Sūtra 2.23

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 2.23:

स्वस्वामिशक्त्योः स्वरूपोपलब्धिहेतुः संयोगः ॥ २.२३ ॥

svasvāmiśaktyoḥ svarūpopalabdhihetuḥ saṃyogaḥ || 2.23 ||

23. Conjunction is the cause of the apprehension of the natures of the inherent power and the lordship of power.

The Rajamartanda commentary by King Bhoja:

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

[Sanskrit text for commentary available]

Having described spectacle and spectator he proceeds to describe their conjunction.

[Read Sūtra 2.23]

He defines it through its function. “Inherent power” (svaśakti) is the nature of the spectacle. “Lordship of power” (svāmiśakti) is the identity of the spectator. That “conjunction” (saṃyoga) which is the cause of the apprehension of the natures of the two, existing correlated as the knowable and the knower, is the natural condition of the relation of the experience and the experiencer, and no other. Nor is their conjunction of a different character from their respective natures, which are eternal and all pervading. The character of the experience as the experience and of the experiencer as the experiencer is established from time without a beginning, and that is the conjunction.

Notes and Extracts

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

[The purport of this is that there is an inherent relation between the experience as experienceable, and the experiencer as experiencer from time without a beginning; that is, this relation is not casual or adventitious, produced at particular times by particular causes, but natural and always existing. This relation of the two is indicated by the term saṃyoga or conjunction, and this conjunction or the natural relation of the two is the cause of worldliness. As will be explained afterwards, the conjunction is not actual or material, but a mere reflection of the one on the other.]

He now describes its cause.