द्रष्टृदृश्योपरक्तं चित्तं सर्वार्थम् ॥२३॥
draṣṭṛ-dṛṣya-uparaktaṃ cittaṃ sarva-artham ||23||
Coloured by the seer and the seen the mind is able to understand everything.
Mind, being in conjunction both with the seer and the seen, appears to an average individual to be all-pervading, omniscient and real. When one is cultured and purified, one realizes that mind has no existence of its own but is dependent on the seer.
As the physical frame is the body of mind, so mind is the body of the seer. Mind is the bridge between nature and soul, and its conjunction is either illumined by the seer or tainted by the seen. The wise yogi frees mind from the qualities of nature; he keeps it clean so that it is reflected without distortion both by the seer and the seen.
When the waves of the sea subside, they lose their identities and become
the sea. Similarly, when the waves of the seer - the senses of perception, mind, intelligence and consciousness - subside, they lose their identities and merge in the ocean of the seer, for the seer to blaze forth independently. This is the sight of the soul.
In 4 .22, Patanjali's explains that mind is no longer a subject but an object. It is not a knower but the known. As it is trained by sadhana towards maturity, it gains purity through pure intelligence.
Until now, mind was under the impression that it was the reflector and all other images were its reflected reflections..
This sutra explains that mind in its immature state takes itself to be allpowerful and all-pervading, but the truth is that the seer is actually the reflector.
Patanjali shows that the impersonating mind is transformed to the level of the seen, so that both the reflector and its reflection, citta, are identical.
It is said in the Bhagavad Gita (vi.19) that as a lamp in a windless place does not flicker, so the sheaths of a cultured yogi do not shake. They remain untouched by the wind of desires for the seer to reflect his own glorious light, atmajyoti, and to dwell in that light, purusha jnana.
PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS
