themselves in the mind—all things with which it is really connected, even the past.
Even the previous lives through which one has passed will become objects of one’s
awareness, says the sutra: aparigrahasthairye janmakathaṁtā saṁbodhaḥ (II.39).
Śaucāt svāṅgajugupsā paraiḥ asaṁsargaḥ (II.40). The purity that one is expected to
maintain, which is known as saucha in this sutra, enables the mind to be perpetually
conscious of the true nature of the body. Again, this ends in a detachment of the
mind from the body. It is an improper understanding of the nature of the body that
causes attachment to it. We have a wrong notion about this body; therefore, we love
it so much. If we begin to know what it is made of, how it has come, how it is
maintained, and why it looks all right—if all these things are properly known, we will
find that the mind is automatically detached. The defects of the body get revealed. It
has to be maintained every day by bath, by cleanliness, by scrubbing, by diet, by
sleep, by rest, by exercise, and so many other things. If any one of these is withdrawn,
we will find that the body loses hold over itself, like a house that is not maintained
properly. It will begin to collapse.
The body has no stand of its own; it stands on something else, and it is this
‘something else’ that makes it appear as if it is all right. This is the nature of this
body, and it is the nature of every body in this world. If we know the structural
defects of the body—its origin, its maintenance, and its eventual dissolution—if all
these things are brought before the mind’s eye, one will feel that attachment to it is
something unthinkable. We will neither be attached to ourselves, nor will we be
attached to others. We will get fed up with this body. “How many days I have to bathe
it? One day, two days, three days—endlessly!” It will show its real nature and start
stinking if we do not bathe it for some days.
The body is not fragrant; it is not beautiful. If we ignore it or neglect it, it will show
itself: “This is what I am, and what others are.” Thus, due to this realisation of the
inner structure of the physical organism, one feels a sense of “enough with it”, and a
sense of “enough with everything else”. We neither get attached to others, nor do we
have any fondness for our own body.
Sattvaśuddhi saumanasya aikāgrye indriyajaya ātmadarśana yogyatvāni ca (II.41). These
are some other things that follow from purity of oneself. The mind becomes lustrous
due to the realisation of the transitory nature of things and the defective character of
objects of sense, including the physical body. That lustre of the mind is what is called
sattva suddhi. We are despondent, melancholy, brooding, and unhappy constantly
on account of the presence of rajas and tamas in the mind. The presence of rajas
and tamas means, in other ways, the presence of desires for the body as well as other
bodies connected with this body. When they are eliminated by the absence of desire
and the detection of the evil in things—the defects of objects in general—there is
sattva suddhi and also saumanasya. There is peace of mind. Peace of mind is the
manifestation of sattva in the mind—the absence of rajas and tamas. Distraction
and torpidity are eliminated—at least in a large measure, if not totally. Then, there is
a beaming of the light of sattva, which is what is called saumanasya, or serenity, or
tranquillity of the mind.
Then comes concentration of mind. Concentration becomes difficult on account of
the presence of rajas and tamas. But when, due to the detection of evil,
transitoriness, etc. in phenomena, desire gets diminished, there is also an