We saw that the cyclic progress of manifested life for the Purusa begins with the asso-
ciation of his consciousness with Prakrti through the direct agency of Avidya. Avidya
leads successively to Asmita, Raga-Dvesa and Abhinivesa and all the miseries of life in
bondage.
If Avidya is the ultimate cause of bondage and the whole process of the con-
tinuous generation of Vasanas rests on this basis it follows logically that the only ef-
fective means of attaining freedom from bondage is to destroy Avidya. All other means
of ending the miseries and illusions of life which do not completely destroy Avidya
can, at best, be palliatives and cannot lead to the goal of Yogic endeavour—Kaivalya.
How this Avidya can be destroyed has been discussed very thoroughly and systemati-
cally in Section II and it is not necessary to deal with this question here.
- The past and the future exist in their own (real) form. The difference of
Dharmas or properties is on account of the difference of paths.
This is one of the most important and interesting Sutras in Section IV because it
throws light on a fundamental problem of philosophy. That there is a Reality underly-
ing the phenomenal world in which we live our life is taken for granted in all schools
of Yoga, the aim of Yoga, in fact, being the search for and discovery of this Reality.
The question arises: ‘Is this world of Reality absolutely independent of the phenome-
nal world in time and space which we contact with our mind or are the two worlds re-
lated to each other in some way?’ According to the Great Teachers who have found the
Truth the two worlds are related though it is difficult for the intellect to comprehend
this relationship. If there is a relation existing between the two worlds we may further
enquire whether the manifested worlds in time and space rigidly express a predeter-
mined pattern of Divine Thought, just as a picture on a cinema screen is the result of a
mechanical projection of the photographs in the film roll. Or does the procession of