मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातः चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥३३॥
maitrī-karuṇā-muditā-upekṣānāṃ sukha-duḥkha-puṇya-apuṇya-viṣayāṇāṃ bhāvanātaḥ citta-prasādanam ||33||
By cultivating an attitude of friendship toward those who are happy, compassion toward those in distress, joy toward those who are virtuous, and equanimity toward those who are nonvirtuous, lucidity arises in the mind.
Bryant Commentary:
Since the commentators have pointed out some fundamental differences between Buddhism and Yoga when it comes to consciousness, we can note with this sūtra a similarity. The four practices noted in this sūtra—friendship, maitrī; compassion, karuṇā; joy, muditā; and equanimity, upekṣā—correspond exactly to the four brahma–vihāras outlined in various Buddhist suttas (rendered, in Pali, as mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkā). Once more, the common context of these practices is underscored—indeed, the Buddhist Saṁyutta Nikāya and the Saṁyukta Āgama texts contain explicit reference to the fact that these practices were also cultivated by those who did not follow the teachings of the Buddha.
In this sūtra, Patañjali outlines a practice essential for enhancing lucidity, the prerequisite for attaining steadiness in the mind. Vyāsa pairs the set of attitudes specified by Patañjali in the first part of this sūtra sequentially with the conditions listed in the second part. As a result of cultivating an attitude of friendship with those who find themselves in a situation of happiness, one of compassion toward those in distress, one of joy toward pious souls, and one of equanimity or indifference toward the impious, sattva is generated. Consequently, the mind becomes lucid, clarity being the nature of sattva. Once the mind is clear, one-pointed concentration or steadiness can be achieved.
Vācaspati Miśra elaborates on this. By being a well-wisher toward those who are happy, as well as those who are virtuous, the contamination of envy is removed. By compassion toward those who are miserable, that is, by wishing to remove someone’s miseries as if they were one’s own, the contamination of the desire to inflict harm on others is removed. By equanimity toward the impious, the contamination of intolerance is removed. By thus removing these traits of envy, desire to inflict harm, and intolerance, which are characteristics of rajas and tamas, the sattva natural to the mind can manifest. In the ensuing state of lucidity, the inclination toward controlling the vṛttis, in other words toward cultivating a focused state of mind by the practice of yoga, spontaneously arises, because the inclination for enlightenment is natural to the pure sāttvic mind.
Hariharānanda suggests that envy generally arises when we encounter people whom we do not care about experiencing happiness. Even a pious person can invoke our jealousy, and we take cruel delight when we find an enemy in misery. One should rather try to practice projecting the happiness we feel when our friend is happy or virtuous onto an enemy who is happy, he continues, and the compassion we feel for our friends when they are unhappy should be cultivated for our enemies. By these practices of equanimity, the mind can become lucid and fixed in the goal of yoga. Vijñānabhikṣu and Śaṅkara quote the Gītā in this regard: “A self-controlled person attains peace by engaging with sense objects with the senses freed from attachment and aversion and under his control. With clear mind, his intelligence becomes fixed” (II.64–65). As arithmetic is important, says Bhoja Rāja, not so much in its own right as in order to arrive at the total sum of something, so he attitudes mentioned in this sūtra are important in order to prepare the mind for meditation.
This sūtra prescribes a kind of mindfulness or mental cultivation off the mat, so to speak, that is, in day-to-day affairs outside of the context of citta-vṛtti-nirodha–type meditation. Cultivating the higher qualities of sattva is a continuous and constant requirement of the yogic path and spills over into all aspects of life’s affairs and social interactions. It speaks to the fact that yoga need not be perceived as a world-renouncing tradition but is perfectly compatible with engaged and benevolent social action in the world.
Tapas (Austerity Or Sturdy Self-Discipline—Mental, Moral And Physical), Svadhyaya (Repetition Of Sacred Mattras Or Study Of Sacred Literature) And Isvara-Pranidhana (Complete Surrender To God) Are Kriya-Yoga (Yoga In The Form Of Action).
Consciousness settles as one radiates friendliness, compassion, delight, and equanimity toward all things, whether pleasant or painful, good or bad.
By cultivating attitudesof friendliness toward happiness, compassion toward suffering, delight toward virtue, and equanimity toward vice, thoughts become purified, and the obstacles to self-knowledge are lessened.
The mind becomes clarified by cultivating attitudes of friendliness, compassion, gladness and indifference respectively towards happiness, misery, virtue and vice.
Taimini Commentary:
In giving a number of alternative exercises for overcoming Viksepa the author begins with two Sutras the relevancy of which, in relation to the subject being consid- ered, is not sometimes quite clear to students. In the Sutra we are considering Patanjali defines the correct attitude of the would-be Yogi in the various kinds of situations that may arise in his relationship with those amongst whom he lives. One of the greatest sources of disturbance to the mind is our uncontrolled reactions to our human environment, to what people do around us and to the pleasant or unpleasant conditions in which we get involved. The ordinary man has no well-defined principle for the regulation of these reactions. He reacts to these things in a haphazard manner according to his whims and moods with the result that he is being constantly disturbed by all kinds of violent emotions. Some people, finding these emotional reactions unpleasant, decide not to react at all and gradually become cold, hard-hearted and indifferent to those around them. Both these attitudes are undesirable and cannot lead to acquiring a calm, gentle and compassionate nature in accordance with the requirements of the higher life. Spiritual life can go neither with violent reactions nor with cold indifference which some misguided stoics recommend to their followers. It requires a balanced na- ture in which our reactions are correctly regulated by the highest motives and are in harmony with the Great Law. The point to note here is that the development of a hard and callous nature, which is indifferent to the happiness and suffering of others, is no real solution of the problem of mental equilibrium and the freedom from disturbances which is thus acquired is more apparent than real because it is artificial and against the law of Love. Besides, there is the danger of the Yogi who allows himself to become callous drifting into the Left-hand path and creating for himself and others untold suffering.
Patanjali has not only pointed out the necessity for the Yogi of controlling and regulating his reactions to his environment but has also laid down the general principle on which this regulation is to be based. This principle is, of course, derived from the laws of psychology and practical experience in dealing with the problem of adjusting ourselves to our environment. It ensures for the Yogi both the equilibrium of mind and freedom from entanglements which he needs for the steady pursuit of his object.
The principle on the basis of which the Yogi has to regulate his attitudes and re- actions is quite clear from the Sutra but there is one point on which doubt may arise in the mind of the student. Patanjali prescribes indifference towards vice. To some it may appear that this is not in accordance with the highest ideals of spiritual life and an atti- tude of active help and compassion towards the wicked would be better than that of mere indifference. This objection seems quite reasonable and incidents may be quoted from the lives of great spiritual teachers and saints in support of this argument. But we have to remember that this Sutra is not meant to prescribe a code of conduct for people in general or for those who have become Enlightened and are thus in a position to serve as spiritual teachers. It is a code of conduct recommended for the practical stu-dent of Yoga who is an aspirant for Enlightenment. He is engaged in the pursuit of an objective of an extraordinarily difficult nature and he cannot afford to divert his ener- gies for the purpose of reforming others. According to the Eastern tradition and con- ception of spirituality, active work for the spiritual regeneration of others comes after a person has gained at least a certain degree of enlightenment himself. If we go out to reform others while we ourselves are bound by all kinds of illusions and limitations, we are not likely to gain much success in our endeavour and may seriously jeopardize our own progress. The aspirant for Yoga cannot frown upon the wicked because that would tend to arouse hatred and have undesirable repercussions on his own mind. He cannot show sympathy towards them because that would be encouraging vice. So the only course left open to him is to adopt an attitude of indifference.
The result of following the rule given in this Sutra is to bring about clarification of the mind and to remove one of the causes of mental disturbance for the beginner. All those distortions and complexes which the average man develops in his conflicting relations with others must be combed out and the psyche made healthy and harmoni- ous. Otherwise, Viksepa will continue to trouble him and make the practice of Yoga impossible.
Besides a clarified mind, another essential requisite for the pratice of Yoga is a strong and restful nervous system. How this can be ensured is indicated in the next ø.
Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference to pleasure and pain, virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favourably disposed, serene and benevolent.
Iyengar Commentary:
For Patañjali, the practice of yoga is the ‘yoga of action’, kriyayoga, composed of tapas, self-discipline, svadhyaya, self-study and Isvara pranidhana, surrender to God.
These qualities keep the mind in a state of well-being. Patañjali here lays the groundwork for our journey towards Self-Realization. Citta viksepa is a current of disturbed thoughts running like a river. In citta prasadana, graceful diffusion, the turbulent flow is dammed up and consciousness diffuses calmly like a lake.
If the citta is caught in the web of the senses, and the sadhaka fails to cultivate friendliness, compassion, delight and equanimity, sorrow and unhappiness arise in his heart. This sutra asks us to rejoice with the happy, to be compassionate to the sorrowful, friendly to the virtuous, and indifferent to those who continue to live in vice despite attempts to change them. This mental adjustment builds social as well as individual health. Besides cultivating these qualities, one should follow the social virtues of yama (11.30) for the well-being of society as a whole. This approach to life keeps the mind of the sadhaka serene and pure.
I.34 pracchardana vidharanabhyam va Pranasya
Accepting pain as help for purification, study of spiritual books and surrender to the Supreme Being constitute Yoga in practice.
Satchidananda Commentary:
By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.
Whether you are interested in reaching samādhi or plan to ignore Yoga entirely, I would advise you to remember at least this one sūtra. It will be very helpful to you in keeping a peaceful mind in your daily life. You may not have any great goal in your life, but just try to follow this one sūtra very well and you will see its efficacy. In my own experience, this sūtra became my guiding light to keep my mind serene always.
Who would not like serenity of mind always? Who would not like to be happy always? Everybody wants that. So Patañjali gives four keys: friendliness, compassion, delight and disregard. There are only four kinds of locks in the world. Keep these four keys always with you, and when you come across any one of these four locks, you will have the proper key to open it. What are those four locks? Sukha, duḥkha, puṇya and apuṇya — the happy people, unhappy people, the virtuous and the wicked. At any given moment, you can fit any person into one of these four categories. When you see happy people, use the “friendliness” key. Why should Patañjali say this? Because even four thousand years ago there must have been people who were not happy at seeing others happy. It is still the same way. Suppose some people drive up in a big car, park in front of a huge palatial home and get out. Some other people are standing on the pavement in the hot sun getting tired. How many of those people will be happy? Not many. They will be saying, “See that big car? Those people are sucking the blood of the laborers.” We come across people like that; they are always jealous. When a person gets name, fame or high position, they try to criticize that person. “Oh, don’t you know, that person’s brother is so-and-so. Some strings must have been pulled.” They will never admit that the person might have gone up by his or herown merit. By that jealousy, you will not disturb the other person, but you disturb your own serenity. Those people simply got out of the car and walked into the house, but you are burning up inside. Instead, think, “Oh, such fortunate people. If everyone was like that how happy the world would be. May God bless everybody to have such comfort. I will also get that one day.” Make those people your friends. That response is missed in many cases, not only between individuals but even among nations. When some nation is prospering, the neighboring country is jealous of it and wants to ruin its economy. So we should always have the key of friendliness when we see happy people.
Friendship, mercy, gladness, indifference, being thought of in regard to subjects, happy, unhappy, good and evil respectively, pacify the Chitta.
SV Commentary
We must have these four sorts of ideas. We must have friendship for all; we must be merciful towards those that are in misery; when people are happy we ought to be happy, and to the wicked we must be indifferent. So with all subjects that come before us. If the subject is a good one, we shall feel friendly towards it; if the subject of thought is one that is miserable we must be merciful towards the subject. If it is good we must be glad, if it is evil we must be indifferent. These attitudes of the mind towards the different subjects that come before it will make the mind peaceful. Most of our difficulties in our daily lives come from being unable to hold our minds in this way. For instance, if a man does evil to us, instantly we want to react evil, and every reaction of evil shows that we are not able to hold the Chitta down; it comes out in waves towards the object, and we lose our power. Every reaction in the form of hatred or evil is so much loss to the mind, and every evil thought or deed of hatred, or any thought of reaction, if it is controlled, will be laid in our favour. It is not that we lose by thus restraining ourselves; we are gaining infinitely more than we suspect. Each time we suppress hatred, or a feeling of anger, it is so much good energy stored up in our favour; that piece of energy will be converting into the higher powers.
How is the embellishment of the permanent mind taught by this science, secured ? ‘ The mind becomes pure by cultivating habits of
friendliness, compassion, complacency and indifference towards happiness, misery, virtue and vice/ Let him cultivate in his mind the habit of friendliness towards all those who are found in the enjoyment of pleasure; compassion* towards those who are suffering from pain ; complacency towards those who are virtuous,; indifference towards the vicious. By thus habituating the mind to these notions, the white characteristic makes appearance. Thence the mind becomes pure. Having become pure, it becomes one-pointed and attains the state of steadiness.
~ Rāma Prasāda translation.
maitrī ()
karuṇā ()
muditā ()
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sukha ()
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puṇya ()
apuṇya ()
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bhāvanātaḥ ()
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