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Yoga Sutra 1.18
विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वः संस्कारशेषोऽन्यः ॥१८॥
virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ saṁskāra-śeṣo-‘nyaḥ ॥18॥
- virāma: cessation, come to rest
- pratyaya: content of mind
- abhyāsa: continued practice
- pūrvaḥ: preceding, coming before
- saṁskāra: impressions from the past or from a previous life; our tendencies
- śeṣo: residual, that which remains
- anyaḥ: the other (the other samadhi)
- The other samadhi (asamprajnata) is preceded by a continued sadhana of stopping the content of mind. In it the mind remains in the form of traces.
- OR
- The other state of insight, which is based on persistent practice, arises when all perception has been extinguished and only non-manifest impressions remain.
Definition of asamprajnata samadhi - Asamprajnata samadhi ia not nirbeeja samadhi, it belongs to the category of sabeeja samadhi. Nirbeeja samadhi is the highest form of samadhi. When the spiritual aspirant passes from dhyana to samadhi, the state is known as vitarka samprajnata. After it is perfected, it will be followed by Asamprajnata. Then comes vichara samprajnata, again followed by asamprajnata. And this sadhana continues for a long time.
Asamprajnata samadhi is an intermediate state. And like vitarka, vichara, and asamprajnata, if the aspirant stops practice or gets shaken from his path, he can easily revert back to a previous state. The state of asamprajnata is similar to the state of nirodha, from it, one may either ascend to a deeper state of consciousness or may revert back to a grosser state.
Nirbeeja samadhi is not a state at all, because it is devoid of awareness, devoid of consciousness. But consciousness of the object does not vanish completely, it only changes layers. In sadhana we usually experience the symbol (symbol or object on which the aspirant focused during sadhana) through these layers, but when they are dissolved through practice, the object can be clearly seen. This is how the transition happens from vitarka to vichara and so on.
In dharana, the object (pratyaya) appears as the formulated pattern of gross consciousness; in dhyana, it appears as the concentrated pattern of consciousness; in vitarka samadhi, there is supramental pattern; in vichara, there is contemplative pattern; in ananda, it is the bliss pattern, and so on. But Pratyaya exists till the end.
In asamprajnata samadhi, the pratyaya or awareness of the symbol drops temporarily. Asamprajnata samadhi is not a permanent state, it is only an intermediate state in which the consciousness is trying to transcend into a higher state.
References
- Four Chapters on Freedom by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, published in 1976.
