The second chapter of the Yoga Sutras is about Sadhana or Practice. As part of my tapasyah, or burning zeal in practice, I thought I would share my learning with you.
I will be using two primary sources to help me learn about the sutras in this chapter. First will be a translation by Edwin Bryant, and the second will be BKS Iyengar’s commentary.
Dr. Bryant breaks the chapter down and groups the sutras together to help you follow the thread of the teachings. His groupings are the bolded lines.
For example:
II.1 The chapter begins with an introduction of kriya yoga
11.1 Tapaḥ svādhyāya īśvarapraṇidhānāni kriyāyogaḥ
Burning zeal in practice, self-study and study of scriptures, and surrender to God are the acts of yoga.
The word kriya comes from the same root as the word karma. Karma means action, everything you think, do or say. Kriya yoga means the yoga of action.
II.2 Its effects
II.2 Samādhi bhāvanārthaḥ kleśa tanūkaraṇārthaśca
The practice of yoga reduces afflictions and leads to samadhi.
Here, he is telling us the reason why we would want to prctice kriya yoga. It reduces the afflictions, or the things that hinder us and leads to samadhi. In yoga philosophy, Samadhi represents the stage where the meditator merges with its object of focus and transcends the self altogether to a higher understanding.
II.3 - 11 And a discussion of the kleshas, which it removes
II.3 Avidyā asmitā rāga dveṣa abhiniveśaḥ kleśāḥ
The five afflictions which disturb the equilibrium of consciousness are: ignorance or lack of wisdom, ego, pride of the ego or the sense of ‘I’, attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, fear of death and clinging to life.
This is the first of the sutras on the afflictions, or kleshas. For now, let’s just start with knowing what they are. It is significant to note that in any list that Patanjali gives, order matters and the first item is always the most important and encompasses the others. Here, avidya or ignorance is the most important. If avidya is present, everything that follows will be tainted by that ignorance.
Next week, we will look at sutras II.4 - II.11 which will describe the individual kleshas.
You can click here to hear the sutras of the second chapter beautifully chanted by Manorma