Sūtra 3.22

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 3.22:

मैत्र्यादिषु बलानि ॥ ३.२२ ॥

maitryādiṣu balāni || 3.22 ||

Maitrī ādiṣu—over friendliness, &c. balāni—the powers.

22. Over friendliness, &c, the powers.—128.

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]

Friendliness, compassion and complaisance are three feelings. Of these begets the power of friendliness by habituating the mind through conscious volition to sympathy towards happy beings. He gets the power of compassion by habituating the mind to compassion towards sufferers. He gets the power of complaisance by habituating the mind to complaisance towards the virtuous. By conscious habituating volition comes trance which is Saṃyama. Thereby are born the powers which know of no obstacle in their working.

It is indifference that is practised towards the sinful, not conscious habitual volition. Hence there is no trance here; and hence by reason of there being no Saṃyama, there is no power of indifference.—128.

The Gloss of Vachaspati Mishra

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

‘Over friendliness, &c., the powers.’ By the performance of Saṃyama over friendliness, &c., the powers of friendliness, &c., come to him. Of these the power which comes by the practice of the feeling of friendliness, is that by which he can make the whole living world happy, and hence becomes the well-wisher of all.

Similarly, by the power of compassion he lifts suffering creatures out of pain and the causes of pain.

Similarly, by the power of complaisance he becomes just to all the world.

Now the Commentator describes that the conscious practice of habituating volition is the cause of trance, as this will be of use further.

‘By conscious habituating volition comes trance which is Saṃyama.’

Although Saṃyama means concentration, meditation and trance, and not only trance, still because trance is their immediate effect and is, therefore, the chief of the three, therefore the word is used here as applying to the same.

In some places the reading is—

‘Conscious habituating volition is trance.’ There conscious habituating volition and trance would become the causes, i.e., the limbs of Saṃyama taken as whole.

Power (vīrya) is effort. For this reason the man who possesses the power of friendliness, &c., puts forth an effort to render people happy, &c., and his effort is not checked.

Indifference, however, means absence of effort. There can be no volition with respect to that; nor does there exist anything such as happiness, &c., which might thereby be brought into existence.—22.