दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य वशीकारसंज्ञा वैराग्यम् ॥ १५ ॥
पदविभाग: (separating individual words): दृष्ट-आनुश्रविक-विषय-वितृष्णस्य, वशीकार-संज्ञा, वैराग्यम्।
अन्वय: (Rearranging in logical prose sequence): दृष्टानुश्रविकविषयवितृष्णस्य (यस्याः) वशीकारसंज्ञा (सा) वैराग्यम् (भवति)
प्रतिपदार्थ: (word-by-word meaning): दृष्ट = seen (perceptible / worldly), आनुश्रविक = and heard (revealed / scriptural / heavenly), विषय = objects (of experience), वितृष्णस्य = of one who is entirely free from thirst or craving, वशीकार-संज्ञा = the consciousness of supreme mastery / complete control, वैराग्यम् = (is) detachment, (भवति) = (is).
तात्पर्यम्: (final translation): Detachment (Vairagya) is the consciousness of supreme mastery in one who is completely free from the thirst for objects, whether seen in this world or heard about in the scriptures.
Further context on the 15th Sutra from Patanjali’s Yogasutras
The next two verses explain what Vairagya is. The motives of our action are two fold – one from what we see and experience for ourselves (perceptions) and two what has been told to us from someone else’s experience.
The mind constantly wills to control the objects. This leads to a disturbed chitta. Such a person, who has conquered this “want” or the outward facing desires, is the one who can practice non-attachment.
Vaśīkāra literally translates to the act of bringing something under absolute subjugation. In this context, the things being subjugated are the senses (indriyas) and the mind (manas). Growing up, I used to hear the word Vaśīkāran a lot, this explains what it actually means. I knew of it in the context of occult practices or using voodoo dolls to control someone.
Vaśīkāra-saṃjñā means “the undeniable inner consciousness of absolute mastery.” This is the operational core of the verse. Vaśīkāra-saṃjñā is achieved when the yogi can be directly in the middle of a bustling city, surrounded by wealth, luxury, and sensory triggers, and still maintain his/her composure. The object has no effect on them.
*This state has to be achieved and not imitated. If we imitate, we end up falling in the same trap again. The goal being, ‘I’ need to be the one who controls my senses and not the other way round.
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