Discernment and liberation

What this passage does

The pāda turns from power to freedom. Seeing the difference between mind and self brings sovereignty and knowledge of all (3.49), but liberation comes only through non-attachment even to that (3.50). The warning of 3.51 follows. Then the knowledge born of discernment is traced from the moment (3.52–3.54) to liberation (3.55). Vyāsa says the powers were taught as means of purifying the mind (p. 295).

Learning goals

• Explain why the sovereignty and knowledge of 3.49 must be let go for liberation (3.50).
• Explain the warning of 3.51 and Vyāsa's picture of the yogin whom the gods invite.
• Trace the knowledge born of discernment from the moment (3.52) to its full form (3.54), and say how 3.55 defines liberation.

The argument, step by step

1. Only for one who sees the difference between mind and self is there sovereignty over all states and knowledge of all.
2. By non-attachment even to that, as the seeds of fault wear away, comes liberation.
3. Invited by those in high places, one should not be drawn in or flattered, for unwanted consequences may return.
4. Saṃyama on the moment and its succession gives the knowledge born of discernment.
5. That knowledge tells apart two things that kind, mark and place cannot distinguish.
6. It carries one across, taking all things as its object, in every way and all at once.
7. When the mind is as pure as the self, there is liberation.

The sūtras

1. 3.49 sattvapuruṣānyatākhyātimātrasya sarvabhāvādhiṣṭhātṛtvaṃ sarvajñātṛtvaṃ ca
   Only for one who sees the difference between mind and self is there sovereignty over all states and knowledge of all.
2. 3.50 tadvairāgyād api doṣabījakṣaye kaivalyam
   By non-attachment even to that, as the seeds of fault wear away, comes liberation.
3. 3.51 sthānyupanimantraṇe saṅgasmayākaraṇaṃ punar aniṣṭaprasaṅgāt
   When invited by those in high places, do not be drawn in or flattered, for unwanted consequences may return.
4. 3.52 kṣaṇatatkramayoḥ saṃyamād vivekajaṃ jñānam
   Saṃyama on the moment and its succession gives the knowledge born of discernment.
5. 3.53 jātilakṣaṇadeśair anyatānavacchedāt tulyayos tataḥ pratipattiḥ
   From it comes the ability to tell apart two things so alike that kind, mark and place cannot distinguish them.
6. 3.54 tārakaṃ sarvaviṣayaṃ sarvathāviṣayam akramaṃ ceti vivekajaṃ jñānam
   Knowledge born of discernment carries one across: it takes all things as its object, in every way, and all at once.
7. 3.55 sattvapuruṣayoḥ śuddhisāmye kaivalyam iti
   When the mind is as pure as the self, there is liberation.

Study

The pāda turns from power to freedom. 3.49 gives the summit: 'Only for one who sees the difference between mind and self is there sovereignty over all states and knowledge of all.' Vyāsa names this the sorrowless perfection, viśokā (Woods p. 283), the word met at 1.36. The weight lies on 'only': the discernment of 2.26 is enough.

Then the reversal. 'By non-attachment even to that, as the seeds of fault wear away, comes liberation' (3.50). Vyāsa gives the yogin's reasoning: even this idea of discernment is a property of sattva, and sattva belongs among the things to be given up (p. 284). The seeds of the afflictions, like burnt rice, can no longer sprout. This is the highest non-attachment of 1.16 applied to the highest attainment.

3.51 is the pāda's second warning. Vyāsa first sorts yogins into four kinds: the beginner in whom light is just dawning; one who has the truth-bearing insight of 1.48, the 'Honeyed' stage; one who has mastered the elements and senses; and one who has passed beyond what can be cultivated (p. 285). It is the second whom the gods invite, offering elixirs and a chariot that flies. The yogin should remember how hard the lamp of yoga was to find, and should not even take pride in being wanted by gods, because Heedlessness, pramāda, the obstacle of 1.30, watches for exactly that opening (pp. 285–286).

Saṃyama on the moment and its succession gives the knowledge born of discernment (3.52). Vyāsa says the moment is to time what the atom is to matter, and only one moment is ever present; hours and days are the mind's sums (pp. 287–288). That knowledge can tell apart two things so alike that kind, mark and place cannot (3.53), like Vyāsa's two identical fruits swapped unseen (p. 290). 3.54 gives the full definition. The knowledge is tāraka, it carries one across; it takes all things as its object, in every way and all at once. Vyāsa says the lamp of yoga, from the Honeyed stage to its perfection, is a part of it (p. 294). The dawn of 3.33 has become the sun.

3.55 closes the pāda: 'When the mind is as pure as the self, there is liberation.' Vyāsa adds two things worth teaching. Liberation follows whether or not the yogin has powers, and whether or not he has the full knowledge born of discernment. And the powers and that knowledge were brought into the discussion only as means of purifying the mind (p. 295).

Readers differ on the gods of 3.51. Vyāsa names them as gods; many modern readers also hear in the sūtra any flattering invitation. Either way, the summit is let go, the warning follows it, and liberation is defined without reference to powers.

For practice, this passage gives the measure of everything before it. In this pāda's terms, a skill, an insight or a reputation matters only so far as it helps to clear the mind.

For discussion

1. Why does liberation need non-attachment even to the discernment of 3.49? What is Vyāsa's reasoning in 3.50?
2. Why might Vyāsa say it is the yogin at the Honeyed stage, not the beginner, whom the gods invite (3.51)?
3. What has Vyāsa's claim that only one moment is ever present (3.52) to do with discernment?
4. According to Vyāsa on 3.55, why were the powers taught at all?

A common misreading

That the powers are rungs on the way to liberation. Vyāsa on 3.55 says liberation comes whether or not one has powers, and 3.50 makes letting go of even the highest attainment the condition of freedom.

A practice for the room

Sit with eyes lowered. For three minutes, attend to one steady sound, a quietly ticking clock or the hum of the room, and meet each moment as it comes, returning whenever a story starts (3.52). For two minutes, bring to mind something you are quietly proud of and hold it lightly, saying silently, 'This is in the mind. Let it be' (3.50). Close with one minute of rest, holding nothing in particular.