Sūtra 2.1-2 [Kriyāyoga]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of sūtra 2.1-2:

तपःस्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोगः ॥ २.१ ॥
समाधिभावनार्थः क्लेशतनूकरणार्थश्च ॥ २.२ ॥

tapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhānāni kriyāyogaḥ || 2.1 ||
samādhibhāvanārthaḥ kleśatanūkaraṇārthaśca || 2.2 ||

(1) Tapas (austerity or sturdy self discipline–mental, moral and physical), svādhyāya (repetetion of sacred mantras or study of sacred literature) and īśvarapraṇidhāna (complete surrender to God) are Kriyāyoga (yoga in the form of action)^[1]. (2) That kriyāyoga (should be practiced) for bringing about samādhi and minimising the kleśas.

Ancient and Modern interpretation:

Vyāsa states objective of kriyāyoga as, how a devotee with a distracted mind can attain yoga. Man, without self discipline cannot attain perfection in yoga. Vyāsa recommends,^[2] un-disturbed course of purifactory conduct which leads to cleanliness of mind of yogīs.

Impurities are destroyed by practice of kriyāyoga. These impurities which are aggravated form of kleśas, are restlessness and dullness of senses; and when these kleśas become thin, they can be reduced by Samprajñāta-Samādhi.

According to Vyāsa and Vācaspati, the study of self and detachment are essential for sāttvika person. They suggest repetetion of omkāra for rājasika and tāmasikasādhaka.

Bhāsvatī^[3] gives example of thron embedded in the skin.This can be removed by pricking with another thorn. Similarly, actions of kriyāyoga stop the sequence of wordly actions which go against Yogic practices.

Osho says that, ordinary humanity can be divided into sadist and masochist.The sadists enjoy torturing others and masochistsenjoy torturing themselves. Patañjali has always been generally commented by masochists. That’s why Osho defines kriyāyoga as - Kriyāyoga is a practical and fundamental yoga, and it is composed of austerity, self study and surrender to the whole.^[4]

The first word is austerity. Masochists treat austerity as self-torture. They think that torturing the body is the way to become spiritual.^[5]

When you torture the body, you loose sensitivity and become like a dead body. With dead body how can you feel the cosmic consciousness/divinity? So Osho’s interpretation of austerity^[6] is ‘be simple, donot cultivate it’.

Since you are managing to cultivate,it is not a simple process.Austerity is simple life of natural needs being fulfilled with no mad desires, a life full of understanding. You need not move into a hut,you need not go to Himalayas,be unclean.But reduce your needs and be happy as God has given you so much by just giving you life.

Osho says,^[7]

What Patañjali means by self study is the same as what Gurdjieff meant by self remembering, or that Buddha meant by right mindfulness, or by what Jesus meant by becoming more alert, or what Kṛṣṇa murti means when he goes on saying to be aware.

When you lead simple life, you conserve the outward oriented desires and save your energy, then you can study yourself. This energy turns into awareness that you are not there. When this happens, you surrender.

The practice of kriyāyoga reduces misery, and leads sādhaka towards Samādhi.Miseries are caused by lack of awareness,egoism,attractions,repulsions,clinging to life and fear of death.Whether they be in the states of dormancy,attenuation,alteration or expansion,it is through lack of self-awareness that the other causes of misery are able to operate.^[8]

Life is like a flowing river,which carries everything.One should leave the burden in river and flow peacefully without any clingings.You should not push the river to the sea,but you become part of river and river will take you to the sea.Life is eternal; only nāma-rūpa changes. So, to understand this become aware of surface phenomenon: greed, anger, hate.Then go deeper and you will feel them reducing.Go still deeper, so that not a single moment of moha or rāga is able to disturb your sādhanā. So Patañjali says, ‘be aware, be surrendered and Samādhi will follow’.

Taimni says,^[9] ‘Austerity, self study and resignation to Īśvara constitute preliminary yoga. Kriyāyoga is practised for attenuating kleśas and bringing about Samādhi ’.

By tapas, Taimni means specific exercises adopted for purification and control of physical body and development of will power.These are practices such as fasting, observing vows of various kinds, prāṇāyāma etc., and not āsuritapas such as holding handup and be in that position for years till it withers.The practice of tapas loosens the I-consiousness or asmitā and helps sādhaka to purify and control the individual consciousness and use it for further sādhanā.

Svādhyāya though it begins with intellectual study, it should lead sādhaka through path of reflection, meditation and tapas etc, to leave all external aids such as books,discourses etc and dive into his own mind. Īśvarapraṇidhāna is related to emotions of a human being.

Kriyāyoga is to be practised for (producing) the state of inner sphere (facilitatory) for Samādhi and enfeeblement (diminition) of kleśas.

According to him, compact practice of kriyāyoga comprise of tapas as prāṇāyāma, svādhyāya as praṇava japa and upāsanā and gāyatrijapa and sandhyā - vandanam as Īśvarapraṇidhāna.

Some feel that kriyāyoga and karmayoga are same, but there is difference in precise significance.In addition, practice of yama - niyama is very difficult for common man in initial phase. So Patañjali starts with regular practice of three aṅgas which would slowly produce the inner atmosphere.

The objective of kriyāyoga is—

1)To prepare citta for entering Samādhi and Īśvarapraṇidhāna is must for yogasādhaka from start to the end on the yoga path.

2) Kleśas are not only root cause of pain and sorrow, but they are root cause of evil activity of man. Kriyāyoga is the preparatory practice for aṣṭāṅgayoga.

In a nutshell, like any metal is purified by burning it in fire in, similarly, tapas is a process of purification of senses and mind. Āsana, prāṇāyāma and ṣaṭkarma, fasting are all parts of this purification process.

prāṇāyāmaḥ paramaṃ tapaḥ |

Tapas is not restriction on desires. Suppression of desires will lead to perverted behavior.Desires are to be sublimated.

Svādhyāya is important since it changes psychology of sādhaka. Īśvarapraṇidhāna diminishes ego. Kriyāyoga is confluence of karma, jñāna and bhakti. Kriyāyoga is prescribed sādhanā for right attitude of mind for Samādhi (Samādhibhāvanā) and to reduce kleśas (kleśatanūkaraṇa).

Vimala Thakar has said^[10] that to live life with choiceless awareness is austerity or purification. One should study self which will leads to Īśvara.

Mahāvatāra Bābāji and Lāhirī Mahāśaya, who are believed to still exist in bodiless state, who are paramagurus and Guru of Swāmī Yogānanda.According to Bābāji, kriyāyoga is the method of faster evolution of the citta on path of spirituality.

He told Lāhirī Mahāśaya,^[11]

The kriyāyoga which I am giving to the world through you in this nineteeth century is a revival of the same science which Kṛṣṇa gave millenniums ago to Arjuna and which was later known to Patañjaliand to Christ, St. John, St. Paul and other disciples.

This,by the way,supports our view,when we say that ancient Yogic principles are to be reviewed,suiting the modern times.

Yogānanda defines kriyāyoga ^[12] as union with infinite through certain actions/rites and a Yogī who follows the technique is gradually freed from karma.

Yogananda writes,^[13]

The kriyāyogī mentally directs his life energy to revolve upward and downward around six spinal centres (medullary,cervical, dorsal, lumber, sacral and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to twelve astral signs of the zodiac,the symbolic cosmic man, one half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of kriyā equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.

The astral system of a human being, with six(twelve by polarity)inner constellations revolving around the sun of the omniscient spiritual eye,is interrelated with the physical sun and the twelve zodiac signs.All men are thus affected by an inner and an outer universe. The ancient ṛṣis discovered that man’s earthly and heavenly environment, in twelve-year cycles, push him forward on his natural path, so man requires a million years of normal, discease-less evolution to perfect his human brain sufficiently to express cosmic consciousness.

One thousand kriyā practised in eight hours gives the yogī in one day,the equivalent of one thousand years of natural evolution, 365000 years of evolution in one year. In three years, a kriyāyogī can thus accomplish the same result which nature brings to pass in million years. The kriyā short cut can be taken only by deeply developed yogīs, under guidance of guru.

The natural tendancy of the indriyas is to constantly seek gratification from the worldy pleasures. The five sense organs and mind are thus engaged in this pursuit in ever increasing intensity. Tapas is the process of reducing and turning away from the pleasure-seeking activities to more sāttvik activities of Yoga. How can this be achieved? Svādhyāya is the key to divert the five sense organs to activities such as spiritual reading, satsaṅga and like. Svādhyāya sublimates the sense organs in a manner that slowly they realize the folly of pursuits of the worldly pleasures. This is a gradual process but for a sādhaka who is consistent in sādhanā the desired shift is quite perceptible. Īśvarapraṇidhāna means to leave the I sense. To believe that the sādhaka is only the medium for the karma and that all that happens has a force of God’s will behind it, to completely surrender to his will is Īśvarapraṇidhāna.

The kriyāyoga in essence is a fusion of karma, jñāna and bhakti aspect of Yoga. Tapas denotes karmayoga through actions, svādhyāya leads to jñānayoga through pursuit of spiritual knowledge and understanding, and Īśvarapraṇidhāna is the bhaktiyoga of complete surrender to the Lord. All three complement each other. Kriyāyoga thus is initial and preparatory sādhanā for higher and more intense sādhanā.

The practice of kriyāyoga prepares sādhaka with the right basis for Samādhi and reduces the effects of kleśas. It is quite difficult to enter the path of antaraṅga-yoga if the mind is constantly externally oriented. Kriyāyogasādhanā enables reducing the external tendancies and reduces the cittavṛttis. Kleśas are the root cause of human misery. Unless kleśa s are removed, the practice of antaraṅga - yoga is difficult. It is also quite difficult to remove the kleśas completely, but it is certainly possible to reduce their effects through practice of kriyāyoga.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Araṇya, op.cit., p.113

[2]:

Ibid., p.114

[3]:

P.N. Mukherjee (Tr.), Yoga philosophy of Pantañjali with Bhāsvatī, University of Calcutta,2012 (1963), p.485

[4]:

Osho, The Alchemy of Yoga, Tao Publishing Pvt Ltd, Pune, 2005 (1953), p.9

[5]:

Ibid, p.9

[6]:

Ibid.p.13

[7]:

Ibid., p.22

[8]:

Ibid, p.24-25

[9]:

Taimni, op.cit., p.127

[10]:

Thakar-Vimala, Yoga Beyond Meditation, Vimala Prakashan Trust, India, 1998, p.121

[11]:

Yogananda Paramahamsa, Autobiography of a Yogi, Jaico publishing House, Mumbai,1997 (1946), p.244

[12]:

Ibid, p.243

[13]:

Ibid, p.246-247