2.31 · The Great Vow

When they are not limited by kind of being, place, time or circumstance, they are universal: the great vow.

Word by word

jāti

kind, species (of the being affected)

deśa

place

kāla

time

samaya

circumstance, occasion

anavacchinnāḥ

not limited by

sārva-bhaumāḥ

universal; on every ground

mahā-vratam

the great vow

Where it fits

Vyāsa introduces it as qualifying the restraints just listed (Woods p. 180). The five of 2.30 can be kept with exceptions of kind of being, place, time or circumstance. Kept without exception, everywhere, they become the great vow. With the scope of the restraints set, the text turns to the observances (2.32).

Reading

The restraints can be kept with exceptions: I won't harm anyone except a certain kind of creature, or except in a certain place, or at a certain time, or in a certain circumstance. When they hold everywhere, regardless of who, where, when or what is at stake, they become the great vow. Most of us live with exceptions. This sūtra asks us to notice where they are.

Vyāsa

“… non-violence limited by kind of being: a fisherman harms fish, and nothing else. … So too with warriors: violence in battle, and nowhere else. Non-violence and the other restraints, not limited by kind, place, time or circumstance, must be kept in every way.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 180–181.

Practice

Vyāsa lists the exceptions people make to non-harming: only this kind of creature, only in this place, only at this time, only in this situation. Find one of your own, such as the insects you swat without thinking or the person it feels fine to mock. Keep non-harming without that exception for one day.

A question to sit with

Where do you make exceptions?

Where commentators disagree

In the 'great vow', what is jāti: the kind of creature harmed, or the birth-rank of the one harmed?

Vyāsa

Non-harming limited by jāti is the fisherman's, who harms only fish; by place, 'I will not kill in a holy place'; by time, 'not on the fourteenth day'; by occasion, 'only for the gods and brahmins', or the warrior's 'only in battle'. Kept without any such limit, in every case, the restraints are the great vow. (Woods 1914, pp. 180–181)

Bhoja

Jāti is birth-rank, such as being a brahmin, as in 'I will not kill a brahmin.' The great vow is 'I will not kill anyone, anywhere, at any time, for any purpose', and the same holds for the other restraints. (Tatya 1885, pp. 75–76; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 2.31)

Rajendralala Mitra

The mention of 'occasion' leaves no room for the sacrifices the Vedas enjoin: for the yogin these are as objectionable as any other killing. (Mitra 1883, note on 2.31 (wisdomlib))

Key ideas

aṣṭāṅga (the eight limbs)