4.32 Gunas in balance and inactivity

4.32 After having fulfilled their purpose, to provide experiences for liberation, the tendencies towards change in nature (gunas) come into balance and inactivity.

These last aphorisms of the Yoga Sutra present the scenario at the end of the yogic journey. This sutra relates to sutras 2.18 and 2.22: the world is real, and although for the yogi established fully in discernment the world is no longer a source of distractedness, for others, the world of experience remains to serve its purpose as a vehicle leading to liberation. A literal interpretation of this sutra might suggest that once one yogi reaches the highest point of integration, dharma megha samadhi, the world would cease to exist. This would mean that everything in existence would dissolve also. A different perspective is that since all change results from the constant interaction between the tendencies of nature (gunas: rajas, sattva and tamas), for the yogi, the gunas come into balance and recede into inactivity. The yogi steps outside of the cycle of cause and effect (as it was stated in 4.6), abiding in awareness and without generating karma.

As usual, one more way of exploring the meaning of this sutra is by chanting it.
You can choose to chant it in its traditional form with some of the words coming together:

4.32 tataḥ kṛtārthānaṃ pariṇāmakramasamāptirguṇānām
ततः कृतार्थानं परिणामक्रमसमाप्तिर्गुणानाम् ॥३२॥

Another option is to chant each word in the sutra individually:

• tataḥ
• kṛta
• arthānaṃ
• pariṇāma
• karma
• samāptiḥ
• guṇānām

If you prefer, you may listen to the podcast:

This is an excerpt from the book Unravel the thread: Applying the ancient wisdom of yoga to live a happy life

If you find Simple-Yoga.org and Unravel the thread useful, consider supporting my labor with a donation, you may also donate using PayPal or Venmo. Thank you!