दृग्दर्शनशक्त्योरेकात्मतेवास्मिता ॥२.६॥
पदविभाग: दृक्-दर्शन-शक्त्योः, एकात्मता, इव, अस्मिता।
अन्वय: दृक्-दर्शन-शक्त्योः एकात्मता इव (या सा) अस्मिता (भवति)।
प्रतिपदार्थ: दृक् (dṛk) = the Seer / pure consciousness / Purusha, दर्शन (darśana) = seeing / perception / the instrument of cognition (Buddhi), शक्त्योः (śaktyoḥ) = of the two powers (genitive dual case), एकात्मता (ekātmatā) = identity / oneness / self-sameness, इव (iva) = as it were / as if / apparent (but not real), अस्मिता (asmitā) = egoism / the sense of “I-am-ness”.
तात्पर्यम्: Egoism (Asmita) is the false identification of the seer with the instrument of seeing.
Further context on the 57th Sutra from Patanjali’s Yogasutras
Eyes don’t see. In fact eyes are the medium through which the act of seeing is done. Similarly, for the rest of the four sense organs. The philosopher J. Krishnamurti famously said, “The observer is the observed.” In the context of this sutra, the true Observer or Seer is our real self, which is infinite, immortal, and perfectly pure. To interact with the world, this Seer relies on specific instruments that make up the Chitta, or mind stuff. These instruments are the Buddhi (the determinative faculty), the Manas (the human mind), and the Indriyas (the five sense organs).
Identifying oneself, with any or all of this is called ignorance of egoism. I am not my intellect. I am not the mind where my thoughts continuously occur. I am not the emotions that arise within me. We are the witnessing entity that remains untouched by change in this ever changing universe. This real self is formless, infinite, and omnipresent. No power in this universe can produce an effect on it.
Yet, because of this deep rooted egoism, we mistakenly affix our identity to the transient joys and sorrows of the material world, keeping ourselves bound in a state of ignorance.
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