with which two things can replace each other in this manner has a limiting value and
that is the frequency with which Ksanas or moments succeed each other. Therefore,
anyone who can go beyond the process of time referred to in the last Sutra should be
in a position to distinguish between two such things.
The other powers of the Yogi will enable him to distinguish between two things
apparently similar. This Sutra is concerned not with such ordinary similarities but with
similarities of a very subtle nature which baffle even Omniscience. For this Siddhi, as
the context shows, comes last of all when even time is transcended and the Yogi is es-
tablished in the Eternal Reality which transcends all limitations and illusions.
- The highest knowledge born of the awareness of Reality is transcendent,
includes the cognition of all objects simultaneously, pertains to all objects and proc-
esses whatsoever in the past, present and future and also transcends the World Process.
III-53 dealt with the method of obtaining the highest knowledge which is the
ultimate objective of Yoga. This Sutra defines the nature of this knowledge. In the first
place, it is transcendent, i.e., it transcends all forms of knowledge within the sphere of
phenomenal existence. It is the knowledge or rather full awareness of Reality while all
other forms of knowledge, even those pertaining to the highest levels of consciousness
are in the realm of Relativity. The word Tarakam also means that which enables the
Yogi to cross over Bhava Sagara or the ocean of conditioned existence. The soul which
is involved in the limitations and illusions of conditioned existence is liberated com-
pletely from these on the attainment of Taraka-Jnana.