III. Vibhūti Pāda · Inner maps (3.25–3.34)
3.32 · Light in the Crown
On the light in the crown of the head, vision of the perfected ones.
Word by word
- mūrdha-jyotiṣi
- on the light in the head, at the crown
- siddha
- the perfected ones
- darśanam
- sight, vision
Where it fits
The climb ends at the crown. Saṃyama on the light in the head, another of Vyāsa's places for concentration at 3.1, gives sight of the siddhas, the perfected beings. The very next sūtra says all such knowledge can also come another way, through intuition (3.33).
Reading
Vyāsa says there is a radiant light within an opening in the skull. Saṃyama on it brings sight of the siddhas, the perfected beings who in Indian cosmology move between earth and sky. The light in the head was already one of Vyāsa's places for concentration (3.1). Patañjali states the result plainly. Many readers take it literally; others read it as coming to see as the wise have seen. Either way, 3.37, read broadly, warns against chasing such visions.
Vyāsa
“Inside the skull is an opening, a brilliant light. Making saṃyama on it, one sees the perfected ones (siddhas) who move in the space between heaven and earth.”
Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 261.
Practice
Sit for five minutes with your eyes closed and rest your attention lightly at the crown of the head. Don't look for lights or visions; notice whatever is there, even if it is only darkness and space. Afterwards, read a few lines by someone you consider wise.
A question to sit with
Whose clear sight do you look to?
Where commentators disagree
What is the 'light in the head' of 3.32?
- Vyāsa
- Within an opening in the skull there is a shining light; by saṃyama on it one sees the perfected beings (siddhas) who move between earth and sky. (Woods 1914, p. 261)
- Vācaspati Miśra
- 'In the head' means the channel called suṣumnā; saṃyama is to be made on that. (Woods 1914, p. 261)
- Bhoja
- The opening is the brahmarandhra. As a jewel's light in a closed room gathers at the keyhole, so the light of sattva spreading from the heart gathers at that opening. (Tatya 1885, p. 120; Mitra 1883, wisdomlib on 3.32)
- Rāmānanda Sarasvatī
- The opening of Brahmā in the skull, joined with the suṣumnā and with the lustre of the mind in the heart, becomes the radiance in the head. (Woods 1915, JAOS 34, pp. 76–77)