negative attitude to harmlessness. An individual who has developed Ahimsa carries
about him an invisible aura surcharged with love and compassion even though these
may not be expressed at the emotional level. Also, because love is the power which
binds together in a spiritual union all the separated fragments of the One Life, any in-
dividual who is imbued with such love is inwardly attuned to all living creatures and
automatically inspires confidence and love in them. That is how the violent and hateful
vibrations of those who come near the Yogi are for the time being over-powered by the
much stronger vibrations of love and kindness emanating from him and even beasts of
prey become harmless and docile for the time being. Of course, when a creature goes
out of the immediate influence of such a Yogi its normal nature is bound to assert itself
but even this brief contact is likely to leave a permanent mark on it and uplift it a little.
- On being firmly established in truthfulness fruit (of action) rests on ac-
tion (of the Yogi) only.
This Sutra, giving the result of acquiring perfect truthfulness, requires some ex-
planation. The apparent meaning of the Sutra is that in the case of a Yogi who has ac-
quired this virtue in perfection the fruit of any action that he may do follows unfail-
ingly. For example, if he says something, concerning the future then the event pre-
dicted must take place according to his prediction. This has been interpreted by many
commentators in a rather absurd manner and all the laws of Nature are supposed to be
capable of being violated to uphold the fiats of such a person. For example, if he says
that the Sun will not set in the evening then the movement of the earth will stop to
make his words effective. Stories in the Puranas which in most cases are mere allego-
ries are taken in a literal sense in support of such a view.
It is, however, not necessary to push the meaning of this Sutra to the logical and
absurd conclusion in this manner provided we understand its underlying significance.
Let us see.