Dṛg-dṛśya Vivekaḥ 26–27: Nirvikalpa Samādhi
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2020-06-09

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Ājñā-cakra
Now is described the higher concentration free from all ideas whatsoever. Nirvikalpa samādhi is here distinguished from savikalpa samādhi as described in the foregoing ślokas.
Text 26:
svānubhūtira-sāveśād dṛśya-śabdā-vupekṣyat |
nirvikalpas-samādhis-syān-nivāta-sthita-dīpavat ||
“But the nirvikalpa samādhi is that in which the mind becomes steady like the un-flickering flame of a light kept in a place free from wind, and in which the student becomes indifferent to both objects and sounds on account of his complete absorption in the bliss of the realization of the Self.”

Through constant practice of savikalpa samādhi, mind becomes free from all distractions due to attachment to sense objects. He then becomes competent to practise nirvikalpa samādhi, in which the mind becomes steady like the unflickering flame of a candle kept in a windless place.

Objects such as vṛttis and sounds are associated with concentration in savikalpa samādhi. Desires etc. are the cognizable objects, and “I am unattached” etc. are sound objects or ideas. The word anubhūti in the text means the Highest Consciousness or Self. 

“I bow to that innermost subjective Self, birthless, incomprehensible, infinite, the embodiment of Bliss and the background of the World, created by Mahat etc. and painted by ignorance (Māyā).” —Iṣṭasiddhi, 67

The word rasa means the Supreme Self or the nature of the Highest Bliss: “He is the Rasa, flavor, for only after perceiving a taste for Him can anyone become blessed.”—Taittiriya Upaniṣad 2.6.9

The word āvesa means complete absorption. Or it may mean the manifestation of the Supreme Bliss in the heart as the index of success in savikalpa samādhi. Another meaning of the word is coming from all directions of bliss. Still another meaning is possession; that is, the practitioner becomes possessed, as it were, by the bliss of self-realization and can no longer control himself.

Nirvikalpa samādhi is the highest kind of concentration, in which the practitioner realises his real Self. In nirvikalpa samādhi the functions of the mind stop, and the practitioner experiences the Highest Bliss. 

“The utter quiescence of modifications of the mind, conferring upon one Supreme Bliss, is said to be asamprajñāta samādhi, dear unto the Yogis.”— Suktikopaniṣad, 6.24

This samādhi is characterized by the absence of the knowledge of the subject-object relationship. Apparently it is like that state of calmness and tranquillity which pervades a stone, because in nirvikalpa samādhi the mind stops functioning. 

But it should not be mistaken for stupor or deep sleep in which state alone one experiences absence of duality. The difference between deep sleep and nirvikalpa samādhi is that in the former state there is no knowledge of Self, but in the latter there exists no feeling of not knowing the Self, because in nirvikalpa samādhi one becomes identified with the ever-conscious Ātman.

“The state in which all desires completely disappear which is quiescent like the interior of a stone, but which is not characteiized by swoon or deep sleep, is admitted as the real nature of Ātman.”—Vāsiṣṭa-rāmāyaṇa (Yoga-Vāsiṣṭa) Utpatti-prakaraṇa 116-7

Nirvikalpa samādhi, which is identical with the Highest Knowledge, can be attained only as a result of discrimination between the real and the unreal. After this discrimination, the student becomes indifferent to everything of the relative world. 

“That is extreme non-attachment, which gives up even the qualities, and comes from Knowledge of the real nature of the Puruṣa.” —Pātañjali-sūtra, Samādhi-pada 16

“It is just like an empty pitcher placed in the sky, having nothing inside and outside; and again, it is just like a full pitcher placed in the sea, full both inside and outside.”— Vāsiṣṭa-rāmāyaṇa (Yoga-Vāsiṣṭa) Nirvāṇa-pūrva-prakaraṇa 123-34

Text 27:
hṛdīva bāhya-deśe’pi yasmin-kasmiṁś-ca vastuni |
samādhi-rādhyas-sanmātrānnām-rūpa-pṛthak-kṛtiḥ ||
“Savikalpa-samādhi is possible with the help of an external object, as it is with the help of an internal object. In that samādhi, name and form are separated from pure existence (Brahman).”

By the practice of nirvikalpa-samādhi described in Text 26, the practitioner realises his own Self, which is of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. But this concentration can also be practised with the help of any object in the external world. By such concentration one can realise the nature of Brahman and creation. Brahman and Self are identical.

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