3.35 · Who Sees the Seer

Experience is an idea that fails to tell apart the mind and the self, which are utterly distinct. Since that experience exists for another, saṃyama on what exists for its own sake gives knowledge of the self.

Word by word

sattva

the bright essence of the mind

puruṣayoḥ

and the self (of the two)

atyanta

utterly

asaṃkīrṇayoḥ

unmixed, distinct

pratyaya

perception, idea

aviśeṣaḥ

non-distinction

bhogaḥ

experience

para-arthāt

since (it) exists for another

sva-artha

for its own sake

saṃyamāt

from saṃyama

puruṣa-jñānam

knowledge of the self

Where it fits

The pāda's turning point. Ordinary experience fails to tell mind from self, the confusion behind 2.6 and 2.17. Saṃyama on what exists for its own sake gives knowledge of the self. Vyāsa adds that the self is never seen as an object of an idea; it is the self that sees (p. 263).

Reading

Experience, Patañjali says, is a confusion: the mind's clearest part and the self are utterly distinct, yet we take them as one (2.6, 2.17). Because the mind exists for another (2.21, 4.24), saṃyama on what exists for its own sake gives knowledge of the self. That is how Vyāsa reads it; some editions read 'apart from what exists for another' instead. Yet, Vyāsa adds, the self is never seen as an object. It is the self that sees. He quotes the Upaniṣad: 'By what, my dear, could one know the knower?'

Vyāsa

“Yet the self is not seen by an idea of the self that is made of the intellect's sattva. It is the self that sees that idea, which rests on the self. As it is said: 'By what, my dear, could one know the knower?'”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 263.

Practice

For five minutes, notice what appears: a sound, a thought, a mood. After each, say silently, 'seen'. Then turn toward whatever is doing the seeing. You won't find it as a thing. Rest for a few breaths in not finding it.

A question to sit with

What in you is never seen, only seeing?

Key ideas

puruṣa (the seer, the self), viveka (discernment), saṃyama (holding together), avidyā (ignorance)