2.21 · The Dancer

The very nature of the seen is only for the seer's sake.

Word by word

tat-arthaḥ

for its sake (the seer's)

eva

only

dṛśyasya

of the seen

ātmā

essence, very nature

Where it fits

With seen (2.18) and seer (2.20) defined, the text relates them: the seen exists only for the seer's sake. Vyāsa draws the consequence. Once experience and freedom are achieved, the seer no longer sees it, yet it does not cease to exist (Woods p. 157). 2.22 explains why it does not.

Reading

The whole seen world exists for the sake of the seer: not as its property but as its purpose. Nature performs the show of experience so that the seer can live it and finally recognise itself. In Sāṃkhya, the philosophy Patañjali builds on, nature is compared to a dancer who performs and then withdraws once she has been fully seen (Sāṃkhya Kārikā 59).

Vyāsa

“… the very being of the seen exists only for the seer's sake; that is, its own nature does. … Once it has served its purpose of experience and freedom, the self no longer sees it. So by losing its own nature it reaches its end; yet it does not cease to exist.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 157.

Practice

Take one experience from today, pleasant or not, and ask: 'What is this showing me?' Write the answer in a sentence.

A question to sit with

What is this experience for?

Key ideas

prakṛti (nature, the seen), puruṣa (the seer, the self)