Yogaśāstra 2.54–55: Withdrawal of the Senses

Without contact with objects, the senses follow the restrained citta like bees follow their queen. Thus they are completely mastered without an additional method.

Dr. Ronald Steiner

Laura von Ostrowski

Patañjali Yoga Sūtra 2.54

स्वविषयासंप्रयोगे चित्तस्वरूपानुकार इवेन्द्रियाणां प्रत्याहारः ||54||

svaviṣayāsaṃprayoge citta-svarūpānukāra ivendriyāṇāṃ pratyāhāraḥ ||54|| Analysis ▾ Analysis ▴

svaviṣaya tatpuruṣa-compound instrumental case	sva adjective viṣaya substantive masculine	with their respective objects
asaṃprayoge lokative absolutus singular	asaṃprayoga substantive masculine	when there is no conjunction
citta tatpuruṣa-compound genitive	citta substantive neuter	of mind-stuff
svarūpa tatpuruṣa-compound genitive	svarūpa substantive neuter	of its own form
anukāraḥ nominative singular	anukāra substantive masculine	imitation
iva	iva particle	as if
indriyāṇām genitive plural	indriya substantive neuter	of the sense organs
pratyāhāraḥ nominative singular	pratyāhāra substantive masculine	withdrawal

When [the senses] are not conjoined with their own objects (sva-viṣayāsaṃprayoge | loc absl sg), withdrawal (pratyāhāraḥ | nom sg) of the senses (indriyāṇām | gen pl) [is] as though (iva) an imitation of citta's own form (citta-svarūpānukāraḥ | nom sg).

Dr. Ronald Steiner - 2026 - historically literal

Give the senses a break from their usual objects (sva-viṣaya) without suppressing them. With eyes closed or softly open, let attention gather inward (pratyāhāra).

Dr. Ronald Steiner - 2026 - modern transfer

When the senses are no longer joined to their objects, they seem to imitate the form of citta. Just as bees follow their queen when she flies up or settles, the senses are restrained together with citta and require no separate means of control. This is pratyāhāra.

Yoga Śāstra Vyāsa-Bhāṣya

cittasvarūpānukāra ] cittasya svarūpānukāra CYS2026, TKVD2019

Critical Apparatus

With cittasya, CYS2026 and TKVD2019 supply an explicit genitive: the senses imitate “the own form of citta.” PE1904 and the Āgāśe-based KYMV2026 instead have the compound cittasvarūpa-. Both constructions are grammatical, but the lineage reading makes the dependency syntactically explicit. After correction N-08, B1, C1, and C2 consistently follow the PE1904 compound reading.

Apparatus Comment

‘Restraint’ is as it were the accommodation of the senses to the nature of the mind in the absence of concernment with each one’s own object.

James R. Ballantyne - 1852

Abstraction is the assumption, as it were, by the senses of the original nature of the mind,from want of application to their (respective) objects.

Ganganatha Jha - 1907

Wenn die Sinnesorgane, unter Aufhebung ihrer Verbindung mit den ihnen entsprechenden Objekten, gleichsam die Natur des Chittam nachahmen, so ist dies das Einziehen der Organe.

Paul Deussen - 1908

The withdrawal of the senses is as it were the imitation of the mind-stuff itself on the part of the organs by disjoining themselves from their objects.

James Haughton Woods - 1914

Patañjali Yoga Sūtra 2.55

ततः परमा वश्यतेन्द्रियाणाम् ||55||

tataḥ paramā vaśyatendriyāṇām ||55|| Analysis ▾ Analysis ▴

tatas	tatas adverb	thence
paramā nominative singular feminine	parama adjective	highest
vaśyatā nominative singular	vaśyatā substantive feminine	mastery
indriyāṇām genitive plural	indriya substantive neuter	of the sense organs

From this (tataḥ | adv) [arises] the highest mastery (paramā vaśyatā | nom sg) of the senses (indriyāṇām | gen pl).

Dr. Ronald Steiner - 2026 - historically literal

Freedom of the senses (indriya-vaśyatā) does not mean perceiving nothing. You can hear, see, and feel without having to follow every stimulus.

Dr. Ronald Steiner - 2026 - modern transfer

The Vyāsa-Bhāṣya lists several accounts of sensory mastery: not being addicted to sound and other objects, rule-governed perception, contact at one's own will, perception free from rāga, dveṣa, pleasure and pain, and, according to Jaigīṣavya, non-perception resulting from the one-pointedness of citta. The highest mastery consists in the senses being restrained together with restrained citta, without a separate effort or additional method.

Yoga Śāstra Vyāsa-Bhāṣya

Therefrom is there complete subjection of the senses.

James R. Ballantyne - 1852

Thence the complete subjugation of the senses.

Ganganatha Jha - 1907

Daraus erfolgt eine vollkommene Unterwerfung der Sinnesorgane.

Paul Deussen - 1908

As a result of this [withdrawal] there is complete mastery of the organs.

James Haughton Woods - 1914

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Dr. Ronald Steiner

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The "Yoga Doc" - Dr. Ronald Steiner is the founder of the AYI method. This method links traditional Ashtanga Yoga with innovative Yogatherapy and living Philosophy. This forms a practice that is personal for each and... more ›

Laura von Ostrowski

Ich bin 2004 das erste Mal mit Yoga in Berührung gekommen und habe seitdem unendlich viele Facetten kennengelernt. Einerseits die vielfältigen praktischen Seiten von Yoga - in Form verschiedener Ausbildungen (500 h... more ›

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3 messages

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26.01.2022

Hallo Zusammen, hallo Ronald, ich bin etwas irritiert. Es heißt oben in der Eingangserklärung: 'Die dritte Stufe der spirituellen Praxis (sādhana) ist die Sinneskontrolle (pratyāhāra)'. Aber pratyāhāra ist doch eigentlich der fünfte Aspekt des Yogaweges. Hab ich etwas nicht verstanden? Ganz herzliche Grüße, Cornelia

27.01.2022

Super, vielen Dank Ronald - verstanden.
Namaste, Cornelia

27.01.2022

Hallo Cornelia,
~i~Saadhana~~ ist die spirituelle Praxis. Sie umfasst: ~i~Aasana~~, ~i~Praa.naayaama~~, ~i~Pratyaahaara~~, ~i~Dhaarnaa~~.
Ich hoffe das hilft Dir weiter.
Namaste und herzliche Grüße
Ronald

Yogaśāstra 2.54–55: Withdrawal of the Senses

Yogaśāstra 2.54–55: Withdrawal of the Senses

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