Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 33
मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातः चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥३३॥
maitrī-karuṇā-muditā-upekṣānāṃ sukha-duḥkha-puṇya-apuṇya-viṣayāṇāṃ bhāvanātaḥ citta-prasādanam ||33||
The psyche can be calmed by cultivating as an object
friendliness, compassion, gladness and disinterest
within happiness, suffering, virtue and vice.
Commentaries and Reflections
Commentary by T Krishnamacharya:
“Bhāvana is a beneficial attitude
that is consciously cultivated
despite tendencies to the contrary.”
Commentary by Paul Harvey:
Maitrī
“Cultivating a feeling of friendliness
towards our own attempts,
let alone other’s demands,
to distract ourselves.”
Karuṇā
“Cultivating a feeling of compassion
towards our bodies and minds,
whatever state we find them in.”
Muditā
“Cultivating a feeling of looking,
from a joyful space in ourselves,
at what we can do well and now,
rather than what we can’t do well or now.”
Upekṣā
“Cultivating a feeling of holding a distance from
the self-deprecation that can so often accompany
our attempts to improve the quality of our inner life
and old responses to inner tensions and memories.”