Patanjali Yoga Sutra — Kṣīṇavṛtterabhijātasyeva maṇergrahītṛ grahaṇa grāhyeṣu tatsthatadañjanatā samāpattiḥ॥1.41॥
क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृ-ग्रहण-ग्राह्येषु तत्स्थतदञ्जनता समापत्तिः॥
(When the mind is cleared of all thought waves, due to prolonged contemplation) Sādhaka’s stainless, clear mind, like an unblemished crystal, reflects and identifies itself with the object concentrated upon. The diverse trinity of perception viz., the knower (Grahītṛ), the instrument of perception (Grahaṇa), the knowledge (Grāhyeṣu) would cease to stand apart from one another and the perfect union is experienced.
The tainted or polluted mind is opaque whereas the state of Samādhi is the mind’s identity with the object of concentration itself, owing to absolute transparency achieved by clearance of all thought waves. The mind is crystal clear, flawless and is in a state of unqualified absorption. The demarking line of separation in the trinity, namely, ‘the knower’, ‘the known’ and ‘the knowledge’ would be totally erased out and the sādhaka experiences complete consummation. It is a journey from desire that prompted ignorance to enlightenment.
A monk approaches an arrogant, greedy king who was travelling in his chariot and says, ‘please give me anything just to fill this bowl (Bhikṣā pātra). The king arrogantly asks his servant to give the monk bowl full of coins. The servent does so. But the bowl was not full at all. The servant puts more now; but the bowl was not full even now. King asks the monk to come to his court the next morning so that his bowl full of things would be given.
The next morning the monk reaches the court and stands before the king with the bowl in his hands. Now the king orders his servants to fill the bowl with precious coins. Bowl was not full. Precious gold jewellery was put, the bowl was not full. The servants kept on putting a lot many things, but the bowl was not full. The entire wealth of the king was put. No, the bowl was not full. The king realizes that the monk was not an ordinary mortal and the bowl was not an ordinary one. Having lost his ego, the king prostrates to the monk and asks, ‘Dear Sir, we cannot fill your bowl. Please let us know why’.
The monk said, ‘do you know what is this bowl made of? This is made of the skull of a greedy man. When he was alive, nothing could satisfy him and he became more and more greedy as he acquired more and more wealth. Even after death, his skull is continuing to be greedy; nothing satisfies it. Hence, don’t be greedy, don’t get attached to the wealth. Be a king just to serve the people of this kingdom selflessly. You will attain true bliss in your life’. An eye-opener to the king!
Our scriptures say, there are two types of liberations:
- jīvanmukti: Even while being physically embodied, being free from desires, sādhaka experiences complete freedom and unity with the Supreme Soul (ramaṇa maharṣi, Janaka Mahārāja, śuka Maharṣi).
- kramamukti: After leaving the mortal body sādhaka reaches the Supreme Soul and gets absolute absorption with Him (prahlāda).
Bhagavān thus reveals to sādhakas, the way to get ecstasy of absolute absorption in Him:
तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।
गच्छन्त्य पुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः॥५.१७॥
tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ.
gacchantya punarāvr̥ttiṁ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ॥Gītā 5.17॥
Whoever thinks of Paramātma incessantly, experiencing ardently oneness with Him, realizing Him as the ultimate destination, by the grace of such knowledge, would be unsullied or cleansed of their sins and be liberated (from the monotonous cycle of birth and death and gets absorbed in Me). That is the state of no return. (Paramātma is triguṇātīta, prajñātīta, kālātīta, deśātīta).
We have many questions like, who am I? Wherefrom I have come? What is the purpose of this life? How do I achieve that? What happens to me after death? Who created this universe? How is He cognizable? What is this brahmāṇḍa? How is it controlled? Who controls this? What is the cause? Etc. Our mundane (laukika) knowledge cannot answer these questions; but pāramārthika or Yogic jñāna is the only way to know, says ‘Brahma Sūtras’ (1.1.3). This knowledge is achievable only through deep contemplation and svādhyāya yajña.
