Yoga Philosophy

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi, Bhagu F Karbhari
Publisher: Devchand Lalbhai Pustakoddhar Fund

Page 32

MYSTICISM IN INDIA
13 This state is of two kinds. The first is that in which the mind is at rest only for the time, the other is that in which through supreme universal non-attachment it is centred in Sativa-passivity and realizes Sattva everywhere for all time. The mind being as it were annihilated, Purusha the soul alone shines in native bliss. This state is called Kaivalya. This is the end in view. This is the summum bonum, the end and aim of philosophy. Between this end and the first beginning of mental suppression there are as I told you eight stages. A safe passage through these eight stages is the most practical part of the Yoga. It is beset with thorns and brambles but if you once pass through it safely, you stand at the shore of eternal bliss and joy. To the student of the Yoga, as well as to public at large, I would cite the ancient classical dictum -Observandum sed non imitandum—Investigate but do not experiment with a postcript that while the first part applies to both, the second is for the public alone.
The first stage then through which a student of Yoga has to pass is Yama or forbearance. He must invariably and strictly practice Yama or forbearance. He cannot go a step further before he has completely become the master of that virtue. What he is required to do is to acquire complete control over body, mind and speech and it consists in abstaining from killing, falsehood, theft, incontinence and greediness. The first and most important of these is killing, Hinsa in Sanskrit. It is difficult to give the full meaning of this word Hinsa. It means wishing evil to any being