Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

and the definite awareness which they produce in the mind of the Sadhaka. In the case
of a person who is in a fit of anger it is easy to see that Dvesa is in full operation. The
same person when he subjects himself to a rigid self-discipline acquires the capacity to
keep himself absolutely caJm and without repulsion towards any one and thus reduces
this Klesa to a potential condition. Dvesa has ceased to function but its germs are still
there and, given very favourable conditions, can be made active again. Their power has
become potential but not completely destroyed. The transition from the fully active to
the perfectly dormant condition takes place through a number of stages which have
been pointed out in II-4. Through the practice of Kriya-Yoga they can be attenuated
progressively until they become quite dormant, incapable of being aroused by ordinary
stimuli from the external world. But given extraordinary conditions they can be made
active again. So we have to deal with two problems in the complete elimination of the
Klesas, first to reduce them to the inactive or Suksma state and then to destroy even
their potential power. The first is referred to generally as reducing the Klesas to the
form of ‘seeds’ which under favourable conditions have still the power to grow into a
tree, and the second as ‘scorching the seeds’ so that while they may retain the outer
form of the ‘seeds’ they have really become incapable of germinating and growing into
a tree.
The problem of reducing the Klesas to the condition of ‘seeds’ is itself divisible
under two sub-heads, that of reducing the fully active forms to the attenuated forms
(Tanu) and then reducing the latter to the extremely inactive condition (Prasupta) from
which they cannot be aroused easily. Since the first of these two problems is the more
important and fundamental in its nature Patanjali has dealt with it first in II-10. The
second problem of reducing the active forms of the Klesas to the partially latent condi-
tion, being comparatively easier, is dealt with in II-41, though in Sadhana it really
precedes the first problem.
In II-10 the method of reducing the Klesas which have been attenuated to the
dormant stage has been hinted at. The phraseology used by Patanjali is extremely apt
and expressive but many people find it difficult to understand the meaning of this
pregnant Sutra. The phrase Pratiprasava means involution or re-absorption of effect
into cause or reversing the process of Prasava or evolution. If a number of things are
derived in a series from a primary thing by a process of evolution they can all be re-
duced to the original thing by a counter-process of involution and such a counter proc-