Patanjali Yoga Sutras - 4 (Kaivalya Pada) - English

pātañjali yōga sūtrāṇi close with the fourth chapter, traditionally called kaivalya pāda - the chapter on liberation. Here kaivalya points to the seer abiding in its own nature, independent of the mind's movements and no longer driven by the push-pull of craving and fear. It is often explained as complete inner freedom, because misidentification has ended at the root.

In samādhi pāda, Patanjali defined yōga as the stilling of the mind and described the terrain of meditation: practice and dispassion, obstacles that scatter attention, and stages of absorption. In sādhana pāda, he laid out the causes of suffering and the disciplines that purify and stabilize life - ethics, breath, sense-restraint, and steady inward training.

A helpful way to study is to keep translating the sutras back into lived observation. Where do you see a habit-seed rising? Where do you see the mind grabbing an identity? Where do you see the difference between a thought and the knower of the thought?

atha kaivalyapādaḥ ।

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Now begins the chapter on liberation.

janmauṣadhimantratapassamādhijāḥ siddhayaḥ ॥1॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Special attainments can arise from birth, herbs, mantra, austerity, or meditative absorption.

jātyantarapariṇāmaḥ prakṛtyāpūrāt ॥2॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Transformation into another kind occurs through the unfolding and "filling in" of nature's potential.

nimittamaprayōjakaṃ prakṛtīnāṃvaraṇabhēdastu tataḥ kṣētrikavat ॥3॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
An external cause does not directly produce nature's changes; it removes obstacles, like a farmer.

nirmāṇachittānyasmitāmātrāt ॥4॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Created minds arise from the I-sense alone.

pravṛttibhēdē prayōjakaṃ chittamēkamanēkēṣām ॥5॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Amid varied activities, one mind can direct many.

tatra dhyānajamanāśayam ॥6॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Among these, the mind born of meditation has no latent karmic residue.

karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṃ yōginaḥ trividhamitarēṣām ॥7॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The yogi's action is neither merit-producing nor demerit-producing; for others it is threefold.

tatastadvipākānuguṇānāmēvābhivyaktirvāsanānām ॥8॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Therefore, only those latent tendencies that match the ripening of karma become active.

jāti dēśa kāla vyavahitānāmapyānantaryaṃ smṛtisaṃskārayōḥ ēkarūpatvāt ॥9॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Because memory and latent impressions are of the same nature, continuity persists even across gaps of birth, place, and time.

tāsāmanāditvaṃ chāśiṣō nityatvāt ॥10॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
And these tendencies are beginningless, because the drive of desire continues.

hētuphalāśrayālambanaiḥ saṅgṛhītatvātēṣāmabhāvētadabhāvaḥ ॥11॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Because these tendencies are sustained by cause, result, support, and object, when those are absent, the tendencies are absent.

atītānāgataṃ svarūpatō'styadhvabhēdāddharmāṇām ॥12॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The past and the future exist in their own form; the difference lies in the course taken by the mind's changing states.

tē vyaktasūkṣmāḥ guṇātmānaḥ ॥13॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
These states are either manifest or subtle, and they are made of nature's qualities.

pariṇāmaikatvāt vastutattvam ॥14॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The reality of an object rests on the unity of its transformations.

vastusāmyē chittabhēdāttayōrvibhaktaḥ panthāḥ ॥15॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Even with the same object, because minds differ, the course of experience differs.

na chaikachittatantraṃ vastu tatpramāṇakaṃ tadā kiṃ syāt ॥16॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
An object is not dependent on a single mind; otherwise, what would verify it when that mind is absent?

taduparāgāpēkṣitvāt chittasya vastujñātājñātam ॥17॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
An object is known or unknown depending on whether the mind is engaged and colored by it.

sadājñātāḥ chittavṛttayaḥ tatprabhōḥ puruṣasyāpariṇāmitvāt ॥18॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The mind's movements are always known, because the seer is unchanging.

na tatsvābhāsaṃ dṛśyatvāt ॥19॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The mind is not self-illuminating, because it is something that is seen.

ēka samayē chōbhayānavadhāraṇam ॥20॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
At one time, both cannot be determined together.

chittāntara dṛśyē buddhibuddhēḥ atiprasaṅgaḥ smṛtisaṅkaraścha ॥21॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
If one mind were to be known by another, it would lead to infinite regress of intellects and confusion of memory.

chitērapratisaṅkramāyāḥ tadākārāpattau svabuddhi saṃvēdanam ॥22॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Because consciousness does not "move" into objects, the mind knows itself when it takes on the form illuminated by that consciousness.

draṣṭṛdṛśyōparaktaṃ chittaṃ sarvārtham ॥23॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
The mind, colored by both the seer and the seen, can serve all purposes of knowing.

tadasaṅkhyēya vāsanābhiḥ chitramapi parārthaṃ saṃhatyakāritvāt ॥24॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Even though the mind is complex with countless tendencies, it exists for another's sake, because it operates as a combined instrument.

viśēṣadarśinaḥ ātmabhāvabhāvanānivṛttiḥ ॥25॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
For one who clearly discerns the distinction, the habit of self-identifying ceases.

tadā vivēkanimnaṃ kaivalyaprāgbhāraṃ chittam ॥26॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Then the mind flows toward discernment and naturally leans toward freedom.

tachChidrēṣu pratyayāntarāṇi saṃskārēbhyaḥ ॥27॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
In the gaps of that, other thoughts arise due to latent impressions.

hānamēṣāṃ klēśavaduktam ॥28॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Their removal is as explained for the afflictions.

prasaṅkhyānē'pyakusīdasya sarvathā vivēkakhyātēḥ dharmamēghassamādhiḥ ॥29॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
For one who is not grasping even for the highest insight, and who has unwavering discernment, there arises the "cloud of dharma" absorption.

tataḥ klēśakarmanivṛttiḥ ॥30॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that follows the cessation of afflictions and karmic momentum.

tadā sarvāvaraṇamalāpētasya jñānasyānantyāt jñēyamalpam ॥31॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Then, because knowledge is free of all veils and stains and becomes limitless, what remains to be known seems very little.

tataḥ kṛtārthānāṃ pariṇāmakramasamāptirguṇānām ॥32॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
From that, for nature's qualities that have fulfilled their purpose, the sequence of transformation comes to an end.

kṣaṇapratiyōgī pariṇāmāparānta nirgrāhyaḥ kramaḥ ॥33॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Sequence is correlated with moments and is grasped only at the endpoint of change; it is not directly graspable as it happens.

puruṣārthaśūnyānāṃ guṇānāmpratiprasavaḥ kaivalyaṃ svarūpapratiṣṭhā vā chitiśaktiriti ॥34॥

Translation (bhāvārtha):
Liberation is the return of nature's qualities to their source when they no longer serve the seer, or the establishment of consciousness in its own nature - thus.

iti pātañjalayōgadarśanē kaivalyapādō nāma chaturthaḥ pādaḥ ।

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

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