take place in the further stages of Samadhi? Upto the point where Vitarka is present
the transformations may be supposed to take place through the agency of the subjec-
tive mind which is still active. But who provides the guiding and propelling force after
the subjective mind has merged in the object? Obviously, the Purusa who is present all
the time in the background and who is the lord of the mind as pointed out in IV-18.
The mind itself is inert and it is the constant presence of the Purusa in the background
which endows it not only with the capacity to perceive but also the will to change. The
mind is always an instrument. The real Drasta and the Karta is the Purusa always. So
when the lower mind merges with the object in Nirvitarka Samadhi it is the Purusa
working in his higher principles who really is in charge and is ultimately responsible
for the continuous and delicate transformations which take place in the further stages
of Samadhi. In fact, throughout the continuous unfoldment which takes place in Yoga
upto the point of attaining Kaivalya, it is the Purusa who has to be considered as guid-
ing the evolution. It is true that this view is not in conformity with the conceptions of
Samkhya philosophy in which the Purusa is considered to be a mere Drasta, spectator,
but Yogic technique, as pointed out elsewhere, is not based solely on Samkhya and
without assuming a guiding role for the Purusa this technique would be unintelligible.
This is not the place, however, to enter into this philosophical question.
- By this (what has been said in the two previous Sutras) Samadhis of
Savicara, Nirvicara and subtler stages (I-17) have also been explained.
The difficulty of comprehending Samadhi even in the lowest Savitarka-
Nirvitarka stage, in spite of the fact that we are living in a world of names and forms
and are familiar to some extent with the working of the concrete mind, should make it
easy to understand why Patanjali has not dealt with the higher stages of Samadhi in
detail and has disposed of the whole subject in two Sutras. I-44 merely points out that