Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - On Practice

[Guest guest]

1. Tapas (austerity or sturdy self-discipline -mental, moral and

physical), Svadhyaya (repetition of sacred Mantras or study of sacred

literature) and Isvara-pranidhana (complete surrender to God) are

Kriya-yoga (Yoga in the form of action).

 

2. That Kriya-yoga (should be practised) for bringing about Samadhi

and minimising the Klesas.

 

3. Avidya (misapprehension about the real nature of things), Asmita

(egoism), Raga (attachment), Dvesa (aversion) and Abhinivesa (fear of

death) are the five Klesas (afflictions).

 

4. Avidya is the breeding ground for the others whether they be

dormant, attenuated, interrupted or active.

 

5. Avidya consists in regarding a transient object as everlasting, an

impure object as pure, misery as happiness and the non-self as self.

 

6. Asmita is tantamount to the identification of Purusha or pure

Consciousness with Buddhi.

 

7. Attachment is that (modification) which follows remembrance of

pleasure.

 

8. Aversion is that (modification) which results from misery.

 

9. As in the ignorant so in the learned, the firmly established

inborn fear of annihilation is the affliction called Abhinivesa.

 

10. The subtle Klesas are forsaken (i.e. destroyed) by the cessation

of productivity (i.e. disappearance) of the mind.

 

to be continued...