Five-Stage Path to Samadhi for Ordinary Yogis – Yoga Sutra 1.20

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Part 23: Patanjali Yoga Sutra Explained

The Universal Path of Yoga

In our continuing effort to present the Patanjali Yoga Sutra with clarity and precision, we now turn to Sutra 1.20, a decisive point in the text. With this sutra, Patanjali deliberately moves away from exceptional cases and establishes the normative path of yoga. Here he articulates the Five-Stage Path to Samadhi, the structured inner progression through which ordinary practitioners advance toward the highest realization through disciplined practice rather than inherited advantage. This sutra lays down the universal structure by which samadhi becomes accessible to all who undertake the discipline of yoga.

Yoga Sutra’ Five-Stage Path to Samadhi: The Sutra

Sanskrit Text and Translation

श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक इतरेषाम्॥ २० ॥

Word Analysis:

• श्रद्धा-वीर्य-स्मृति-समाधि-प्रज्ञापूर्वकः = preceded by shraddha (Trust grounded in understanding), virya (energy), smriti (The capacity of the mind to preserve clarity and direction once it has arisen), samadhi (Object-aligned stillness of consciousness), and prajna (Reality-conforming awareness)
• इतरेषाम् = for others (those who are neither Videha nor Prakritilaya)

Translation: For others—ordinary yogis who are neither Videha nor Prakṛtilaya—objectless samādhi is necessarily preceded by settled confidence, sustained effort, continuity of awareness, absorptive stillness, and truth-bearing insight.

Yoga Sutra’ Five-Stage Path to Samadhi: Decoding Five Sequential Stages

The Fivefold Progression for Ordinary Yogis (Yoga Sutra 1.20)

1. Śraddhā (श्रद्धा) — Foundational Trust

Śraddhā is not belief in a doctrine nor emotional faith. It is a settled trust grounded in understanding, confirmed and strengthened through experience. This trust produces clarity of mind, inner steadiness, and a quiet assurance that sustains long practice.

Unlike Videha and Prakṛtilaya yogis, whose inclination toward liberation arises innately from previous births, ordinary aspirants must cultivate śraddhā deliberately. It develops through three converging sources:

• engagement with authentic scriptures,
• guidance received from accomplished teachers, and
• direct verification through early experiential benefits of practice.

For those who believe previous births do not exist, there is no rational explanation for why some individuals are born into wealth and ease while others are born into deprivation and struggle from the very day they are born. To believe the “belief” alone while ignoring such vivid real-life evidence is itself irrational. Yoga does not demand blind acceptance; it draws attention to observable realities that require deeper causal explanation.

Classical texts compare śraddhā to a protective mother—not sentimentally, but functionally. It guards the aspirant from deviation, discouragement, and false paths, while steadily nurturing commitment to the yogic way. Śraddhā is therefore not a moral virtue or psychological attitude; it is the initial structural realignment of consciousness that makes further yogic development possible.

2. Vīrya (वीर्य) — Directed and Sustained Effort

From established śraddhā arises vīrya. Vīrya is not raw force or physical stamina; it is directed persistence—the readiness of mind and will to engage in sustained sādhana without agitation or exhaustion.

Vīrya expresses itself as regularity in practice, resilience in the face of obstacles, and the ability to remain steady even within repetition. The depth of vīrya corresponds to the firmness of śraddhā: where trust is stable, effort becomes consistent rather than strained. Vīrya represents the mobilization of inner energy once hesitation and doubt have been removed.

3. Smṛti (स्मृति) — Continuity of Awareness

When effort becomes steady, smṛti manifests. Smṛti here does not signify memory of information, but the capacity of consciousness to preserve clarity and direction once it has arisen. It prevents repeated loss of orientation toward the yogic aim. Smṛti functions much like trained bodily reflex in an athlete: clarity, once established through effort, is retained as an internal pattern, allowing consciousness to return to alignment without repeated struggle.

This continuity allows dormant yogic impressions to surface—samskāras formed through unafflicted actions and insights accumulated across previous lives. Smṛti enables the practitioner to build upon earlier attainments rather than begin anew in each sitting or each life. It functions as the bridge between past accumulations and present practice, stabilizing progress.

4. Samādhi (समाधि) — Object-Aligned Stillness of Consciousness

With the awakening of these latent samskāras, consciousness naturally settles into object-aligned stillness, free from strain or interference. This is samprajñāta samādhi, where awareness rests in undistorted alignment with its object.

At this stage, effort has completed its work. The habitual movements of the mind subside, and cognition reflects the object as it is. Samādhi here is not yet objectless, but it establishes the functional stillness required for reality-conforming awareness to arise.

5. Prajñā (प्रज्ञा) — Reality-Conforming Awareness

Within this stabilized samādhi, prajñā emerges—not as conceptual understanding, but as ṛtambharā prajñā, awareness that conforms directly to reality without distortion.

This awareness penetrates the distinction between the Seer and the seen, revealing the true relation between Puruṣa and Prakṛti. Such prajñā spontaneously gives rise to supreme detachment (para-vairāgya). With repeated stabilization, dependence on cognitive objects dissolves, and asamprajñāta samādhi unfolds naturally.

The Meaning of Pūrvaka (पूर्वक)

The sequence described in this sutra is not one of mechanical causation. Pūrvaka does not mean “produced by” in a linear sense. It means necessarily preceded by, just as dawn necessarily precedes sunrise.

Each stage arises when the obstruction to its manifestation has been removed, not when something new is artificially created. Thus, śraddhā, vīrya, smṛti, samādhi, and prajñā are not imposed practices, but successive unveilings of consciousness, culminating in the highest absorption available to the ordinary yogi.

The Mechanism of Transformation

Awakening Dormant Samskaras

This sutra discloses a decisive principle of yogic psychology: spiritual transformation does not occur through insertion, but through release.

Yogic samskaras accumulated across innumerable births do not disappear; they remain latent in the deeper strata of consciousness, overshadowed by the dominant samskaras of outward engagement (vyutthāna). They move with the individual like muscle memory in an athlete’s body. These worldly impressions occupy the upper functional layers of the mind, preventing subtler yogic tendencies from expressing themselves.

Shraddha and virya function here not as creative forces but as instrumental conditions (nimitta kāraṇa). They do not generate new samskaras, nor do they import spirituality from outside. Their role is strictly negative in the classical sense: they remove obstruction. When doubt weakens and effort stabilizes, the pressure suppressing dormant yogic samskaras is released.

Patanjali illustrates this mechanism through a precise agrarian metaphor. A farmer does not carry water into the field; he merely cuts through the embankment that blocks its flow. Once the barrier is removed, the water—already present—moves naturally into the field. In the same manner, shraddha and virya dismantle the barriers formed by habitual worldly impressions, allowing pre-existing yogic samskaras to surge upward and reorganize consciousness from within.

Yoga, therefore, like most other sciences, is not an act of construction but of uncovering.

The Ninefold Typology of Practitioners

Recognizing that aspirants differ in both capacity and intensity, Patanjali delineates a precise classification of practitioners based on two variables:

• Means (upāya), and

• Intensity of detachment or inner urgency (saṃvega / vairāgya).

From their combinations arise nine distinct practitioner types.

1. Mild Means (Mṛdu Upāya)

1. Mild means with mild intensity
2. Mild means with medium intensity
3. Mild means with keen intensity

2. Moderate Means (Madhya Upāya)

1. Moderate means with mild intensity
2. Moderate means with medium intensity
3. Moderate means with keen intensity

3. Superior Means (Adhimātra Upāya)

1. Superior means with mild intensity
2. Superior means with medium intensity
3. Superior means with keen intensity

Among these, the ninth category—those possessing both superior means and intense inner urgency—attain samadhi with the greatest rapidity. Their trajectory represents the most accelerated path and prepares the ground for the next sutra, which addresses the yogi whose intensity itself becomes the decisive force.

Orientation for Practice

Establishing the Ground of Sādhana

For the ordinary yogi, progress depends less on extraordinary effort and more on correct orientation.

Shraddha must be steadily clarified through sustained engagement with authentic teachings, reliable guidance, and honest observation of inner change. Faith matures when experience quietly confirms what instruction initially proposes.

Virya must be disciplined rather than explosive. Practice that is regular, measured, and continuous produces deeper transformation than sporadic intensity. Effort in yoga succeeds when it is firm without strain.

Smriti is strengthened through constancy. Regular meditation at fixed times stabilizes continuity of awareness and preserves gains across sessions. When continuity is protected, depth accumulates naturally.

Above all, patience is indispensable. Dormant samskaras do not respond to impatience or coercion. They emerge when obstructions thin, not when the practitioner demands results.

Discernment of One’s Own Disposition

Self-knowledge refines effort.

Each practitioner must recognize:

• the inherent strength of their means (mṛdu, madhya, or adhimātra), and

• the present intensity of their inner urgency.

Practice should then be adjusted accordingly. Excessive force dulls clarity; insufficient effort delays maturation. Yoga advances most efficiently when effort is proportionate, neither indulgent nor ascetic beyond capacity.

Common Hindrances and Their Resolution

When Shraddha Weakens

Faith does not collapse suddenly; it erodes through neglect.

At such times, the practitioner must return to foundational teachings, recollect earlier experiences of stability or insight, and, where possible, remain in contact with those walking the same path. Shraddha is restored not by argument, but by remembrance and proximity to truth.

When Virya Diminishes

Loss of energy often signals imbalance rather than failure.

Practice should be examined for excess, rigidity, or ambition. When effort is tempered with quiet surrender, vitality returns. Yoga does not demand force; it requires removal of resistance.

When Smriti Falters

Breaks in continuity arise from inconsistency.

Fixed practice times, minimal external aids such as a mala, and a stable posture restore rhythm. Smriti strengthens when the mind is trained to return again and again without self-judgment.

Yoga Sutra’ Five-Stage Path to Samadhi: Leading to Universality of This Path

Unlike the exceptional route of Videha and Prakritilaya yogis, the fivefold progression outlined in Sutra 1.20 is open to all sincere aspirants. It requires no special birth, no extraordinary inheritance, and no mystical privilege. It accommodates difference in capacity while preserving the same inner structure for everyone.

This is yoga’s quiet egalitarianism: the path adjusts to the practitioner, not the practitioner to an impossible ideal.

Yoga Sutra’ Five-Stage Path to Samadhi — The Assurance of Fulfilment

Yoga Sutra one point twenty offers one of Patanjali’s most reassuring affirmations. The Yoga Sutra’ Five-Stage Path to Samadhi makes it clear that asamprajnata samadhi is not the preserve of a gifted or exceptional minority. Through the orderly maturation of shraddha, virya, smriti, samadhi, and prajna, every sincere practitioner can reach the highest consummation of yoga.

Differences among aspirants reveal themselves only in tempo, not in possibility. Some advance gradually, others swiftly, but none are excluded from the path. By revealing that yogic samskaras accumulated across countless lives remain intact and await only the removal of obstruction, Patanjali affirms that no sincere effort is ever lost.

Each moment of aligned practice dissolves another barrier. As impediments steadily fall away, the inherent luminosity of consciousness reveals itself with increasing clarity—until the final stillness, free from all cognitive support, stands complete.

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Next: The path of the most ardent practitioners – those whose intense practice leads to the swiftest realization.

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Glossary of Terms

1. Patañjali: The classical Indian sage traditionally credited with compiling the Yoga Sūtras, a foundational text of yogic philosophy and psychology.
2. Yoga Sūtra 1.20: A core aphorism of the Yoga Sūtras outlining the fivefold sequential path through which ordinary practitioners attain samādhi.
3. Samādhi: A state of deep absorptive stillness where consciousness rests without distortion, culminating in liberation when object-dependence dissolves.
4. Śraddhā (श्रद्धा): Foundational trust grounded in understanding and verified through experience, enabling sustained yogic discipline.
5. Vīrya (वीर्य): Directed and sustained inner effort arising from stable trust, characterized by consistency rather than force.
6. Smṛti (स्मृति): Continuity of awareness that preserves clarity once attained, preventing regression into distraction or forgetfulness.
7. Prajñā (प्रज्ञा): Reality-conforming awareness (ṛtambharā prajñā) that reveals truth directly without conceptual distortion.
8. Samprajñāta Samādhi: Absorptive stillness where awareness remains aligned with an object, serving as a precursor to objectless absorption.
9. Asamprajñāta Samādhi: Objectless absorption where even subtle cognitive supports dissolve, representing the highest yogic consummation.
10. Videha Yogis: Exceptional practitioners born with minimal bodily identification due to advanced prior-life attainments.
11. Prakṛtilaya Yogis: Yogis absorbed in subtle nature who have not yet attained final liberation but possess advanced predispositions.
12. Pūrvaka (पूर्वक): “Necessarily preceded by”; indicating sequential unveiling rather than mechanical causation.
13. Saṁskāras: Latent impressions accumulated through actions across lives that shape tendencies, memory, and spiritual potential.
14. Vyutthāna: The outwardly oriented, worldly state of mind dominated by sensory engagement and habitual activity.
15. Nimitta Kāraṇa: Instrumental cause; conditions that remove obstructions rather than create new effects.
16. Puruṣa: Pure consciousness or the Seer, distinct from mental and material processes.
17. Prakṛti: Primordial nature, encompassing mind, matter, and all manifest phenomena.
18. Para-vairāgya: Supreme detachment that arises spontaneously from reality-conforming awareness.
19. Upāya: Means or method employed in yogic practice, classified as mild, moderate, or superior.
20. Saṁvega: Inner urgency or intensity of aspiration toward liberation.
21. Sādhana: Disciplined spiritual practice undertaken to remove obstructions to realization.
22. Ṛtambharā Prajñā: Truth-bearing awareness that reflects reality exactly as it is.

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25. https://hinduinfopedia.org/patanjali-yoga-sutra-terms-explained-understanding-yoga-sutra-terms-ii/
26. https://hinduinfopedia.org/beyond-liberation-videha-prakriti-laya-yoga-sutras-1-18-1-19/
27. https://hinduinfopedia.org/bhava-pratyaya-videha-yogis-spiritual-privilege-and-rebirth-yoga-sutra-1-19-2/

Reference

1. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.327483/page/n207/mode/1up

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