1.2
योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः
yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
The line
Yoga is the stilling of the activities of the mind.
नेपालीमा
योग चित्तका वृत्तिहरूको निरोध हो।
Where it sits
This is the definition the rest of the book serves. Pāda (पाद) 1 says what that stilling is like. Pāda (पाद) 2 says what practice thins the causes of the activities. Pāda (पाद) 3 describes a concentration so complete that powers appear, and warns that they are not this stilling. Pāda (पाद) 4 returns to the seer, alone.
Split: yogaḥ (योगः) + citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ (चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| yogaḥ (योगः) | nominative singular, masculine | yoga. The thing being defined. |
| citta (चित्त) | stem, inside the compound | the mind. Not a single thought. The field in which seeing, remembering, and imagining occur. |
| vṛtti (वृत्ति) | stem, inside the compound | an activity, a turning, a fluctuation of that field. |
| nirodhaḥ (निरोधः) | nominative singular, masculine | stilling, cessation. ni (नि) "down, into" and rodha (रोध) "holding back." The activities stop. |
The phrases
yogaḥ (योगः) is the subject.
citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ (चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः) is the predicate, and it is one compound. Read from the end:
- nirodha (निरोध) — a stilling
- of vṛtti (वृत्ति) — of the activities
- of citta (चित्त) — of the mind
So the phrase is "stilling of the activities of the mind." Both yogaḥ (योगः) and nirodhaḥ (निरोधः) are nominative. That is how Sanskrit says "A is B" with no verb between them.
Joined back up, the line is: yoga is the stilling of the mind's activities.
The ḥ (ः) of yogaḥ (योगः) does not survive next to c (च्). It becomes ś (श्), which is why the recited line begins yogaś citta (योगश् चित्त).
Sanskrit in this line
Visarga sandhi, first pattern. A word ending in aḥ (अः), standing before a voiceless c (च्) or ch (छ्), turns ḥ (ः) into ś (श्). yogaḥ citta (योगः चित्त) is recited yogaś citta (योगश् चित्त). Other patterns of visarga arrive at 1.8, 1.10, and 1.13. Do not try to learn them all here.
The compound is a chain of relations that English marks with "of." Its name is tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष). You already met a shorter one in yogānuśāsanam (योगानुशासनम्). The skill is the same: start at the end.
Say it back
Three words have to be yours before 1.3: citta (चित्त), vṛtti (वृत्ति), nirodha (निरोध). Gloss them without looking.