is moksha—sattva puruṣayoḥ śuddhi sāmye kaivalyam iti (III.56). These sutras have
given us, in a concise manner, the principles of spiritual contemplation.
It has to be taken for granted that the conditions which are stated in earlier sutras as
necessary for this practice are already acquired to an appreciable degree. In fact,
everything that is of importance in the practice of yoga has been mentioned in the
Samadhi Pada itself. That one pada is sufficient—it is a complete statement of the
entire process of yoga practice. The other sections are like an elaborate commentary
on those instructions which are given in the Samadhi Pada. We have to recall to our
minds, once again, what are these conditions. One of the main things mentioned in
the Samadhi Pada were vairagya and abhyasa, and tivra samvegatva—intense
ardour of the aspiring spirit is required in order that success may become imminent.
The ardour of the soul was stated to be a very essential condition for quick success.
What is the ardour; what is the fervour; what is the aspiring spirit; what is its
intensity? That will be the factor which will judge the quickness of the success. Of
course, the other things that were mentioned in the Samadhi Pada are the different
methods of practice. How the mind can be fixed on different objects initially so that
later on it can be fixed on any object, for the matter of that, for the purpose of
samyama, was mentioned in the Samadhi Pada. The world of objects becomes,
finally, the object of meditation. The methods of Patanjali are really those stated to
be what he calls savitarka, savichara, sananda and sasmita samadhis. These are the
secrets of Patanjali’s yoga, and everything else is an explanation thereof. We have
studied this—what savitarka means, etc.
These stages are the gradual sublimations of world-consciousness, or object-
consciousness, by diminishing the distance between the subject and the object of
meditation, which takes place automatically and for which there is no need for any
special effort. The distance that separates the experiencing consciousness from its
object becomes less and less as one advances more and more, so that what is called
samyama in the Vibhuti Pada is the abolition of this distance itself. There is a
complete transcendence of spatial awareness in samyama.
Thus, there is a very scientific methodology provided to us in these sutras, which
have to be studied gradually, stage by stage, in their successive intensity and
applicability. Many authors think that the sutras of Patanjali in respect of yoga are
concluded with the Vibhuti Pada because in it he mentions that kaivalya is attained.
What else is there to say, afterwards? Some people are of the opinion that there are
only three sections of Patanjali, not four sections, but there are others who think that
there should be four sections, not three, because each section is called a pada—
Samadhi Pada, Sadhana Pada, Vibhuti Pada and Kaivalya Pada. A pada is a quarter,
and we cannot have three quarters; quarters are always four. So, inasmuch as the
word ‘pada’ is used in respect of each section, it is the opinion of many that four
sections must be there, not three. And the fourth section has a meaning of its own.
Though it is not directly connected with practice, it furnishes certain details. Just as
there are people who think that the Bhagavadgita ends with the eleventh chapter and
the successive chapters are additions, as a kind of commentary, there are others who
think that they are not simply additions; they have an organic connection with what
has preceded.