3.43 · The Great Bodiless

A movement of mind outside the body, not imagined, is the great bodiless; from it the covering over the light wears away.

Word by word

bahiḥ

outside

akalpitā

not imagined, actual

vṛttiḥ

movement of mind

mahā-videhā

the great bodiless

tataḥ

from that

prakāśa

light

āvaraṇa

covering

kṣayaḥ

wearing away

Where it fits

This run ends with the mind working outside the body. Vyāsa says the imagined form is the means to the real one, the 'great bodiless' (p. 272). Its fruit repeats 2.52: the covering over the light wears away. Vyāsa names that covering as afflictions, karma and their ripening.

Reading

Vyāsa distinguishes two kinds of attention outside the body. In the first, the mind stays in the body and only imagines itself outside. In the second, the mind actually functions outside it; this is the 'great bodiless'. The imagined kind is the way to the real one. From it, the covering over the light wears away, the same phrase used for breath practice in 2.52. Patañjali's claim is that the mind can work outside the body; Vyāsa links this to entering other bodies (3.38).

Vyāsa

“If it comes about only through an outward movement of a mind that stays grounded in the body, it is called 'imagined' (kalpita). But when the outward movement belongs to a mind that is itself outside, not depending on the body, that is 'not imagined' (akalpita).”

Vyāsa's Yoga-bhāṣya, the oldest commentary. New translation from the Sanskrit, with reference to Woods (1914), p. 272.

Practice

Look at a wide view, the sky above a tree or a distant hill, and let your attention rest out there for three minutes. Notice how the sense of being enclosed loosens. Then come back and feel your feet on the floor. If this feels unsettling, stop, press your feet down and look at something near.

A question to sit with

Where does your sense of yourself stop?

Key ideas

vṛtti (movement of the mind), kleśa (afflictions), karma (action and its residue), siddhi (powers)