Raja Yoga -1- 2.

Sri Maha Vishnu ( Venkatachalapathy ) Temple Tirupathi .

1. The Philosophy of Yoga-2.

The Yoga concerns itself with the method of freeing the Purusha from this bondage through right effort.

Yoga is, thus, more a practical way of attainment than a philosophical excursion into the realms of the Spirit.

As a Darsana, it is Sa-Ishvara Sankhya, i.e., it sanctions the twenty-five Tattvas of the Sankhya and adds one more, Ishvara.

In doing so, Yoga fulfills its own characteristic of being an utterly practical system of Sadhana.


When covered over by the veil of ignorance (Aviveka), the Purusha imagines that He is imperfect, incomplete, and that fulfillment can be had only in His conjunction with Prakriti.

The Purusha then, so to say, begins to gaze at Prakriti; and in the light of His consciousness, the inert Prakriti commences its kaleidoscopic display of objects.

The Purusha, due to Prakriti-Samyoga, appears to desire for enjoyment of these objects.

He acts, as it were.

He seems to grasp the objects.

Now bondage, though not essential to the Purusha, is complete and the vicious circle is kept up.

Transmigration of the individual is the consequence of Aviveka and its effects.

Yoga by its scientific processes cuts these three knots one by one and leads to Kaivalya Moksha which is the realization of the true Purusha as independent of Prakriti and its evolutes.

Swami Sivananda
To be continued.....