What is yoga? You know that in Sanskrit almost all the vocabulary, all the words of its vocabulary, have two types of meanings, two types of significances. One is the root meaning: in Sanskrit this is called the bhávárúd́hártha. The other is the use of the word in common parlance – what the common people say, how the common people use the word: this is called the word’s yogárúd́hártha.

For example, the word paiṋcánana. The bhávárúd́hártha, that is, the root meaning, of paiṋcánana is “having five faces”. The yogárúd́hartha is “Shiva”. There are so many Messrs. Panchanan in the state; but actually the meaning is “something having five faces”.

The word yoga has also four interpretations.

Where the root verb is yuj, and the suffix ghaiṋ is added, it becomes yoga; here yoga means “addition”. “Two plus two is equal to four” is yoga, is addition.

One thing you should know is the pronunciation of the letters in the Sanskrit alphabetical order. There are four letters known as antahstha varńa [convertible letters] – ya, ra, la, va. These four letters are not independent sounds or independent letters. They are known as antahstha varńa, that is, when they appear as the first letter of any word, they will have a special sound; and when they are not the first letter, that is, when they are in the middle or at the end of any word, they will not have this special sound.

For example, the letter ya, that is, i plus a, is a vowel. Ya is a vowel. It is ya, but it will have a special sound when it is the first letter of any word. That is, when it is the first letter of any word, its pronunciation will be ya [as in the English “jump”]. So yoga is pronounced [“joga”], not [“yoga”]. But when ya is in the middle or the last portion of a word, its pronunciation will be [“ya”] not [“ja”]. For instance, it is [“viyoga”] not [“vijoga”], [“samaya”] not [“samaja”].

When the letter ra is the first letter [of a word], its pronunciation is like [“ra”]. Otherwise it is [“r” (as in “serve”)].

When la is the first letter its pronunciation will be ordinary la, just like latá, but when it is in the middle or the end of a word then its pronunciation will be lr + a = lra. When la is not the first letter, that is, when la is the middle or is the last letter, it is pronounced lra. For example, phala is pronounced phalra, not phala. Village people say phara, this is the [comparatively] correct pronunciation. Phala is not the correct pronunciation.

Now, va. When va is the first letter its pronunciation will be like the English “v”, and when it is not the first letter, its pronunciation will be like “w”.

So it is [“joga”], not [“yoga”], because ya is the first letter.

When the root verb is yuj, the meaning is “addition” (“two plus two is equal to four”). But in the case of addition the individual identity is maintained.

However, in the second case, the root verb of yoga – pronounced [“joga”] – is yuiṋj. Yuiṋj + ghaiṋ = yoga, that is, after adding the suffix it becomes yoga. In this case yoga means “unification”. Átman becomes one with Paramátman.⁽¹⁾

In the case of unification, the unifying parties do not maintain their separate identities. Take, for instance, a mixture of sugar and water; when sugar mixes with water it forms a solution. In this case the sugar and the water fail to maintain their separate identities. This can be termed as “unification”. So in philosophy, or in Tantra, yoga is not the word derived from the yuj root but comes from the root word yuiṋj. That is, this yoga means “unification”. Átman unifies with Paramátman without maintaining its separate identity.

The third meaning of yoga is based on the Yoga Sútram of Maharshi Patanjali. There yoga means Yogashcittavrttirnirodhah [“Yoga is the suspension of all psychic propensities”].

There are a great number of psychic propensities in the human mind, as compared to the animal mind. The human mind, broadly speaking, has fifty propensities. These fifty propensities work internally as well as externally and get expressed through the ten sensory and motor organs. Therefore, the total amounts to one thousand propensities. That is, these fifty basic propensities have one thousand expressions or mental occupations. These are called cittavrtti in Sanskrit. The controlling seat of these one thousand expressions is known as the sahasrára cakra in Sanskrit. It is also known as the “thousand-petalled lotus”. The English name for the sahasrára cakra is the pineal gland or pineal body.

Now, let us understand the meaning of cittavrttirnirodhah. When these propensities moving in one thousand directions are withdrawn, when these expressions are suspended, this is known as cittavrttinirodhah. Now if these mental occupations are suspended, all the activities of the human structure will come to an end. According to Patanjali, this is the final stage of yoga. The word nirodhah means “suspension”. It is derived as follows: ni – rudh + ghaiṋ.

But this interpretation of yoga by Maharshi Patanjali is not accepted by Tantra. Tantra says: Saḿyoga yoga ityukto jiivátmá Paramátmanah. “The unification of the jiivátmá with Paramátmá is yoga,” as per Tantra. Saḿyoga means “unification”, and yoga ityukto means “known as yoga”. So here Tantra has moved a step further. According to Patanjali, yoga is the suspension of mental propensities. However, you know that when mental propensities are withdrawn from externalities and suspended, then, for want of a desideratum, they create disturbances in the internal layers of the mind. Although those propensive expressions will not be functioning externally, they will be active internally. One may not steal externally but may steal internally. Tantra refuses to accept this concept.

According to Tantra, the unification of the jiivátmá with Paramátmá means yoga. After withdrawing the mental propensities, they are to be guided towards the Supreme Entity. Then alone will the withdrawal be final. Only by guiding these withdrawn mental propensities towards the Supreme Cognition can the total unification of the jiivátmá with Paramátmá be possible, and this is yoga.

Footnotes

(1) Átman, or jiivátman, means “unit consciousness”. Paramátman is the collective name of all unit consciousnesses. –Eds.