Objective of Yoga

Shri Krishna said

Illustrious one, you have told me everything about knowledge, kriya and conduct, giving the essence of the collections, and I have heard. Now I want to hear about yoga, which is extremely hard to obtain. Who has the right to it? What are its limbs and procedures? What is it for? If a man practises yoga early, he can overcome death and quickly gain success; otherwise he becomes great in other ways. What is the reason for this? When must it be practised, and when begun? Tell me the truth of all this.

Upamanyu replied

Krishna, you know the meaning of all questions and you have asked a fitting one. I will tell you everything in order; control yourself and listen. All other activity must be held back and the mind fixed unwaveringly on Shiva. To behave this way is, in brief, yoga. Yoga is said to be of five kinds: mantra-yoga, sparsha-yoga, bhava-yoga, abhava-yoga and mahayoga, which is held greater than all. When the mind's behaviour is not distracted, when one practises with mantras and brings it under control, and when one understands the meanings of the mantras uttered, that is mantra-yoga. When this is combined with pranayama, it is sparsha-yoga. Pranayama done without mantras is bhava-yoga. When one thinks of the universe dissolving into his form and perceives nothing else, that is abhava-yoga. When one thinks of Shiva's nature alone, unrestricted by any form, and mind and conduct rest on Shiva only, that is called maha-yoga. One has the right to this kind of yoga only when the mind is not attached to material things seen or heard of, and not otherwise. All material objects have faults and Ishvara is full of qualities. A person with this vision has a mind constantly free of attachment.

Briefly, yoga of every kind has eight limbs or six. The learned say the eight limbs are yama, niyama, the asanas beginning with svastika, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Briefly, the six limbs are asana, control of prana, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. Shiva's texts, other Shiva agamas, especially the Kamika and the rest, speak of separate signs for these, and they are also described in the yoga texts and Puranas. The virtuous say yama has five parts: non-violence, truthfulness, not stealing, brahmacharya and not accepting from others. Niyama has five parts: purity, contentment, austerity, japa and attentiveness. The eight asanas are svastika, padma, ardhendu, vira, yoga, prasadhita, paryanka and yatheshtha. Prana is the breath of life in the body and ayama means restraining it. It is of three kinds: rechaka, puraka and kumbhaka. Pressing one nostril with the finger and breathing out from the belly through the other is rechaka. Then through the other nostril, like bellows, the outer air is drawn in and fills the body: that is puraka. When the inner air is not breathed out nor the outer air breathed in, and one is as steady as a filled pot, that is kumbhaka. These three must not be done too fast or too slowly. A practitioner of yoga does it gradually. Practice of rechaka and the rest must follow first purifying the nadis, and the yoga instructions speak of an eventual exit. Restraint of the breath of life by pranayama is of four kinds according to duration measured in matras, from shortest to longest. The shortest is twelve matras, the middle double that at twenty-four, and the highest three times it at thirty-six. Pranayama beyond this brings sweating and trembling of the body. In this state of supreme bliss the yogi may be flooded with joy, his hair may stand on end, he may weep and speak much, or his head may whirl so that he falls senseless. A matra is the time of snapping the fingers while circling the knees, neither too fast nor too slow. One should know how to increase the number of matras according to capacity. Pranayama is of two kinds, sagarbha and agarbha. Without japa or meditation it is agarbha; with them it is sagarbha. Sagarbha is a hundred times more effective than agarbha, so yogis use sagarbha. The breath of life in the body can be conquered by pranayama. Its kinds are prana, apana, samana, udana, vyana, naga, kurma, krikala, devadatta and dhananjaya. What causes movement is prana. Food eaten is carried downward by the air called apana. Vyana spreads the air through the limbs and makes them all flourish. Udana is the air that stirs the inner organs. Samana is the air that spreads it evenly through all the limbs. The air used for belching is naga, kurma the air used when the eyes close, krikala the air for sneezing, and devadatta the air for yawning. Dhananjaya moves everywhere and does not leave even when the body dies.

When pranayama is practised gradually, its success is proved. All the body's faults are burned away and the body is guarded. When prana is properly conquered, signs appear: the quantity of urine, excrement and phlegm decreases, one can eat much and hold the breath long, the body becomes light and one walks fast, there is enthusiasm, the voice becomes beautiful, all ailments are destroyed, and there is strength, energy and beauty. Fortitude, intelligence, youth and amiability become steady. Austerities, rites to destroy sins, sacrifices, gifts and vows cannot achieve a sixteenth of what pranayama achieves. The withdrawal of all senses is called pratyahara. The senses, beginning with the mind, can be heaven or hell, depending on whether they are restrained or left loose. So an intelligent person who wants happiness takes refuge in knowledge and non-attachment, swiftly restrains the senses like horses, and lifts up his self. Dharana in brief means fixing the mind in a particular place, which must be Shiva alone and nothing else. When the mind is held in one spot for a set time and does not stray from it at all, that is the sign of dharana and nothing else. Through dharana the mind is first made steady, and when it is steady the person should continue the practice. The root "dhyai" means to contemplate. When the mind repeatedly contemplates Shiva and does not stray, that is dhyana. The mind is fixed on the object of meditation and freed from the distraction of other thoughts; this flow is dhyana. Everything else is dropped, and Shiva alone, who ensures all that is auspicious, remains, the supreme lord of the gods and object of meditation, as the Atharva Veda says. So Shiva is the supreme object of contemplation, and Shiva and Shivaa are in all beings, as the sacred shruti and smriti texts state. They go everywhere and are always awake, all-knowing and taking many forms. These two are the constant objects of contemplation.

There are two reasons to practise dhyana: one is freed and develops faith, and once faith arises anima and the rest follow. Those who know yoga should know four things before they practise it: the one who meditates, the meditation, its object, and the need for it. The meditator is said to need knowledge, non-attachment, faith, forgiveness and constant enthusiasm, and to be without a sense of ownership. A person tired of japa should do dhyana; one tired of dhyana should do japa. When japa and dhyana are joined, success in yoga comes quickly. Dharana is on the twelve-petalled lotus. Dhyana fixes dharana in the twelve-petalled lotus. Dhyana on the twelve-petalled lotus is called samadhi, the final stage of yoga. In samadhi wisdom pervades everything, all else fades and quiets, and the person is calm as the ocean. Form vanishes and only vision remains; this is samadhi. The object of meditation is seen in the mind and the vision is steady. A yogi in samadhi is like a fire gone out. He hears nothing, smells nothing, says nothing, sees nothing, touches nothing and knows nothing. The mind conceives nothing, he heeds nothing else, and nothing binds him. He is like a piece of wood. When a person dissolves into Shiva this way, that is samadhi. He is a lamp that does not flicker because there is no breeze. An intelligent person does not waver and sinks into samadhi in this way. So a yogi proceeds along the excellent path of yoga, and all obstacles and impediments are gradually destroyed.