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I knew that buying time out my hectic office-life was really tough. Especially, during the phase of implementation of our company's ERP, day by day the complexities start increasing. I being the second executive, looking after the functional and technical part of ERP, have to attend to a lot of problems of clients as well as visit client offices frequently to solve out the technical part.

Exhausted, when I leave office late at night I could hardly take out time to read Vedanta. Just as an engine exhales al its fume, by making a long monotonous sigh while moving under the shed, so do I, after returning from the day long work, lie down on my bed and exhale a long frustrated breath.

But I was quiet sure that amidst such hurlyburlyness, I would be able to make out time to visit Udbodhan on last Saturday of every month.

The lecture was delivered by the editor of `Udbodhan` magazine, a Bengali monthly, published from Ramakrishna Mission and the subject was `Raja Yoga` and `Patanjali`s yoga Sutras`. Fortunately, this time the number of audience increased overwhelmingly as compared to our previous `Vedic chanting` session.

I thought the lecture would be delivered very seriously, and, as the subject itself suggests, it would be something which is purely based om philosophical thoughts. On the contrary, I found it to be very practical and something which can be practised in our daily life. Imagine a person working on a certain skill set like a carpenter, a fisherman, a software engineer or a manager. In order to increase the efficiency of one`s own work, Patanjali devises various means for this path. It is called Patanjali`s eight limbs of Yoga. There are:

Yama - self restraint
Niyam - rules of conduct
Asana - posture
Pranayama - breathing
Prayahara - control of senses
Dharana - concentrating the mind to a single point
Dhyana - concentration
Samadhi - eternal bliss.

Out of those eight, five are called outer quests or `bahir anga sadhana`, the rest three are inner quests or `antar anga sadhana`.

Taking an ideal example of a student who wants to top in his examination, he would follow Yama- restraining his self not to go towards entertainment. Similarly Pratyahara - control of senses should be automatically practiced to concentrate on studies rather than on objects of lust and desire. The rest inner quests may or may not be practises by a person chasing after worldly desires. Dhyana and Dharana are practises by a person who holds the mind to a particular point for more than fifteen seconds. Like the waves of water, thoughts and words are in constant oscillatory motion in our mind. It arrives and disappears. The first phases, Dharana helps the mind to fix at a point. It might be chanting of hymns or imagining a person’s countenance. Indeed, for any of us, Dharana is required so that we can grab hold of thoughts and ideas very quickly. The mind is like a battered ship on the storm-teased sea. A ship needs ballast to keep her on an even keep and the helmsman needs a star to steer by. A student often forgets things. This is due to the incomprehensive thoughts that moves in the mind.

Through Dharana the chance of loosing thoughts and ideas reduces and it congloomerates and takes a perfect shape. Patanjali further subdivided Yama into Ahimsa - non-violence, Satya - truth, Asteya - non theft, Brahmacharya - continence or celibacy and Aparigraha - hoarding of things. In the modern world of MNCs and lucrative shopping malls people tend to hoard things based on their choices. Credit cards, shopping malls, advertisements they all are luring us towards expense rather than savings. Do we really need to hoard. Keeping a firm faith on God will help us to get things as and when needed.

In the 9th.chapter of Gita, Lord says:

"ananyash chintayanto mam yeh janah par upsate
"tesham nitya bhi yuktanam yogakshemam waham myaham"

(To those men who worship me alone, thinking of no one else, who are ever devout, I provide gain and security.)

It must be remembered that all those exercises devised by Patanjali are NOT for yogis. In many books you`ll find that Patanjali`s eight limbs of Yoga are written are to be followed only by the yogis. The big question that comes to our mind is who is a yogi?

Swami Vivekananda in his book "Raja Yoga" tells that anyone who takes up any idea and runs after it is a yogi. An eminent scientist, a celebrity, a scholar, a musician, anyone working to achieve a target, sacrificing all his desires and need is a yogi.

So, if Patanjali`s way to success is meant for a yogi then there cannot be a yogi more than anyone who runs after achieving a goal. It must also be mentioned that the basic, core idea of our Vedantic approach towards life is self-abnegation. Pertaining to the simple example of a student what is his self-abnegation? Does he/she leave aside study and career and go to the jungle? No. Self-abnegation is automatically achieved by anyone who starts running after a specific goal and leaves aside everything. A student trying to achieve first class in examination, would automatically give up watching movies, playing, going around with his friends. if we take the example on a broader scale, a freedom fighter sacrifices his life, his family, his happiness, for the sake of his country. This is self-abnegation. Karma Yoga speaks of this self-abnegation which is scientific and also being preached by Patanjali and is being practiced by any person who wants to achieve a target.

Delving a little deep in Patanjali`s Yoga Sutras he describes at one place a restricted entry of external sources. our five senses, eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin are sensitive to external vision, sound, smell taste and touch. If we stop getting external disturbances through our five organs, the possibility of wavering our mind reduces. Two forces working along the X-axis oscillates but no one is allowed to move towards the Y-axis or in the negative direction. As a result if we stop getting more sources from outside, our mind is less disturbed. It starts concentrating internally. Just as a country guarded by natural barriers like mountains and rivers preserves its` own culture and lineage than a country which is easily accessible to its` territories.

Such practice has been mentioned in the fifth chapter of Gita

"sparshan kritwa bahir bahayam chakshush chaiwantare bruvo
prana pranou samou kritwa nasa abhyantar acharinou
yata indriya monou buddhir munir moksha parayanah
wigata iccha bhaya krodha yah sada mukta eva cha"

Shutting out all external objects, fixing the vision between the eyebrows, making the inward and outward breath moving within the nostrils, the sage, who has controlled the senses, mind and intellect, who is intent on liberation, who has cast away desire, fear and anger, is ever liberated.

Patanjali points out that gods and goddesses are modified forms of human beings. For the liberation of soul one tries `dhyana` - concentration and attains `samadhi` - a state where there remains no sense of `I` or `mine` and the mind and the intellect have stopped as if one is in deep sleep. But one can pass into this state with a desire on mind or without a desire in mind. Those who pass into this state with a desire in mind become gods and goddesses, they enjoy a covetous life, fulfilling their sensual desires and afterwards thrown back to earth. In the 9th.chapter of Gita, Lord Krishna says:

"te twam bhuktwa swarga lokam vishalam
Kshine punye marta lokam wishanti
Ewam trai dharmam anu prapanna
Gata gatam kam kama labhante"

(Having enjoyed the extensive heavenly world, they return to the world of mortals of mortals on the exhaustion of their merits.)

Thus taking recourse to action with interested motive enjoined by the three Vedas and seeking worldly enjoyments they repeatedly go and come.

Our lecture ended on the fourth Saturday with the final conclusion that Patanjali`s means of liberating the soul can be exercised vigorously by any person to increase his dexterity of work. We understood that a `yogi` is not a superhuman but person like us and `yogas` are nothing but tools and means which help us to achieve a specific goal.

After completing the lecture my guru rose up with a smile over his face. He told us that words are simple to say but to act accordingly is really difficult. His character always overwhelmed me. He has been extremely calm in every aspect of life, amidst extreme business and worries.

I bent down before his knees, closing my eyes, feeling the tremendous power and bliss, which pervades his noble soul.

Shounak Bhattacharya

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Is Vedanta A Science? August 20, 2005