Knowledge through saṃyama

What this passage does

Here the results of saṃyama begin. Vyāsa marks the shift: from now on, the objects of saṃyama are set out for the yogi who has every means (p. 232). First come kinds of knowledge: past and future, the cries of beings, former births, other minds, one's death. Then invisibility (3.21) and strengths (3.23–3.24). Vyāsa and Vācaspati take these as real attainments; some modern readers read them psychologically. 3.37 and 3.51 frame them all.

Learning goals

• State plainly what Patañjali claims saṃyama yields in 3.16–3.24, and how Vyāsa explains each claim.
• Explain the rule made explicit in 3.20: saṃyama yields knowledge of its object and no more.
• Say how 3.37 and 3.51 frame this list, and where readers differ on taking it literally.

The argument, step by step

1. Saṃyama on the three transformations gives knowledge of past and future.
2. Word, meaning and idea are confused by being laid over one another; saṃyama on their distinction gives understanding of the sounds of all beings.
3. Directly perceiving latent impressions gives knowledge of former births.
4. Saṃyama on a thought gives knowledge of another's mind, but not of what that thought rests on, which was not its object.
5. Saṃyama on the body's visible form suspends its power to be seen.
6. Saṃyama on karma quick or slow to ripen, or omens, gives knowledge of one's death.
7. Saṃyama on friendliness and the other attitudes gives their strengths, and on strengths, strength like an elephant's.

The sūtras

1. 3.16 pariṇāmatrayasaṃyamād atītānāgatajñānam
   Saṃyama on the three transformations gives knowledge of past and future.
2. 3.17 śabdārthapratyayānām itaretarādhyāsāt saṃkaras tatpravibhāgasaṃyamāt sarvabhūtarutajñānam
   Word, meaning and idea are confused by being laid over one another; saṃyama on their distinction gives understanding of the sounds of all beings.
3. 3.18 saṃskārasākṣātkaraṇāt pūrvajātijñānam
   By directly perceiving latent impressions comes knowledge of former births.
4. 3.19 pratyayasya paracittajñānam
   By saṃyama on a thought comes knowledge of another's mind.
5. 3.20 na ca tat sālambanaṃ tasyāviṣayībhūtatvāt
   But not of what that thought rests on, since that is not the object of saṃyama.
6. 3.21 kāyarūpasaṃyamāt tadgrāhyaśaktistambhe cakṣuḥprakāśāsaṃprayoge 'ntardhānam
   Saṃyama on the form of the body suspends its power to be seen; with no contact between light and eye, one becomes invisible.
7. 3.22 sopakramaṃ nirupakramaṃ ca karma tatsaṃyamād aparāntajñānam ariṣṭebhyo vā
   Karma is quick or slow to ripen. By saṃyama on it, or from omens, comes knowledge of one's death.
8. 3.23 maitryādiṣu balāni
   Saṃyama on friendliness and the other attitudes gives their strengths.
9. 3.24 baleṣu hastibalādīni
   Saṃyama on strengths gives the strength of an elephant and the like.

Study

Here the results of saṃyama begin. Vyāsa marks the shift: from now on, the objects of saṃyama are set out for the yogin who has every means (Woods p. 232). The list has a logic: each result matches its object.

The first object is the change just analysed. 'Saṃyama on the three transformations gives knowledge of past and future' (3.16). Seen directly, Vyāsa says, the transformations reveal the past and future within them (pp. 232–233). Next comes language. Word, meaning and idea are confused by being laid over one another (3.17). Vyāsa's example is 'cow' the word, the animal and the idea (p. 235), and saṃyama on their difference gives understanding of the sounds of all beings. Then memory: perceiving latent impressions directly gives knowledge of former births (3.18). Vyāsa tells of the sage Jaigīṣavya, who saw his births through ten great world-cycles; discernment arose in him, and he judged all he had lived through to be suffering (pp. 247–248).

3.19 and 3.20 make the method's rule explicit. Saṃyama on a thought gives knowledge of another's mind, 'but not of what that thought rests on, since that is not the object of saṃyama'. Vyāsa: the yogin knows the thought is coloured by passion, not what it is passion for (p. 249). Saṃyama yields its object, no more. Woods notes that Vijñānabhikṣu does not count 3.20, so his numbering differs from here.

Next, the body: saṃyama on its visible form suspends its power to be seen (3.21); Vyāsa adds that sound and the other senses work the same way (p. 250), a line some editions print as a separate sūtra. 3.22 concerns the karma that sets the length of a life. It ripens fast or slowly, like Vyāsa's wet cloth spread out or rolled into a ball (p. 251). Saṃyama on it gives knowledge of one's death, and so, the sūtra adds, do omens, which Vyāsa describes as signs that are simply noticed.

Last come strengths. Saṃyama on friendliness and the other attitudes of 1.33 gives their strengths (3.23). Vyāsa names three and says equanimity toward the wicked is not a cultivated feeling, so no strength comes from it (p. 252). Saṃyama on strengths gives strength like an elephant's (3.24), and Vyāsa adds Garuḍa and the wind (p. 253). The mind takes on what it absorbs (compare 1.41).

How should a reader take this? Vyāsa and Vācaspati treat these as real attainments. Many modern readers also read them psychologically. The text frames them in two places. 3.37 calls the gifts of 3.36 obstacles to absorption; Vyāsa applies it to those gifts, and many later readers extend it to every power. 3.51 warns against attachment and pride when attainments draw admiration. A teacher can report the claims plainly and leave the class free to weigh them.

For practice, the ordinary core is plain: separate word, thing and idea (3.17); know the limits of what you perceive in others (3.20); and cultivate the attitudes of 3.23, which anyone can begin today.

For discussion

1. For each sūtra from 3.16 to 3.24, what is the object of saṃyama, and how does the result match it?
2. What does 3.20 suggest about the limits of reading other people?
3. Why might Vyāsa end the Jaigīṣavya story with discernment and the verdict that all was suffering (compare 2.15)?
4. Vyāsa says equanimity toward the wicked yields no strength (3.23). Why might that be?
5. How do 3.37 and 3.51 change the way this list should be read?

A common misreading

That this passage is a manual for psychic feats to be attempted. Patañjali presents the results as fruits of saṃyama, Vyāsa sets them within discernment and limits (3.18, 3.20), and 3.37 and 3.51 warn that such attainments become obstacles when they are sought for themselves.

A practice for the room

Practise 3.23 together. Sit comfortably with eyes closed or lowered. For one minute, bring to mind someone who is happy and wish them well. For one minute, someone who is struggling, and feel for them. For one minute, someone who is doing good, and be glad of it. No names are spoken and nothing needs to be shared. Close with a minute of quiet, then invite anyone who wishes to say one word about what they noticed.