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The Samadhipada, as earlier specified, is the first chapter of the Yoga-sutra and introduces the system and its aims. There is no explanation of the underlying philosophical system, rather the Yoga adopts the main tenets of the Samkhya system preceding it. The beginning of the Yoga-sutra, is thus abrupt, and could mean that it was part of a larger text or a body of texts.  This piece is a commentary on the first two aphorisms of Samadhipada, but it should be pointed out that the second aphorism is the one which contains the essence of the aim of Yoga, and that entire books could be written about each of its key terms.

Aphorism 1.1
atha yogànu÷àsanam

“atha yoganusasanam” – “Now begins the exposition of Yoga.” Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga Tradition.

This is the introduction to the first chapter, the first aphorism. The use of the word ‘now’ lends a certain weight to the discourse, as if what passed before was an introduction, a warm-up phase, and the time for the real lecture has come. It could also be that the Yoga-sutra actually formed part of a larger work, of which only this survives, and thus would account for the use of the word ‘now’.

Aphorism 1.2
yoga÷cittavçttinirodhaþ

“chitta vritti nirodhah” – “Yoga is the restriction of the fluctuations of the consciousness.” Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, Georg Feuerstein, The Yoga Tradition.

This is a very challenging sutra to understand. What it does contain is the essence of the aim of Yoga, in one phrase, and so it is, before anything else, a remarkable exercise in reducing language to the barest minimum. And this is fitting, because the Yoga-sutra is not meant to be an exercise in literature but a practical way of doing things, a way of life to follow. Patanjali seems to realize the futility of being verbose, of saying a thing in pages and pages, when a single phrase will do.

So Yoga, therefore, is ‘restriction’. It is restricting ‘fluctuations of the consciousness’. What are these ‘fluctuations of the consciousness’? The word ‘fluctuation’ denotes change. To fluctuate is the opposite of being stable. However, it is not random instability – the word also denotes a regular oscillation, a cycle, a rise and fall, an ebb and flow.

The diagram below attempts to illustrate this. On the X axis is the passage of time, and on the Y axis is represented a fluctuating consciousness. The X-axis itself represents a consciousness perfectly ‘restricted’. If a lifespan is represented by the length of the line along the X-axis, it is clear that an attuned person can achieve much more in the same time.

– Continued

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