{"id":276,"date":"2021-06-20T09:01:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T09:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qsconsultants.in\/blog\/?p=276"},"modified":"2021-06-20T09:01:47","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T09:01:47","slug":"the-yoga-sutras-of-patanjali-excerpt-i-translated-from-the-sanskrit-by-edwin-f-bryant-with-insights-from-traditional-commentators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qsconsultants.in\/blog\/the-yoga-sutras-of-patanjali-excerpt-i-translated-from-the-sanskrit-by-edwin-f-bryant-with-insights-from-traditional-commentators\/","title":{"rendered":"The YOGA S\u016aTRAS of Pata\u00f1jali (Excerpt I) – Translated from the Sanskrit by Edwin F Bryant (WITH INSIGHTS FROM TRADITIONAL COMMENTATORS)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Namaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation), Last week we concluded the excerpts from \u2018The Pan\u0107atantra<\/em>\u2019<\/strong>a monumental work, tradition ascribes this fabulous work to Vi\u015f\u0146u \u015aarma (\u201cPreserver of Bliss\u201d), faced with the challenge of educating three unlettered princes, to awaken their intelligence, Vi\u015f\u0146u \u015aarma evolved a unique pedagogy \u2013 for his aim was to teach the princes how<\/em><\/strong> to think, not what<\/em><\/strong> to think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Pan\u0107atantra <\/em><\/strong>presents two worlds, one mirroring the other. We cannot see ourselves as we really are, truly and completely, except in a mirror as a reflection, flattering or otherwise. We have to stand back to look at ourselves, our conduct and our actions. Since we get overly involved in the daily motions of living, we do not always see a pattern and meaning in events and circumstances until we view it presented before us. And what is more, we see and understand it better when they are presented as happening elsewhere to others. And this the Pan\u0107atantra<\/em><\/strong> does very effectively. The two worlds \u2013 human and non-human \u2013 dialogue with each other and\/or comment on each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you enjoyed listening to its various tales and I am sure you will enjoy reading the book too, so go get your copy if you have not yet purchased it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I will share some excerpts from The YOGA S\u016aTRAS of<\/em> Pata\u00f1jali which is Translated from the Sanskrit by Edwin F Bryant (WITH INSIGHTS FROM TRADITIONAL COMMENTATORS)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edwin F. Bryantreceived his Ph.D. in Indology from Columbia University. He has taught at Columbia University and Harvard University and since 2001has been professor of Hindu religion and philosophy at Rutgers University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yoga S\u0169tras <\/em>contains about 1200 words in 195 s\u0169tras <\/em>indicating that they are constructed to be a manual requiring unpacking. That the s\u0169tras, <\/em>or aphorisms, are in places cryptic, esoteric, and incomprehensible in their own terms points to the fact that they were intended to be used in conjunction with a teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term s\u0169tra <\/em>(from the Sanskrit root s\u0169, <\/em>cognate with sew) literally means a thread and essentially refers to a terse and pithy philosophical statement in which the maximum amount of information is packed into the minimum number of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the goals of yoga <\/em>meditation, as discussed repeatedly in the traditional literature, is to maximize the presence of the gu\u0146a <\/em>of sattva <\/em>in the mind and minimize those of rajas <\/em>and tamas.<\/em> According to S\u0101nkhya metaphysics, all three gu\u0146as <\/em>are inherently present in all the material by-products of prak\u0157iti <\/em>including the citta, <\/em>so rajas <\/em>and tamas <\/em>can never be eliminated, merely minimized or, at best, reduced to a latent and unmanifest potential. Clearly, sattva <\/em>is the gu\u0146a <\/em>most conducive \u2013 indeed, indispensable \u2013 to the yogic<\/em> enterprise, but while rajas<\/em> and tamas<\/em> are universally depicted as obstacles to yoga,<\/em> a certain amount of each gu\u0146a <\/em>is indispensable to embodied existence. Without tamas,<\/em> for example, there would be no sleep; without rajas, <\/em>no digestion or even the energy to blink an eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The etymological meaning of sattva <\/em>is the nature of being. This indicates material reality in its purest state, and is characterized by the desirable qualities of discrimination, lucidity and illumination, since it is sattva<\/em> that can reveal matter for what it is before rajas <\/em>and tamas <\/em>cause it to transform. On the other hand, rajas <\/em>and tamas <\/em>are the active influences in the production of the changing states of the mind and fluctuations of thought, the v\u0157ittis, <\/em>by disrupting the cittas\u2019s<\/em> placid and lucid aspect of sattva<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citta <\/em>encapsulates buddhi, <\/em>intelligence; is the aspect of citta<\/em> that produces, among other things, the functions of thought connected to judgement, discrimination, knowledge, ascertainment and will (from budh, <\/em>to wake up, be aware of).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahamkara<\/em>,or ego, produces the function of thought related to self-awareness, self-identity and self-conceit (the personal pronoun aham <\/em>means I, and k\u00e3ra, <\/em>the doer).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manas<\/em>,the mind, is the aspect of citta<\/em> that engages in the function of thought especially related to organizing sensory input and directing the senses; it imposes a conceptual structure on the chaotic field or raw sensations, recognizing and identifying sensual impetuses and categorizing them (from man<\/em>, to think, believe).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We conclude here today and will be back with some more excerpts next week.        <\/em>          <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can buy your copy from any of the bookstores near you or via any on-line portal selling books or also by clicking the following link:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n