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Part 2 of the commentary to sutra 3.4 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,
translated and with commentary by Vasyl Vernyhora
3.4. Three (traya, that is, dharana, dhyana and samadhi) all taken together/completed (ekatra) [give (allow one to gain the ability to receive)] clairvoyance insight (saṁyama) [into the essence of any object].
The word "samyama" in other texts of yoga, Buddhism and Jainism
The Sanskrit word "saṃyama" (संयम) in this yogic meaning is not found in any Hindu text other than the Shandilya Upanishad (Śāṇḍilya Upaniṣad). Furthermore, the probable Buddhist origin of this word, via Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, will be demonstrated below.
Here it can be briefly noted that the text of the Shandilya Upanishad appears disproportionate, and its enormous first chapter (15,424 characters, compared to the tiny size of the other two chapters – very different from the content of the first chapter and at the same time homogeneous in their content – 767 characters in the second and 1,923 in the third, which, most likely, were its original version) was clearly added later, using completely different verse meters, which may indicate multiple editing and additions. In its use of samyamas, the Shandilya Upanishad partially copies the text of the third chapter of the Yoga Sutras (for example, sutras 3.26-28), and also contains descriptions of different samyamas. In particular, this Upanishad correlates the cognition of different worlds through samyama on various parts of the human body, beginning with the bottom of the feet and up (corresponding to the hellish worlds) to the navel and abdomen (corresponding to the earthly world) and further to the level of the heart and above (corresponding to the heavenly worlds). Moreover, the mention of asanas in the text of the Shandilya Upanishad, including the peacock pose (mayūrāsana), which is as uncomfortable, unstable, and non-sitting (that is, directly contradicting the entire meaning of sutra 2.46, which will be discussed later), as the crane pose from "Vyasa's" commentary on the Yoga Sutras, allows us to logically conclude that the text of this Upanishad was significantly expanded (in the form of the addition of the first chapter) at the time of the appearance of the main texts of hatha yoga, that is, approximately in the 17th century. At the same time, the active quotation of eight-limbed yoga of "Yoga Sutras" with some changes and additions in the first chapter of this Upanishad was most likely done to give authority to the practice of "asanas" mentioned in it, which was thus "anchored" in the edited version of the eight-limbed yoga. The history of the emergence of asanas in the context of calisthenics strength exercises will be examined in more detail in the review of sutra 1.28.
The term "samyama" in the meaning of "restraint/bridling [of the senses]" is also mentioned in the Sanskrit Mahayana Buddhist text "Gaganagañjaparipṛcchāsūtra" ("The sutra of [the bodhisattva] Gaganaganja's questions [addressed to the Buddha]"), the first translation of which into Chinese was completed in 421. The term "samyama" in the meaning of "control" is also mentioned in the 12th-century Jain Sanskrit text "Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra" by Hemachandra (1088–1172). The meaning of "restraint/control" in the word "samyama" in modern Indian languages most likely appeared due to a simplified, primitive understanding of the essence of clairvoyant samyama of "Yoga Sutras", when it began to be associated with the literal meaning of the word "nirodha" from the definition of yoga given in sutra 1.2.
The above allows the reader to get at least some idea of the changes in the context of which the meanings of individual lexemes and entire yogic texts changed, including the transformation (or, more precisely, primitivization) of ideas about the essence of samyama from the first appearance of this term in the Yoga Sutras to the present day.
Returning to sutra 3.4, it can be noted that samyama, with its miraculous powers, described in more than thirty sutras in the third chapter of the Yoga Sutras, comes immediately after a brief description of the method of practicing samadhi, given in a single sutra. This fact leads us to the conclusion that sutra 3.3 is not simply a description of the method of practicing samadhi and a one-time, prolonged maintenance of the state of samadhi, but rather a daily, multi-year practice of such samadhi with the result that is the very goal of Patanjali's teaching. It is precisely this practice that is necessary for the development of the supramental structures of superconsciousness with its inherent superpowers-siddhis. In particular, such siddhis are associated with the abilities of clairvoyance (3.33), telepathy (3.19), levitation (3.39), and other miracles described as possibilities for applying samyama to certain objects and phenomena. The essence of samyama, as well as the possible origin of this term, will be examined in detail below.
The full version of the book "The True Practical Essence of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" with a translation of all 196 sutras of the Yoga Sutras with commentaries on all important and/or complex sutras: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G6GT6M8B.
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