Tapas (austerity or self-discipline), svadhyaya (repetition
of sacred mantras or study of sacred literature), and
Isvara-pranidhana (complete surrender to God) are Kriya
Yoga (yoga in the form of action).
Kriya Yoga (should be practised) for bringing about
samadhi and minimising the klesas (afflictions).
Avidya (misapprehension about the real nature of things),
asmita (egoism), raga (attachment), dvesa (aversion),
and abhinivesa (fear of death) are the five klesas.
Avidya is the breeding ground for the others whether
they be dormant, attenuated, interrupted, or active.
Avidya consists in regarding a transient object as everlasting,
an impure object as pure, misery as happiness, and the
non-self as self.
Asmita is tantamount to the identification of Purusha
or pure consciousness with buddhi.
Attachment is that (modification) which follows remembrance
Aversion is that (modification) which results from misery.
As in the ignorant so in the learned, the firmly established
inborn fear of annihilation is the affliction called
The subtle klesas are forsaken (i.e. destroyed) by the
cessation of productivity (i.e. disappearance) of the
Their means of subsistence or their gross states are
avoidable by meditation.
Karmasaya or latent impression of action based on afflictions,
becomes active in this life or in a life to come.
As long as klesa remains at the root, karmsaya produces
three consequences in the form of birth, span of life,
Because of virtue and vice these (birth, span, and experience)
produce pleasurable and painful experiences.
The discriminating persons apprehend (by analysis and
anticipation) all worldly objects as sorrowful because
they cause suffering in consequence, in their afflictive
experiences and in their latencies, and also because
of the contrary nature of the gunas (which produces
changes all the time).
(That is why) pain which is yet to come is to be discarded.
Uniting the seer or the subject with the seen or the
object, is the cause of that which has to be avoided.
The object or knowable is by nature sentient, mutable,
and inert. It exists in the form of the elements and
the organs, and serves the purpose of experience and
Diversified (visesa), undiversified (avisesa), indicator-only
(lingamatra), and that which is without any indicator
(alinga), are the states of the gunas.
The seer is absolute knower. Although pure, modifications
(of buddhi) are witnessed by him as an onlooker.
To serve as objective field to Purusha, is the essence
or nature of the knowable.
Although ceasing to exist in relation to him whose purpose
is fulfilled, the knowable does not cease to exist on
account of being of use to others.
Alliance is the means of realising the true nature of
the object of the knower and of the owner, the knower
(i.e. the sort of alliance which contributes to the
realisation of the seer and the seen is this relationship).
(The alliance has) avidya or nescience as its cause.
The absence of alliance that arises from lack of it
(avidya) is the freedom and that is the state of liberation
of the seer.
Clear and distinct (unimpaired) discriminative knowledge
is the means of liberation.
Seven kinds of ultimate insight come to him (the yogin
who has acquired discriminative enlightenment).
Through the practice of the different accessories to
Yoga, when impurities are destroyed, there arises enlightenment
culminating in discriminative enlightenment.
Yama (restraint), niyama (observance), asana (posture),
pranayama (regulation of breath), pratyahara (withholding
of senses), dharana (fixity), dhyana (meditation) and
samidha (perfect concentration) are the eight means
of attaining Yoga.
Ahimsa (non-injury), satya (truth), asteya (abstention
from stealing), brahmacharya (continence) and aparigraha
(abstinence from avariciousness) are the five yamas
(forms of restraint).
These (the restraints), however, become a great vow
when they become universal, being unrestricted by any
consideration of class, place, time, or concept of duty.
Cleanliness, contentment, austerity (mental and physical
discipline), svadhyaya (study of scriptures and chanting
of mantras) and devotion to God are the niyamas (observances).
When these restraints and observances are inhibited
by perverse thoughts, the opposites should be thought
Actions arising out of perverse thoughts like injury
etc. are either performed by oneself, done by another,
or approved; performed either through anger, greed,
or delusion; and can be mild, moderate, or intense.
That they are the causes of infinite misery and unending
ignorance is the contrary thought.
As the yogin becomes established in non-injury, all
beings coming near him (the yogin) cease to be hostile.
When truthfulness is achieved, the words (of the yogin)
acquire the power of making them fruitful.
When non-stealing is established, all jewels present
themselves (to the yogin).
When continence is established, virya is acquired.
On attaining perfection in non-acceptance, knowledge
of past and future existences arises.
From the practice of purification, aversion towards
one's own body is developed and thus aversion extends
to contact with other bodies.
Purification of the mind, pleasantness of feeling, one-pointedness,
subjugation of the senses, and ability for self-realisation
From contentment, unsurpassed happiness is gained.
Through destruction of impurities, practice of austerities
brings about perfection of the body and the organs.
From study and repetition of the mantras, communion
with the desired deity is established.
From devotion to God, samadhi is attained.
Motionless and agreeable form (of staying) is asana
By relaxation of effort and meditation on the infinite
(asanas are perfected).
From that arises immunity from dvandvas or opposite
That (asana) having been perfected, regulation of the
flow of inhalation and exhalation is pranayama (breath
That (pranayama) has external operation (vahya-vrtti),
internal operation (abhyantara-vrtti), and suppression
(stambha-vrtti). These, again, when observed according
to space, time, and number become long and subtle.
The fourth pranayama transcends external and internal
By that the veil over manifestation (of knowledge) is
(Moreover) the mind acquires fitness for dharana.
When separated from their corresponding objects, the
organs follow, as it were, the nature of the mind, that
is called pratyahara (restraining of the organs).
That brings supreme control of the organs.