open a temporary branch in some locality for a particular purpose. Although business
is transacted at the office of the new branch all accounts etc. are kept at the head of-
fice. The temporary office is merely an outpost of the head office and has really no
independent status. The assets and liabilities belong to the head office. A somewhat
similar relationship exists between the ‘artificial minds’ and the one ‘natural mind’.
- Karmas are neither white nor black (neither good nor bad) in the case of
Yogis, they are of three kinds in the case of others.
The next topic which Patanjali takes up is the question of gaining freedom from
the bondage of Karma which is a sine qua non for the attainment of Kaivalya. The sub-
ject of Karma has already been dealt with in II-12-14 and is taken up again here. In
Section II the problem was discussed from a different angle—in relation to Klesas—
and it was shown how the Klesas are the underlying cause of Karmas which in their
turn produce pleasant or unpleasant conditions in this or future lives according as they
are good or bad. But here, in Section IV, the subject has been taken up again and is
dealt with from an entirely different point of view—with the object of showing how
the Yogi may get rid of the Karmasaya—the vehicle of Karma—which contains the
accumulated Samsakaras of all the previous lives and which binds the soul to the
wheel of birth and death. Unless and until all these Samskaras are destroyed or ren-
dered inoperative no freedom from the bondage of Prakrti is possible even though the
Yogi may have reached an advanced state of illumination. The force of his Samskaras
will pull him back again and again and prevent him from reaching the ultimate goal.
IV-7 gives a classification of Karma as well as indicates the means of avoiding
the formation of new Karma. Karmas are neither black nor white in the case of those
who are Yogis; they are of three kinds in the case of ordinary people. Black and white
obviously describe the two kinds of Karmas which produce painful and pleasurable
fruits referred to in II-14. The third kind of Karmas are those which are of mixed char-