Raja Yoga (the Yoga Sūtras with commentary) — trans. Swami Vivekananda (1896)

has, as it were, forgotten its mighty, godly nature. There is a story that the king of the gods, Indra, once became a pig, wallowing in mire ; he had a she pig, and a lot of baby pigs, and was very happy. Then some other angels saw his plight, and came to him, and told him "You are the king of the gods, you have all the gods command. Why are you here ? " But Indra said, " Let me be ; I am all right here ; I do not care for the heavens, while I have this sow and these little pigs." The poor gods were at their wits* end what to do. After a time they decided to slowly come and slay one of the little pigs, and then another, until they had slain all the pigs, and the sow too. When all were dead Indra began to weep and mourn. Then the gods ripped his pig body open and he came out of it, and began to laugh when he realised what a hideous dream he had had ; he, the king of the gods, to have become a pig, and to think that that pig-life was the only life ! Not only so, but to have wanted the whole universe to come into the pig life ! The Purusa, when it identifies itself with nature, forgets that it is pure and infinite. The Purusa does not live ; it is life itself. It does not exist ; it is existence itself. The Soul does not know ; it is knowledge itself. It is an entire mistake to say the Soul lives, or knows, or loves. Love and existence are not the qualities of the Purusa, but its essence. When they get reflected upon something you may call them the qualities of that something. But they are not the qualities of the Purusa, but the essence of this great

Atman, this Infinite Being, without birth or death, Who is estabHshed in His own glory, but appears as if become degenerate until if you approach to tell Him, "You are not a pig," he begins to squeal and bite. Thus with us all in this Maya, this dream world, where it is all misery, weeping, and crying, where a few golden balls are rolled, and the world scrambles after them. You were never bound by laws, Nature never had a bond for you. That is what the Yogi tells you ; have patience to learn it. And the Yogi shows how, by junction with this nature, and identifying itself with the mind and the world, the Purusa thinks itself miserable. Then the Yogi goes on to show you that the way out is through experience. You have to get all this experience, but finish it quickly. We have placed ourselves in this net, and will have to get out. We have got ourselves caught in the trap, and we will have to work out our freedom. So get this experience of husbands and wives, and friends, and little loves, and you will get through them safely if you never forget what you really are. Never forget this is only a momentary state, and that we have to pass through it. Experience is the one great teacher — experiences of pleasure and pain — but know they are only experiences, and will all lead, step by step, to that state when all these things will become small, and the Purusa will be so great that this whole universe will be as a drop in the ocean, and will fall oft" by its own nothingness. We have to go through these experiences, but let us never forcret the ideal.

19. The states of the qualities are the defined, the undefined, the indicated only, and the signless.

The system of Yoga is built entirely on the philosophy of the Sankhyas, as I told you in some of the previous lectures, and here again I will remind you of the cosmology of the Sankhya philosophy. According to the Sankhyas, nature is both the material and the efficient cause of this universe. In this nature there are three sorts of materials, the Sattva, the Rajas, and the Tamas. The Tamas material is all that is dark, all that is ignorant and heavy ; and the Rajas is activity. The Sattva is calmness, light. When nature is in the state before creation, it is called by them Avyaktam, undefined, or indiscrete ; that is, in which there is no distinction of form or name, a state in which these three materials are held in perfect balance. Then the balance is disturbed, these different materials begin to mingle in various fashions, and the result is this universe. In every man, also, these three materials exist. When the Sattva material prevails knowledge comes. When the Rajas material prevails activity comes, and when the Tamas material prevails darkness comes, and lassitude, idleness, ignorance. According to the Sankhya theory, the highest manifestation of this nature, consisting of these three materials, is what they call Mahat, or intelligence, universal intelligence, and each human mind is a part of that cosmic intelligence. Then out of Mahat comes the mind. In the Sankhya Psychology there is a sharp dis-