Thus, what is yoga? Yoga is nothing but an endeavour in the direction of the increase
of sattva in oneself and a decrease of rajas. The methods have already been
described in the earlier sections. The sutra merely tells us of a principle of how
prakriti acts—namely, that it fills a vacancy wherever a vacancy is created. “Empty
thyself, and I shall fill thee.” This great statement is similar to the principle of this
sutra. When we empty ourselves of all those conditioning factors of our individuality,
the universal forces will enter us. The universal is not outside us. It is, on account of
its being universal by itself, everywhere. But it is not allowed to operate, just as we do
not allow the sunlight to enter a house by closing the windows and doors. The
vehemence or the force with which the ego-principle, or the I-principle, works in us
prevents the entry of universal forces into us. Yoga is the technique of the diminution
of the intensity of this I-principle.
Patanjali gives an example of how prakriti works. It works in a spontaneous manner,
like the flow of water into the fields. Nimmitaṁ aprayojakaṁ prakṛtīnāṁ varaṇabhedaḥ tu
tataḥ kṣetrikavat (IV.3) is the sutra. We are not the creators of the powers of nature. In
yoga we do not manifest or bring about something which was not already there. Just
as the example given in this sutra tells us, a farmer working in the fields allows water
to flow into certain fields, not by creating new water, as the water is already there; he
has only to open up a passage for the movement of the water and divert its course in
the way required. The role that the farmer plays is incidental. He is not the material
cause of the movement of the water. He becomes an agent in the sense that he
provides conditions necessary for the flow of water in a particular direction. Likewise
is this practice of yoga. It is not going to create new things which were not already
there.
The powers, or the siddhis, which the Vibhuti Pada speaks about are not creations,
inventions, etc., but are only spontaneous actions of prakriti—just as there is a
spontaneous movement of water in the fields. What does yoga practice do? It does
exactly what the farmer does in the fields. Instead of blocking the passage of water
and not allowing it to flow into the field for the purpose of irrigation, the farmer
opens up a stream, creates a channel, and allows the water to flow. This is what yoga
does. At present the movement of energies, which flow of their own accord, are
blocked. The movements are blocked due to there being no passage for the entry of
the forces of nature. What is it that blocks the entry of these forces? There is only one
thing which is the principal obstruction of the operation of natural forces in us. That
is the I-principle, the ego, the asmita, which has various other accompaniments—
raga, dvesa, etc. Raga, dvesa, abhinivesa—all these things mentioned earlier are
accompanying features of the single impediment which is asmita. We are so powerful
in our ego that nothing from outside can enter it. It is hard like flint, and it is,
therefore, incapable of allowing the entry of any force into itself, just as any amount
of water poured on hard rock will not enter the rock.
Thus, the aspect which is emphasised here in this sutra, in the context of yoga
practice, is the function that the practicant performs in his discipline called yoga.
There is spontaneity manifest everywhere. Nature is spontaneity, in other words.
Everything happens of its own accord. On the other hand, we may say that the pains
that we experience in our lives are not part of nature, because pain is not a part of
natural action. It is a peculiar situation that is created by not allowing the forces of
nature to enter into one’s own system. Ultimately, it is neither pleasure nor pain that
is a characteristic of nature. Pleasures and pains are the emotional reactions of the