Rukmani T.S. Dharmamegha-Samadhi In The Yogasutras Of Patanjali: A Critique

Hawaii, Project MUSE - Philosophy East & West, Volume 57, Number 2. — University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007. — 10 p.Exploring the Yogasutra: Philosophy and Translation. T. S. Rukmani Department of Religion, Concordia University.
The concept of dharmamegha-samadhi that occurs in Patanjali's Yogasutras, in the path to kaivalya, has not been easy to comprehend. Scholars working in the field of Yoga have explained the concept in many different ways. This essay tries to reach an understanding of dharmameglia-samadhi based on a careful reading of the Yogasutras along with Vyasa's commentary on it and the later well-known commentaries on Vyasa's own commentary such as the Tattvavaisaradi, the Yogavarttika, and so on. Whether dharmamegha-samadhi is in any way connected with the concept of jivanmukti or liberation while embodied, and whether jivanmukti can be reasonably understood as being part of Yoga philosophy also comes in for discussion toward the end of this essay.