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Book-Summary - Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali

B.K.S. Iyengar is famous for his Yoga practices. In this book, he has not only provided literal English translation of each of the sūtras, but also gives detailed explanation and commentary on it. The book gives systematic steps a person needs to take to achieve the Kaivalya ( individual self merges to universal self). There are different stages which the saadhaka needs to pass through by continuous saadhana. Every person based on his previous Saadhana and their nature, we can classify their level to 4 sections. In Yoga Sūtras, Patañjali has given four sections (Pāda) - Samadhi Pada, Saadhana Pada, Vibhuti Pada and Kaivalya Pada which can be adopted based on the maturity of practitioner. B.K.S. Iyengar explains the similarities between Bhagavad Geeta and Yoga Sutras.

B.K.S. Iyengar gives one of the best explanation for the Abhyasa and Vairagya - “Abhyasa is a dedicated, unswerving, constant, and vigilant search into a chosen subject, pursued against all odds in the face of repeated failures for indefinitely long period of time. Vairagya is the cultivation of freedom from passion, abstention from worldly desires and appetites, and discrimination between real and the unreal. It is the act of giving up all sensuous delights. Abhyasa builds confidence and refinement in the process of culturing the consciousness, whereas Vairagya is the elimination of whatever hinders progress and refinement. Proficiency in Vairagya develops the ability to free oneself from the fruits of action.”

BKS also explains the importance of self discipline for a Saadhaka. Yoga is for reaching perfection in a human by means of using himself as the tool. “The disciplines of purifying man’s three constituents, body, speech and mind constitute kriyayoga, the path to perfection. Our bodies are purified by self-discipline (tapas), our works by Self-study (svadhyaya) and our minds by love and surrender to Him (Isvara pranidhana)”. One of the main misconception prevailing is equating Yoga to Asana. Asana is just small part of yoga,whereas Yoga is a whole system consisting of many things which needs to be practiced and cultivated to achieve the ultimate goal of Kaivalya. Yoga practitioner gains following knowledge - knowledge of the body, knowledge of energy, knowledge of controlling the mind, stability in intelligence, knowledge gained by experience, absorption of the various flavours that life offers and knowledge of the self. By yogic practices the sadhaka conquers his body, controls his energy, restrains the movements of the mind and develops sound judgement, from which he acts rightly and becomes luminous. From this luminosity he develops total awareness of the very core of his being, achieves supreme knowledge, and surrenders his self to the Supreme Soul.

As part of Yoga, we need to practice following things - Yama ( satya, ahimsa, non stealing, brahmacharya, freedom from avarice or non covetousness), Niyama (sauca - cleanliness, santosha - contentment, tapas - religious fervour, svadhyaya - study of scriptures & self, Isvara Parindhana - surrender of self to God), Asana, Pranayama and Pratyahara (Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi).

Dharana is concentration - pointed focus on something. Maintaining that concentration will lead to Dhyana. “When the object of contemplation shines forth without the intervention of one’s own consciousness, dhyana flows into samadhi. When a musician loses himself and is completely engrossed in his music, or an inventor makes his discoveries when devoid of ego, or a painter transcends himself with colour, shade and brush; they glimpse samadhi. Similarly it is with the yogi: when his object of contemplation becomes himself, devoid of himself, he experiences samadhi.” The difference is that the artist or musician reaches this state by effort and cannot sustain it; whereas the yogi, remaining devoid of ego, experiences it as natural, continuous and effortless. Consequently, it is difficult for an artist to infuse his vision of the sublime, which is associated with the performance and realisation of a particular art form into his ordinary daily existence. For the yogi, however, whose ‘art’ is formless and whose goal has no physical expression like a painting, a book or a symphony, the fragrance of samadhi penetrates every aspect of his normal behaviour, activities and state of being. Uninterrupted flow of attention dissolves the split between the object seen and the seer who sees it. Consciousness appears to have ceased, and to have reached a state of silence. It is devoid of ‘I’, and merges into the core of the being in a profound state of serenity. In samadhi, awareness of place vanishes and one ceases to experience space and time. When one contemplates a diamond, he at first sees with great clarity the gem itself. Gradually one becomes aware of the light glowing from its centre. As awareness of the light glows, awareness of the stone as an object diminishes. Then there is only brightness, no source, no object. When the light is everywhere that is samadhi.