from morning to night? Never! Always the mind is agitated. Though we may be
thinking of some particular object or a work on hand, or of a function to perform, it
cannot be called concentration of mind in the yogic sense. It is a temporary
movement of the mind to that particular function, work or duty, due to the
compulsive effort exercised upon the mind by circumstances. Circumstantial
pressure compels the mind to fix itself on a particular work, whether one likes it or
not. That kind of thing is not concentration. We work hard in a jail. Can we call it
concentration when we are forced to work against our will? And, every work that we
do is mostly against our will. It is not that we are happy about it. If possible, we
would like to avoid it. But we cannot avoid it for reasons which are very peculiar in
each individual case.
We are in a rajasic type of fixation of mind in certain activities, which should not be
mistaken for a sattvic concentration of mind. The desire of the mind to withdraw
itself into its original condition of sense contact is present even at the time of a
function that we are performing in an apparent concentration of mind, whereas in
yogic concentration, that is not the case. The desire to go back to the objects of sense
is not allowed to rise. The purpose of yoga is quite different from the purposes of
ordinary life. Quite different are the courses of the mind in the concentration of a
mechanic in fitting a part of a machine, and the concentration of a yogi in samyama.
They are two different things altogether. That other type, the phenomenal type of
concentration, is a rajasic ambivalence of attitude, not a sattvic attention of the
mind—whereas in yoga, it is a sattvic concentration.
The point made out in this sutra is that we have to put forth repeated effort to be able
to bring the sattvic aspect of the mind to the surface again and again, until the
rajasic and tamasic vrittis are sublimated completely. They are to be transformed by
a kind of ‘boiling’. They are hammered upon, again and again, by the sattvic vrittis.
The substantiality and the concrete opposition, which the rajasic and tamasic vrittis
present, will slowly vanish by the effort of the sattvic vrittis. The power of sattva is
much more than the power of rajas and tamas. Thus, the sutra means to tell us that
by continuous endeavour on the part of the mind to maintain a flow of that particular
vritti alone which is conducive to samyama, and eliminating all other vrittis in
respect of externality of objects, one enters the mood of yoga.
In the Katha Upanishad also, we have a similar mention. The condition of yoga is not
fixed; it is oscillating. Apramattas tadā bhavati yogo hi prabhavāpyayau (K.U. II.3.11). A
careless person cannot be a yogi. Here ‘care’ or ‘freedom from carelessness’ means
the strength of the mind required to practise yoga daily, for a protracted period, in
spite of obstacles of every kind. The hata, or the obstinacy of the yogi, is supposed to
be an example by itself. We cannot compare this obstinacy of a yogi to any other
obstinacy. He is bent upon doing it, and he will do it, whatever obstacles may come.
Otherwise, we have a hundred excuses not to do it, such as: It is so hot; who will
meditate? It is so cold; who will meditate? It is raining; it is not possible. So, we
cannot do it at any time.
These are the pleasant moods of the mind in respect of objects, which will not allow
the mind to concentrate. Thus, we have to generate within ourselves a mood of yoga
instead a mood of activity, of contact with people and things and a mood of
restlessness. To generate a mood of yoga is very difficult. This is exactly the meaning
of nirodha parinama. The transformation of the mind in respect of the inhibition of