Patanjali Yoga Sutra 3.14 - What Is Dharmi? | Yoga Teacher Training | Anvita Dixit

Transcript

namaste everyone in today's video we're going to focus on muni patanjali's yoga sutra 3.14 now in this yoga sutra muni patanjali is introducing a new term called dharmi and this term is used to encapsulate the bearer of all the dharmas so we're going to start understanding why it was necessary to introduce this term and why it is so important in the yoga sadhana process so let's take a good look at the sutra start breaking it up step by step and understanding it even better so the sutra itself goes all right so this is the sutra itself now let's look at each of the key words and then start breaking it up step by step so the first word in this sutra is shantha and shanta refers to something that is pacified quietened or reduced then comes the second word which is refers to something which has risen up which has arisen which is coming up to the surface then comes the next word aviapadeshia which essentially refers to something that has not been assigned or something that has not been designated so aviya pradesh and then the next word here is dharma dharma refers to the basic property the essential nature or the essence of something and then the next word here is anupathi anupathi means something that is you know consistently present in something or consistently inferring or inherent to something then the final word here is dharmi dharmi is known as the bearer or the carrier of all the dharmas so now we've understood all the words let's try and understand what is being said in this particular sutra specifically with respect to dharmi so dharmi is being called the carrier or the supporter of all the dharmas and it is being said that the presence of dharmi is what makes the dharmas possible and it's what encapsulates and holds all the dharmas together even those dharmas which are not yet manifested or have already been manifested so now that we know the overall basic meaning of the sutra let's get into a much more deep understanding of what it means so this sutra is said to have been introduced to really educate the yogg sadhak and help him or her to understand that there is something the potentiality known as dharmi which is accounting for and which encapsulates all the dharmas whether manifest or unmanifest this was an important element because it is believed especially by the commentators that we follow from kevalidham that most of the time period was very influenced by buddhism and a lot of the bodhian schools really believe that there's a sense of nihilism or nothingness behind the entire prakriti exchange and so because of that what happens is we start to believe that maybe there's nothing holding the dharmas together maybe it's all an interplay of cause and effect and by that that's all that's happening that this there's a interplay of cause and effect there's a little bit of um you know things happening because of that but probably there's nothing deeper and so to counteract that notion there was the creation of the sutra to help one to understand the process of dharmi by insisting that dharmi exists what muni patanjali is doing is helping us to understand and reaffirming the sankhya theory he over here is saying that since dharmi exists and is responsible for all the dharmas this dharmi is one layer in front of the purusa tatwa so let's take a good look at the sankhya theory once again we have purusha and we also have prakriti and purusha is known as the complete you know spiritual or spirit principle and prakriti or prakriti is known as the natural principle which is always evolving and changing now when you bring them both together there's like a middle ground between them known as dharmi this dharmi kind of encapsulates or holds all the dharmas the essence of that individual person or thing in place and as well as any transformations changes that might take place in that person or objects essential dharma so dharmi literally in my opinion is like a container it's holding everything together in terms of the dharmas of a person the way that person is behaving now and will behave in the future so unmanifested dharmas as well and so by understanding that a yoga saga gets convinced that okay even though there is the interplay of cause and effect even though there is nature even though there are so many things coming into play in the natural material world beyond that lies a realm of dharmi of the dharmas which come together and then even beyond that and the ultimate realm comes the purusha tatwa itself so by saying this we now understand that all right there is something that we can uncover as we go beyond the prakriti realm otherwise this sets in a sense of nothingness where we feel like maybe there's nothing holding it all together maybe there is no purusha and that is not exactly what the yolk schools believe they do believe that there is an element of the purusha which is present and the heightened form of the purusha is the ishwar so there is a certain sense of knowing and accepting that the purusha tatwa exists and therefore this sutra was quite essential so the yoke sadak understands that he as you uncover the layers of the prakritic elements you will encounter the dharmi region or the space of where the dharmas manifest and unmanifest are held and even beyond that will come the purusha space in the you know aspect of cavalier and nirvija samadhi so this is just clarifying some doubts for us helping us to remember that there is something there um on a scale sometimes uh you know these philosophies the way they're compared it is said that certain schools of um you know bodhiana buddhism of the time considered if you look at it as a numerical scale would align more to the side of zero or shunyata so there being a sense of nothingness apart from cause and effect whereas if you look at the sankhya and the yoga schools and some of the more hindu philosophies they might insist that everything is actually infinity ananta so on a scale these schools of buddhism or bodhian probably believed more in zero nothingness whereas this school of patanjali yoga sutra and also the sankhya theory believed more in infinity so that's a good way visually to remember and understand the comparison and also to think about why the sutra was so necessary because if we keep thinking about zero how will we ever try to encounter infinity if we're convinced that there's nothingness you know um ultimately of course teach their own what your personal beliefs are but this is what the sutra is trying to explain so from an academic philosophical point of view this is what the sutra is talking about and of course you're free to form your own personal opinions so this is sutra that muni patanjali wanted us to understand suitsure 3.14 i hope you found this video informative and helpful if you have please do leave your thoughts comments and suggestions in the comments box below don't forget to give this video a big thumbs up and don't forget to share this video and because we're 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