History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.192.3

v7.c94.192.3

The Bhāṣya remarks 'the highest limit of consciousness (knowledge) is Vairāgya and Kaivalya is inseparably connected with it.' Vācaspati states that this last is called 'Dharmamegha-samādhi' (mentioned in Y. S IV. 29). Sūtras 17 and 18 of first pāda deal respectively with samprajñāta-samādhi (conscious concentration) or sālambanasamādhi and asamprajñāta-samādhi (concentration in which there is no consciousness of objects, gross or subtle). The first is of four kinds (or of four stages) viz. *savitarka* (deliberation over or realization of a gross object like Śālagrāma or the image of a god with four arms and the like), *savicāra* (where there is reflection over a subtle object such as the *tan-mātrās*), *sānanda* where the reflection is on the mind which is full of sattva (that is a samādhi of joy) and *sāsmitārūpa* (i. e where there is only a sense of personality in which the knower himself is the object of perception).²³¹⁸ These four kinds lead on to the asamprajñāta-samādhi, which results when all vṛttis have disappeared, when there is persistent exercise of this state and the mind consists of sub-liminal impressions only. Sūtras 19-51 (to the end of the first pāda) deal with the different kinds of samādhi, the different ways of attainment, the position of Īśvara in the Yoga system, the nine obstacles (antarāya) that cause distraction of the mind of the person who practises Yoga and the companions of these obstacles, the means of preventing obstacles &c.