Fruits of the restraints

What this passage does

Each restraint, once established, shows a sign, in the order of 2.30: hostility falls away, words come true, jewels arrive, vigour is gained, births are understood. Vyāsa calls these signs of the yogi's success (Woods p. 185). How literally to take them is debated: Vyāsa and the classical commentators treat them as real powers, while many modern readers stress their ethical and psychological sense.

Learning goals

• Match each restraint to its fruit, in the order of 2.30.
• Explain how Vyāsa reads these fruits and how many modern readers differ.
• Explain what 'established' (pratiṣṭhā) adds to the restraints.

The argument, step by step

1. Vyāsa: once harmful thoughts can no longer sprout, the power that follows is a sign of the yogi's success.
2. When non-violence is established, hostility is given up in that person's presence.
3. When truthfulness is established, action and its fruit follow one's word.
4. When not stealing is established, all jewels come near.
5. When chastity is established, vigour is gained.
6. When non-possessiveness is steady, the how and why of birth is understood.

The sūtras

1. 2.35 ahiṃsāpratiṣṭhāyāṃ tatsaṃnidhau vairatyāgaḥ
   When non-violence is established, hostility is given up in that person's presence.
2. 2.36 satyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ kriyāphalāśrayatvam
   When truthfulness is established, action and its fruit follow one's word.
3. 2.37 asteyapratiṣṭhāyāṃ sarvaratnopasthānam
   When not stealing is established, all jewels come near.
4. 2.38 brahmacaryapratiṣṭhāyāṃ vīryalābhaḥ
   When chastity is established, vigour is gained.
5. 2.39 aparigrahasthairye janmakathaṃtāsaṃbodhaḥ
   When non-possessiveness is steady, the how and why of birth is understood.

Study

Once harmful thoughts no longer arise (2.34), each restraint shows a sign. Vyāsa introduces the series: when harmful thoughts can no longer sprout, the power that results shows that the yogi has succeeded (Woods p. 185). Vācaspati adds why the signs matter: by them the yogi knows what has been accomplished and what is still to be done (Woods p. 186). The five follow the order of 2.30.

2.35: "When non-violence is established, hostility is given up in that person's presence." Vyāsa says this happens in all living beings (Woods p. 186). The famous image of natural enemies, horse and buffalo, cat and mouse, snake and mongoose, setting aside their hostility near the yogi, is Vācaspati's (Woods p. 186). 2.36: "When truthfulness is established, action and its fruit follow one's word." Vyāsa: if he says 'be good', the person becomes good; if he says 'reach heaven', they reach it; his words do not fail (Woods p. 186). 2.37: "When not stealing is established, all jewels come near." Vyāsa's whole comment is one line: jewels come to him from every direction (Woods p. 186). 2.38: "When chastity is established, vigour is gained." Vyāsa adds that the yogi grows in qualities nothing can obstruct and, once perfected, can pass knowledge to students (Woods p. 187). 2.39: "When non-possessiveness is steady, the how and why of birth is understood." Vyāsa gives the questions that answer themselves: Who was I? How was I? What is this? How did it come about? What will we become? (Woods p. 187).

The key word is pratiṣṭhā, being firmly established (2.39 uses sthairya, steadiness). These fruits come when a restraint is no longer an effort and has become one's nature. That fits 2.31, a vow kept without exception.

Readings differ, and a teacher should say so. Vyāsa and the classical commentators treat these as real powers, of a piece with the third pāda. Many modern readers stress their ethical and psychological sense. People relax near someone who carries no harm. An honest person's word is trusted and so carries weight. Someone who takes nothing is trusted with much. Energy not scattered becomes strength. When possessions loosen, the question of what a life is for comes forward. The house approach is to state Patañjali's claim plainly, give Vyāsa's reading, and offer the psychological reading as one way it is read today, neither mocking nor endorsing.

One pattern may help students hold the list, though it is a reading and not a claim of the text. Each fruit is what the broken restraint was reaching for. Harm seeks safety and makes enemies. Lying tries to shape events and loses the power to. Stealing seeks wealth. Scattered energy seeks vitality. Grasping seeks a secure self. Given up, each delivers what it sought.

For practice, the passage offers a way to check the restraints: by their signs, which others often notice before we do.

For discussion

1. What does Vācaspati say the signs are for, and how could they be used today?
2. What is the difference between keeping a restraint and having it 'established'?
3. How do Vyāsa and many modern readers differ on these fruits, and how would you present both to a class?
4. Which of the five fruits seems most paradoxical, and why?
5. Why might steady non-possessiveness bring understanding of one's births, on Vyāsa's reading or on a modern one?

A common misreading

These sūtras are sometimes taught as promises of reward for good behaviour. The text presents them as signs that appear once a restraint is firmly established (2.35), and Vācaspati says their use is to show the yogi what is done and what remains (Woods p. 186).

A practice for the room

One restraint, one sign. The teacher reads 2.35 to 2.39 slowly. Each person chooses the one restraint they find hardest and sits for three minutes recalling a moment when they kept it. Then a further two minutes noticing, honestly, any sign at all that followed, however small, in themselves or in others. Close with one minute of quiet. No one is asked to share.