Sūtra 2.17

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 2.17:

द्रष्टृदृश्ययोः संयोगो हेयहेतुः ॥ २.१७ ॥

draṣṭṛdṛśyayoḥ saṃyogo heyahetuḥ || 2.17 ||

17. The conjunction of the spectator and the spectacle is the cause of the avoidable.

The Rajamartanda commentary by King Bhoja:

[English translation of the 11th century commentary by Bhoja called the Rājamārtaṇḍa]

[Sanskrit text for commentary available]

The “spectator” (dṛṣṭā) is the soul of the form of intelligence. The “spectacle” (dṛśya) is the principle of understanding (intellect). The conjunction,” saṃyoga, i.e., coming into the relation of the enjoyer and that which is to be enjoyed, of these two, without due discrimination, is the “cause,” (hetu) producing agent, of the “avoidable,” (heya) which is pain resulting from the modifications of the qualities, and that is the world. The meaning is that on the cessation of that conjunction worldliness subsides.

Notes and Extracts

[Notes and comparative extracts from other commentaries on the Yogasūtra]

[In this aphorism “the avoidable” is used to imply the affairs of the world. Those affairs result from the conjunction or

interaction of the soul and the intellect, and inasmuch as worldliness is invariably associated with pain, and that pain cannot be suppressed as long as that worldliness lasts, and for the sake of emancipation worldliness should be avoided, that which is to be avoided is here called the avoidable, or the avoidance-worthy. The word saṃyoga means conjunction, but here a mere reflection of the soul is what is meant. The reflection results from propinquity. There is never an actual contact.]

Having described the conjunction of the spectator and the spectacle, he now explains the nature, the function, and the motive of the spectacle.