Verse 3.54
जातिलक्षणदेशैः अन्यताअनवच्छेदात् तुल्ययोः ततः प्रतिपत्तिः ॥५४॥
jāti-lakṣaṇa-deśaiḥ anyatā-anavacchedāt tulyayoḥ tataḥ pratipattiḥ ॥54॥
Those which cannot be differentiated by species, sign and place, even they will be discriminated by the above Samyama.
Verse 3.55
तारकं सर्वविषयं सर्वथाविषयमक्रमंचेति विवेकजं ज्ञानम् ॥५४॥
tārakaṁ sarva-viṣayaṁ sarvathā-viṣayam-akramaṁ-ceti vivekajaṁ jñānam ॥55॥
The essential characteristic of the yogi's exalted knowledge is that he grasps instantly, clearly and wholly, the aims of all objects without going into the sequence of time or change.
The misery that we suffer comes from ignorance, from non- discrimination between the real and the unreal. We all take the bad for the good, the dream for the reality.
Self is the only reality, and we have forgotten it. Body is an unreal dream, and we think we are all bodies. This non-discrimination is the cause of misery, and it is caused by ignorance. When discrimination comes it brings strength, and then alone can we avoid all these various ideas of bodies.
This ignorance arises through differentiating by species, sign or place. For instance, take a cow. The cow is differentiated from the dog, as species. Even with the cows alone how do we make the distinction between one cow and another? By signs.
If two objects are exactly similar they can be distinguished if they are in different places. When objects are so mixed up that even these differentiate will not help us, the power of discrimination acquired by the above-mentioned practice will give us the ability to distinguish them.
The highest philosophy of the Yogi is based upon this fact, that the Purusa is pure and perfect, and is the only “simple” that exists in this universe. The body and mind are compounds,
and yet we are ever identifying ourselves with them. That is
the great mistake that the distinction has been lost. When this power of discrimination has been attained, man sees that everything in this world, mental and physical, is a compound, and, as such, cannot be the Purusa.
Saving, because the knowledge takes the Yogi across the ocean of birth and death. The whole of Prakriti in all its states, subtle and gross, is within the grasp of this knowledge. There is no succession in perfection by this knowledge: it takes in all things simultaneously, at a glance.
Exalted in understanding, clear in action, he dominates and transcends nature and reaches, through yogic practices, the light of the Atman.
PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS
