Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 7

                          Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 7 

Chitta is the mind-stuff from which the vrittis arise

Notes and Commentary

The thinking principle is a comprehensive expression equivalent to the Sanskrit term antahkarana. Antahkarana is a broad term used in vedanta. It includes manas (mind), buddhi (intellect), chitta and ahamkara (egoism or self-asserting principle).

The one mind assumes the three other forms, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara according to the different functions it performs (vrittibheda), just as one man is a judge in courts, president in a sabha, store-keeper in a store and general secretary of a managing committee. Manas is a sankalpavikalpatmaka (willing and doubting), It thinks whether to go to a place or not, whether to do this or not, and whether this is good or bad. The mind is of a doubting nature.

Buddhi (intellect) nischayatmaka (certitude). It is the determining faculty, It is that light of buddhi that determines one way or the other. I must go to Dehra Dun by this evening train. I must do this work. This is good. Chitta does the function of anusandhana (contemplation) and dharana (concentration). The function of memory also belongs to chitta. According to yoga philosophy, chitta is the mind-stuff or the mental substance; and the mind, intellect, and egoism are various processes in the mind-stuff.

Ahamkara is the self-arrogating principle. It does the function of abhimana (identification). It creates mamata (mineness). This is the root cause of all human sufferings. All vrittis hang upon this one "Aham Vritti" ('I' thought). It is the root cause of human ignorance.

It should be distinctly borne in mind that the thinking principle - mind - is not the Atman (Self) who is the fountain-source of all consciousness or knowledge. Just as a piece of iron moves in the presence of a mighty magnet, so also the little mind moves in the presence of the majestic Atman. Just as a minister works with fear in the presence of a king, so also the mind works in the same way in the presence of the king of kings, the Atman. Just as a mirror borrows its light from the sun, so also the mind borrows its light from the Atman, the Supreme Being.

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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 6

                          Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 6

 Thought is a thing. Thought is a dynamic force

Notes and Commentary

Thought is as much a thing as the yonder piece of stone. It has weight, colour, shape, size and form. Thought is a dynamic force. It is caused by the vibrations of psychic prana (sukshma prana) on the mental substance. It is a force like gravitation, cohesion or repulsion. Thought travels or moves. Thought has got tremendous power. Thought can heal diseases. Thoughts can transform the mentality of persons. Thought can do anything. It can work wonders. The velocity of thought is unimaginable.

Thought is a finer force. This is supplied to us by food. If you read Chhandogya Upanishad - the dialogue between Uddalaka and Swetaketu - you will understand this point well. If the food is pure, thought also becomes pure. He who has pure thoughts speaks very powerfully and produces deep impression on the minds of the hearers by his speech. He influences thousands of persons through his pure thoughts. A pure thought is sharper than the edge of a razor. Entertain always pure sublime thoughts. Thought-culture is an exact science.

Thinking is of four kinds, viz., symbolic thinking, instinctive thinking, impulsive thinking and habitual thinking. Thinking through words is symbolic thinking. Instincts are more powerful than impulses. Thoughts of body, food, drink, bath, etc., are habitual thinking. You can stop easily symbolic thinking. It is difficult to stop instinctive and impulsive thinking.

Thought is a great force. Thought has tremendous power. It can be transmitted from one man to another man. You can move the world through thought-force. The powerful thoughts of great sages (rishis) of yore are still recorded in the akasha (akashic records). Yogis who have clairvoyant vision can perceive those thought-images. They can read them. You are surrounded by an ocean of thought. You are floating in the ocean of thought. You are absorbing certain thoughts and repelling some in the thought-world.

Everyone has his own thought-world. Through practice of yama, niyama, pranayama and meditation, you can change impure thoughts into suitable pure thoughts. Meditation fills the mind with cheerful, powerful, satvic thoughts.

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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 5

                           Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 5 

A vritti is a 'whirlpool' in the mind-lake

Notes and Commentary

Vritti literally means a whirlpool. It is a thought-wave in the lake of chitta. Chitta is the mind-stuff or mental substance. It takes various forms. These forms constitute vrittis. It gets transformed or modified (parinama). These transformations and modifications are the thought-waves, whirlpools or vrittis. If the chitta thinks of a mango, the vritti of a mango is formed in the lake of chitta. This will subside and another vritti will be formed when it thinks of milk (milk-vritti).

Countless vrittis are rising and subsiding in the ocean of chitta. These vrittis cause restlessness of mind. Why do vrittis arise from chitta? Because of samskaras (habits) and vasanas (desires). If you annihilate all desires, all vrittis will subside by themselves. When a vritti subsides it leaves a definite impression in the subconscious mind. It is known as samskara or latent impression. The sum-total of all samskaras is known as karmasaya (receptacle of works). This is sanchita karma (accumulated work). When a man leaves the physical body, he carries with him his astral body of seventeen tatvas and the karmasaya as well to the mental plane. This karmasaya is burnt by the highest knowledge obtained through asamprajnata samadhi.

Modification is a vritti in the mind. When the vritti subsides it assumes the subtle state of potency or samskara in the chitta or subconscious mind. This potency again becomes a vritti under suitable conditions, when the mind comes in contact with sensual objects or through memory of objects from stimulus within. There are degrees in the vrittis or modifications that arise from the mind. You can check or control the lower vritti with the help of higher vrittis or transformations. For instance, anger is a lower vritti or a vritti of a lower degree. Kshama (forgiveness) is a vritti of a higher degree. With the help of kshama you can control the lower vritti, anger. You can become a yogarudha (one who is established in yoga) by controlling all the vrittis of the mind. The yogi does not annihilate himself by controlling all the vrittis or modifications of the mind. By suppressing the transformations of the mind he acquires great powers. He becomes an (adept or perfect being) siddha.

Although the mind is one, it passes into many conditions or states, as it is made up of three qualities (gunas) satva, rajas and tamas. All these qualities enter into a variety of combinations. The modifications or vrittis of the mind are also various. Peace of mind is a satvic vritti. Lust is a rajasic vritti. Laziness is a tamasic vritti.

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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 5 (Continued) 

A vritti is a 'whirlpool' in the mind-lake

Notes and Commentary

By destroying the vrittis one by one, you gain more and more mental strength (manasic bala) and spiritual strength (atma bala). Do the practice and feel the strength yourself. The annihilation of even one vritti will give you strength to destroy the second vritti that is tormenting you. Patience, perseverance and perishistent sadhana are necessary. How difficult is it to get the M.A. degree? How much more difficult should it be, if you want to attain the state of immortality and absolute freedom? Just as you remove a small pebble that causes irritation to your feet, so also you should then and there remove every vritti that torments the mind. Unless and until you are able to do so, you have not gained any real mental strength or spiritual power. Just as you extract a tooth and then chuck it away, so also you should extract a disturbing vritti and cast it aside. Raja yoga teaches how to extract or root out the disturbing thoughts. You will have to pay a heavy price for mastering this yoga.


Ignorant people identify themselves with the body, mind and the vrittis of the mind. The mind and the body are instruments only. The real man is behind the mind. If you become one with the mind, body and vritti, you get various sorts of miseries and sufferings. The whole universe is created by the vrittis of the mind only. If these mental waves or thought-waves subside, you can attain the absolute state. Just as you can clearly see the bottom of a lake when the ripples and waves subside, so also you can cognise your real Self when the vrittis that agitate your mind subside.
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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 4

                            Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 4 

Learn the yoga under a guru

Notes and Commentary

Learn the yoga under a guru (preceptor). Then only will you be able to understand the subtle points. Get practical lessons also from him. Then alone you will grow rapidly. He will remove your doubts and show you the right path, because he has already trodden the path himself. He will point out the pitfalls, snares, etc., that tempt and deceive the aspirants on the path. He will inspire his disciples.

Just as water flows from a higher level to a lower level, so also the grace of the guru flows towards the disciple if the latter has a true receptive attitude and sincere faith in his guru. Just as electricity flows from a positive charge battery towards the negative pole, even so the power, energy, love, wisdom and spiritual current flow from the master mind of a yogi towards the lesser mind of the disciple.

Even in cooking and typewriting you want a guru to guide. When such is the case with ordinary matters and secular sciences, what to speak of the science of yoga which treats of sublime spiritual matters and transcendental questions? The mysteries of knowledge are handed down from guru to disciple.

Books also can help you. They will inspire you. They can guide you only to a certain extent. You will have to practise for yourself yama, niyama or the rules of right conduct before you approach a guru. You can start the minor practices asana, pranayama, some concentration exercises, etc., with the help of books. Books written by realised persons can serve the purpose of a guru till you come in personal contact with a realised yogi or adept. You can also get help from senior aspirants in the path of yoga.

Make a programme of your life. Draw up a spiritual routine. Stick to it systematically and regularly. Apply diligently. Never waste a single minute. Life is short. Time is fleeting. That "tomorrow" will never come - now or never.

Stand up with a firm resolve: "I will become a yogi this very moment." Gird up your loins. Do rigid, constant yoga sadhana or yoga abhyasa. If you are very sincere in your practice and if your mind is filled with burning vairagya (dispassion) and keen longing for liberation (mumukshutwa), you can reach perfection within six months.

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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 3

                           Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 3 

Now there is communion with the Lord

Notes and Commentary

The word 'Yoga' comes from the Sanskrit root 'Yuj' which means 'to join'. By the practice of yoga, the individual soul (jivatma) is united with the supreme soul (paramatma). Yoga means union with God. Then all samsara (cycle of birth and death) comes to an end.

Yoga kills all sorts of pain - miseries and tribulations. Yoga frees you from the samsaric wheel of birth and death. Yoga gives you various powers and liberation through jnana (self-knowledge). Therefore drink the elixir or nectar of immortality and become a yogi. "Tasmat yogi bhava Arjuna." (Gita, Ch. VI - 46.) Union with God is the goal of human life. It is the be all and end all of our existence. It is the summum bonum.

The Lord (Ishvara) of raja, yoga is a special purusha (person) who is not affected by the five afflictions and the fruit of actions and desires. His name or symbol is Om. He is indicated by the mono syllable Om. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, etc.

SONG OF REAL SADHANA

Do real sadhana, my dear children
     (Do real sadhana .... )

sadhana   sadhana   sadhana   sadhana

To free yourself from birth and death

And enjoy the highest bliss I will tell you the surest way

Kindly hearken with greatest care
     (Do real sadhana ....)

Acquire first sadhana chatushtaya,

Then proceed to the feet of sadguru,

After having shravan and manan,

Then do practise nidhidhyasan,
     (Do real sadhana ....)

Remove first the old, old dehaadhyas,

By repeating Shivoham Bhavana,

Then remove the veil, avarana,

You will rest in your own swaroop.
     (Do real sadhana ....)

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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 2

                                                       Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 2 

Yoga is the restraint of thought-waves

Notes and Commentary

Now I proceed to explain the system of yoga philosophy in brief and bring home to the readers the salient and vital points in the yogic system. Yoga teaches how to control the vrittis (thought waves) of the mind and get freedom. Yoga teaches how to curb the outgoing mind and attain one's pure state of bliss by going beyond the mind. Yoga teaches how to transmute the unregenerate nature and attain the state of divinity. Yoga is a complete suppression of the tendency of the mind to transform itself into objects, thoughts, etc.

Raja yoga is an exact science. One can ascend the yogic ladder patiently through its different rungs. The highest summit of the ladder is asamprajnata samadhi (super-consciousness), wherein all the samskaras (mental impressions), which bring about successive births, are absolutely fried up. The eight limbs of ashtanga yoga are: yama (self-restraint), niyama (religious observances or canons), asana (posture), pranayama (restraint of breath), pratyahara (abstraction of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (super-conscious state).

This is one kind of classification of yoga: karma, upasana, raja yoga and jnana. This is yogatraya (three fold yoga). Upasana is bhakti. Another classification is mantra yoga, laya yoga, hatha yoga and raja yoga. Mantra yoga is recitation of mantras as "Om Namah Shivaya" of Lord Siva, "Om Namo Narayanaya" of Lord Vishnu, Gayatri, etc. Laya yoga is kundalini yoga. Nada anusadhana (concentration on anahata sounds of heart) is also laya yoga. Laya means dissolution. The mind is dissolved in God.

Hatha yoga relates to the restraint of breath (pranayama), asanas, bandhas, mudras, etc. 'Ha' and 'tha' mean the union of sun and moon, union of prana and apana. Hatha means any obstinate practice till the object or end is achieved. Hatha is sticking to some spiritual practices. Mauna (vow of silence), trataka (steady gazing), crystal-gazing, standing on one leg (a kind of austerity) etc., are all hatha practices. Hatha yoga is not separate from raja yoga. It prepares the student to take up raja yoga. Hatha yoga is concerned with the breath (prana) and the physical body. Pranayama purifies the pranamaya kosha (vital sheath).

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Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 1

                           Yogasara-Upanishad Mantra - 1 

 

Now yoga is explained

Notes and Commentary

Yoga is the state wherein there is no sankalpa vikalpa (thought or doubt). Yoga is the control of mind and its modifications. Yoga is the equal state between jivatma (soul) and paramatma (God). The word 'Yogi' signifies an aspirant or a student in the path of yoga, as well as a full blown developed adept in yoga. He who is fully established in the highest nirvikalpa samadhi (super-consciousness) is a yogi. He who practises yoga is also a yogi. A 'raja yogi' is otherwise known as 'dhyana yogi'. Dhyana means meditation. It is the continuous flow of one idea of God. Raja yoga aims at controlling all thought-waves or mental modifications. It concerns with the mind, its purification and control. Hence it is called, 'raja yoga, king of yogas'. It is otherwise known as ashtanga yoga (yoga with eight limbs).

A sutra means a thread or aphorism or terse saying. Each sutra is pregnant with high, sublime ideas. Without the help of commentary, it is difficult to understand the meanings of the aphorisms. Just as flowers or pearls are studded in a string or a thread, even so, philosophical or spiritual ideas are studded in a sutra or thread.

Food (ahara), sleep (nidra), fear (bhaya), and coition (maithuna) are common to both animals and human beings. But man has got intelligence, power of discrimination (viveka) and power of enquiry (vichara shakti); with the help of these special powers, he can realise his Self and can know his true nature. Even devas (gods) are envious of human beings. Because deva yoni (divine species) is mere bhoga yoni (enjoyment), they can enjoy only with a daivic (divine) body. Man has got both karma yoni (activity) and bhoga yoni. He can do nishkamya karma yoga and attain jnana through chittashuddhi (purity of mind). He can take recourse to various yogic practices for spiritual unfoldment and can become a full blown yogi in this birth. Horses and dogs possess minds. But they have neither discrimination nor intelligence nor vichara shakti. Hence it is not possible for them to attain freedom.

You will find in Yajnavalkya Smriti that Hiranyagarbha was the original teacher of yoga. Patanjali Maharishi is only a compiler or explainer of the yogic principles and tenets taught and practised by Hiranyagarbha and others.

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