Yoga-sutras (with Vyasa and Vachaspati Mishra)
by Rama Prasada | 1924 | 154,800 words | ISBN-10: 9381406863 | ISBN-13: 9789381406861
The Yoga-Sutra 1.48, English translation with Commentaries. The Yoga Sutras are an ancient collection of Sanskrit texts dating from 500 BCE dealing with Yoga and Meditation in four books. It deals with topics such as Samadhi (meditative absorption), Sadhana (Yoga practice), Vibhuti (powers or Siddhis), Kaivaly (isolation) and Moksha (liberation).
Sūtra 1.48
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 1.48:
ऋतंभरा तत्र प्रज्ञा ॥ १.४८ ॥
ṛtaṃbharā tatra prajñā || 1.48 ||
ṛtaṃbharā—full of truth, full of essence, essential cognition. tatra—there in, prajñā—the faculty of cognition.
48. Therein the faculty of Essential Cognition.
The Sankhya-pravachana commentary of Vyasa
[English translation of the 7th century commentary by Vyāsa called the Sāṅkhya-pravacana, Vyāsabhāṣya or Yogabhāṣya]
[Sanskrit text for commentary available]
The cognitive faculty which shows itself in that state in the mind of the wise, bears the name of Essential Cognition (ṛtaṃbharā). The term itself expresses the definition. It always cognizes the essence, the truth. There is not even a trace of false knowledge.
And so it has been said:—‘Cultivating the mind in the three ways of verbal and inferential cognitions and the practice of contemplation with tastefulness, one gets the highest Yoga.’—48.
The Gloss of Vachaspati Mishra
[English translation of the 9th century Tattvavaiśāradī by Vācaspatimiśra]
Expresses the concurrence of the Yogīs by mentioning a technical term well-known among them and defining its own meaning:—‘Therein, the faculty of essential cognition.’ The Commentary is easy. ‘Cultivation by verbal cognition’ means the hearing of the Vedas.
‘Cultivation by inferential cognition’ means thinking.
Contemplation means keeping in mind. Practice means over and over again. Contemplation with tastefulness means welcome contemplation.—48.