2.45 · The Offering

From devotion to Īśvara comes perfection in absorption.

Word by word

samādhi

absorption

siddhiḥ

perfection, success

īśvara-praṇidhānāt

from devotion to Īśvara

Where it fits

Last observance and last of the three from 2.1. Devotion to Īśvara brings perfection in absorption, echoing 1.23. Vācaspati answers the obvious objection, that the other limbs would then be unnecessary: they support it (Woods p. 190). Vyāsa then closes the first two limbs and turns to posture (2.46).

Reading

The last observance repeats a promise from 1.23, where devotion to Īśvara was offered as a direct route to absorption. Īśvara, in 1.24–1.27, is a distinct self never touched by affliction, the teacher of the ancients, whose word is Om. Vācaspati adds that the other limbs still support it. Praṇidhāna means placing down, laying before: offering your actions and their results. What makes absorption hard is the one who wants it for themselves. Devotion loosens that grip.

Vyāsa

“Someone who has offered his whole being to Īśvara gains perfection in absorption. Through it he knows truly whatever he wishes to know, in other places, other bodies and other times. Then his wisdom knows things as they really are.”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 190.

Practice

Before each task today, say inwardly: 'I offer this.' After it, add: 'and its fruit.'

A question to sit with

What could you offer instead of hold?

Where commentators disagree

Does devotion to Īśvara bring absorption by itself, and if so, are the other limbs needed?

Vyāsa

One whose whole being is offered to Īśvara attains absorption, and through it knows things as they really are. (Woods 1914, p. 190)

Vācaspati Miśra

Even so, the other seven limbs are not useless: they serve both devotion and absorption. Devotion is a 'mediate' aid, since its object is Īśvara and not the object to be known in absorption. (Woods 1914, pp. 190–191)

Bhoja

The Lord, being pleased, removes the afflictions that obstruct and so draws forth absorption. (Tatya 1885, p. 85)

Vijñānabhikṣu

As Dasgupta translates him, meditation on Īśvara only removes ignorance; the other limbs bring about absorption by their own workings, with Īśvara's help. (Dasgupta 1920, p. 151)

Key ideas

īśvara (the Lord), samādhi (absorption), kriyā-yoga (the yoga of action)