Commentaries around
“The Yoga Sūtra is divided into four chapters.
The first chapter called Samādhi Pādaḥ assumes the aspirant
has progressed adequately to be in a state called Samāhita.
Such a person is not easily agitated.
They have a clearer perception to comprehend concepts such as Īśvara and Vairāgya.”
– T Krishnamacharya introduction to Yoga Sūtra Chapter One
“The Veda speak eloquently of the lotus in one’s heart, where Īśvara resides.
It is only when the mind is quiet, clear, and steady that we can
reach into and visualise this most intimate part of ourselves.
Yoga as a Saṃskāra leads to Yoga as a means to experience this.
The experience of Dhyānam, in this ideal sense,
eventually evolves into Samādhi – total absorption in Īśvara.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2
“Sleep and Samādhi are the only times when there is no ‘I‘.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 2
“In Sūtra 1.10 Patañjali defines Nidrā as a
Citta Vṛtti or, a specific type of cognition, one
where Tamas is the object, to the point where
the mind’s link with external stimuli is cut off.
How do we discern between states such as
Pratyāhāra as a disengagement, or Samādhi,
where one is as if empty of one’s own character,
and what is seen as the experience of Tamo Nidrā?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 10
“Those mental activities
responsible for unhappiness
become rare and ineffective.
Whenever the person desires,
he can be completely absorbed
in his object of contemplation.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 18
“Samādhi is a state of mind and an
understanding that arises from it.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 18
“What is Samādhi?
It is the ability to experience the true nature of the objects of Meditation,
through a mind rid of the provocation of excitability and inactivity.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 20
“There are two types of Yogis.
The first, Bubhukṣu, are Yogis who
seek material benefits through Samādhi.
This Sūtra speaks about the second type,
the Mumukṣu, who do not seek material benefits.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 20
“There are different grades of inclination and possibility
among those who are interested to experience the state of Samādhi.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 21
“In the second and third Sūtra the means to realise Samādhi
and the true nature of Jīva were explained.
The term used in those Sūtra is Draṣṭṛ
– that which perceives and aids in perception.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 23
“Through devotion and surrender to Īśvara
and by following the eight limbs of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga,
the benefits of Samādhi are realised with as little effort
as it takes to hold a pea in the palm of your hand.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 24
“Depending on whether the mind is in a state of Samādhi or not,
the person enjoys permanent happiness or
successive chains of unhappiness and happiness.
Those who accept nothing short of Samādhi,
freedom from the suffering of disease is realised.
After all, the root cause of disease is the disturbed mind,
when we cannot distinguish right from wrong or good from bad.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 34
“When disturbances that take the mind everywhere but nowhere are contained,
then the individual is like a high class diamond, with no blemishes.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 41
“Different suggestions are available in our tradition
to help the beginner arrive at the highest state of Samādhi.
For example, using the image or idol of Īśvara
in the form pleasant to the seeker or even a picture frame.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 42
“The evolution of Samādhi is Sthūla Savitarkā to Sthūla Nirvitarkā.
This is Viniyoga Krama, then Sūkṣma Savicārā to Sūkṣma Nirvicārā.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 4
cross referencing to Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 42-44.
“Until a person has reached a state of Nirvicārā Samādhi life continues to be a mystery. Whatever he may achieve or know of the world or even of the cosmos,
we are ignorant of our own self.
How little we can predict about ourselves, our future, our moods.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 47
“When even the tendency of insight
is contained, all is contained;
this is integration without seed.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 51
“What are the effects of Kriyā Yoga?
Samādhi Bhāvana –
The ability to pursue the right practice that brings one closer to Īśvara.
Kleśa Tanū Karaṇa –
Reduction of those obstacles that we have somehow acquired through wrong actions,
leading to undesirable and bitter experiences.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2
“Its purpose is to cultivate a feeling
of integration and help placate
the dominance of the afflictions.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 2
“Still subtler layers of meditative reflection
as in Samādhi, can reveal the source of this
confused sense of “I” Am-ness, as in leading us
to the roots from which the tree trunk, and then
the branches grew, namely the ultimate illusion.
These hidden roots sustain this existential illusion
where, what in reality is transient, adulterated,
infused with suffering and non-Spiritual,
is personally lived and experienced as if
everlasting, unadulterated, infused
with pleasant feelings and Spiritual.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 5
“Dhāraṇā is the process of ‘holding onto’ the object.
Dhyānā is the process of ‘linking with’ the object.
Samādhi is the process of ‘integration into’ the object.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verses 1-3
“In Samādhi there is an understanding.
Something not based on your memories,
something that transcends your memories.
Prajña comes only in Samādhi.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 3
“From Meditation
arises Integration.
The Splendour of Knowing
Connective Moments of
Containment within the Psyche.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 3
“To derive Siddhi through
Saṃyama Dhāraṇā or
Savikalpa Samādhi,
Dhyānam and Samādhi
have to be practised.
These practices should
also be practised
according to one’s capacity.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 6
“Dhāraṇā is the contact.
Dhyāna is the communication.
Further, when we become so involved
in an object that our mind completely
merges with it, that is called Samādhi.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Eleven Page 155
“We always have the potential for the state of Samādhi
but somehow something comes between us and that state.”
– TKV Desikachar ‘The Antaraṅga Sādhana, Saṃyama and Kaivalya’ Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Thirteen Page 181
“Let us go into Siddhi, here the important word is Samādhi.
Unless we are born like that, then its a Siddhi, Samādhi is a Siddhi.
When we are in a state of absorption in something we are in Samādhi.
After which we appreciate the object in question and understand it more clearly.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983
“In meditation, one must make the transition from the gross,
that which has form and which can be seen by the mind,
to the subtle, the formless.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988
“The Yoga Sūtra in Chapter Four verse One indicate five ways to reach the highest.
The fifth is the most laboured because we must start from the bottom.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988
“When we look at things, memory always intrudes.
To see clearly,
we need to be in that state described in the Yoga Sutra in Chapter One verse 43.
In such a state, memory dies, imagination vanishes,
then we can see the reality of the object.
This state is Samādhi.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 21st 1988
“The First and Second Chapters of the Yoga Sūtra
can be linked to the teaching concepts of
Śikṣaṇa, Rakṣaṇa and Cikitsā Krama.
In that the Samādhi Yoga in Chapter One
can be seen as apt for a Śikṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is discernment, as in
exploring what lies within the sense of I-Am.
Whereas in Chapter Two, the Kriya Yoga section
can be seen as being apt for a Cikitsā situation,
whereby the primary aim is recovering, as in
reducing agitation through lifestyle changes.
and the Bāhya Aṅga section of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga
can be seen as being apt for a Rakṣaṇa situation,
whereby the primary aim is establishing stability,
through a formal practice within a Yoga Sādhana.”
– 108 Teaching Path Pointers
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