Patanjali yoga Sutra

Class 1 Nov 6, 2022

Introduction
Meaning of the prayer
Patanjali’s form is like a human above the shoulder and his lower part is that of a snake. He
holds a sword and a conch in his hand. He is the incarnation of adisesha. We worship such a
Patanjali.
He is the rishi who created three vidyas for purification. For chittha suddhi, cleaning of mind-
yoga sutra, for vak suddhi he created Patanjali maha bhashyam- sanskrit grammar- purity of
speech and charaka samhita- for purification of the body. Patanjali is one of the rishis who
synthesized ayurveda for purification of the body.

We invoke Patanjali and pray to him to give us a correct understanding of the sutras.

Structure of yoga sutra

Patanjali’s yoga sutra contains a total of 195 sutras split into four sections.

Samadhi padham 51 sutra

sadhana padham-55 sutra,
vibhuti padam-56,
kaivalya padham-33 sutras.

Sutra means a string. String is a base of the garland. You add flowers over the string and
create a garland. You use the sutras and create a garland of understanding based on
explanations from a commentator’s experience. A sutra contains minimum number of words
that give maximum meaning.

Among the commentaries Swami Vivekananda’s explanation is scientific in nature

Older explanations have alot of jargon and they are philosophical.

What is Patanjali trying to convey through this work?

Second sutra gives the summary of what he wishes to teach.

Yoga chittha vriti nirodha:- second sutra

First sutra says atha yoga anusasanam- let us know about yoga. You know about yoga you
should know the structure of a human, his physical and mental structure. We should know
about the 24 tattva that form the physical and mental structure of a man. Patanjali calls the soul
as Purusha, Tamil siddhas call the entity as Uyir.
Purusha is the core. Patanjali says how this purusha lost his original state, became complex
and is suffering.
Purusha’s original state is that of bindu. Because of prakriti the bindu became antha karana-
manas buddhi chitham and ahamkara. It then mixed with pancha bhuta and created the
jnanendriya, karmendriya and tanmatra. Among these tattva that which prevents from enjoying
the original state is the chittham. The waves produced from chittha, chittha vritti blocks you from
seeing your original state, the state of samadhi.

Now we have to understand what is chittham why it has vritti, how it is affecting us etc.

Samadhi is the highest level of consciousness a human can attain. There are stages in
samadhi.
Possible states of consciousness a human can achieve are described in the first section.
However these states are for someone who has done sadhana in past life- yoga brashta. He
did yoga already but went away from it because of some reason, now he is coming back to
yoga.
Patanjali gives a map of the states of consciousness but these states are not possible for
everyone. Sadhana padham explains how to achieve these states according to the level of the
sadhaka. He gives a plan according to the capacity of the sadhaka
Then the sadhaka gets vibhuthi- wealth.
In vibhuti padham he says the benefits you will get thru yoga sadhana. He tells both, Inferior
material benefits and spiritual- kaivalya, moksha. He tells the sadhaka to not to focus on lower
siddhi and seek the kaivalya
Kaivalya padham explains this state.

Samadhi- due to prakriti you came down and got mired in 24 tattva. By training your chittham,
affecting the modifications in chittham the original state can be restored. But this needs a
kramam or procedure to attain it.

Each sutra gives a comprehensive theory. Hatha yoga gives a procedure to attain the basic
samadhi- unmani avastha. Raja yoga- describes how to attain higher samadhi based on
chittham. Chittham has a lot of seeds, impressions which will grow and confuse your life. He
takes the 24 tattva and shows where the vibration is starting
When your car is getting old your car’s engine will have problems with the mount and will start to
vibrate. There will not be any problem in the tank or other parts. The vibration comes from the
engine- chittam is the engine which produces the vibration, the vritti. If you stop this vritti,
yogam occurs
Second sutra gives the definition of yoga. The entire composition tells us how to achieve this.

Vritti is like a wave in the sea. Chitham is the sea, vritti are the waves. If you stop the waves,
you can see the bottom of the ocean, the atma, the purusha, the original condition of the soul..

To understand about the chittham we should know about anthakarana or internal senses. They
are four- manas, buddhi, chitham and ahamkaram. Because of these we recognize the physical
world, through the five senses. When we see a flower- we see it through the eyes but the antha
karana recognizes it as a flower. We hear a sound the ear receives the sound but the
realization of the sound is by anthakarana.
The receiving part of antha karana is the mind. The information received is verified by buddhi or
intellect. This verification happens by comparing one vritti from chitham with the experience that
occurred. Thus chittham gives reference to the buddhi. For buddhi to function it needs to take
info from chittham and from the senses. Vritti is formed based on the verification. Then
ahamkaram makes a conclusion about it.
Chittham creates vritti based on what is received from outside or from within itself. So even if
we shut down the senses the chitham can still create vritti without any sensory input.
Thus, mind is the receptionist, buddhi is like a gate keeper, chittham- creates a reaction to the
info received, the conclusion is enjoyed by ahamkara.
Critical thinking analysis, worries etc are chittha vritti without sensory input.
Thus vritti can happen from info induced by senses or by itself.

Why do these vrittis occur? Due to tri guna. Rajo, satva and tamo guna.
Based on these guna- the chittham exists in 5 states

Zeh’s question about dreams.

The three states of consciousness- jagrit, svapna and sushupti- depend on the level of prana.
When we are full of prana then the prana flows through senses and we are aware of the world.
When the prana is depleted then the prana is withdrawn into the heart. However, the little prana
can work in the chitham. It can bring up old files or the day’s experience as dreams. When we
are out of this small amount of prana also we go into sushupti or deep sleep.

If you are very tired, then prana will be sucked to the ajna, there is no vritti, you never realize
you had a dream. For a yogi- you can train yourself to go immediately to sushupti. Turiya and
thuriyatheetha achieved thru samadhi. Sometimes you get intuitive dreams. These are from
the part of the chitham which is divine in nature.

Dream is a way of working out karma. An accident may occur in a dream you will feel it like in a
waking state and that karma is removed. Some people may anticipate or fear it then it will
manifest. So if you get a bad dream, get up and conclude it. Dream is the full function of
chitham and prana. You are opening the files in the chitham using the prana (key).

Class 2
Nov 13, 2022
How to learn the Patanjali’s yoga sutra.

First you learn with the guru, do the sadhana, then you experience something, raise your
learning with guru and understand the meaning correctly.

First padham
Samadhi padham
Sutra 1

Atha yoga anushasanam-

Patanjali is addressing a student who has a basic understanding about yoga. Basic knowledge
about yoga- The original state of the purusha or atma is that of light. That state is sat chit
anandha. Due to prakriti or shakti, the purusha came down from its original state. The soul
evolved as a human under the control of 24 tattva. It lost its original state in the process and
appears as the human body which consists of five elements, five subtle qualities or tanmatra,
five jnanendriya five karmendriya and four anthakarana.
The purusha is caught by the 24 tattva and experiences the world through the senses.
Only the one who knows this system can understand yoga.
The soul wants to regain its original state. When this trigger to know its original state occurs,
then the soul enters the path of yoga. Purusha is not male or female. It is the soul.

Sutra 2. Yogam chittha vritti nirodha:

Patanjali assumes that the student knows the nature of 24 tattva. Among the tattva, the chittam
creates the vritti, not the other tattva. Yoga is the process of stopping this vritti.
Physical tattva- elements, jnanendriya and karmendriya
Their interaction - tanmatra
The part that realizes this interaction is antha karana- ankara, manas, buddhi and chittham.
The signals from the physical world are received by the senses and sent to the reception of
anthakaranam, the manas. The signal is verified by buddhi. The command or information for
comparison comes from chittham. All these parts stay on the base called ahamkaram or ego-
the I-sense.

We experience the world due to these.

Chittham stops us from realizing our original state. Chittham is not only storage of information,
it creates waves or vrittis as a response to the external triggers and also by itself. These waves
prevent us from realizing our true state.
It is like trying to reach the seafloor to collect the gems but the sea is very deep and is chaotic
due to waves. So you cannot go inside.

Why does the chittham create vritti?

It is due to tri guna, satva, rajo and tamo guna.
Chittam exists in one of the five states.
They are kshiptham-confused state, moodam-idle, no vritti, vikshiptham- plenty of thoughts,
ekagram- single thought, concentration, niruttham- no thoughts.
When you have tamo guna you are in kshiptham and moodam,
When you are in rajo guna- vikshiptham- very active, plenty of thoughts
When you go from rajo to satva- ekagraham. You get dharana sakti. You are moving from rajo
to satva guna. It is rajo satva guna
When ekagraham is achieved then you are in niruttham- single thought or samadhi.
When dharana becomes long it becomes dhyana and dhyana prolonged will become samadhi.
Samadhi is when there is chittha vritti nirodham.
Thus, the tri guna create the five states of the chittham.

From discussion:
Comparison with Hathayoga- anthakarana is hard to comprehend. So starting with raja yoga is
hard as nothing is tangible here. To eliminate this complexity you start with body and breath.
These two are staircases to raja yoga or the mind.
If you can control your mind you can start with the mind. First push your chittham to ekagraham
and then to the niruttham with mantra.
Samadhi padha for a satvik sadhaka,
For rajo guna person then sadhana padha
Vibhuthi and kaivalya padha give the benefits from a strong chittham.

Patanjali’s form
He is considered as an incarnation of adisesha. He represents kundalini and anthakarana-
snake, maha prana and antha karana is developed only in a human, so only a human
experiences the mahaprana through the highly evolved mind. His form explains the relationship
between maha prana and how this maha prana evolved as a human mind.
Patanjali got this vidya thru tara upasana. Knowledge about the mind came from tara vidya. In
Yoga vasishta the interaction is between Vasishta and Rama. Rama is tara. Buddha is
considered tara in Mahayana, He got his knowledge from ugra tara. Patanjali got this
knowledge from ekajata tara.

Humans have urdhva svasa- he can come out from pritvi tattva. Other lifeforms are controlled
by gravity because the spine is parallel to earth. A cobra can get urdhva svasa. So it can
absorb divinity.

Ashta naga and cobra- vasuki around shiva’s neck. Ganapathy has naga around his belly.
Vasuki for rudra granti, ganapathy for brahmagranthi. Snake is the symbol and function of the
maha prana.

Bhairava of tara is cobra.

Summary of Sutra 1 and 2.

Atha yoga anushasanam

Yogam chittha vritti nirodha:

1. The soul’s original state is that of light.

2. Due to prakriti or shakti, it gets caught in the 24 atma tattva.
3. They are 5 bhutha, 5 tanmatra, 5 karmendriya, 5 jnanendria, 4 antha karana
4. The physical world is perceived through the butha, karmendriya and jnanendriyas
5. The experience of the external world occurs as tanmatra- touch, taste, sight etc.
6. The anthakarana enjoys the experience
 7. Four parts of anthakarana- manas, buddhi, chittham and ahamkara.
8. Manas receives signals from the senses, buddhi verifies the information based on the
previously stored information in chittham All these exist on the base, the ahamkara or I
sense.
9. Among the 24 tattva the chittham prevents the soul from realizing its original state.
10. Chittham creates vritti or waves as a response to the information from the world or by
itself. Thus, it conceal the soul’s true nature
11. Hence, the vritti should be stopped to realize one’s true nature
12. Chitta vritti are caused due to tri guna- satva, rajas and tamas
13. Chittham exists in five states- kshiptham- confused state, moodam- idle or no thoughts,
vikshiptham- plenty of thoughts, ekagraham- single thought, mental focus, niruttham- no
thought.
14. When a person is under the influence of tamo guna his chittham is in kshiptham or
moodam
15. When the person is under the influence of rajo guna his chittham is in vikshiptham state
16. When he tries to transition from rajo guna to satva guna, his chittham is in ekagraham
state.
17. When he is in satva guna, he is in niruttham state which is samadhi.
18. Ekagraham is dharana. When dharana becomes long, it becomes dhyana and when
dhyana is prolonged it becomes samadhi.
19. In samadhi one perceives one’s true state.

Class 3
Nov 21, 2022
In the first sutra we learned that Purusha or the soul is covered by 24 tattvas or principles called
atma tattva. They are four antha:karana that initiate knowledge collection, five jnanendriya or
senses that collect knowledge about the external world, five karmendriya or senses that react
based on the knowledge collected, five bhutas or elements, the sources of knowledge, and the
five tanmatra or senses of touch, taste, sound and so on, the modes in which the knowledge is
collected.

Among these 24 tattva, the chittham part of antha:karana (manas, buddhi, chittham and
ahamkaram) prevents the Purusha from experiencing its true state. Chittham brings up waves
of thoughts or vritti that conceal one’s true identity. Hence, stopping the chittha vritti is essential
to experience one’s true state.

Chittha vritti is caused by the three guna, satva, rajas, or tamas. Depending on which among
these three gunas is predominant, the chittham remains in one of the five states- kshiptham,
moodam, vikshiptham, ekagraham or niruttham.
Niruttham is a state of cessation of thoughts but with full awareness. Unlike moodam, the state
that lacks awareness, niruttham is having no vritti but having complete awareness. By
cultivating niruttham through ekagraham, one starts to remain in samadhi which reveals
Purusha’s true state. Otherwise, the chittham creates many identities or ahamkara and holds
on to them. Thus, according to Patanjali, yogam is the stopping of chittha vritti.
In sutra 3 Patanjali tells why it is important to stop chittha vritti. You cannot see the floor of the
ocean or a lake that is chaotic, with lots of waves. Similarly, you cannot see your true nature
when there is a lot of disturbance from the chittham that occurs as waves.
In sutra 4 Patanjali says that if the soul comes out of state of vritti it can identify the vrittis.

In sutra 5 Patanjali talks about the types of vrittis. They are pramana, viparya, vikalpa, nidra
and smriti. Pramana is true knowledge. Viparya is erroneous knowledge that produces thought
waves. Vikalpa is knowledge born through imagination that stirs the chittham to produce the
waves. Nidra or sleep produces vritti through dreams. Smriti or memory produces vritti based
on previous experience. Nidra and smriti produce vritti when there is no sensory experience.
These are five sources that provide knowledge to the chittham. This knowledge can be good-
klishtam, or bad-aklishtam.

Pramana is of the three types, pratyaksha, anumana and agama. Pratyaksha is knowledge
through direct experience. You experience something through your senses and gain knowledge
from it.
Anumana- knowledge born from assumption based on previous direct experience.
Agama- you have no direct experience but you trust the knowledge given by a person who has
had direct experience before, like your guru or a book.

Viparyam is false knowledge. It is a sort of anumana, but it is wrong assumption. You may say I
saw a ghost in dark. If you search for it you will not find it. You may say I saw a snake when
there was only a rope. Viparyam is knowledge without a factual basis. It is from the dark part of
our chittham.

Vikalpa- Patanjali describes vikalpam in sutra 9. You may say something or think something but
there is no logic to it. This sort of knowledge is not favorable for yoga sadhana.

From Q & A
1. Difference between a good vritti and bad vritti.
Purusha- is the true identity. This Purusha creates internal senses- manas, buddhi, chittham,
and ahamkaram. Manas receives information through the jnanendriya that get signals from
pancha bhutha or five elements that the experiential world is made of. This information is stored
in the chittham.

Someone asks a question- what time is the class? You have attended the class, you are the
organizer so you know the right answer and you give that answer (pratyaksham). Someone
who attended the class previously may also give the right answer, based on his previous
experience (anumana). A person who has never participated may give some answer. That is
vikalpa based on his imagination.
Thus, we can create pratyaksha, anumana or agama based on our experience. We can also
create vikalpa or viparya which will cause confusion. That is why knowledge is said to be klishta
or aklishta.
Pramana can give correct knowledge. Vikalpa and viparya give wrong knowledge that creates
confusion in you.
Nidra and smriti- sleep and memory. In nidra, the body is going under tamas. You can control
some of your vrittis in sleep as the senses are resting. However, tamasic vritti can happen as
dreams.
Smriti- knowledge from recollection. Your senses do not receive any signal but you create
worries and thoughts from what you remember/recall. You can also create good knowledge
from memory like writing a book based on what you remember.
nidra- deep sleep with no dream is good but sometimes you may get dreams- this is not good,
aklishta.
You can ask every time about the nature of the knowledge- is it pramana or vikalpa/viparya, is it
pratyaksha, anumana or agama, is it klishta or aklishta.

2. Vikalpa or imagination displays your creativity. Why is it bad?

Vikalpa and sankalpa. Vikalpa may display creativity. It can also create true knowledge-
creating poems, or experiences. However, what you say is not complete knowledge. You are
putting the knowledge in the correct order based on grammar and experience. By putting it in a
form that can be experienced you are limiting it. This is called kala which is a vidya tattva. You
are limiting the knowledge to make it pratyaksha. If you stay only with imagination it becomes
viparyaya. Your creative process may start with vikalpa but you should move it to pratyaksha.
You read some books and think this is what the book says. You should not stop there. You
should go to a master, believe his words/instructions (agama) put them into practice, and get
direct experience (pratyaksha). Only then it becomes real knowledge. Otherwise, your vikalpa
becomes viparyaya.

3. Difference between moodam and nirutthi

It is like the difference between an empty pot and a full pot. In moodam you do not know
anything so you are not triggered by anything. In niruttham or samadhi you know everything but
you are not triggered by them. You have full control over all your samskaras.
4. Difference between turiya and niruttham.
Jagrat, svapna, sushupthi and turiya refer to the state of consciousness experienced by the
soul. Niruttham refers to the state of chittham. If you move the chittham to niruttham then you
experience samadhi which lets you touch turiya.
Samadhi should be cultivated through dharana and dhyana. These are practices for the
chittham. When chittham reaches the samadhi then the soul experiences turiya. Soul is not
trained to experience the avastha or states of consciousness. The chittham is trained so that
the soul experiences it.
Sankara’s Bhaja govindham mooda mathe- the mental vritti should be stopped and Govindham
should be chanted.
5. Great soul attained samadhi- what does this mean?
You, who is generally in the state of chitta vritti or vikalpa, train your mind and body through
iyama, niyama, asana, and pranayama so that you can develop ekagraham. Then the mind will
move through three stages- dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. When you are listening to the
class you are practicing ekagraha. But you are not retaining it, you forget it the next day, so you
do not have dharana. If you hold the ekagraha for a specific time, it becomes dharana. Then
you move into the state of dhyana, then it moves into samadhi. There are many types of
samadhi, savichara, sabheeja, nirbheeja samadhi etc. When you put the mind in a state for a
specific time then the mind experiences new realities which is turiya. Now the mind is
rearranged during samadhi and the soul can work. Sri Arabindo classifies it with adhara. When
the mind is in muladhara it is called lower mind. When it regulated with desire, in the
svadhishtana, it is desire mind. When it is mastered, in manipuraka, it is higher mind. When
you master it with iswara pranidhana it becomes illuminated mind. When you go to vishuddhi it
is intuitive mind and in ajna it is super mind. Above ajna you have supra mind. The soul
experiences all these, not the mind. When you cultivate the mind the soul experiences all these
states.
Tamil siddhas and jiva samadhi- each cell in the body of a person who has experienced higher
states of consciousness has memory of it. When a person experiences states above ajna the
cells in his body function like battery. Those who come in their proximity harmonize with them
and are helped to experience higher states. That is why the body of such a person is
preserved. Samadhi prathishta paddhati and Tirumandiram say that only the body of those who
have achieved the highest state should be preserved, and others should be burned. Only that
body is helpful to other seekers, through its prana. It holds the dhananjaya which the body will
emit. The body will not decompose. That is also for only a limited time. Hence, they prepare
the body of a realized soul through special kalpam to preserve it and help others. Their soul
would have come out of the body and achieved a higher level but the body is still useful to
others. If the person has not gone beyond ajna and if you keep his body he will push people
into different desires and states, such a body is not helpful. The person should have gone
beyond the manonmani avastha.
Why do you burn the body of others? By burning the body you are breaking the soul’s connect
with the body and helping it go forward. Otherwise, the soul remains attached to the body until
the body decomposes completely. So, by burning the body you are helping the soul to elevate
itself.
However, if you burn the body of a realized soul it is said that the whole country will face
destruction. This is because you are utilizing the help that the body provides for the citizens.
Hence, kings are advised to burry such a body and not burn it.

Summary:
1. Chitta vritti is caused by knowledge gained through various sources.
2. Pramana, viparya, vikalpa, smriti and nidra are the five sources of knowledge.
3. Pramana is true knowledge obtained through direct perception (prathyaksha), inference
based on previous experience (anumana) and agama (words of those who had personal
experience).
4. Viparya is false knowledge- mitya jnanam.
5. Vikalpa is knowledge which has no logical basis. It is based on our imagination, our
creativity but not factually true.
6. Nidra or sleep produces knowledge through dreams. This is tamasic knowledge. The
body is shut down but the mind is still active.
7. Smriti or memory produces knowledge from information stored in the mind.
 8. Knowledge gained through the above means could be good (klishtam) or bad
(aklishtam)
9. When thoughts branch in the mind, one should examine their source and their nature.
10. By becoming aware of the vritti one can stop them.
11. Even though the knowledge may be good, for example writing a book based on memory,
the intention is to stop chittha vritti.
12. Difference between moodam and niruttham. Moodam is lack of chittha vritti due to lack
of knowledge. Niruttham is lack of chittha vritti due to complete knowledge. It is like the
difference between an empty pot and a pot that is full.
13. Difference between turiya and niruttham- niruttham is cultivated by tranining the
chittham. When it is achieved the chittham remains in samadhi which leads the soul to
the state of turiya. Samadhi is cultivated, turiya is a natural state. Chittham experiences
samadhi, soul experiences in turiya.
14. When a person experiences samadhi consistently, the cells in his body remember the
state and transmit it. It helps those who come in its vicinity to harmonize with the state
and experience it. Hence, the body of such a yogi is preserved.

Class 4
Nov 27, 2022

1. Patanjali starts with definition of yoga- yoga is chitha vritti nirodham.

``````````Chittha vritti nirodham is not a ‘no thought’ state. It is preventing a thought from
branching out.
2. State of chitham is affected by the tri guna causing it to exist in five states- kshiptham,
moodam, vikshiptham, ekagraham and niruttham.
3. Chittha vritti orexpansion of mental activity is caused by five modes of knowledge-
pramana, viparyayam, vikalpam, nidra and smriti.
a. Pramana- knowledge obtained through prathyaksha or direct experience, anumana-
inference, or agama- scriptural knowledge.
Pratyaksha- direct experience through our senses
Anumana- inference, knowledge created by our mind based on previous direct experience
through the senses.
Agama- the person does not have direct experience. He trusts the words or experiences of
another person. Yoga sutra are agama pramana for yoga.

b. Viparyam- false knowledge. We see something but ascribe the experience to something
else. Something shining is assumed to be gold. This is not anumanam as anumanam
can be correct knowledge. This is false knowledge.
c. Vikalpam- we create knowledge from our imagination. This is also false knowledge as it
has no basis. Vikalpam is a display of our creativity.
d. Nidra- our experiences in dreams. Our physical body shuts down but our mind is still
active. The vritti in the chitham cause dreams.
 e. Smriti- knowledge created from data stored in our chittham. We experience something
at some time. We store it in our chitham. We recall it in another situation.

4. The knowledge gained through pramana, viparyam, vikalpam, nidra and smriti can be either
good- klishtam or bad- aklishtam.

Example: fear of darkness (viparyam). We imagine what can happen based on our past
memory (smriti).
Pramana- it is good to know the basis of all knowledge but excess interest in only collecting
knowledge and not putting it to practice, prevents us from pursuing yoga. There is no mastery
of mind here.

5. How to control vritti.

Abyasa vairagyam- practice and fortitude.
You may realize that you are different from the vritti but you should practice detachment from
mental activities.
Abyasam- practice to have thought about only one thing at a time, avoiding thinking about
everything else. For example, thought about God only, avoiding other thoughts when thinking
about God.

When you do a japa- 108 or 1000, observe what types of thoughts occur. Then you can
understand which category it belongs to.
For example
I am going somewhere in a car
Pramana- the route, how much fuel I need and other details. I can get guidance from previous
trips, or I can get knowledge from someone who has gone there before.
Viparya- fear that something can happen based on what happened before.
Vikalpa- you can imagine what will happen, there is no basis for this.
Smriti- last time I went there this happened, it can happen now or not- creating thoughts from
memory of previous trip.
Nidra- totally thamasic vritti. This is a separate category. The other four occur during any action.
They intervene any action.

If you know what type of vritti it is, it is easy to come out of it. So understanding the pancha vritti
is important for dharana.

While doing japa, for the length of japa do not think of anything else.
The memory of something else, fear about something or even the goal of the japa and
knowledge about the mantra, its efficacy or other things may come up. Do not actively prevent
them but avoid going behind them, chasing them. This is vairagya.
You keep only the goal in mind, leave everything else

Mandala sadhana for 45 days is practicing the abhyasam and vairagyam

Abyasam is consistent practice, vairagyam is not allowing any other thought to disturb the
abhyasam.

Q and A
1. About different sadhanas
When you switch systems of yoga then it will take some time to stabilize. You should
not think they are different methods. Do the practice for a specific period of time and
wait and see if it is suitable for you. Or continue your previous practice but integrate the
new one with it. If you feel they are separate, segregated, then there will be conflict in
your mind.
2. Hot flashes during gayatri japa- what does this mean?
When you do japa after some time you have only the mantra as the vritti, then your
system will have more prana. As your thoughts have reduced. The excess prana will
create sweating, heat in the body etc. you can direct the prana towards your sankalpa
or the goal for which you are doing the japa.
The mind is addicted to consuming so much prana previously due to vritti. Suddenly you
are reducing the prana consumed by the mind. This will cause the problem. You should
do karma yoga otherwise it will go to feed old samskara more. Prana will push you
towards old samskara as it is also conscious. Prana wil prevent you from coming out of
your old habits

Read pradipika second chapter, prana, chitham- shaking sweating etc- signs of
prana.Make small commitments first, train your chittham slowly and then intensify the
practice. All your samskaras will come out when you touch them with intention.desire,
ego, hatred, ignorance

Summary:
1. Understanding the pancha vritti is important for yoga.
2. When you sit for yoga/japa- knowledge of what you read, what you inferred or what you
heard from a guru/another person may come and prevent concentration (pramana).
Your fear of what can happen when you sit for yoga may cause vritti (viparya). Your
imagination of what can happen which is based only on your imagination or creativity
can prevent dharana (vikalpa). Memory of what happened when you sat for yoga
previously may prevent concentration (smriti). Nidra is totally thamasic vritti. It is not a
major deterrent. Other four occur in any action and interfere.
3. The way to prevent vrittis is abhyasa vairagya.
4. Abhyasa is having only one thought and excluding everything else. If doing gayatri japa,
you should have only the mantra in the mind for the length of time of japa.
5. When thoughts occur do not attach to them and go behind them. This is vairagyam.
6. A mandala sadhana (one mandala is 45 days) will help in abhyasa vairagya and help in
chittha vritti nirodha.
7. Start the practice of abhyasa vairagya slowly and intensify it. Otherwise sudden
increase in prana may cause physical and mental problems.
December 4, 2022, Class 5
Abyasa vairagya
1. The concepts that Pathanjali Yoga sutra discusses are in the plane of atma tattva.
2. There are 24 atma tattva- pancha bhutha, pancha tanmatra, pancha jnanendriya,
pancha karmendriya and manas, buddhi, chittham and ahamkaram.
3. Among these the chittha hinders yoga. The method to overcome this is through chittha
vritti nirodha.
4. There are five types of vritti- pramana (right knowledge), vikalpa (imagination), viparyaya
(wrong knowledge), smriti (memory) and nidra (sleep), depending on the state of the
person, whether satva, rajas or tamas is higher at that time.
5. These five vrittis can be klishta or aklishta- good or bad.
6. How to control the vritti? Through abhyasa and vairagya or consistent and continuous
practice for a long time.
7. Sutra 13 and 14 give definition of abhyasa and vairagyat.
8. Getting a thought is not vritti. If you are unable to stop the urge that occurs from the
thought it is vritti. If body, mind and words are pushed by the thought it is vritti.
9. Thought occurs followed by emotions and then they go out of control. Controlling vritti is
not controlling thoughts. It is preventing the thoughts from branching out further, through
consistent and long term effort.
10. Thoughts are initiated from within ourselves or from what we hear outside, from others.
Preventing these triggers from expanding further is chittha vritti nirodham. For example,
we want to do Gayatri mantra japa for 15 min. When we start, our mind may say I
cannot do it. Someone, near you, from your family, may say do not do it now, do
something else. If you ignore these triggers and the stream of thoughts that follow from
this trigger and go forward with your objective it is chittha vritti nirodham.
11. It is not throwing out all thoughts. It is using one thought as a channel for dharana.
12. Sutra 15 defines vairagyam as drishta anushravika vishaya vitrushnasya vasheekaara
sanjnaa vairagyam- developing control over consciousness/desire through dispassion
over objects seen or heard.
13. Vairagyam comes only when we keep an objective in the mind and prevent anything
else from interfering with the objective. Only a person who has vairagya can get into
samadhi.
14. Keeping a thought for 12 min is dharana. If dharana continues for a longer time then it
leads to samadhi. Holding an objective in mind for 24 min without any other vritti is
called samadhi.
15. Theevra vairagya. Vairagya is when we prevent ourselves from going behind the vritti
for a specific length of time. We go behind the vritti after the time lapses. Theevra
vairagya is practicing vairagya all the time, preventing everything and anything from
distracting us away from the objective. Theevra vairagyam is possible only if we attach
to purusha or our atma, the sense of ‘I am’. You cannot attach to any of the prakriti.
16. Para vairagyam is coming out of all worldly attachments and attaching only to God, not
even to atma.
17. If a person practices abhyasa vairagya, he will experience sequentially vitharka
samadhi, vichara samadhi, anandha asmitha and sampragnatha samadhi.
 18. Sampragnyata samadhi is achieved by using the consciousness. Take an object and
start to practice dharana on it. Dharana will lead to dhyana which will then lead to
samadhi. This is sampragnyatha samadhi.
19. Sampragnyatha samadhi is through analysis. You see a rose. You examine it with your
24 atma tattva and know all the details about the object. This is vitarka.
20. Then you get a clear picture or viveka about the object through knowledge collected and
analysis. This is vichara.
21. Vitharka is knowledge through senses, vichara is knowledge through mind, a mental
model.
22. You then experience a happiness, a pleasure, a feeling of ‘I understood about the
object’. This is anandha.
23. Then the knowledge is stored in your chittham as a seed or asmitha, a seed full of
knowledge. Asmitha is bheeja samadhi.
24. Then the mind is completely dissolved from the object. There is no more experience of
the object. This is sampragnyatha samadhi. .
25. Atma is purusha and the 24 atma tattva are prakriti. Atma uses the tattva as tools in this
process.
26. One who attains this samadhi masters the prakriti. He is said to have attained prakriti
laya.
Q and A
1. Understanding the nature of your thoughts, the vritti and the triggers will help you
to develop detachment. It will prevent you from addictions and reactions that you
will regret later. When an urge comes you use your discriminating knowledge
and see if you should proceed further, what would be the price you would be
paying for it and then decide if you should do that action. You will experience
anandha irrespective of whether you do the action or not as you have control
over the situation.becoming a subject expert you have attained savitharka
samadhi. If you internalize the knowledge then you have achieved savichara
samadhi. If you turn it into your own experience, then it is samadhi. Then you
can give it to others, the experience which will not be mere knowledge or paper.
2. Savitharka is gross knowledge, savichara is subtle knowledge. When you eat
something and you know about the food, its taste, flavor, it is savitharka
samadhi. When you internalize the experience and see what it does to your
pancha bhutha and other tattva it is savichara samadhi. This will give you a
happiness which is anandha and this knowledge is stored in you as asmitha.
3. You cannot practice samadhi. You can only practice dharana. Then it will
automatically push you into samadhi.
4. You seek an experience again and again as you did not experience it completely,
you did not convert it into asmitha. That is why you go behind the experience
repeatedly. You may not get to the state of asmitha in the first round of
experience, but if you keep at it you will get to it over time. Then you can apply
this procedure in other situations to get to asmitha quickly.
5. You decide to do 108 gayatri. You will go up to 3 then your mind will think i have
to go to a meeting. You leave the japa and go to the meeting. If you do not go to
 the meeting and continue it is vairagya. They you mayl get another trigger. If
you resist it also and persist in your effort you will find that your thought pattern
and mental state will change. If you continue this practice repeatedly then you
can extend any effort to dharana, dhyana and then to samadhi.

Class 6
Dec 11,2022

Sampragnyatha samadhi knowledge is saved as seed- knowledge is not wisdom- videha and
prakruthi laya. Prakriti laya- they live in the body, they mastered the elements and so they have
special powers. Siddhis. Videha- upgraded They do not have body but they can do siddhis.

Asampragnyatha samadhi- only para vairagyam. Interested only in god, knowledge obtained is
eternal,
Sutra 28- veerya- shraddha, perfect memory - if they achieve samadhi they become prakriti laya
or videga.
Those who follow the given path experience samadhi quickly. Follow the instructions conditions
given in yoga sutra will get samadhi experience quickly.
Types of sadhaka based on effort- mrithu-slow sadhaka, madhyadhi- medium moderate,
theevra- intense.
Iswara pranidhana will give samadhi quickly. Saranagati.
Why do we need to surrender to god? God is the limit of knowledge, ultimate. If you seek
ultimate knowledge then you have to surrender to god. God is not bound by time, he is the
supreme guru, adi guru. No karma or karmaphala for god. So ideal guru.

1/1/2023
Class 6

Hatha yoga defines yoga as joining of the ida and pingala nadis. Patanjali, on the other hand,
explains it as chittha vritti nirodham. Based on this definition we already saw about chittha, its
states, and the types of vrittis that disturb it. We also saw that by cultivating the chittham a
sadhaka experiences samadhi.

Vritti nirodham is achieved through consistent, long term practice (abhyasa) of single pointed
attention or ekagraham on the object of our contemplation, without allowing other vrittis from the
chittham to distract us (vairagya). The result of this practice is the experience of samadhi.
A sadhaka can pratice abhyasa vairagya on any objective by holding his attention or ekagraham
on that object without any distraction. If the mental focus is kept for a minute or so it is called
dharana. If dharana is prolonged, it becomes dhyana and when dhyanais held for a longer time
it is called samadhi. Thus, the practice is dharana and it leads to dhyana and samadhi.
Samadhi cannot be practiced, it is experienced as a result of long dharana.
When one achieves chitta vritti nirodham one experiences the first level of samadhi, the
sampragnyata samadhi. This samadhi consists of four stages, savitharka, savichara, anandha
and asmitha.
If the object of contemplation is physical in nature, for example, a rose, or a goal like learning
music or an achievement in worldly life, then sampragnyata samadhi is achieved.

The four stages of sampragnyata samadhi:

When a person focuses on a rose, first he gains knowledge about all the physical elements that
constitute the rose such as its color, shape, smell etc. This is called savitharka samadhi.
He then moves on to understand the subtle qualities about the rose such as how the five
elements are present in it. You create a mental image of the object, a concept. This is called
savichara samadhi.
Through savitharka and savichara samadhi the person has complete knowledge about the rose.
This gives him a satisfaction or anandha.
Then the fact, I have complete knowledge about this rose, becomes a samskara and is stored in
the chittham as a seed. This is asmitha samadhi.

Asampragnyatha samadhi
If the object of dharana is God then one achieves asampragnyatha samadhi.
In sampragnyata samadhi the experience is stored as seeds. All samskaras are stored in seed
form. In asampragnyatha samadhi the seeds are baked such that they cannot sprout again as
vritti.

In asampragnyatha samadhi the sadhaka contemplates only on God and does not allow any
other distraction from his chittham to interfere. This is called paravairagyam.

Types of Siddhas
Patanjali classifies the siddhas based on the type of samadhi they enjoy.
In Sutra 19 he says that the two types of Siddhas, videha and prakruthi laya, enjoy
sampragnyatha samadhi. They understand all the tattva and are thus the masters of the
physical world. However, their vidya is not about God or Self.

Prakruthi laya live in the human body and control nature. Any factor that blocks our realization
of ourself as God is prakriti. Mastery of art, music, knowledge about any matter are all prakriti.
They distract us and keep us away from pursuing our true nature. Prakriti laya Siddhas
dissolve and became one with nature but they are still attached to nature. When a sadhaka
starts to get samadhi experience with physical entities he will get a will to work with nature, not
go beyond nature. Prakriti laya Siddhas offer subliminal energy. Temples and places that are
recommended to attain a particular benefit are sites where the prakriti laya Siddhas remain
merged with nature and provide those benefits.

Videha are Siddhas higher than the prakriti laya in the ladder of progress. They do not have a
physical body but they can perform all the siddhis. Siddha purushas belong to this category.
They can work without any disturbance from the physical body. They have strong subtle body
and they work through it.

In sutra 20 Patanjali talks about the qualities of a yogi who can achieve samadhi. One who has
sraddha (effort with faith), veerya (putting full effort without accepting any excuses), smrithi
(memory- remembering guru’s words when one gets an experience or the details read in a
scripture so that one does not get confused by it) and pragna ( awareness with discrimination of
right and wrong) enjoys prakriti laya or videha samadhi.

In sutra 21 Patanjali mentions that one experiences samadhi quickly if one follows the path or
the conditions and instructions, properly.
He mentions three types of Siddhas based on the intensity of their vairagya.
Mruthu are those with slow or low effort, madhyadhi are those with moderate effort. Theevra
put in intense effort and progress quickly.

Samadhi pada is for yoga brashta, one who had practiced yoga in past births and can
understand these concepts quickly and achieve samadhi. They do not need any specific
instruction.

Next , Patanjali talks about Isvara pranidhana or surrender to God. Without ishvara pranidhana
Patanjali yoga would be only sankhya philosophy. In yoga we surrender to God. We never say
we are achieving the result by our effort. A sadhaka should surrender to God to gain samadhi
experience quickly.
In sutra 24, 25 and 26 Patanjali explains the rational behind ishwara pranidhana. He gives the
following reasons.
1. God is the frontier of knowledge, he is the ultimate. If you are seeking ultimate
knowledge then you should surrender to him.
2. Iswara is different from purusha. He does not have desires, worries or karma like
humans. So he is ideal to surrender.
3. God is not bound by time and is thus the ultimate guru, the source of all knowledge.

How to surrender to God?

Patanjali recommends omkara japa. He says that pranava is the sound of God. Omkara, the
ultimate mantra contains all other mantras within.

Mantra japa should to be with the meaning of the mantra in mind. Only then japa will elevate
you. While doing omkara japa God’s nature should be kept in mind. Omkara japa will remove
barriers in yoga sadhana that cause problem in the body, the mind and the prana. It gives true
knowledge about the soul and help you will progress quickly in sadhana.

Class 7
1/8/2023
Sutra 30
Omkara japa solution for all the barriers, the bhava in sight and mind and recite, with meaning.
It will remove all the barriers.

Problems in sadhana
Lose enthusiasm, disease, doubt, carelessness calous, laziness. Excess attachment towards
sensory pleasures, misunderstanding of the concepts- about dharana, dhyana etc
After long practice still we may not get samadhi experience- that also creates lack of interest.
You may attain the experience because of other barriers you have lost that. This creates lack of
interest
Disease- dosha imbalance
Loss of enthusiasm- be in touch with guru
Doubt- read authentic texts
Carelessness-
Laziness-
Vision, sleep in sadhana as samadhi- misunderstanding of experience- should be clarified
How these barriers come adiathmika, adhi baudhika, adhi deivika- adi atmika- my chittham
triggering, my body, from myself
Adhibaudhika- from environment- animal, insect, weather
Adhideivika- subtle natural forces we do not know- gandarva, rakshas, gandarva, apsaras.
You body may shiver, you mind gets confused, fear, breathing becomes chaotic.they indicate
you are going to get disturbance in sadhana
When you start your sadhana after some time because of these three forces you will get
disturbed it manifests as confusion, loss of dheerga swasa chaotic breathing, body shivers.
Prolong will develop as the above obstacles. Like disease, etc
If you see these signs correctly it immediately

Evil spirits lucifer?

If you have enough prana bala you will not be bothered. When your prana level increases an
opposing force will develop. If you have enough strength you can overcome

How to overcome all these problems-

1/15/2023
Solution for adhiatmika bhaudhika and daivika obstacles
Chaos in mind, breath becomes unstable, body shivers.
First take one tattva- god, put our mind to god, god is the highest principle. If something
happens in our mind body and brain, if you focus on god those impedance will be removed. We
may use our own ego in sadhana, at one point of time we should submit everything to god and
seek his guidance.
Some good emotions -friendship compassion happiness and udhaseen- do not giv importance
to unwanted things, these emotions we can show to people who harm us, disturb us, our first
response may be anger of krodha, instead of that show friendly attitude to them, compassion or
neglect them rather than creating a bad emotion in us. This is for problem in mind.
By doing kumbaka rechaka and pooraka we can overcome irregularity of breath.for irregularity
of breath.
How our chitham becomes strong- when we do yoga sadhana the experience will make us
strong.
Thus, experience in sadhana is very important.
Meditate on light that induces buddhi, reduce desire, you may get some knowledge in your
dream- you may get guidance in your sleep, observe your dream closely for subtle guidance
which you can use for meditation. Otherwise, whatever is your desired goal, start with what you
desire then start meditation with that, need not be god.
These are for overcoming the barriers in yoga sadhana
When a yogi starts to attract/ understand the sadhana, he will master/vaseekara from paramanu
to parama mahat.
When emotions plague you, do dheerga swasa and positive affirmation.