Yoga-sutras (with Vyasa and Vachaspati Mishra)
by Rama Prasada | 1924 | 154,800 words | ISBN-10: 9381406863 | ISBN-13: 9789381406861
The Yoga-Sutra 2.31, 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 2.31
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 2.31:
जातिदेशकालसमयानवच्छिन्नाः सार्वभौमा महाव्रतम् ॥ २.३१ ॥
jātideśakālasamayānavacchinnāḥ sārvabhaumā mahāvratam || 2.31 ||
jāti—life-state. deśa—space kāla—time. samaya—and circumstance. anavacchinnāḥ—not limited by. sārva-bhaumāḥ—universal, mahāvratam—the great vow.
31. They are the Great Vow, universal, and not-limited by life-state, space, time, and circumstance. (samaya).—82.
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]
And these are ‘the great vow, universal, not-limited by life-state, space, time and circumstance.’
Of these, abstinence from injury is limited to life-state, as for example, the injury inflicted by a fisherman is limited to fish alone, and to none else. The same is limited to space, as for example, in the case of a man who says to himself, “I shall not injure at a sacred place.” The same is limited to time, as for example, in the case of a man who says to himself, “I shall not cause injury on the sacred day of the Chaturdaśī, (the fourteenth) of the lunar fortnight.”
The same in the case of a man who has given up the three injuries is limited by circumstance, as for example, when a man says to himself, “I shall cause injury only for the sake of gods and Brāhmaṇas and not in any other way.” Or, as for example, injury is caused by soldiers in battle alone and nowhere else. The restraints of Ahiṃsā and the others are always practised without being limited by life-state, time, space and circumstance. Universal is that which pervades all conditions of life, everywhere, always; and is nowhere out of place. They are called the Great Vow.—82.
The Gloss of Vachaspati Mishra
[English translation of the 9th century Tattvavaiśāradī by Vācaspatimiśra]
They have been described in general. Now he introduces the aphorism in order to describe how they are to be observed by the Yogīs. ‘And these, &c.’ They are called Universal, because they are known in all states, described as life-state, &c. Inasmuch as it is said that the restraint of Ahiṃsā and the others are to be practised, the same limitations are to be considered as applicable in the case of other restraints also.—31.