Verse 4.9
जाति देश काल व्यवहितानामप्यान्तर्यां स्मृतिसंस्कारयोः एकरूपत्वात् ॥९॥
jāti-deṣa-kāla-vyavahitānām-api-ānantaryaṃ smṛti-saṃskārayoḥ eka-rūpatvāt ||9||
There is connectiveness in desire, even though separated by speices, space and time, there being identification of memory and impressions.
The law of karma functions uninterruptedly throughout successive lifetimes, though each life is separated by rank, place and time. Desires and impressions are stored in the memory and connect the behavioural patterns of previous lives with present and future lives.
The theory of karma, or the law of cause and effect, is explained to inspire the siidhaka to pursue non-white and non-black karmas, which will free him from the desires and results which are simply the accumulated actions of his previous lives. Such desireless actions culture and refine the consciousness and enable it to explore the kingdom of the soul. This is another aspect of nirmana citta.
In the previous sutra, the common identity of latent habitual impressions and memories is pointed out. Memories and impressions are interrelated, interconnected, interwoven. They act as stimuli in the present life. Even if previous lives are divided by social condition, status, time and place, the oneness of memory and impression flashes consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously and moulds the pattern of the present life.
For example, if a man's life has taken shape after undergoing many lives in the form of other
species, memory and impressions at once connect the past to the present life even though the interval between them may be a long one. We may therefore conclude that the seed of future lives is planted in the present life. 'As you sow, so shall you reap': we are responsible in this life for moulding our future lives.
The theory of karma, far from being a fatalistic theory of 'predestination', as many people misunderstand it to be, serves to make us aware of our responsibility and our power to affect the future course of our lives. It acts as a guide, inspiring us to perform virtuous actions which will gradually lead us towards the skill of performing desireless actions.
PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS