Patanjali Yoga Sutra III - 10

तस्य  परशान्त वाहित  संस्कारात् 

Tasya Prashanta Vahita Samskarath||

When the mind is stilled and quietened by restraint, it flows quietly like a river due to constant practice. At this stage, when the mind flows with a unified thought, no other disturbance can affect it. Samskara means to cleanse, purify and make good something. You take a stone and do enough Samskara to it and becomes a polished statue. In the same way, with constant practice of Vairagya - dispassion, the mind ceases to go behind likes and dislikes and flows with unity. Ramana Maharishi compares such a mind to a fall of melted ghee which is smooth and uninterrupted as it is viscous. Long periods of observation and training brings out this transformation.
- SS

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III - 9



Vyuthana Nirodha Samskarayorabhibhavapradurbhavau Nirodhakshanacchittanvayo Nirodha Parinamaha||

व्युत्थाननिरोधसम्स्करयोरभिभावप्रादुर्भावौ निरोधाक्षनाच्चित्थान्वयो  निरोधपरिणामः 

The mind is fundamentally energy. It performs two types of actions - Vyuthana and Nirodha. Vedanta explains these two qualities of the mind as the Vikshepa and Avarana shakti of maya. Nirodha is like drawing   a circumference and Vyuthana is to project and throw thoughts, words and actions from the centre. The job of the circumference is like a fielder in cricket who prevents the ball from crossing the boundary. In a constant process of projecting from the centre and compressing from the circumference, the mind is transformed into a steady state of Nirodha or stillness. Another example - you have seen people at home or in hotels making dough for rotis - the flour is the mind and water is the vyuthana shakti. It is used in the motion of mixing, churning and rotating the flour evenly. Around the vessel, one hand keeps pushing all the dry flour into the watery content. At the end of this process, the flour and water join well to form a steady dough. That is Nirodha. Samskara means a constant and conscious action that creates a positive transformation of the object on which it is applied and in this case, it is the mind. It attains the primary requirement of a steady and controlled state if it has to be applied for any useful venture.
- SS.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III - 8

तदआपि बहिरंगम निर्बीजस्य
Even that is without

Even the earlier three states of concentration, meditation and merging with the object of meditation - Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are only an outward act when compared to Nirbeeja Samadhi - the absorbtion of the mind into a seedless state or a space in awareness where the seeds of thought even cease to exist, except the thought of "I Am," Seeds can survive only a little below the surface to have a possibility of sprouting.
- S.S.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III VI

Trayam Antarangam Purvebhyaha

The three paths of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi are classified as inner Sadhana.
We see many things in this world, made of names and forms. They create reactions in our mind too. So the names, forms and reactions, ultimately leave corresponding impressions in the chittam or the sub-conscious storehouse of memories. The impressions totally belong to us, though they have come from without.
It is a totally internal sadhana to meditate upon the self within upon which these impressions are super-imposed, just as a movie is projected on a white screen.
Dharana is steady concentration on the self. Dhyana is a contemplative meditation which is much more relaxed and softer than Dharana. Samadhi is a total absorbption in that self. All these are happening within the individual's mind and hence together, they become an antaranga sadhana. In short, you can practice these three and no one will ever know!
- Swahilya Shambhavi.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - 3 - V

Distribution into the earth

Tasya Bhumishu Viniyogaha|

With the practice of Dharana - concentration, Dhyana - meditation and Samadhi - which is not so much a practice, but an automatic state of being on following the other steps of yoga, there is a dhara or a waterfall of energy for the individual to use. This waterfall of grace is shared with the Earth and its beings. So the result of all our spiritual practices is to help us to become quiet and unagitated and keep others too in a state of non-agitation.

- Swahilya Shambhavi.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III - V

Tajjayath Pragnyallokaha

With practice of Samyama i.e. Dharana - concentration, Dhyana - meditation and Samadhi - the culmination of the mind in state of cosmic consciousness, the person attains to a steady wisdom with certainty. I narrate here a dream that I had this morning of Thursday, January 12. I was preparing to write an exam in Tamil grammar (may be because the previous night I read about the Sage Agastya and his writing a text on Tamil Grammar!). Till after an hour of the examination, I was filling ink in my pen and the ink was mushy. I spent one hour writing nothing. When I saw the first question for the exam I hadn't prepared much for, it said - "Explain the grammatical expression for the word Siva." I began writing - Va is for Vasanas and Si is for Chit. The moment I wrote Chit, I woke up from the dream. I knew it was a dream! Same way I thought, when you are surrounded by thoughts of self-realisation and realised beings, there is the awakening of Chit or consciousness in you. That awakening shows to you that this world is a dream. After I knew that the dream was a dream, it made it meaningless to continue writing the exam. Likewise, when you know this world you live in is a dream, life becomes meaningless, but yet you play on as it is not a dream for the other players in the game! - Swahilya Shambhavi.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III - 4

Three in one

Thrayamekatra Samyamaha||

When the threesome of Dharana or concentration, Dhyana or meditation which is a gradual entry into a merging of concentration and its confluence with the object meditated upon and eventually a complete merger of the subject, object and the meditation in Samadhi. The combination of the three makes it Samyama or a complete restraint of the mind that's absorbed in consciousness.

- Swahilya Shambhavi.

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III - 3

Contemplating well to merge

Tadevarthamathra Nirbhasam Swaroopa Shunyamiva Samadhihi||

When the object of focus, concentration and meditation begins to merge, then the state of Samadhi is said to be reached. Take an example of climbing a flight of stairs to reach the terrace. At first you get accustomed to the steps and focus on it as you climb. That is Dharana. Then as you climb, you have achieved a state of ease and a mind that can afford to be within and contemplate - i.e. Dhyana. Once you begin to contemplate on a statement of truth or the Pranava Mantra, you feel as if you have lost your own name and form and only the contemplation remains. That is arriving at the terrace of Samadhi. The yogi and a Shaivaite saint Sadasiva Brahmendra Saraswati has written a commentary on the Patanjali Yoga Sutra explains Samadhi as Samyak Aadheeyate Ekagrikriyate Yat Manaha Saha Samadhi - That mind which delves well and deeply after becoming completely integrated is Samadhi. - Swahilya Shambhavi

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - III - 2

A continuous flow

Tatra Pratyaya Ekatanata Dhyanam||

Once the mind is sufficiently settled in a point of concentration, which is dharana, there follows a stage when the thoughts begin to flow uninterruptedly into one field of consciousness, just as an estuary merges into the ocean. This is called Dhyanam.

(Quiet flows the lamp on the Ganga at Triveni Ghat, Rishikesh. Text and Pix. Swahilya Shambhavi.)

Patanjali Yoga Sutra - II -

Putting the mind in place!

Desha Bandhaha Chittasya Dharanam||

Dharana means concentration. The concentration of the mind on a point, an image, person, place or object holds the mind in a place towards which it is directed. It binds it to the space on which it concentrates, instead of following its own natural way of flitting about here and there into a million memory routes of the past and the anxiety routes of the future. Dharana is a tool to put the mind in its place i.e. the present moment! - Swahilya Shambhavi.