Commentaries around
“That’s our starting point…
This curious conjunction
of being Human and
yet human Being.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6
“The arrangement of Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two involves four components:
1. Duḥkha – What is it that I want to avoid?
2. Avidyā/Saṃyoga – Association or from where has this come?
3. Kaivalya/Viveka – Where should we be in order to be free from this association?
4. Viveka/Aṣṭāṅga – What is the way?
What is the discipline that will give Viveka, not just for a moment, but there all the time?
This is the place of Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verses 16 – 28
“What causes Duḥkha?
In the school of Sāṃkhya it arises from within, or from external influences,
or from extraordinary phenomena such as drought, storm, earthquake.
However, the experience of Duḥkha is not the same for everyone.
The same circumstance may not bring Duḥkha in erveryone.
Hence the cause of Duḥkha is association. Association implies “two”,
that which is “associated to” and that which is the “cause of association.”
In Yoga they are known as Draṣṭṛ and Dṛśya;
that which perceives and that which is perceived.
The next three Sūtra describe them.
How these two get associated is a subject matter of great debate.
Suffice it to say that this mystery is the Lord’s will.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 17
“We experience the world via the conjunction
of the ‘eye’ of the Cit with the ‘I’ of the Citta.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 17
“What is the nature of the Dṛśya or what can be perceived?
It has three qualities; it reveals, it acts, it has substance.
It has many components, the objects known and the means to know them.
They serve two roles.
When in strong association with the perceiver they produce pleasure or pain –
when this association is absent they let the perceiver visualise its own nature.
Experience of pleasure or pain is by the perceiver.
Freedom from them is also its fundamental situation.
This freedom is no different from Mukti.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 18
Question:
What is the most important aspect of Pūrva Aṅga?
Response:
“Pūrva Aṅga is essentially a process of elimination
in which we eliminate those thoughts that are not relevant.
In fact Yoga is the process of eliminating the undesirable
so we can be linked with the desirable.
It is the movement from Saṃyoga to Viyoga,
from Saguṇa to Nirguṇa.
But we must be careful how we define desirable or undesirable.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988
“Saṃkalpa is a serious intention between and both from teacher and student.
The less the depth of Saṃkalpa, the less the depth of what follows.
Once this is there what is required is Saṃskāra.
Saṃskāra is to remove the obstacles.
In a way it is Viyoga, so that certain things that get in the way are put aside.
Saṃskāra is like cleaning a vessel before you cook.
Saṃyoga is where something begins to happen.
The accumulation of what begins to happen between teacher and student is Saṃyoga.
Proportionate to the quality of the three, the output will be different”
– TKV Desikachar speaking with his senior Western students London 1998
“Saṃkalpa is mainly the intention to do something,
to be serious about my goal; it is something I feel I must do.
Saṃkalpa must be on both parts: student and teacher,
like when we chant ‘saha nāvavatu…’.
Saṃskāra means the purification,
like cleaning a vessel before I use it for another purpose.
It’s a kind of Viyoga or separation.
It concerns how I prepare for the situation.
The Saṃskāra is an effort in both directions: student and teacher.
Saṃyoga means there is a good exchange;
something begins to happen, something is given and something is received.
The best teaching has all three of these.”
– TKV Desikachar speaking with his senior Western students London 1998
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