PATANJALI
YOGA SUTRAS
Verse.2.47
prayatna
shaithilya ananta samapattibhyam
Ø prayatna = through effort
in trying to achieve a posture
Ø shaithilya = by reducing /
relaxing
Ø ananta = (with the)
infinite
Ø samapattibhyam = by merging
; by keen attention
Prayatna saithilyam means –
relaxation and reduction of Effort. Any conscious effort that we make initially
to remain steady in the Aasanam must quickly go – and the aasanam must become
effortless – apart from being stable and comfortable.
Body’s specialty is –that we
do not feel the body if it is healthy and light. It should be burden-free and
pain-free.
Body becomes painful and
burdensome only when some part in the body is not totally healthy or the
posture in which body is kept is unnatural. Therefore, a “sthira sukha aasanam”
must become possible by effortlessness and total relaxation of the body in that
posture, and not by effort.
This means – that the
posture is one which your body organs accept easily and happily.
If there is effort – the effort
will want to move the body one way or the other. Body will be acutely conscious
of painful, unnatural and uncomfortable
postures.
EFFORT to be steady and
stable – is the indication that the chosen Aasanam is not the one that is best
suited for you.
Effort comes because of
will. Effort is needed to attain all earthly things. You must pay some thing –
to get some thing else. The Law of compensation works in all such matters.
But, many noble, joyful things
are – beyond this Law of compensation. At least, there is no earthly, tangible
compensation that we need to pay for achieving those things. These noble things
are also not tangible. They are experienced – beyond the five senses. We won’t
see them.
Joy, happiness, love, Prayer,
Meditation, sleep must all come
effortlessly. Most of these things come when we shun effort – and become
relaxed and effortless.
At any rate, when they
come – we become effortless. Patanjali says -
aasanam also be effortless in a similar way.
But, how to make it
effortless. Patanjali gives us a clue. Think of the endless-beginningless entities.
Think that you are in a timeless Universe, with no past, present and future.
Think that you are like the
endless space. Equate yourself with such endlessness. Merge yourself with such endless entities. Now - Experience the change in you.
Ananta is also the name of
“Adisesha” the great, thousand hooded serpent who is the seat of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is always shown in a
yogic Posture on this Ananta naga.
Vishnu is called Yogeswara – for that reason. Adisesha, the Ananta
Sesha or the Ananta Naga – is said to remain unmoving all the time – so as
not to disturb the yogic posture of Lord Vishnu.
A Yoga sadhaka must remain
like that –motionless, easy, effortless and carrying the Vishnu (or Eesvara,
which mean the same) within himself.
Verse.2.48
thathah
dvandva anabhighaathah
Ø thathah = thereby
Ø dvandva = the pairs of
opposites (of life)
Ø anabhighaatah = will not
pose any impact /suffering
Indian tradition has well
recognized that all human suffering arises from the pairs of opposites – like likes and dislikes, happiness and sorrow,
rich and poor, day and light, heat and cold and so on. The most important of these pairs of
opposites is – our likes and dislikes. The body is subject to not only likes and dislikes, but also heat and cold. It also takes battering from other dualities as well.
Each of us has our
individual likes and dislikes. We feel that these are the ones protecting us –
and enabling us to enjoy our life.
This is far from truth.
Our likes are our traps. So are our dislikes. Each invariably leads us to the
other.
Suppose, you like Mr.X or
Ms.X. You invariably like all others much less. You like Mr.X or Ms.X for specific reasons. You dislike all others
having the opposite qualities, or, even the same qualities in lesser
proportion.
Do you think, it is
natural? Most people do. But, it is not. These are the traps, the real causes -
that lead us from happiness to unhappiness
to suffering and from health to ill-health and so on.
You are angry with
corruption. You think, you must be. You are proud to be this, or that in life.
Again, you think, it is needed.
These are all pairs of
opposites which act as traps swinging us from one end of the spectrum of life
to the other – without our volition.
We will have more
discussion on these pairs of opposites in a different context. Lord Krishna
also has referred to these dvandas or pairs of opposites in his Bhagavad Gita
many times.
They are the cause of our
life swings from one extreme to the other extreme of life . Once you decide
to keep your likes and dislikes –there is no way, you can avoid
unhappiness, suffering, sadness etc in your life periodically. They come. And, You
are the cause.
In this aphorism –
Patanjali is giving us one way of reducing / eliminating the strike of these
Dvandvas. If you can achieve stability and comfort in your aasana – at that
time, you will remain unaffected by these Dvandvas.
There is a sound logic and
psychology behind this phenomenon. If body remains motionless and comfortable,
mind follows suit. Mind can’t attach itself to any dvandvas when body remains
unsupportive to it. The dvandvas' main purpose is to unsettle the body and mind in some way. When, they can't unsettle the body, their effort to unsettle the mind also becomes futile. Vice-Versa is equally true.
Relax the body, the mind
relaxes. Relax the mind, Body relaxes.
When, they are relaxed, a
strange joy enters into you leaving no place to any other emotion – specially the
dvandvas.
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