Om Namo Bhagawate
Ramakrishnaya
Antarayah & Sahabhuvah
The great
Paatanjali Maharshi is the grand-father of the (Yoga) Psychology, in his
contribution to the society he gave Yoga-Sastra in the form of Sutras. The goal
of Yoga Sastra is to make the person
/practitioner “to abide in one’s own real nature (स्वरुपेऽवस्थानम् svarupe'vasthānam)”.
If not the person remains in identified with the thought waves of the mind. (वृत्तिसारूप्यमितरत्र॥ vṛttisārūpyamitaratra||1.4).
Patanjali Maharshi complets his sutras in first four itself, then gives the
commentry on previous sutras.
To abide in one’s own real nature, one has to
restrain the vrittis of the mind (योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः॥
yogaścittavṛttinirodhaḥ||1.2). To restrain the vrittis Patanjali gives two
techniques those are “Their (vrittis)
restrain is attained through repeated practice and dispassion” (अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः॥ abhyāsavairāgyābhyāṁ tannirodhaḥ ||1.12) and/or “through
devotion to Ishwara” (ईश्वरप्रणिधानाद्वा॥ īśvarapraṇidhānādvā ||1.23).
“The word which expresses Ishwara is pranava” [तस्य (ईश्वरस्य) वाचकः प्रणवः॥tasya(
īśvarasya) vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ ||1.27], this Pranava must be repeated with meditation
upon its meaning [तत् (प्रणवः) जपस्तदर्थभावनम्॥ tat (praṇavaḥ)
japastadarthabhāvanam || 1.28], hence
comes the realization of the inner Self and the removal of obstacles (takes
place)”(ततः प्रत्यकचेतनाधिगमोऽप्यन्तरायाभावश्च॥ tataḥ
pratyakacetanādhigamo'pyantarāyābhāvaśca||1.29). In this process Maharshi Patanjali explains
the distractions of the mind, these are the obstacles in the yoga sadhana.
The word
antarāya is derived from the root ‘aya’, which means “to go”, with the prefix
antar, “between”; so antaráyá means to “get in between”, i.e. “obstacle”. In
simple Antarāya means, that which comes in between the process of joining the
individual self with the Supreme self.
There are nine distractions of the mind, these are the
obstacles in the yoga sadhana explained in sutra 1.30 i.e., व्याधि - स्त्यान - संशय - प्रमाद - आलस्य - अविरति - भ्रान्तिदर्शन
- अलब्धभूमिकत्व - अनवस्थितत्वानि चित्तविक्षेपास्तेऽन्तरायाः॥
(1.30) vyādhi - styāna - saṁśaya -
pramāda - ālasya - avirati - bhrāntidarśana - alabdhabhūmikatva -
anavasthitatvāni cittavikṣepāste'ntarāyāḥ ||(1.30).
1). व्याधि vyādhi =
physical disease;
Ayurveda
or the science of health and longevity, categorises vyaadhi or roga (disease)
into four groups: Aagantuka (coming
from external sources or accidents); Saariira
(arising in the body due to
disturbance of the balance of the three humours viz., kapha, vaata and pitta); Maanasa (of the mind, due to jealousy,
anger, lust and so on); and svaabhaavika
(natural due to hunger, thirst, oldage, sleep etc.). These diseases may be caused
by faulty living as also by the karma of the previous lives.
2). स्त्यान styāna =
mental laziness, langour;
It is a
mental laziness and has to be overcome by great will power and self-effort.
3). संशय saṁśaya =
doubt, indecision;
Samsaya
or doubt is created when two kinds of knowledge, oppsed to each other, arise in
the mind. It has to be overcome by faith
in the scripture and the teacher. The
Bhagavadgiita (4.40) declares that a doubting person loses this world and the
next and ultimately destroys himself.
4). प्रमाद pramāda =
carelessness, lack of enthusiasm, misplaced priorities;
In
general, the word means heedlessness or carelessness and a blunder that arises
out of it. Once the mind is allowed to
slip from the path of yoga due to pramaada, it can result in a total fall (vide
Vivekacuudaamani 324). The famous sage
Sanatsujaata compares pramaada to mrtyu or death since it ultimately leads to
samsaara or transmigratory exixtence (vide Sanatsujatiya 1.4).
5). आलस्य ālasya =
laziness, sloth;
Aalasya
or laziness is the worst enemy of person.
When even material well-being is blocked by it, how can the lazy one
hope for spiritual progress? That is why
Patanjali, the great teacher of Yoga, has listed it as an antaraaya or obstacle
in the path of Yoga. Since it is caused
by an excess of tamas (dark element among the gunas), it is to be overcome by
rajas (activity) and sattva (dynamic goodness).
Susruta,
the great teacher of Aayurveda, considers aalasya as a condition which inclines
a person more towards pleasure and less towards work, though capalbe (vide
Susruta Samhita Sarirasthana, 4.51).
6). अविरति avirati =
worldly-mindedness, stubborn attachment to sense objects;
Avirati
or absence of the spirit of renunciation.
Yoga is ‘citta-vritti-nirodha’ or controling the modifications of the
mind. These modifications continue to
rise as long as their couses like kaama or desire for the pleasures of the
senses exist. Kaama has to be controlled
by ‘virati’ or dispassion or an intense spirit of renunciation. If this virati is absent, then, that state is
called ‘avirati’ which is a serious obstacle to yoga.
7). भ्रान्तिदर्शन bhrāntidarśana
= false perception, mistaken notion, delusion / illusion;
It is a
serious obstacle and requires greater effort as also more tactful handling to
prevent it or eliminate it.
As the
intellectual level, false perception can manifest itself as misunderstnding the
teachings of the guru and the scriptures.
This can be due to dullness or perversion of the intellect or even
self-conceit. Discussions with the guru
in all humility can help in solving it.
False
perception is possible at the psychic level also. Wrong methods of practice can lead to
hallucinations. They can be remedied by
consulting spiritually advanced people.
True experience
gives joy and peace whereas the false one may not have any impact or may even
cause unhappiness, fear, restlessness and tension.
8). अलब्धभूमिकत्व alabdhabhūmikatva
= non-attainment of firm ground, non-achievement of a state;
In spite
of the fact that the aspirant is correctly practising the various steps and
disciplines of yoga, he/she fails to attain any of the yogabhuumis or plances
of psychic and spiritual experience mentioned in the text books of yoga. This is called ‘alabdhabhuumikatva’. This is primarily due to the evil samskaaras
or impressions carried over from past lives,
which drain all the energy generated by yogic practices even as
rat-holes in a field drain the water with which it is irrigated. With the help of the guru and by deep
introspection he can discover his weaknesses and try to eliminate them by
proper practices.
9). अनवस्थितत्व anavasthitatva
= instability, non-maintarnance of a firm ground;
Anavasthitatva
is the last in the list and also the most formidable one to overcome. With assiduous practice, a yogi can succeed
in raising his mind to certain higher states but very soon it slides back to
lower ones or reverts into inordinate lust and love of lucre or mercurial
irritability or crass selfishness are often responsible for this fall. By dispassionate and deep introspection,
consultation with the guru and prayer to Ishwara, one can discover the
root-cause and eliminate it.
This
(1.30) sutra is mainly concerned with psychological problems. The next Sutra mentions the external
manifestations of these problems hence they are called companions of the
distractions.” They are
दुःख - दौर्मनस्य - अङ्गमेजयत्व - श्वासप्रश्वासाः विक्षेपसहभुवः॥(1.31)
duḥkha -
daurmanasya - aṅgamejayatva - śvāsapraśvāsāḥ
vikṣepasahabhuvaḥ ||(1.31)
दुःख duḥkha = Grief, sorrow; दौर्मनस्य daurmanasya = despair, अङ्गमेजयत्व aṅgamejayatva
= trembling of the body, श्वास śvāsa
& प्रश्वास praśvāsa = irregular breathing (are the) विक्षेपसहभुवः vikṣepasahabhuvaḥ
= companions of these distractions.
When
sorrow, disappointment and despair are not sublimated by discrimination and
will-power, they cause tremendous restlessness in the mind. This affects the nerous system, getting
reflected in physical restlessness. The
aspirant is thus unable to sit steadily on the seat and frequently changes his
position. Persisting in the practice of
yoga, repetition of pranava / OM and an attitude of surrender to Ishwara will
gradually lessen this disturbance. The irregular breathing can be overcome by the
practice of pranayama.
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