Vichāra-saṅgraham 27: Eight Limbs of Yoga
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2022-02-26

Devotee: What are the limbs of yoga?

Mahārṣi: Yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyama, pratyāhara, dhārana, dhyāna, and samādhi. Of these:

(1) Yama stands for the cultivation of such principles of good conduct as non-violence (ahiṁsā), truth (satya), non-stealing (asteya), celibacy (brahmāchārya), and non-possession (apari-graha).

(2) Niyama stands for the observance of such rules of good conduct as purity (saucha), contentment (santosha), austerity (tapas), study of the sacred texts (svadhyaya), and devotion to God (Īśvāra-pranidhana).

(3) Āsana: Of the different postures, eighty-four are the main ones. Of these, again, four—simha, bhadra, padma, and siddha—are said to be excellent. Of these too, it is only siddha that is the most excellent. Thus the yoga-texts declare.

(4) Prāṇāyama: According to the measures prescribed in the sacred texts, exhaling the vital air is rechaka, inhaling is puraka and retaining it in the heart is kumbhaka. As regards ‘measure’, some texts say that rechaka and puraka should be equal in measure, and kumbhaka twice that measure, while other texts say that if rechaka is one measure, puraka should be of two measures, and kumbhaka of four. By ‘measure’ what is meant is the time that would be taken for the utterance of the Gāyatrī-mantra once. Thus prāṇāyama consisting of rechaka, puraka, and kumbhaka, should be practised daily according to ability, slowly and gradually. Then there would arise for the mind a desire to rest in happiness without moving. After this, one should practise pratyāhara.

(5) Pratyāhara: This is regulating the mind by preventing it from flowing towards the external names and forms. The mind, which had been till then distracted, now becomes controlled. The aids in this respect are (1) meditation on the prāṇava, (2) fixing the attention betwixt the eyebrows, (3) looking at the tip of the nose, and (4) reflection on the nāda. The mind that has thus become one-pointed will be fit to stay in one place. After this, dhārana should be practised.

(6) Dhārana: This is fixing the mind in a locus which is fit for meditation. The loci that are eminently fit for meditation are the heart and Brahma-randhra (aperture in the crown of the head). One should think that in the middle of the eight-petalled lotus that is at this place there shines, like a flame, the Deity which is the Self, i.e. Brahman, and fix the mind therein. After this, one should meditate.

(7) Dhyāna: This is meditation through the ‘I am He’ thought, that one is not different from the nature of the aforesaid flame. Even thus, if one makes the enquiry ‘Who am I?’, then, as the Scripture declares, “The Brahman which is everywhere shines in the heart as the Self that is the witness of the intellect,” one would realize that is the Divine Self that shines in the heart as ‘I-I’. This mode of reflection is the best meditation.

(8) Samādhi: As a result of the fruition of the aforesaid meditation, the mind gets resolved in the object of meditation without harboring the ideas ‘I am such-and-such; I am doing this-and-that’. This subtle state, in which even the thought ‘I-I’ disappears, is samādhi. If one practises this every day, seeing to it that sleep does not supervene, God will soon confer on one the supreme state of quiescence of mind.

Links:
Vichāra-saṅgraham: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ms9MGHH0ssMKme_wekfRXyEc5CunqdeM

Patañjali Yoga-sūtras: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W4Vl2phXecXPGNpBWm2_WZIjpo6A9ZIK

Dharmasār Video Guide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EZFqp9G893-LMYSm-ucUt3CylMTbfLV2/view?usp=drivesdk