2.33 · The Other Side

When troubled by harmful thoughts, cultivate their opposite.

Word by word

vitarka

thought, deliberation (the 'coarse thought' of 1.17); here, perverse or harmful thinking (defined in 2.34)

bādhane

when troubled by

pratipakṣa

the opposite side

bhāvanam

cultivating, bringing into being

Where it fits

Restraints and observances (2.30–2.32) will be pressed by harmful thoughts. Vyāsa ties this sūtra to both limbs, introducing it with "of these restraints and observances" (Woods p. 183). The remedy is to cultivate the opposite. 2.34 explains what the harmful thoughts are and what that cultivation involves.

Reading

When harmful thoughts arise, such as the wish to hurt, lie, take or grasp, cultivate the opposite. Vitarka is the same word rendered 'coarse thought' in 1.17; here it is thinking turned toward harm, as 2.34 defines it. Pratipakṣa is the opposite side: you bring the counter-thought fully to mind, for instance where the harmful thought leads (2.34). Vyāsa's yogi tells himself that taking back what he gave up would make him no better than a dog returning to its vomit.

Vyāsa

“'Roasting on the terrible coals of the round of rebirth, I took refuge in the way of yoga … And now, having given up harmful thoughts, I am taking them back again. I am no better than a dog. As a dog licks up its own vomit, so I take back what I gave up.'”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 183.

Practice

Today, each time an unkind thought about someone arises, follow it at once with one true, kind thought about the same person.

A question to sit with

What is the other side of this thought?

Where commentators disagree

What are the vitarkas that 2.33 tells us to counter: harmful thoughts, or 'questionable' acts?

Vyāsa

They are thoughts that arise in the practitioner, such as 'I will kill the man who hurts me; I will lie; I will take his money.' When tormented by them he should cultivate the opposite, reflecting that to go back to them is like a dog returning to its vomit. (Woods 1914, p. 183)

Bhoja

Takes vitarka as 'questionable' things, so called because they raise doubt: harming and the rest, which obstruct yoga. When they are excluded by calling up their opposites, yoga becomes easy, and so the restraints and observances serve it. (Tatya 1885, p. 77; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 2.33)

Rajendralala Mitra

Explains that the restraints keep one from questionable acts and the observances train one to avoid them by habit, so the mind is prepared for undisturbed concentration. (Mitra 1883, note on 2.33 (wisdomlib))

Key ideas

aṣṭāṅga (the eight limbs), kleśa (afflictions)