Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

It may be worth while mentioning here that although the ten elements included
in Yama-Niyama have been mentioned specifically and have to be practised separately
we should not forget the unity underlying human nature. Our nature, though it seems
to have different facets, is essentially one. We cannot, therefore, divide life in water-
tight compartments and practise the different elements of Yama-Niyama one by one as
if each had an independent existence and could be isolated from the others. The fact is
that all these elements are closely inter-related and the qualities which they are meant
to develop are the different aspects of our inner life. How far we are able to develop
one of the qualities will depend to a great extent upon the general tone of our life. No
one can practise Ahimsa, for example, even if he tries his best, if he neglects the other
elements of Yama-Niyama, so closely is one part of our nature bound up with the other
parts. All parts of our nature hang together and we rise and fall as a whole, to a very
great extent. So, it is the general quality of our life and moral nature which has to be
improved, step by step, though we may concentrate on different qualities for some
time. The value of a diamond depends upon the quality of the stone as a whole and not
upon the polish of one facet. But in order to produce a finished gem we have to take up
the different facets one by one.
It may also be interesting to enquire why the word Vitarka is used for those im-
proper thoughts which are sought to be excluded from the mind in the practice of
Yama-Niyama. The word Vitarka is used to indicate a state of mind in which it passes
from one alternative to another as shown in dealing with I-42. This state is also present
in the earlier stages when a person tries to live according to an ideal. There is always
vacillation and struggle and the mind hovers between two alternative courses. It is
only when the Sadhaka is well established in righteousness by doing the right under all
circumstances that this Vitarka ceases and he invariably does the right thing unhesitat-
ingly. The student will thus see the appropriateness of the use of the word Vitarka in
the present context.