Patanjali Yoga Sutra — virāmapratyayābhyāsapūrvaḥ saṃskāraśeṣo’nyaḥ||1.18||विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वः संस्कारशेषोऽन्यः||१.१८||
Virāma Pratyaya, Sādhaka achieves cessation of mental modifications with complete equipoise but yet not free from his samskāras (sub-conscious past impressions).
virāma Pratyaya is also called Asamprajñāta samādhi, according to some commentators. As stated above, this is transitory, the short-lived phase between Sabīja and Nirbīja samādhi. All the mental modifications are stilled owing to his sādhana (like renunciation and repeated efforts), all the desires are conquered and all emotions are subdued, sādhaka is yet not free from his subconscious or hidden past impressions called samskāras. But these samskāras are like burnt seeds so that there is no chance that these dormant impressions come to surface and manifest in his behaviour even when there is a conducive environment for them to resurface. Thus, he is free from the clutches of his own saṃskāras, otherwise, which would have led him to different births and deaths. Having lost the sense of “I”, and being in a highly evolved state, he is in a state of triguṇātīta — i.e., the one who has transcended triguṇās of nature.
Bhagavān describes the triguṇātīta as follows:
मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते॥१४.२५॥
mānāpamānayostulyastulyo mitrāripakṣayoḥ|
sarvārambhaparityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate||Gītā 14.25||
‘A person is said to have transcended the guṇās, when honor and humiliation are viewed equally by him when foe and friend are alike to him.’
Keynote is “Be GOOD to all, you are one letter more the God”.
विद्याविनय सम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः॥५.१८॥
vidyāvinaya sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini.
śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ || Gītā 5.18||
This enlightened sādhaka views a brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog’s meat-eater with equanimity (All are equal to him).
Four important messages of Gītā are:
- Principle of equality as stated in the above-mentioned verse, everything, everyone is made of ātman. Paramātma’s presence everywhere is established thus.
- Principle of ātmatattva, which is the innate reality of everything in the universe — both animate and inanimate, visible and invisible, etc. Hence it is said that ‘By knowing which everything is known’ (Scientists’ efforts to find out ‘Theory of everything’).
- Yogābhyāsa to realize that ultimate ātmatattva.
- Swādhyāya yajña to kindle yogasādhaka’s intense desire to realize the ultimate.
mātā amṛtānandamayi, popularly known as “Hugging saint of India” (nickname — ‘Amma’) welcomes everyone to her ‘Divine Hug’. Her widespread arms are open to each and every soul — wretched, downtrodden, demoralized, exploited, patients with chronic repulsive diseases, poor, miserable, desolate, dejected, subjugated, deprived, unfortunate, unprivileged, disgusted, etc. All are equal to Her.
Such equanimity is gettable only through sheer Yogasādhana. Nothing in life is easily achievable. Everything needs lots of effort, intense hard work, more so in case of spiritual sādhana. Only two things are provided to us freely by nature -‘Time’ and ‘Space’. Use these two and get whatever you want, whatever you want to achieve in this life itself!
