वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३३॥ वितर्का हिंसादयः कृतकारितानुमोदिता लोभक्रोधमोहपूर्वका मृदुमध्याधिमात्रा, दुःखाज्ञानानन्तफला इति प्रतिपक्षभावनम् ॥३४॥
vitarka-bādhane pratipakṣa-bhāvanam ||33|| vitarkā hiṁsādayaḥ kṛta-kāritānumoditā lobha-krodha-moha-pūrvakā mṛdu-madhyādhimātrā, duḥkhājñānānanta-phalā iti pratipakṣa-bhāvanam ||34||
(Yoga-sūtras: 2.33–34)
“When obstruction from adverse inclinations occurs, contemplation of obstacles [is to be cultivated]. ||33||
“Adverse inclinations are harming (hiṁsā) and so forth [i.e., lying, stealing, fornicating, and accumulating in excess, that is, acts that contravene each of the five aforementioned yamas] which are [either] enacted, caused to be enacted, or assented to, and which are preceded either by greed, anger, or delusion, with each of these [preceding causes] being either mild, moderate, or intense. ‘These the unending results of which are hardship and ignorance’ is contemplation of obstacles [i.e., the obstacles created by acting upon the aforesaid adverse inclinations are to be contemplated to preclude one from acting upon them]. ||34||”
Commentary
yadāsya brāhmaṇasya hiṁsādayo vitarkā jāyeran haniṣyāmy aham apakāriṇam, anṛtam api vakṣyāmi, dravyam apy asya svīkariṣyāmi, dāreṣu cāsya vyavāyī bhaviṣyāmi, parigraheṣu cāsya svāmī bhaviṣyāmīti | evam unmārga-pravaṇa-vitarka-jvareṇātidīptena bādhyamānas tat-pratipakṣān bhavayet | ghoreṣu saṁsārāṅgāreṣu pacyamānena mayā śaraṇam upāgataḥ sarva-bhūtābhaya-pradānena yoga-dharmaḥ | sa khalv ahaṁ tyaktvā vitarkān punas tān ādadānas tulyaḥ śva-vṛtteneti bhāvayet | yathā śvā vāntāvalehī tathā tyaktasya punar ādadānaiti | evam ādi sūtrāntareṣv api yojyam | … duḥkham ajñānaṁ cānantaṁ phalaṁ yeṣām iti pratipakṣa-bhāvanam | tathā ca hiṁsakas tāvat prathamaṁ vadhyasya vīryam ākṣipati, tataś ca śastrādi-nipātena duḥkhayati, tato jīvitād api mocayati | tato vīryākṣepād asya cetanācetanam upakaraṇaṁ kṣīṇa-vīryaṁ bhavati | duḥkhotpādān naraka-tiryak-pretādiṣu duḥkham anubhavati | jīvanta-vyaparopaṇāt pratikṣaṇaṁ ca jīvitātyaye vartamāno maraṇam icchann api duḥkha-vipākasya niyata-vipāka-vedanīyatvāt kathañcid evocchvas iti | yadi ca kathañcit puṇyāvāpagatā hiṁsā bhavet, tatra sukha-prāptau bhaved alpāyur iti | evam anṛtādiṣv api yojyaṁ yathā-sambhavam | evaṁ vitarkāṇāṁ cāmum evānugataṁ vipākam aniṣṭaṁ bhāvayan na vitarkeṣu manaḥ praṇidadhīta |
(Excerpt from the Vyāsa-bhāṣya)
“When this brāhmaṇa shall have adverse inclinations, those of harming and so forth, [such as the following,] ‘I shall kill this adversary,’ ‘I shall speak even falsehood,’ ‘I shall appropriate even his wealth,’ ‘I shall become a libertine with his wives as well,’ or, ‘I shall become the master of his attendants too,’ and in this way is being tormented by an intensely blazing fever of adverse inclinations leading towards the wrong path [i.e., prompting him to enact detrimental behavior], he should contemplate the obstacles [arising] from these [adverse inclinations]. He should contemplate [as follows], ‘The practice of yoga, because of [its] giving fearlessness to all beings, has been taken up as a shelter by I who am being cooked on the fearsome coals of saṁsāra, yet having rejected [that] and again taken to those adverse inclinations, I am now he who is equal in behavior to a dog.’ As a dog is a licker of [its own] vomit, so again taking up that which has been rejected is occurring [in the case of acting upon adverse inclinations that one has resolved to forsake by taking shelter in the practice of yoga]. Such is applicable also in regard to the other sūtras [i.e., similar contemplation of the detrimental consequences of not observing the other limbs of yoga described in the forthcoming sūtras is also to be practiced when adverse inclinations that prompt one to neglect these limbs of yoga arise in the mind]. …
“Contemplation of obstacles is [contemplation of these adverse inclinations being] ‘those the unending results of which are hardship and ignorance’ (duḥkhājñānānanta-phalāḥ). Moreover, a perpetrator of harm first of all strikes down the strength of a victim, then he causes pain [to the victim] by discharging weapons and so on [upon the victim], and then releases [i.e., takes] even the life [of the victim]. Consequently, as a result of striking down the strength [of the victim], his [i.e., the perpetrator of harm’s] means, [both] conscious and unconscious, become of diminished strength. As a result of causing pain [to the victim], he experiences pain in Naraka, in animal bodies, in preta bodies [i.e., in the state of being a physically disembodied spirit], and so on. As a result of removing the life [of the victim], he remains in a state of risk of death at every moment and although desiring death remains somehow breathing because of a consequence of hardship being a destined consequence to be undergone [i.e., because his karma dictates that he undergo such hardship as a result of committing murder]. If also somehow the harm [he perpetrated] shall be possessed of [some] merit [i.e., mixed with some degree of meritorious action], in that case he shall be short-lived in [his] attainment of pleasure [as a consequence of that meritorious action]. Such is applicable also in regard to lying and so on as possible [i.e., as contemplation of the obstacles that ensue from acting upon an adverse inclination to harm another living being, that is, contemplation of the ‘unending results of hardship and ignorance’ that ensue from acting upon the adverse inclination to harm another living being, has been described, the obstacles that arise from acting upon adverse inclinations to lie, to steal, to fornicate, and to acquire possessions in excess, should be similarly contemplated]. By contemplating the undesirable consequences ensuant from adverse inclinations in this way, one shall not fix the mind upon adverse inclinations [and thus prevent oneself from acting upon them].”