According to Plato in his dialogue the Theatetus, Protagoras is credited with the concept that "Man (anthropos) is the measure of all things, of those that are being (that they are) as well as those that are not (that they are not)." The first part, that man (anthropos: human being, not necessarily male) is the measure of all things/ panton chrematon metron estin anthropos, has caused many a discussion over the millennia, and funny enough, is a Greek echo of today's post on the Yoga Sutras.
Some have seen the declaration of Protagoras to be short-sightedly anthropocentric, which, by definition, it is. In other words, this gives too much power to human beings to be the measure of all things. Others revel in the thought that this means that a single anthropos, or human being, is the measure of his or her entire universe, meaning, we are at the center of our our universal existence. Others have argued that humans have insufficient knowledge to be the measure of all things.
The jury is still out, ironically, because to come to a consensus, it would mean that a human being, the anthropos makes that decision, one way or another, thus being right and wrong at the same time possibly. A paradox par excellence.
As this is about the Yoga Sutras, I only wanted to pause on this dilemma that Protagoras raised and focus for a moment on the word metron, the measure. This becomes very relevant in the sutras that are about to follow because, we can only be the measure of our own experience, even if we are using tools to help us measure, it is still relative to us. If something is enormous, it is enormous to US. If something is super small, it is so to US...Contrarily, a single human being can be colossal to a Hydrogen atom, but sub-atomic to a galaxy...Size is indeed relative, whether it is about matter or not.
With this in mind, let's return to Patañjali with 3.44:
sthUla-svarupa-sUkshma-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãt-bhUta-jayah 3.44
Giving us,
By performing/exerting samyama on the inherent gross nature, the subtle constitution and the state of having a purpose, mastery of gross and subtle matter is gained. 3.44
In other words,
Samyama on the base material, subtle features and purpose of something gives us mastery over the elements. 3.44
In other, other words: The Natural Sciences provide us with profound knowledge of how things are.
This does not say, "Why things are," but "How things are." And, again, this does not mean that simply staring at a candle gives us insight into its molecular constitution, and the physics and chemical reactions of fire. But, it does mean a triple PhD in Chemistry, Physics and Biology would help us understand the how of the candle, but never the "why"... But, from the point of view of the anthropos, we could measure it in a variety of ways, but that does not mean understand it. That is still out of our purview. We can measure, but not divine its essence.
3.45 provides a follow-up to this:
tato'animãdi-prãdurbhãvah kãysampat-tad-dharma-anabhighãtash-ca 3.45
Or,
At that time, atomization and so forth come to light/manifest as the concord/perfect/enjoyment/splendor of the body and the lack of obstacle for its true nature/quality 3.45
I would be lying if I were to say that this sutra is not messy...partially because the grammar leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to whether there are two things happening or three. My guess based upon the nature of all the other sutras that is two as I have translated above. Sticking with this for the moment, we can tease out something more like:
Then, the full splendor of the body is manifest with the powers of atomization and such as well as its true nature being unimpeded. 3.45
Again, messy. Especially because the tradition from Vyãsa is to take "atomization and such" as super powers like Ant Man being able to shrink to an atom, or expand to a colossus. But, when taken in context of the comparison to Protagoras, a human can be "as small as an atom" or as "large as a mountain" in relative situations. This may or may not be what is meant, but it helps to get a handle on this concept. When we close our eyes in meditation, we are no longer confined to the size of the body, and its "true nature" and "splendor" could be the fact that now the physical sheath, this mortal coil, is transcended, and the mind can be as small or large as it "sees" fit to be. Perhaps. The laws of natural physics work really well at the human level. We can do all kinds of human-scale projects. However, at the Quantum level and the Cosmic level, things get pretty wonky, which is why extremes are thrown out and the average is taken. When things get to close to 0, the very small, or Infinity, the very large, all bets are off. Man can no longer be the measure. Physical man, that is. But, the Mind is another story.
Let's continue with 3.46, which seems to be a corollary to 3.45's "perfect body" concept:
rupa-lãvanya-bala-vajra-samhanananvãni kãya-sampat 3.46
Or,
The splendor/perfection of the body consists of beauty in form, adamantine strength, and constitutional unity. 3.46
Strength, integrity and grace more or less. Something I inherited from my first Yoga mentor, Bekir, was that Yoga is: Strength, flexibility and grace, which is something I still teach today in physical asana, but I believe that as with the Zen-mind thinking of the likes of Thich Nhat Hanh, everyday activities can also be "beautiful" and "graceful" when performed with samyama, the true origins of today's trend of being "Mindful" or "Mindfulness." Samyama is the source...and from that, we can perceive and create Beauty from the mundane, the gross matter.
Finishing up this section then with 3.47-48:
grahana-svarupa-asmitã-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãd-indriya-jayah 3.47
tato manojavitvam vikarana-bhãvah pradhãna-jayash-ca 3.48
Giving us,
Mastery of the senses comes from samyama on the process of knowledge (grasping), the essence, the ego-ness, inherent consequence and state of having a purpose. 3.47
At that time, mastery of the essential elements along with/by the quickness of the mind and the state of being devoid of the sense organs. 3.48
What these two seem to say is that first one must master the senses (3.47) and then one must even go beyond that for the mind to work at optimal speed to gain the mastery (3.48) of the essential elements of the world/universe.
In short: Divide and conquer, then unite and transcend.
That is the underlying message building momentum as we go along, moving closer and closer to the goal of Yoga, which goes beyond the body and mind division, beyond the body-mind union, and leads us to understanding, rather than knowledge. But, we are not there yet. Still some ground to cover. Still some things to measure. As the carpenter says, "measure twice, cut once..."
And, so we shall.
Some have seen the declaration of Protagoras to be short-sightedly anthropocentric, which, by definition, it is. In other words, this gives too much power to human beings to be the measure of all things. Others revel in the thought that this means that a single anthropos, or human being, is the measure of his or her entire universe, meaning, we are at the center of our our universal existence. Others have argued that humans have insufficient knowledge to be the measure of all things.
The jury is still out, ironically, because to come to a consensus, it would mean that a human being, the anthropos makes that decision, one way or another, thus being right and wrong at the same time possibly. A paradox par excellence.
As this is about the Yoga Sutras, I only wanted to pause on this dilemma that Protagoras raised and focus for a moment on the word metron, the measure. This becomes very relevant in the sutras that are about to follow because, we can only be the measure of our own experience, even if we are using tools to help us measure, it is still relative to us. If something is enormous, it is enormous to US. If something is super small, it is so to US...Contrarily, a single human being can be colossal to a Hydrogen atom, but sub-atomic to a galaxy...Size is indeed relative, whether it is about matter or not.
With this in mind, let's return to Patañjali with 3.44:
sthUla-svarupa-sUkshma-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãt-bhUta-jayah 3.44
Giving us,
By performing/exerting samyama on the inherent gross nature, the subtle constitution and the state of having a purpose, mastery of gross and subtle matter is gained. 3.44
In other words,
Samyama on the base material, subtle features and purpose of something gives us mastery over the elements. 3.44
In other, other words: The Natural Sciences provide us with profound knowledge of how things are.
This does not say, "Why things are," but "How things are." And, again, this does not mean that simply staring at a candle gives us insight into its molecular constitution, and the physics and chemical reactions of fire. But, it does mean a triple PhD in Chemistry, Physics and Biology would help us understand the how of the candle, but never the "why"... But, from the point of view of the anthropos, we could measure it in a variety of ways, but that does not mean understand it. That is still out of our purview. We can measure, but not divine its essence.
3.45 provides a follow-up to this:
tato'animãdi-prãdurbhãvah kãysampat-tad-dharma-anabhighãtash-ca 3.45
Or,
At that time, atomization and so forth come to light/manifest as the concord/perfect/enjoyment/splendor of the body and the lack of obstacle for its true nature/quality 3.45
I would be lying if I were to say that this sutra is not messy...partially because the grammar leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to whether there are two things happening or three. My guess based upon the nature of all the other sutras that is two as I have translated above. Sticking with this for the moment, we can tease out something more like:
Then, the full splendor of the body is manifest with the powers of atomization and such as well as its true nature being unimpeded. 3.45
Again, messy. Especially because the tradition from Vyãsa is to take "atomization and such" as super powers like Ant Man being able to shrink to an atom, or expand to a colossus. But, when taken in context of the comparison to Protagoras, a human can be "as small as an atom" or as "large as a mountain" in relative situations. This may or may not be what is meant, but it helps to get a handle on this concept. When we close our eyes in meditation, we are no longer confined to the size of the body, and its "true nature" and "splendor" could be the fact that now the physical sheath, this mortal coil, is transcended, and the mind can be as small or large as it "sees" fit to be. Perhaps. The laws of natural physics work really well at the human level. We can do all kinds of human-scale projects. However, at the Quantum level and the Cosmic level, things get pretty wonky, which is why extremes are thrown out and the average is taken. When things get to close to 0, the very small, or Infinity, the very large, all bets are off. Man can no longer be the measure. Physical man, that is. But, the Mind is another story.
Let's continue with 3.46, which seems to be a corollary to 3.45's "perfect body" concept:
rupa-lãvanya-bala-vajra-samhanananvãni kãya-sampat 3.46
Or,
The splendor/perfection of the body consists of beauty in form, adamantine strength, and constitutional unity. 3.46
Strength, integrity and grace more or less. Something I inherited from my first Yoga mentor, Bekir, was that Yoga is: Strength, flexibility and grace, which is something I still teach today in physical asana, but I believe that as with the Zen-mind thinking of the likes of Thich Nhat Hanh, everyday activities can also be "beautiful" and "graceful" when performed with samyama, the true origins of today's trend of being "Mindful" or "Mindfulness." Samyama is the source...and from that, we can perceive and create Beauty from the mundane, the gross matter.
Finishing up this section then with 3.47-48:
grahana-svarupa-asmitã-anvaya-arthavattva-samyamãd-indriya-jayah 3.47
tato manojavitvam vikarana-bhãvah pradhãna-jayash-ca 3.48
Giving us,
Mastery of the senses comes from samyama on the process of knowledge (grasping), the essence, the ego-ness, inherent consequence and state of having a purpose. 3.47
At that time, mastery of the essential elements along with/by the quickness of the mind and the state of being devoid of the sense organs. 3.48
What these two seem to say is that first one must master the senses (3.47) and then one must even go beyond that for the mind to work at optimal speed to gain the mastery (3.48) of the essential elements of the world/universe.
In short: Divide and conquer, then unite and transcend.
That is the underlying message building momentum as we go along, moving closer and closer to the goal of Yoga, which goes beyond the body and mind division, beyond the body-mind union, and leads us to understanding, rather than knowledge. But, we are not there yet. Still some ground to cover. Still some things to measure. As the carpenter says, "measure twice, cut once..."
And, so we shall.
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