Yoga Sagar

SR No.: 014011
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Paramhamsa Satyananda
Publisher: Bihar School of Yoga Munger
Publication Year: 1994
Total Pages: 436
Language: English
Classification: Seminar & Articles
File Size: 24 MB

Page 56

Patanjali created a formula (mahavakya), Yogena chittasya padena vacha. Even if you possess these two wealths, chitta and vacha, but your body is sick, in that state of sickness, you again cannot convey your experience to others. Maldm shareerasya cha vaidyakena. So thirdly, Patanjali laid down the foundation of ayurveda and made efforts to purify the three foremost resources of man.
The first means to purify chitta is known as ashtanga yoga. Ashtanga means eight divisions, eight components. These are known as: (i) yama, (ii) niyama, (iii) asana, (iv) pranayama, (v) pratyahara, (vi) dharana, (vii) dhyana, and (viii) samadhi. These are the eight divisions, eight steps of yoga. To climb these steps, firstly you have to place your foot on the first step and even that takes a great effort. But once you become stable in step one, then the rest of the process of advancing will become very easy.
Under the section of yamas, Maharishi Patanjali enumerates: ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, aparigraha. So, the first of the yamas is ahimsa or non-violence. Most of the time we misinterpret non-violence as vegetarianism in today's language. This dietary restriction is not non-violence, but in the language of Patanjali its range is quite broad. Violence is done at three levels: by speech, by thought and by action. It may be that by your vegetarian diet you have withdrawn your contribution from the act of violence, but you continue violence or himsa by speech or by thought. Himsa by speech is easily recognizable, but himsa by thought is not easily perceived. It is often not even acknowledged and remains stored within one's heart as a deep-rooted samskara which cannot be eliminated.
Let us see how we commit violence by thought. Suppose you fall into some serious argument with somebody and the situation boils up to abuse and curses. Immediately, your mind says, "He has insulted me," and you curse him and think ill of him. Although your curse is not going to make anybody even sneeze, you have still inscribed a samskara of himsa in your deep subconscious, as a chitta vritti. This is also a type of .violence. Until you have purified the deepest samskaras from your subconscious, your speech will not be purified. If the mind and speech are not purified, then non-violence in the physical sense is just a superficial hoax. This type of ahimsa does not last long. To establish yourself in the yama of ahimsa,