The next sûtra goes _ Vitarka vicharanandasmitaroopanugamatsampragnataha  meaning “In the state of conscious awareness or sampragnata samadhi, special logic is accompanied by the appearances of, or experience of meditation in which all experiences and thoughts exist, accompanied by bliss and the experience of just “I am”.”

 

What is the purpose of this sâdhana? Tarka means logic. Kutarka means illogical, where the intention is not right. Logic is applied here with the sole purpose of finding fault. One knows deep inside that it is not right, but still, logically you prove that it is right. This is called Kutarka. Vitarka is special logic that one uses to pursue in the world and to perceive the truth.

 

Now, this knowledge of yoga Sûtras that we are discussing about is Vitarka or special logic. What is happening? Logically you understand this knowledge, even reading this or talking about this has a certain effect on our consciousness. This is samâdhi, which means equanimous. Dhi is the intellect or the faculty of consciousness that sustains you. Even when we are talking about the self with a definite logic we are in a state of samâdhi.

 

Logic can always change. Vitarka is logic that cannot be condemned, that cannot be reversed. For example, if somebody is dead and you are standing there, it is obvious that they are dead and you know that the life that was there is not there anymore. At that moment your consciousness is in a different state. When you are not emotionally connected to somebody, say, then what is happening to your consciousness? You feel this is the end. Like, when a movie is over, there is a feeling that it is all over. People walk out of the movie theatre and you see that they walk out in a particular state of consciousness. At that moment there is logic in their minds, which is irrefutable and irreversible. Everything is changing or is bound to change, bound to dissolve and disappear. This is obvious. This vitarka elevates ones consciousness.

 

To experience this, one does not have to sit with their eyes closed. With eyes open itself this is obvious… the feeling of ‘I’. Everything is empty. Everything is in a state of fluidity. The whole world is just a “quantum mechanical field”. This is vitarka. The entire science is based on tarka or logic. An irrefutable tarka of it is quantum physics. The calm of mind that you get from this special logic is vitarkânugama samâdhi.

 

There are two states of mind in you. One is the state in which thoughts disturb you and another is the state in which thoughts does not disturb you. In the second state, they simply hover around in your consciousness and you are aware of that you are in samâdhi. It is part of meditation. Experiences of smell, sight, vision, taste and sounds come under Vichâra, the second type of samâdhi or awareness. This is called vichârânugama samâdhi. The third type is anandânugama, the blissful state. Have you noticed that after you do Sudarshan kriya or any breathing exercise you are in a different state? When you sing bhajans you are on a different space of samâdhi. The mind is still elevated, the consciousness is still elevated.

 

The fourth meditative state is asmitânugama samadhi. This is really the deep experience of meditation where in you do not know anything. Just the awareness that you are. Just that you know you are, but you do not know who you are, where you are. Nothing else is known. Just ‘I am present’. This is the fourth state of samâdhi. All the four are called sampragnâtha.

 

Dispassion does not divide you. In fact, it connects you. It connects you to the present moment totally. When you are not dispassionate, you are linked to the past or future. So, you are not connected to the present. Therefore you are more divided.

 

When your mind is hoping for something or when you regret the past, you are not with the moment. But when you are centered, you are in the moment. So, when you are eating, you can taste every bite. You can enjoy every bite. Every look, every sight is fresh and new. Your love is like the first love. You look at everything like it is the first time.

 

Dispassion does not take joy away from you. Dispassion gives you joy that nothing else can give you. There is a verse in Shankaracharya’s composition Bhaja Govindam, Kasya sukham na karoti viragaha?, which means, “What pleasure cannot be given by dispassion?” It gives all the pleasures, because you are so totally in the moment.

 

The so-called dispassion in the world seems so dry. People who think that they are dispassionate are melancholic. They are sad. They run away from the world and then they call this as dispassion and say that they have renounced the world. This is not renunciation. That is not dispassion. People, out of sorrow, out of misery, out of apathy, escape and escapists think they are dispassionate. Dispassion is something more precious, refined and more valuable in life.

 

Here is a story. When Alexander the Great left for India, people had told him, “If you find sanyasis there, just catch hold of them and bring them back here. They is very precious in India.” So Alexander sent word and nobody would come forward. He then sent a message threatening them: “If you don’t come, I am going to chop your head off.”

 

They still did not come. He then threatened them: “I am going to take away your books, the four Vedas. I take all you have and your scriptures.”

 

The people said they would give him all the books the next evening. The pundits then called their children and made them memorise the script all night. They then took the manuscript to Alexander and said, “You can take them, we do not need them.”

 

Alexander then threatened to cut off their heads. The sanyasis told him he was free to do as he pleased. Alexander could not look into their eyes and could not tolerate the power of dispassion. He had met someone for the first time, who did not care for the emperor.

 

When Alexander came to India, some people presented him with a plate of gold bread. He had told them he was hungry and they had told him since he was an emperor he could not eat wheat bread. He told them he was starving and wanted bread. To which the people said: “Don’t you get bread in your country? Are you going all over and trying to conquer the world just to eat the same bread we are eating?” The statement shook Alexander’s world. It made him realise that what they were saying was the truth. He thought to himself: “What is the point of conquering the world? When all you want is happiness and peace.” Legend has it, Alexander then proclaimed: “When I die, leave my hands open. Let people know that Alexander, who thought he had taken everything is leaving the world with nothing.”

 

Dispassion is the strength in you. When you are centered and calm, you can understand that everyone who has come to this world has come to give something to this world. We have nothing to take from here.