Dvandva is a pair of opposites, one counterbalancing the other. Where there is heat,
there can be cold; where there is pleasure, there can be pain; where there is
exhilaration, there can be sorrow. These oscillating, ambivalent moods—physically,
socially and psychologically—are the processes and vicissitudes through which our
organism has to pass, due to which it is always kept in a state of sorrow, whether
visibly or invisibly, consciously or subconsciously. This can be obviated, says the
sutra, by mastery over the asana.
Therefore, a great importance is laid upon the practice of the posture for meditation.
Here the posture, or asana, does not necessarily mean the eighty-four lakh
(8,400,000) postures mentioned in the hatha yoga shastras, but a single chosen one
for the maintenance of the balance of the system, because the aim of yoga is
meditation. Everything has to converge on that point. For the purpose of this
ultimate aim of yoga, which is meditation, all these practices are undertaken. For the
purpose of the fixity of the mind there should be fixity of the body, fixity of the
muscles, fixity of the nerves, fixity of the pranas and fixity of emotions. For this
purpose it is that the limbs of yoga are prescribed—asana, pranayama, pratyahara,
dharana, dhyana and samadhi. These stages of yoga are the steady practices of
control of the various layers of the body—the physical, the vital, the emotional, the
intellectual, etc.
Hence, the first and foremost requisition, as mentioned in the sutra, is the gaining of
an appreciable mastery over asana. It goes without saying that when the first step is
taken, and it is taken firmly without there being any need to retrace the step, the
foundation stone is automatically laid for the next step. The harmony that is
introduced into the system by one particular step spontaneously invites the harmony
of the next stage, and there is an inclination of the next step to tend towards the
harmony which is the aim of the practice in the higher stage.
Tasmin sati śvāsa praśvāsayoḥ gativicchedaḥ prāṇāyāmaḥ (II.49), says the sutra. Tasmin
sati means: after having gained mastery over. It is a very important phrase. It means:
after having done this—not before that. This means to say, one should not take to a
serious practice of pranayama if one is a restless person. If one has activities of a
distracting nature, if one is a busybody, if one is always compelled to move about, if
one is a travelling train inspector, one has no time to sit. One cannot practice
pranayama in that case because the agitation of the physical body will tell upon the
pranas. It would be very dangerous and unwise to meddle with the pranas, even in
the interest of bringing harmony to them, if the body is restless or exhausted, or is
unwilling to yield. If the body is not amenable, the pranas will not be amenable.
Thus, from our daily physical conduct, social behaviour and emotional moods, we
can have an indication of the extent to which we can sit for pranayama. Is there a
subduing of emotions and feelings? And, what are the inner cravings which have
been kept under check for a long time without fulfilment? Tensions are quite the
contrary, or the opposite, of the requisites in pranayama.
After having gained a sufficient mastery in asana—that is the meaning of this tasmin
sati—then śvāsa praśvāsayoḥ gativicchedaḥ (II.49) will follow. It is not advised that one
should take to what they call alternate breathing, etc., in the beginning. No one
should take to this alternate breathing at the very outset. What is advised in the
beginning is only deep inhalation and deep exhalation, which itself is a great
achievement.