I. Samādhi Pāda · Kinds of absorption (1.17–1.22)
1.22 · Three Currents
Even among these there is a further difference, as the urgency is mild, middling or intense.
Word by word
- mṛdu
- mild
- madhya
- middling
- adhimātratvāt
- because of being intense (said of the urgency)
- tataḥ
- than that; even among these
- api
- even
- viśeṣaḥ
- a distinction, a difference
Where it fits
This completes the grading begun at 1.21: even intense urgency comes in three degrees, so nearness to absorption is graded too. It closes the account of effort. Vyāsa then asks whether this is the only way to the nearest absorption, or whether there is another (Woods p. 48). 1.23 answers.
Reading
This completes the grading begun in 1.21: even a strong method is not the end of the differences. Vyāsa spells out the arithmetic. For someone whose method is strong, absorption is near if their urgency is mild, nearer if middling, nearest if intense. This is no league table. Effort has grades, and where you stand today is simply a starting place. Vācaspati Miśra, commenting on 1.21, traces these grades to impressions and unseen influences carried over from earlier lives.
Vyāsa
“Because of this difference, the gaining of absorption and its fruit are near for one whose urgency is mildly intense, nearer for one whose urgency is moderately intense, and nearest of all for one whose urgency is extremely intense and whose method is also strong.”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 48.
Practice
Pick one practice you already do. Rate today's effort honestly as mild, middling or strong. Tomorrow, raise it by one grade for just ten minutes: a little more attention, a little more care. Notice the difference.
A question to sit with
What grade is your effort today?