52 Light on YogaHim, frees himself from the bondage of karma (action) and becomes a
]Ivana Mukta (a Liberated Soul).
'What becomes of him who strives and fails to reach the end of Yoga,
who has faith, but wh_ose mind wanders away from Yoga?' To this query
of Arjuna, the Lord Sri Krishna replied:
'No evil can befall a righteous man. He dwells long years in the heaven
of those who did good, and then he is reborn in the house of the pure
and the great. He may even be born in a family of illumined yogis; but
to be born in such a family is most difficult in this world. He will regain
the wisdom attained in his former life and strives ever for perfection.
Because of his former study, practice and struggle which drive him ever
onwards, the yogi ever strives with a soul cleansed of sin, attains
perfection through many lives and reaches the supreme goal. The yogi
goes beyond those who only follow the path of austerity, knowledge or
service. Therefore, Arjuna, be thou a yogi. The greatest of all yogis is
he who adores Me with faith and whose heart abides in Me.' (Bhagavad
Gita, chapter VI, verses 38 to 47.)Samadhi
Samadhi is the end of the sadhaka's quest. At the peak of his meditation,
he passes into the state of samadhi, where his body and senses are at rest
as if he is asleep, his faculties of mind and reason are alert as if he is
awake, yet he has gone beyond consciousness. The person in a state of
samadhi is fully conscious and alert.
All creation is Brahman. The sadhaka is tranquil and worships it as
that from which he came forth, as that in which he breathes, as that
into which he will be dissolved. The soul within the heart is smaller
than the smallest seed, yet greater than the sky, containing all works, all
desires. Into this the sadhaka enters. Then there remains no sense of 'I'
or 'mine' as the working of the body, the mind and the intellect have
stopped as if one is in deep sleep. The sadhaka has attained true Yoga;
there is only the experience of consciousness, truth and unutterable joy.
There is a peace that passeth all understanding. The mind cannot find
words to describe the state and the tongue fails to utter them. Com
paring the experience of samadhi with other experiences, the sages say :
'Neti! Neti !'-'It is not this! It is not this!' The state can only be
expressed by profound silence. The yogi has departed from the material
world and is merged in the Eternal. There is then no duality between
the knower and the known for they are merged like camphor and the
flame.
There wells , up from within the heart of the - yogi the Song of the Soul.
sung by Sankaracharya in his Atma $afkam.