Sūtra 2.27

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 2.27:

तस्य सप्तधा प्रान्तभूमिः प्रज्ञा ॥ २.२७ ॥

tasya saptadhā prāntabhūmiḥ prajñā || 2.27 ||

tasya—his. saptadhā—is sevenfold. prānta-bhūmiḥ—final at each stage. prajñā—discrimination.

27. His discrimination becoming final at each stage, sevenfold.—78.

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]

“His” in whom discrimination has come up into consciousness, consideration of attainments is sevenfold. “Sevenfold,” i.e., of seven descriptions only is the conscious discrimination of the thinker when at each stage the mental notion is not further produced, on account of the removal from the mind of the dirt which constitutes the veil of impurity.

This is as follows:—(1) The pain to be removed is known. Nothing further remains to be known of it. (2) The causes of pain to be removed have been done away with. (3) Removal has become a fact of direct cognition by means of inhibitive trance. (4) The means of knowledge in the shape of discriminative knowledge has been understood.

This is the four-fold freedom of conscious discrimination from external phenomena. The freedom from the mind itself is three-fold. The Will-to-be has done its duty. The ‘qualities’ tending to become latent into their cause, disappear along with it, finding no support as they do, like stones rolled down from the edge of a hill-top. Nor once passed into latency, do they come back to life again, there being no object for it. In this state the Puruṣa, having passed beyond the limits of the relation with the ‘qualities,’ remains only the light of his own pure nature and is free.

The Puruṣa who has seen successively these seven stages of discrimination is called ‘adept’ (kuśala). He remains free and wise even when the mind is resolved into its cause, because he has passed beyond the sphere of the ‘qualities.’—78.

The Gloss of Vachaspati Mishra

[English translation of the 9th century Tattvavaiśāradī by Vācaspatimiśra]

The author describes by the aphorism the nature of the finality of the perfection of discriminative knowledge:—‘His discrimination becoming final at each stage is sevenfold.’ Explains ‘His, &c.’

He in whom the discrimination has just up into consciousness, is the Yogī, in whom the mental phenomenon is present at the time.

His ‘consideration of attainments,’ means the sending back of his thought over the whole ground that has already been passed over.

The veil of impurity of the mental essence is the same as dirt. When that is removed, and when consequently, ‘the mental notion is not further produced,’ i.e., the outgoing energy of the notions due to the qualities of disturbance (rajas) and inertia (tamas) is no longer active, he reaches the final point in a stage of undisturbed discriminative knowledge. This consciousness of discrimination of his is seven-fold, i.e., of seven descriptions only. The difference of descriptions of consciousness is due to the difference of its objects.

The stages, i.e., the states are spoken of as each becoming final, because each as such reaches its ultimate and highest point. The ultimate and highest point is that beyond which there is no point of its culmination. The stages of consciousness, i.e., of discriminative knowledge, each of which reaches its culmination, are spoken of as becoming final at each stage.

Now he describes these seven stages, each reaching its own culmination:—‘That as follows, &c.’

Out of the four stages which are brought about by the effort of man, he illustrates the first:—‘The pain to be removed has been known.’ Whatever has its origin in the Pradhāna is certainly pain, by reason of the pains of consequence, anxiety and habituation, and by reason of the contrariety of the modifications of the qualities. It has, therefore, to be removed. It is that which has been known. He shows its, finality:—‘nothing further remains to be known of it.’

He mentions the second stage:—‘The causes...... have been done away with.’ He speaks of the finality:—‘Nothing more of them, &c.’

He mentions the third:—‘The removal which is brought about by inhibitive trance, has been made by me a fact of direct cognition, ascertained by internal perception, while I am in the state of Cognitive trance only. It is to be understood that nothing further of it remains to be ascertained.”

He mentions the fourth:—“The means of removal in the shape of discriminative knowledge has been understood, i.e., has been brought into existence. It is to be understood that there is nothing more of it to be brought into being. This is the four-fold freedom of consciousness from external phenomena. Freedom means their ending. The fact of their being the objects of human effort has been shown by their being external phenomena.”

Now he speaks of the freedom from the mind, which is brought about after the states brought about by human effort and which does not depend upon effort:—‘The freedom from the mind is, however, three-fold.’ He mentions the first:—‘The Will-to-be has done its duty.’ The meaning is that it has achieved experience and emancipation. He mentions the second:—‘The qualities, &c.’ He shows their finality:—‘Nor once passed into latency, &c.’

He mentions the third:—‘In this state, &c. In this state the Puruṣa even while in life, is called free and wise; because this is his last birth. He says this:—‘The Puruṣa who has seen in succession these, &c.’ He says that this state is not dependent upon the mind:—‘He remains free and wise even when the mind is resolved into its cause, because he has passed beyond the sphere of the qualities’.—27.