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The root cause of liberation (moksha) is yoga, which is the essence of knowledge and the essence of the soul.
The first chapter of the Yoga Shakha, verses 15 and 16, begin by praising yoga and then explain its nature.
**Verse 15:**
* **Meaning:** Among the four goals of human life (dharma, artha, kama, and moksha), liberation (moksha) is the most important. The cause of attaining liberation is yoga. Yoga is comprised of three jewels: knowledge, faith, and conduct.
**Explanation:**
* Among the four goals of life, liberation is the most important.
* Artha (wealth) is not the primary goal because it is tainted by suffering, as we experience pain when we acquire, protect, or lose it.
* Kama (desire) is merely sensual pleasure, which is fleeting and insignificant. It is better than artha, but ultimately leads to great suffering. Desire does not satisfy, and often leads to bad karma, making it not the primary goal.
* Dharma (righteousness) is superior to both artha and kama because it leads to happiness in this life and the next. However, even good deeds, like chains of gold, can bind the soul. They bring happiness, but not spiritual happiness. Physical happiness is temporary and fleeting. Therefore, dharma is not the ultimate goal.
* True spiritual happiness is found in liberation. Liberation occurs when karma is destroyed, and it is free from suffering. It is not like poisoned food, which is pleasant at first but leads to pain. It is also not tainted by the desire for results in this life or the next. Therefore, liberation, which is filled with eternal bliss, is the most important of the four goals.
* Yoga is the means to attain liberation. Yoga leads to liberation.
**Verse 16:**
* **Meaning:** Wise people call it right knowledge (samyak jnana) when one understands the nature of the principles (tattvas) as they truly are (yathā), either briefly or in detail.
**Explanation:**
* The principles (tattvas) are those whose nature is established through logic, evidence, and proof. These principles are the soul (jiva), non-soul (ajiva), inflow (āśrava), restraint (samvara), stoppage (nirjarā), bondage (bandha), and liberation (moksha).
* The true understanding (knowledge) of these principles comes to some people briefly and to others in detail, depending on their karmic exhaustion.
* The seven principles are: soul, non-soul, inflow, restraint, stoppage, bondage, and liberation.
**The Soul (Jiva):**
* There are two types of souls: liberated and bound.
* All souls are inherently infinite knowledge, vision, and bliss.
* Liberated souls are free from all karma and are eternally free from birth, death, and suffering. They are filled with infinite vision, knowledge, and bliss.
* Bound souls are divided into two categories: mobile (tras) and immobile (sthāvara).
* Both mobile and immobile souls are further divided into two categories: sufficient and insufficient.
* Sufficient souls are of six types: 1. food sufficiency, 2. body sufficiency, 3. sense organ sufficiency, 4. breath sufficiency, 5. speech sufficiency, and 6. mind sufficiency.
* One-sense immobile souls have four types, two-sense, three-sense, and four-sense (impaired) immobile souls have five types, and five-sense immobile souls have six types.
* One-sense immobile souls have five types: earth-bodied, water-bodied, fire-bodied, air-bodied, and plant-bodied. The first four have subtle and gross forms, while plants have only one form.
**Footnotes:**
* 1. Dharma here refers to "merit" and not to the purification of the soul or restraint and stoppage.
* 2. Most teachers include "merit" and "demerit" as two additional principles, making a total of nine. Here, these two principles are included in the principle of inflow.