Patanjali Yoga Sutras - 3 (Vibhuti Pada) - English

pātañjali yōga sūtrāṇi describe not only the calming of attention but also the surprising power of a trained mind. The third chapter is traditionally called vibhūti pāda because it speaks of "manifestations" - expansions of capacity that can appear when concentration becomes extremely refined. Some of these are presented as extraordinary abilities, and some can be read as unusually subtle insight.

In samādhi pāda, Patanjali defined yōga as the stilling of the mind and mapped the terrain of meditation: practice and dispassion, obstacles that disrupt steadiness, and stages of absorption. In sādhana pāda, he explained why the mind suffers and how it is purified through kriyā-yōga and the eight-limbed discipline - ethics, breath, sense-restraint, and inward training.

If you study this chapter, keep two guardrails: do not chase powers, and do not dismiss the teaching as fantasy. Hold a sober middle. Let the sutras train your understanding of attention, and let your practice remain grounded in the earlier disciplines. A helpful way to read is to translate the sutras into questions for your own life: What happens to my mind when it holds one aim steadily?

śrīpātañjalayōgadarśanam ।

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The revered Yoga teaching of Patanjali.

atha vibhūtipādaḥ ।

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Now begins the chapter on the manifestations that arise from deep focus.

dēśabandhaśchittasya dhāraṇā ॥1॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Concentration is fixing the mind on a chosen place or point.

tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam ॥2॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Meditation is the continuous one-streamed flow of attention there (toward that object).

tadēvārthamātranirbhāsaṃ svarūpaśūnyamiva samādhiḥ ॥3॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Absorption is when only the object shines forth, as if the mind's own form were absent.

trayamēkatra saṃyamaḥ ॥4॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The three together are called integrated practice (samyama).

tajjayāt prajñālōkaḥ ॥5॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From mastery of that comes the light of insight.

tasya bhūmiṣu viniyōgaḥ ॥6॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
It can be applied in different stages of practice.

trayamantaraṅgaṃ pūrvēbhyaḥ ॥7॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
These three are inner limbs compared to the previous ones.

tadapi bahiraṅgaṃ nirbījasya ॥8॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Even that is external in relation to seedless absorption.

vyutthānanirōdhasaṃskārayōrabhibhavaprādurbhāvau nirōdhakṣaṇachittānvayō nirōdhapariṇāmaḥ ॥9॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The transformation toward stilling is when outward-turning impressions are overcome and stilling impressions arise, and the mind becomes continuous in moments of stillness.

tasya praśāntavāhitā saṃskārāt ॥10॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From those impressions, a continuous flow of tranquility develops.

sarvārthataikāgrātayōḥ kṣayōdayau chittasya samādhipariṇāmaḥ ॥11॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The mind's absorption-transformation is the waning of scattered all-objectness and the arising of one-pointedness.

tataḥ punaḥ śāntōditau tulyapratyayau chittasyaikāgratā pariṇāmaḥ ॥12॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Further, one-pointedness transforms the mind such that subsiding and arising cognitions become equal.

ētēna bhūtēndriyēṣu dharmalakṣaṇāvasthāpariṇāmā vyākhyātāḥ ॥13॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
By this, the transformations of properties, marks, and states in the elements and senses are explained.

śāntōditāvyapadēśyadharmānupātī dharmī ॥14॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The substratum persists through properties that are subsided, arisen, or latent.

kramānyatvaṃ pariṇāmānyatvē hētuḥ ॥15॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Difference in sequence is the cause of difference in transformation.

pariṇāmatrayasaṃyamādatītānāgatajñānam ॥16॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the threefold transformations comes knowledge of past and future.

śabdārthapratyayānāmitarētarādhyāsāt saṅkarastatpravibhāgasaṃyamāt sarvabhūtarutajñānam ॥17॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Because words, meanings, and cognitions are mutually superimposed, there is confusion; through samyama that distinguishes them, knowledge of the sounds of all beings arises.

saṃskārasākṣātkaraṇāt pūrvajātijñānam ॥18॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From direct perception of impressions comes knowledge of previous births.

pratyayasya parachittajñānam ॥19॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on cognition comes knowledge of another's mind.

na cha tat sālambanaṃ tasyāviṣayībhūtatvāt ॥20॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
But that knowledge does not include the object-support, because it is not within the object's domain.

kāyarūpasaṃyamāt tadgrāhyaśaktistambhē chakṣuḥ prakāśāsamprayōgē'ntardhānam ॥21॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Through samyama on the body's form, by suspending its perceptibility and disconnecting from light and sight, disappearance is described.

sōpakramaṃ nirupakramaṃ cha karma tatsaṃyamādaparāntajñānamariṣṭēbhyō vā ॥22॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on initiated and ongoing karma comes knowledge of one's end; or it can be inferred from signs.

maitryādiṣu balāni ॥23॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on friendliness and related qualities come strengths in them.

balēṣu hastibalādīnī ॥24॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on strength arises strength such as that of an elephant and the like.

pravṛttyālōkanyāsāt sūkṣmavyavahitaviprakṛṣṭajñānam ॥25॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
By directing the light of awareness onto mental activity, knowledge arises of subtle, hidden, and distant things.

bhuvanajñānaṃ sūryē saṃyamāt ॥26॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the sun comes knowledge of the worlds (systems/realms).

chandrē tārāvyūhajñānam ॥27॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the moon comes knowledge of the arrangement of the stars.

dhruvē tadgatijñānam ॥28॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the pole star comes knowledge of the movements (courses) of the stars.

nābhichakrē kāyavyūhajñānam ॥29॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the navel center comes knowledge of the body's constitution.

kaṇṭhakūpē kṣutpipāsānivṛttiḥ ॥30॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the throat region comes cessation of hunger and thirst.

kūrmanāḍyāṃ sthairyam ॥31॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the tortoise-channel comes steadiness.

mūrdhajyōtiṣi siddhadarśanam ॥32॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the light in the head comes vision of the perfected ones.

prātibhādvā sarvam ॥33॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Or, through intuitive insight, broad knowledge arises.

hṛdayē chittasaṃvit ॥34॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the heart comes understanding of the mind.

sattvapuruṣayōratyantāsaṅkīrṇayōḥ pratyayāviśēṣō bhōgaḥ parārthatvāt svārthasaṃyamāt puruṣajñānam ॥35॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Experience is the undifferentiated cognition in which clarity-of-mind and consciousness appear mixed; since experience serves another's purpose, samyama on one's own purpose brings knowledge of the seer.

tataḥ prātibhaśrāvaṇavēdanādarśāsvādavārtā jāyantē ॥36॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that arise intuitive perceptions related to hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell.

tē samādhāvupasargāvyutthānē siddhayaḥ ॥37॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Those are obstacles in absorption, but attainments in the outward state.

bandhakāraṇaśaithilyāt prachārasaṃvēdanāchcha chittasya paraśarīrāvēśaḥ ॥38॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
By loosening the causes of bondage and by knowing the mind's movement, the mind can enter another body.

udānajayājjalapaṅkakaṇṭakādiṣvasaṅga utkrāntiścha ॥39॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From mastery of the upward vital current comes non-contact with water, mud, thorns, and the like, and also ascent.

samānajayājjvalanam ॥40॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From mastery of the balancing vital current comes radiance (inner fire).

śrōtrākāśayōḥ sambandhasaṃyamāt divyaṃ śrōtram ॥41॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the relationship between hearing and space comes extraordinary hearing.

kāyākāśayōḥ sambandhasaṃyamāt laghutūlasamāpattēścha ākāśagamanam ॥42॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the relationship between body and space, and from absorption in lightness like cotton, movement through space is described.

bahirakalpitā vṛttirmahāvidēhā tataḥ prakāśāvaraṇakṣayaḥ ॥43॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
An outward, non-constructed mental modification is the great disembodied state; from it the veil over clarity is destroyed.

sthūlasvarūpasūkṣmānvayārthavattvasaṃyamāt bhūtajayaḥ ॥44॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on the elements - in their gross and subtle nature, their interconnections, and their purpose - mastery over the elements arises.

tatō'ṇimādiprādurbhāvaḥ kāyasampat taddharmānabhighātaścha ॥45॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that come the manifestation of powers such as minuteness, bodily excellence, and non-obstruction by the elements' properties.

rūpalāvaṇyabalavajrasaṃhananatvāni kāyasampat ॥46॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Bodily excellence includes grace, beauty, strength, diamond-like firmness, and solid compactness.

grahaṇasvarūpāsmitānvayārthavattvasaṃyamādindriyajayaḥ ॥47॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From samyama on perception, the senses' nature, ego-identification, their connections, and their purpose arises mastery over the senses.

tatō manōjavitvaṃ vikaraṇabhāvaḥ pradhānajayaścha ॥48॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that come mind-like speed, functioning without the usual instruments, and mastery over primal nature.

sattvapuruṣānyatākhyātimātrasya sarvabhāvādhiṣṭhātṛtvaṃ sarvajñātṛtvañcha ॥49॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From the clear discernment of the distinctness of mind-clarity and the seer alone arise mastery over all states and omniscience.

tadvairāgyādapi dōṣabījakṣayē kaivalyam ॥50॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Even through dispassion toward that (higher attainment), when the seeds of defects are exhausted, liberation is realized.

sthānyupanimantraṇē saṅgasmayākaraṇaṃ punaraniṣṭaprasaṅgāt ॥51॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
When invited by those in higher states, do not cultivate attachment or pride, because it can lead again to undesirable entanglements.

kṣaṇatatkramayōḥ saṃyamādvivēkajaṃ jñānam ॥52॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From deep meditative focus on the moment and its sequence arises insight born of discernment.

jātilakṣaṇadēśairanyatānavachChēdāt tulyayōstataḥ pratipattiḥ ॥53॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that arises clear recognition of the difference between two similar things when they cannot be distinguished by category, traits, or location.

tārakaṃ sarvaviṣayaṃ sarvathāviṣayamakramaṃ chēti vivēkajaṃ jñānam ॥54॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Discernment-born insight is liberating: it can know all kinds of things, yet is not bound to objects, and it is immediate rather than step-by-step.

sattvapuruṣayōḥ śuddhisāmyē kaivalyam ॥55॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
When the mind's clarity is purified to match the purity of the seer, liberation is realized.

iti śrīpātañjalayōgadarśanē vibhūtipādō nāma tṛtīyaḥ pādaḥ ।

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Thus ends the third chapter of Patanjali's Yoga teaching, called "The Chapter on Manifestations."

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