thoroughly by
a mere look at things, nor can we understand the causes of this involvement, just as a
disease is not caused by one factor merely. It is brought about by various
susceptibilities, external as well as internal, and a medical diagnosis should observe
these factors carefully before treatment is done. Likewise yoga, which is the
treatment of the illness of samsara, has to first of all diagnose the case in all its
aspects, internally as well as externally. This is because world-consciousness, which
is an involvement of consciousness, is an external involvement as well as an internal
involvement. We cannot say which came first and which came afterwards. They
appear to have arisen simultaneously.
However, whatever be the philosophical or the scientific truth about this
involvement, the teacher here gives due regard to the sentiments of the individual.
We know very well that reason does not work always. Sentiment works very quickly,
so the sentiments are noticed and dealt with in an appropriate manner. The
sentimental feeling of the individual is towards the social atmosphere in which it
exists. The very first consciousness of a child is of a social environment, which is
physical as well as human. That we, as individuals, also are involved in our own
external environment and have contributed much to bring about our social and
physical experiences is a different question to be dealt with later on. But, as I
mentioned, the very gross aspect of this experience is observed first and treated at
the very outset.
The physical world and the social world are the first things that we observe, and we
are associated with them in a particular manner. They bind us in a particular way.
We have a bondage in respect of the physical world and also to the social
atmosphere. Patanjali discusses first what bondage is, and then the prescription for it
is provided accordingly.