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Yoga-sūtra with Vyāsa's bhāṣya · 1.12
abhyāsavairāgyābhyāṃ tannirodhaḥ
Translation. Through practice (abhyāsa)—specifically, of discriminative vision—and dispassion (vairāgya), there is cessation (nirodha) of those [fluctuations of mind (citta-vṛtti)].
Grammar check: 2 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
| abhyāsavairāgyābhyām | abhyāsavairāgya | pass |
| tannirodhaḥ | tannirodha | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Vyāsa's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
abhyāsavairāgyābhyām is an itaretara-dvandva in the instrumental dual, denoting practice and dispassion as two jointly required means.→ A coordinate dvandva denoting two jointly required instrumental means.
ys [4, 5]tatra vairāgyeṇa viṣayasrotaḥ khilīkriyate.
vivekadarśanābhyāsena vivekasrota udghāṭyata ity ubhayādhīnaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ.
There, through dispassion the current toward objects is blocked; through practice of discriminative vision the current of discrimination is opened. Thus the cessation of the fluctuations of mind depends on both.
The instrumental dual is construed causally or instrumentally—‘through’ practice and dispassion—not merely as accompaniment.→ Instrument of cessation: ‘through/by’.
ys [4, 5]tatra vairāgyeṇa viṣayasrotaḥ khilīkriyate.
vivekadarśanābhyāsena vivekasrota udghāṭyata ity ubhayādhīnaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ.
The commentary assigns a distinct causal function to each instrumental: dispassion blocks one current, while practice opens the other; cessation depends on both.
abhyāsa here is specifically practice of discriminative vision (vivekadarśana), rather than unspecified repetition or effort.→ Practice of discriminative vision.
ys [5]vivekadarśanābhyāsena vivekasrota udghāṭyata ity ubhayādhīnaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ.
Through practice of discriminative vision the current of discrimination is opened; thus cessation of the fluctuations of mind depends on both.
tannirodhaḥ is read as a genitive tatpuruṣa, ‘cessation of those,’ with tad referring to the fluctuations of mind (cittavṛttis).→ Genitive tatpuruṣa whose pronominal member resumes the fluctuations of mind.
ys [5]vivekadarśanābhyāsena vivekasrota udghāṭyata ity ubhayādhīnaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ.
The commentary restates the sūtra's tannirodhaḥ explicitly as cittavṛttinirodhaḥ, ‘cessation of the fluctuations of mind.’
nirodha is translated as ‘cessation,’ but not as the annihilation of consciousness: the commentary describes the blocking of the object-directed current alongside the opening of the discriminative current.→ Cessation of those fluctuations, effected by redirecting and regulating the currents of mind rather than by destroying consciousness.
ys [1, 4, 5]cittanadī nāmobhayatovāhinī vahati kalyāṇāya vahati pāpāya ca.
tatra vairāgyeṇa viṣayasrotaḥ khilīkriyate.
vivekadarśanābhyāsena vivekasrota udghāṭyata ity ubhayādhīnaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ.
The river called mind flows in both directions, toward good and toward evil. Through dispassion its object-current is blocked, and through practice of discriminative vision its discriminative current is opened; cessation of the fluctuations of mind depends on both.
Vyāsa's commentary on this unit
1cittanadī nāmobhayatovāhinī vahati kalyāṇāya vahati pāpāya ca.
2yā tu kaivalyaprāgbhārā vivekaviṣayanimnā sā kalyāṇavahā.
3saṃsāraprāgbhārāvivekaviṣayaniṃnā pāpavahā.
4tatra vairāgyeṇa viṣayasrotaḥ khilīkriyate.
5vivekadarśanābhyāsena vivekasrota udghāṭyata ity ubhayādhīnaś cittavṛttinirodhaḥ.
61.12
7tatra sthitau yatno 'bhyāsaḥ