I. Samādhi Pāda · The obstacles (1.30–1.32)
1.31 · The Shivering Moon
Pain, despair, trembling of the body and disturbed in-breath and out-breath come with the scattering.
Word by word
- duḥkha
- pain
- daurmanasya
- despair, low spirits
- aṅgam-ejayatva
- trembling of the limbs
- śvāsa-praśvāsāḥ
- (unsteady) in-breath and out-breath
- vikṣepa-sahabhuvaḥ
- arising together with the scattering
Where it fits
The nine obstacles of 1.30 are hard to see; these companions show in body, mood and breath. Vyāsa says they occur in a scattered mind, not in an absorbed one (Woods p. 65), which makes them signs to watch for. Breath appears here as a symptom; at 1.34 it becomes a remedy.
Reading
The obstacles have companions you can feel: pain, low spirits, a trembling body, breath that jerks in and out. Vyāsa defines despair as a disturbance of the mind when a desire is thwarted, and says these signs occur in a scattered mind, not in one in absorption. That makes them useful: you can notice a tight chest or ragged breath before you can name the obstacle. Pain, trembling or breathlessness that persists is a matter for a doctor; the sūtra describes passing signs of a scattered mind.
Vyāsa
“Despair is a disturbance of the mind when a desire is thwarted. Trembling of the body is what shakes the limbs and makes them quiver. … These occur in one whose mind is scattered. They do not occur in one whose mind is in absorption.”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 65.
Practice
Three times today, check four things: any pain, your mood, any fidgeting, and the evenness of your breath. If two or more are off, stop for one minute and let the breath find its own easy rhythm before you go on. If pain or breathlessness persists, see a doctor.
A question to sit with
What is your breath telling you?