Pratyahara

Pratyahara has been derived as Prati‑a’‑Hr+Ghain.

• Ahara means to assimilate or take something within.
• Pratyahara means to take back again what you have once given out, to take back again what you have vomited

You have abused somebody, he gets angry, you reply back, “I withdraw”. This withdrawal is Pratyahara.

Human mind is guided by certain fundamental psychic principles.

Every entity, which has a mind, has a basic psychology and is always propelled by these fundamentals of basic psychology.

They are:

1. Ahara (food)
2. Nidra (sleep)
3. Bhaya (fear)
4. Maethuna (procreation)

Every living being follows the fundamental principles of this basic psychology.

These have been accepted as natural, and not to be despised.

Every living being has some especial (particular) psychology as well by which you discriminate them.

For example, the nature of monkey, deer, buffalo and horse differ with one another.

One has to take care of their nature, while behaving with them.

But, Ahara, Nidra, Bhaya and Maethuna come under basic psychology and are applicable to all.

But man has to elevate himself, and imbibe in himself a sentient nature.

As such, he has to adjust and control these 4 aspects, and get himself established in Brahma Bhava, which is known as Brahma‑Sadbhava.

After adjusting these basic four into one ideation, one has to divert it towards Brahma Bhava. This process is called Brahma‑Sadbhava.

If a man shall not control these four, and observe Brahma Bhava, these basic four have got the natural tendency to grow more and more.

• It is extremely dangerous.

If a man starts sleeping, he can sleep 22‑ 23 hours a day and afterwards he would say, “If the day would have been extended to 26‑27 hours, I would have slept more”.

Similarly, you will find persons taking 60 to 70 Puriis in feasts.

Similar is the condition of Bhaya. The guardians should never increase fear in their wards, rather should inculcate in them fearlessness.

The family‑men should control and adjust these four, as much as they can, and truly should observe Brahma‑Sadbhava.

A Sannyasii will eschew the last one, and after controlling the first three, shall divert them towards Brahma Sadbhava.

Herein there is a difference between the Dharma of a Sannyasii and a family man.

Animals cannot have adjustment nor Brahma Sadbhava.

They are slaves to these basic propensities. But man has his Bhagavad Dharma, as his especiality, which discriminates him from animals.

If a man is devoid of this especial psychology, he is worse than an animal, not man.

Man has got a good number (200 to 400) of propensities, including the basic and especial and shall be able to increase it to 1000.

Those who practise Vishesa Yoga, know that Dharma is also a Vrtti, whose acoustic root is “Va”.

Animals also have got special points of psychology.

• Their propensities also vary.

Man understands the special characteristics of the animals and tames them accordingly.

There is a fundamental rule in reference to these special and basic Vrttis, that they must not be suppressed or repressed.

But suppose someone has an excess of some of the Vrttis, and if the same is not controlled, will it not be improper and harmful?

But then how is this control possible without suppression or repression?

This is also true that suppression means going against the psychic sentiment and psychic urge and may also lead to some psychic disease.

Even then you cannot encourage a defective basic or special psychology. Can you allow the patient of dyspepsia to take whatever he wants? What to do then?

Bha’gavad Dharma is the special characteristic of man. Bha’gavad Dharma means spiritual urge. It has been said:

The intelligent start observing Bhagavad Dharma from an early age, the earlier it is, the better it will be.

Mind must have a flow like a river. You cannot check it. Checking the same shall mean suppression or repression.

You can divert the flow of mind, then and there, if you checked the same from an unwanted direction, otherwise you will go against the fundamental psychology of human being. Brahmacarya is the best psychological approach.

Here is a human mind and before it stands a bad object.

Mind has diverted towards a wrong direction. This bad tendency will influence the will‑power, the conscious mind and the latter will flow towards the evil with the help of his entire nervous system and he will commit something evil.

But when a man wants to become good there is no help from his nervous system, for example if you want to elevate yourself you have to try and practise hard. Where as degeneration needs no such endeavour, as in this case the nervous system helps you and the affected nerves compel the Indriyas to behave accordingly.

The mind is going towards an object it should not; and also it can have a bad motive or tendency.

Thus, either the object is bad or the tendency is bad. There can be an association of the two as well i.e. mind has got a bad tendency towards a bad object, it is the worst state of affairs.

Under such a circumstance, the Sa’dhana’ of Brahmacarya teaches you to ascribe Brahmahood on the object and act. By ascribing Brahmahood, you have diverted the tendency towards Brahma, it is no longer a bad tendency, bad motive has been changed to good.

You have only diverted it, and not checked it. If the object is eternal, behave with it properly after ascribing Brahmahood with the help of your Guru‑Mantra. It is called Brahmacarya. In Brahmacarya you have to work on the physical level, after ascribing Brahmahood. It implies physical translation as well.

What is Pratyahara? You have ascribed Brahmahood on the object, motive has become good.

But all this is going on in the psychic level. The tendency has been diverted with the help of Guru‑Mantra.

But no physical translation has been done.

This is the first half of Pratyahara. Up to this stage, Pratyahara and Brahmacarya are common.

In Brahmacarya, you proceed towards the physical translation.

But in Pratyahara you do not do so.

The object on which you have ascribed Brahmahood is Apara Brahma like all the expressed universe you visualize. Whereas Parama’tma’ in Its original state is Avyakta, Aks’ara and Para Brahma.

The mental object on which you have ascribed Brahmahood is Apara Brahma and not Para Brahma.

To accomplish Pratyahara, you have to surrender this Apara Brahma (in the form of the mental object) to Para Brahma, through the process of Varnarghya Dana.

All the plexii in the human body appear as lotuses, and the glands as the petals.

Suppose your mind gets an obsession to have a fine chocolate colour suit.

You have ascribed Brahmahood on the suit, make a mental lotus of chocolate colour and surrender it through Varn’a’rghya‑Da’na. Then alone Pratyahara has been accomplished. Constant practice in Pratyahara will make you such, that later on baser or mean ideation shall not occur to you.

Since the expressed universe comprises of Shabda, Sparsha, Ru’pa, Rasa and Gandha, you have to prepare the lotus accordingly by mentally imagining that the lotus you are surrendering possesses the same sound, the same touch, the same colour, the same taste and the same smell as your mental object possesses.

If your attraction is towards Rasa and Gandha, you have to perform Pratyahara for a longer duration, if it is Ru’pa, normal duration will do, and if it is for Shabda and Sparsha, it will take less time. It is only because of the subtle or crude aspect of Tanma’tras ‑ Shabda and Sparsha are sentient, Ru’pa is mutative, and Rasa and Gandha are static.

The corresponding Indriyas are also subtler or cruder accordingly. As such, tongue and nose being Tamogun’ii (static), people are more affected by them. The mere smell of wine propels the drunkard towards drinking.

A family‑man shall have control of all 4 aspects:

1. Ahara
2. Nidra
3. Bhaya
4. Maethuna

He will adjust them into one Bhava and divert it towards Brahma Sadbha’va.

The Sannya’sii will eschew the last one and behave with the previous three as said earlier.

One should keep a vigilant eye over tongue and nose, and have a strong control over them.

In Pratyahara, you have to visualize in the mental lotus all the Tanma’trika qualities of Shabda, Sparsha, Ru’pa, Rasa and Gandha as the object possesses. If the concerning Tanma’tra is of Ru’pa then the mental lotus shall be of the colour of that Ru’pa.

If the concerning Tanma’tra is other than the Ru’pa, then the colour of lotus shall be white colour along with the specialities of the concerning Tanma’tra of the Shabda or Sparsha or Rasa or Gandha as the case may be.

Ut’hite, bosite, kha’ite, suite upa’sana’ kara’cha’i Bhojane a’ma’ra a’huti prada’na shayan a’ma’ra sa’s’t’a’unga pran’a’ma Bhraman’a a’ma’ra pradaks’in’a ta’nri prati katha’ mantra ta’nr Prati aungabhaungi mudra’ viracan je bha’ve bosi sei to a’san Je cinta’i kori ta’nri dhya’n kori ei deho ta’nri yantro.

When I am eating, I am offering oblation to the fire ‑ Brahma’rpan’am’ Brahmahavir Brahma’gnao Brahman’a’hutam’. When I am walking, I am moving towards Parama’tma'.