{"id":34548,"date":"2013-06-27T16:15:16","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T16:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/?p=34548"},"modified":"2023-07-27T18:20:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T18:20:46","slug":"sutras-1-17-1-18-samprajna-the-legend-of-asamprajna-samadhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/sutras-1-17-1-18-samprajna-the-legend-of-asamprajna-samadhi\/","title":{"rendered":"Sutras 1.17 – 1.18. Samprajna. The Legend of Asamprajna Samadhi"},"content":{"rendered":"
Let us come back to the text of Yoga Sutras. The sloka 1.17 introduces the category of Samprajna(ta).<\/div>\n
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\u0935\u093f\u0924\u0930\u094d\u0915\u0935\u093f\u091a\u093e\u0930\u093e\u0928\u0928\u094d\u0926\u093e\u0938\u094d\u092e\u093f\u0924\u093e\u0930\u0942\u092a\u093e\u0928\u0941\u0917\u092e\u093e\u0924\u094d \u0938\u092e\u094d\u092a\u094d\u0930\u091c\u094d\u091e\u093e\u0924\u0903 \u0965 \u0967\u096d\u0965<\/b><\/div>\n
1.17 vitarka-vic\u0101ra-ananda-asmita-r\u016bpa-anugam\u0101t sampraj\u00f1\u0101ta\u1e25 \u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The exact understanding of this line on the basis of translation taken \u201cfrom the dictionary\u201d shall be difficult since in fact the whole line is drawn of psycho-technical terms (but for the word anugamat meaning \u201cto follow\u201d) which translation, as we remember, can hardly be grounded on the dictionary only. Probably it is due to this that translation variants of this line, commentaries upon it and their consequences are very ambiguous. And it will be these ambiguities and consequences that we shall first of all deal with.<\/div>\n
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\u200bIn the first place, let us pay attention to the fact that this line does not contain the word Samadhi<\/b>! <\/a>The next \u201cnearest\u201d Samadhi comes only in line 1.20 of the text. However, the majority of the well-known interpretation variants do introduce this word!!! At the end of the line, after the word samprajna. Sometimes it is done in a bashful \u201cbracketed\u201d manner, sometimes \u2013 without brackets. The situation is similar in both Russian and English translation variants. The translations and commentaries of Mishra and Swami Satyananda, as well as that of Vivekananda, persistently \u201cencourage\u201d us to find that Samadhi-word within the text. And they do the job well, so that even Mircea Eliade, an outstanding researcher, spends several paragraphs reflecting upon the state of samprajna-samadhi. We don\u2019t even mention some \u201cminor\u201d analysts: you may type the word \u201csamprajna\u201d in Google search bar and you will immediately get the \u2018tip\u2019 \u2013 the samprajna(ta)-samadhi.<\/div>\n
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\u200bThe most curious thing here is that in fact, though being excessive, the word Samadhi gets on rather well with the general context of the said line. The word sam-prajna can be translated in the following manner. Sam is the prefix that means \u201cco-\u201c, \u201cjointly\u201d, while prajna is \u201cknowledge\u201d or, more pathetic, \u201cwisdom\u201d, though I believe \u201cknowledge\u201d to be more appropriate. Here the prefix pra- (that interpreters rely upon to distinguish between \u201cwisdom\u201d and \u201cgeneral knowledge \u2013 jnana) implies some breadth. So to my mind the most appropriate (almost perfect) term to be used for translating the word samprajna shall be the \u201ccomprehension\u201d (that also contains two prefixes \u2013 \u201ccom\u201d and \u201cpre\u201d). Unfortunately, this term has become much commonplace and is often used out of picture. For instance: \u201cThere shall be a listening comprehension test\u201d, or \u201cThere are comprehension questions at the end of each block\u201d. Such usage is the confusion of terms. In the given samples the terms \u201cperception\u201d and \u201cunderstanding\u201d would be more appropriate [the examples given in the original text deal with relevant cases that refer to Russian equivalent of the word \u201ccomprehension\u201d \u2013 translator\u2019s note]. In very deed comprehension is the process related to expansion of one\u2019s consciousness, identifying the things and phenomena that one never used to pay attention to, \u201cattaching\u201d the name to things that were previously transcendental in that very sense that Freud meant when speaking out his immortal \u201cWhere Id is, there should Ego be\u201d. In this sense the true comprehension is a complicated cognitive act that is identical <\/b>to Samadhi in the meaning that we attach to this word \u2026 In this way the word Samadhi, if contained in line 1.17, would not be inconsistent with it, though being \u201cmuch of muchness\u201d. BUT! There is no such word in this line! At least in those Yoga Sutra variants that I know. That is why the term samprajna-samadhi introduced with reference to Patanjali is improper.\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
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This term was most probably integrated by Vijnanabhikshu, an ascetic philosopher of the 16th century who tried to synthesize Yoga, non-Advaita Vedanta and Samkhya and wrote the Yogavarttika (Explanation of Yoga) \u2013 the detailed commentary on the Vyasa\u2019s Yoga-Sutras-Bhashya. However, with all due respect to the medieval authority, I consider him to have brought his understanding of YS and commentaries on it to a dead-end. As it was said by one of Russian mystics: \u201call is not gold that glitters, all is not truth that is Sanskrit\u201d.<\/div>\n
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But what is that problem of samprajna-samadhi term? The problem lies in the following sloka:<\/div>\n
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\u0935\u093f\u0930\u093e\u092e\u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u094d\u092f\u092f\u093e\u092d\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0938\u092a\u0942\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0903 \u0938\u0902\u0938\u094d\u0915\u093e\u0930\u0936\u0947\u0937\u094b\u093d\u0928\u094d\u092f\u0903 \u0965 \u0967\u096e\u0965<\/b><\/div>\n
1.18 vir\u0101ma-pratyay\u0101bhy\u0101sa-p\u016brva\u1e25 sa\u1e43sk\u0101ra-\u015be\u1e63o’nya\u1e25<\/i><\/div>\n
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that describes some certain state (which exactly \u2013 we\u2019ll discuss later) and ends up with the word anya \u2013 another, different from. And here the garbling with the word Samadhi has taken an unexpected turn: when there is samprajna-samadhi, there is \u201canother\u201d \u2013 asamprajna-samadhi (I shall remind that the prefix a- stands for \u201cnon-\u201c negation). And thus we as if happen to have 2 variants of Samadhi \u2013 the \u201csuperior\u201d and the \u201cinferior\u201d ones. Wait a minute, but Patanjali\u2019s text does not contain the term \u201casamprajna\u201d at all! If this is a \u201csuperior\u201d one, then why did the classic omit it when giving his classification of Samadhi\u2026 And how came that an innocent word \u201cother\u201d has turned into \u201csuperior\u201d? Patanjali did not introduce any hierarchy of this kind.<\/b> However the idea has come to stay. Search Google for asamprajna-samadhi and you will find a peck of nonsenses developing the theme. Why? I shall dare to put forward an assumption that issue is about the initial words of the line 1.18:<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
vir\u0101ma-pratyay\u0101bhy\u0101sa-p\u016brva\u1e25<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
translated in the following way:<\/div>\n
vir\u0101ma – <\/b><\/i>cessation;<\/div>\n
pratyay<\/b><\/i>a<\/i><\/b> is translated by many terms that convey various products of one\u2019s mental activity, the most accurate of translation variants been: understanding, view, belief;<\/div>\n
a<\/b><\/i>bhy\u0101sa<\/b><\/i>\u00a0the term that we already know, denoting self-control;<\/div>\n
p\u016brva\u1e25\u00a0<\/b><\/i>– preceding.<\/div>\n
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In this way (though by some stretch of imagination) we can translate the phrase as \u201can exercise on bringing thoughts to a stop\u201d, on in some similar manner. That cannot but please those people who narrow yoga to the practice of pointless sitting the state of idiotic rapture. However the \u201cSamadhi\u201d of the line 1.17 happened to be out of luck. The line also mentions vitarka and vichara that mean (so far, approximately) reasoning and logical analysis, that is why samprajna-samadhi was nominated as \u201cinferior\u201d and \u201cunderdone\u201d \u2013 for here one still has to think\u2026 Probably, it is this introduction of two samadhis into the system that entailed the emergence of understanding the target of yoga as some ecstatic lack of sense similar to religious trance, and not the culture of sound, cognoscitive and advancing spirit. And because of its simplicity and attraction the idea has come to stay. Such degradation also happened in other esoteric systems, for instance, some Sufi orders correlated the state of \u201cspiritual intoxication\u201d, sukr, with banal getting high under the influence of hashish, while some of degenerated Tao schools started to stimulate Jing by means of masturbation. As for medieval India, its air was saturated with the idea of ecstasy. But we\u2019ll leave the ecstasies until later.<\/div>\n
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\u200bSo far let us still try to single out the core point of these two slokas (1.17 and 1.18).<\/div>\n
So:<\/div>\n
1.17 vitarka-vic\u0101ra-ananda-asmita-r\u016bpa-anugam\u0101t sampraj\u00f1\u0101ta\u1e25<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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vi-tarka <\/i><\/b>in this and the following words the prefix vi- means \u201cdistinguish\u201d, \u201cdifferentiate between\u201d and in some way it corresponds to the English prefix \u201cdi(de)\u201d; tarka, like many other abstract terms, has a number of translation variants with very broad meaning: \u201cthought\u201d, \u201copinion\u201d, \u201cpoint of view\u201d, and another dozen of words. The Monier Williams dictionary also offers a number of translation variants for the term vitarka as a single word: \u201cargument\u201d, \u201cpoint of view\u201d, \u201cproposition\u201d, \u201copinion\u201d, even \u201cimagination\u201d and \u201cfantasy\u201d, so that it seems that the prefix in fact does not change much the meaning of the word. Still, let us draw an analogy with the words vijnana and viveka. The prefix there does emphasize their differentiating function, distinguishing between such aspects of knowledge as possession of some information (jnana) and active de-tection of some aspect with its help [1]. Similar to this the term vitarka can be understood as a set, distinguished and defined point of view, the judgement, the proposition in the sense implied by Western logic. This semantic field shall be our basis.<\/div>\n
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vi-<\/i><\/b>c\u0101ra<\/i><\/b>\u00a0In this word the root c(h)ara means walking, and in scope of philosophic context it reminds us of the Greek Perpatetic school [2]. Indeed, the dictionaries offer to translate the term as \u201cconsideration\u201d, \u201clogical analysis\u201d and so on. And we will fix on this as well.<\/div>\n
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ananda<\/i><\/b> \u2013 this word has also suffered bad fate. In and of itself it denotes a group of states, from \u201cpleasure\u201d to \u201crapture\u201d, \u201cecstasy\u201d and \u201cbliss\u201d. In connection with this I recall one episode that happened recently. During my last visit to India one month ago I was walking along a narrow street of Kedarnath (that\u2019s been now almost destroyed by a landslide) and met the eyes of a local \u201cholyman\u201d \u2013 a sadhu who was smoking a huge chillum that was holding at least a handful of cannabis. Having noticed my looking at him, the sadhu, surrounded by plumes of smoke, rose the chillum and explained with a thoughtful air: \u201cananda\u201d. However, within the process of religization of Yoga that is inevitably associated with moralizing, recanting pleasures and delights, such meaning became no longer satisfactory. That is why the direct meaning of the word was skillfully substituted by \u201cdivine ecstasy\u201d, \u201cultramundane rapture\u201d and other pathetic nonsense. For there is no delight in the world that one should be released from \ud83d\ude42 [3]. So we venture to suppose that Patanjali used this word in its initial meaning: \u201cpleasure\u201d, \u201chappiness\u201d, \u201crapture\u201d.<\/div>\n
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asmita<\/i><\/b> \u2013 this term is already known to us by the article about kleshas. However, here the traditional commentators find themselves in confusing situation. Asmita is a type of klesha \u2013 and suddenly it appears among the signs of \u201cSamadhi\u201d. It is somehow queer and does not match with basic concepts. The issue has appeared to be such a trouble that some interpreters have simply used different translation variants in different lines. For instance, Govindan has translated asmita of the line 1.17 as \u201cSelf-awareness\u201d (with capital letter J), while the same word in lines 2.3 and 2.6 (the lines about kleshas) comes as \u201cegoism\u201d. It seems to be strange and looks like one\u2019s attempt of pulling the reader\u2019s legs. So let us so far leave asmita translated as \u201cI-ness\u201d.<\/div>\n
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anugam\u0101t<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u2013 \u201caccompanied by\u201d, \u201cfollowing\u201d.<\/div>\n
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sampraj\u00f1\u0101ta\u1e25<\/i><\/b>\u00a0is \u201ccomprehension\u201d in compliance with afore-written.<\/div>\n
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The therefore drawn translation contains a rather sound and non-mystic idea.<\/div>\n
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1.17 The comprehension is accompanied by emergence of opinion, analysis, delight and experience of one\u2019s I-ness.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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I believe that everyone who has at least once experienced comprehension as the form of embracing by one\u2019s consciousness something that was previously incomprehensible will agree with these words of Patanjali.<\/div>\n
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As far as non-mystic is concerned\u2026 Well, it depends. For B. Russell says that the well-known scientific word \u201ctheory\u201d (that comes as a result of com-pre-hensing some part of the Universe) derives from the Greek theo-ria \u2013 looking at god\u2026<\/div>\n
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(to be continued)<\/b><\/div>\n
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_______________________________<\/div>\n
[1] In some way it resembles the concept of image\/pattern identification in computer sciences.<\/div>\n
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[2] I shall remind that the name of the school emerged due to Aristotle\u2019s habit of taking walks with his students while delivering them lectures.<\/div>\n
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[3] As the reader has already understood, my idea of the \u201cdeliverance\u201d concept, moksha and kaivalya, differs much from the widespread and popular one. But I will tell this in details when I come to the corresponding lines.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let us come back to the text of Yoga Sutras. The sloka 1.17 introduces the category of Samprajna(ta). \u0935\u093f\u0924\u0930\u094d\u0915\u0935\u093f\u091a\u093e\u0930\u093e\u0928\u0928\u094d\u0926\u093e\u0938\u094d\u092e\u093f\u0924\u093e\u0930\u0942\u092a\u093e\u0928\u0941\u0917\u092e\u093e\u0924\u094d \u0938\u092e\u094d\u092a\u094d\u0930\u091c\u094d\u091e\u093e\u0924\u0903 \u0965 \u0967\u096d\u0965 1.17 vitarka-vic\u0101ra-ananda-asmita-r\u016bpa-anugam\u0101t sampraj\u00f1\u0101ta\u1e25 \u00a0 The exact understanding of this line on the basis of translation taken \u201cfrom the dictionary\u201d shall be difficult since in fact the whole line is drawn of psycho-technical terms… Continue reading Sutras 1.17 – 1.18. Samprajna. The Legend of Asamprajna Samadhi<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200],"tags":[216],"class_list":["post-34548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-yoga-sutra-en","tag-samadhi","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.in.yoga\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}