Verse No 127 & 128

This yoga, culminating in samādhi,yields liberation, which is marked by abidance in the undivided, homogeneous essence of Brahman (akhaṇḍa-eka-rasa-brahma-svarūpa).

For one endowed with the Guru’s grace, this path is indeed easy. Yet,precisely because it may appear “easy,” one should not become negligent, for numerous obstacles may arise.

Thus, the teaching regarding samādhiis made clear.

1. Samādhi as Culmination:

   • Here, samādhi is not a yogic trance in the Patañjali sense, but the effortless, natural abidance in Brahman-consciousness, where awareness is non-dual and uninterrupted (akhaṇḍa-eka-rasa).

2. Guru’s Grace:

   • Advaita emphasizes that while śravaṇa-manana-nididhyāsana are essential, the catalytic power of Guru-anugraha (the Guru’s grace) makes the realization accessible, often removing subtle egoic resistances.

3. Caution Against Complacency:

   • Even though realization is one’s very nature, seekers are warned: don’t trivialize or dismiss the discipline, because habitual tendencies (vāsanās), mental restlessness, and worldly distractions can create obstacles.

• Balance of Ease and Vigilance:

• Thus, the path is easy but not casual: effortless in its essence, yet requiring vigilance until stability in svarūpa is firm.

  True samādhi is not suppression or absorption into trance, but the effortless recognition of Brahman as ever-present consciousness, beyond laya, vikṣepa, kāśāya, and rasāsvāda.

  Śaṅkara stresses:

  “Samādhiḥ saṃvid-utpattiḥ para-jīv-ekatāṃ prati”
  (Samādhi is the arising of consciousness that reveals the oneness of the Supreme and the individual self.)

  1. Laya (Torpor / Inertia):
     When the mind, instead of remaining alert in Brahman-abidance, sinks into sleep, dullness, or lack of discrimination. True viveka is to recognize the transient, unsatisfactory nature of sense-objects; failure to sustain this is laya.

     • Advaita insight: It looks like peace, but it is unconscious absorption, not Self-knowledge.

  2. Rasāsvāda (Taste of Bliss):
     When the meditator feels inner bliss and thinks, “I am blessed, I have attained something,” or clings to the joy of inner voidness. This is a mental defect because it treats bliss as an experience, not as the Self.

     • Advaita insight: Brahman is not an experienced bliss-object, but one’s very Self —the background of all experiences.

• Kāṣāya (Subtle Coloring / Vasana Residue):
  When latent tendencies of desire and aversion disturb the stillness of mind. The mind, instead of flowing naturally into Brahman, becomes stiff or agitated.

• Advaita insight: Deep-rooted impressions (vāsanās) subtly drag the mind back to duality unless burned by firm knowledge.

  Verse No 129

  1. Bondage through object-thought (bhāva-vṛtti):
     When the mind takes the form of an external object — pot, cloth, body, world — it assumes their limitation. This identification (tad-mayatva) is bondage.

  2. Void through absence-thought (abhāva-vṛtti): If the mind clings to a vṛtti of emptiness or nothingness (śūnya-vṛtti), the result is mere blankness or dull void. This is not liberation, but inertness (jaḍatā).

  3. Liberation through Brahman-thought (brahmākāra-vṛtti):
     When the mind takes the shape of Brahman — limitless Being-Consciousness-Bliss — it dissolves into pūrṇatva (fullness, wholeness). This alone is mokṣa, as recognized by the knowers of truth.

  • The mind is the instrument:

    • If it reflects objects → bondage.

    • If it reflects voidness → dullness.

    • If it reflects Brahman → liberation.

  • But crucially: even Brahmākāra-vṛtti is not the final Self — it is the last thought-wave (pramāṇa-vṛtti) which destroys ignorance, after which the mind itself becomes silent.

  • Then remains only Brahman-Self, ever-complete, without dependence on vṛtti.

  So, Advaita declares: “vṛtti alone binds, vṛtti alone liberates — but when the last vṛtti is Brahmākāra-vṛtti, it self-destructs, leaving the pure Selfshining.”