I. Samādhi Pāda · Coalescence (1.40–1.46)
1.42 · Three Twisted Threads
Of these, coalescence mixed with the verbal construction (vikalpa) of word, meaning and idea is called 'with coarse thought'.
Word by word
- tatra
- of these
- śabda
- word
- artha
- meaning, the thing meant
- jñāna
- idea, knowledge
- vikalpaiḥ
- by verbal constructions (vikalpa, as in 1.9): word, thing and idea run together
- saṃkīrṇā
- mixed
- savitarkā
- with coarse thought
- samāpattiḥ
- coalescence
Where it fits
Coalescence (1.41) is now graded, starting from the coarsest kind. This first kind is still mixed with vikalpa, the word-built knowing of 1.9. It corresponds to the stage of coarse thought (vitarka) in 1.17, and it sets up 1.43, where the mixture clears.
Reading
The first kind of coalescence is still mixed. Vyāsa's example is a cow: the word 'cow', the animal itself and the idea of a cow are three distinct things, yet in ordinary knowing they blur into one. This blending is vikalpa, the verbal construction of 1.9. Absorption on a gross object while it continues is savitarka, 'with coarse thought'. It is real concentration. It still sees through a screen of names and concepts, and 1.43 describes what happens when the screen falls away.
Vyāsa
“Take the word 'cow', the meaning 'cow' (the animal itself) and the idea 'cow'. Though they are distinct, we see them grasped as one, without distinction. When they are told apart, the properties of the word are one thing, the properties of the meaning another, and the properties of the idea another.”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 80.
Practice
Pick an ordinary object, such as a cup. Say its name aloud, then look at the thing, then notice your idea of it: what it should look like, what it is for. Try to feel the three as separate, even for a moment.
A question to sit with
Are you seeing the thing, or its name?