In the first stages, when the mind attains discriminative knowledge, the prajñā is not deeply seated, and occasionally phenomenal states of consciousness are seen to intervene in the form of “I am,” “Mine,” “I know,” “I do not know,” because the old potencies, though becoming weaker and weaker are not finally destroyed, and consequently occasionally produce their corresponding conscious manifestation as states which impede the flow of discriminative knowledge. But constant practice in rooting out the potency of this state destroys the potencies of the outgoing activity, and finally no intervention occurs in the flow of the stream of prajñā through the destructive influence of phenomenal states of consciousness. In this higher state when the mind is in its natural, passive, and objectless stream of flowing prajñā, it is called the dharmamegha-saṁādhi. When nothing is desired even from dhyāna arises the true knowledge which distinguishes prakṛti from purusha and is called the dharmamegha-samādhi (Yoga-sūtra, IV. 29). The potency, however, of this state of consciousness lasts until the purusha is finally liberated from the bonds of prakṛti and is absolutely free (kevalī). Now this is the state when the citta becomes infinite, and all its tamas being finally overcome, it shines forth like the sun, which can reflect all, and in comparison to which the crippled insignificant light of objective knowledge shrinks altogether, and thus an infinitude is acquired, which has absorbed within itself all finitude, which cannot have any separate existence or manifestation through this infinite knowledge. All finite states of knowledge are only a limitation of true infinite knowledge, in which there is no limitation of this and that. It absorbs within itself all these limitations.
The purusha in this state may be called the emancipated being, jīvanmukta. Nāgeśa in explaining Vyāsa-bhāshya, IV. 31, describing the emancipated life says: “In this jīvanmukta stage, being freed from all impure afflictions and karmas, the consciousness shines in its infirmity. The infiniteness of consciousness is different from the infiniteness of materiality veiled by tamas. In those stages there could be consciousness only with reference to certain things with reference to which the veil of tamas was raised by rajas. When all veils and impurities are removed, then little is left which is not known. If there were other categories besides the 25 categories, these also would then have been known” (Chāyāvyākhyā, IV. 31).
Now with the rise of such dharmamegha the succession of the changes of the qualities is over, inasmuch as they have fulfilled their object by having achieved experience and emancipation, and their succession having ended, they cannot stay even for a moment. And now comes absolute freedom, when the guṇas return back to the pradhāna their primal cause, after performing their service for the purusha by providing his experience and his salvation, so that they lose all their hold on purusha and purusha remains as he is in himself, and never again has any connection with the buddhi. The purusha remains always in himself in absolute freedom.
The order of the return of the guṇas for a kevalī purusha is described below in the words of Vācaspati: The guṇas as cause and effect involving ordinary experiences samādhi and nirodha, become submerged in the manas; the manas becomes submerged in the asmitā, the asmitā in the liṅga, and the liṅga in the aliṅga.
This state of kaivalya must be distinguished from the state of mahāpralaya in which also the guṇas return back to prakṛti, for that state is again succeeded by later connections of prakṛti with purushas through the buddhis, but the state of kaivalya is an eternal state which is never again disturbed by any connection with prakṛti, for now the separation of prakṛti from purusha is eternal, whereas that in the mahāpralaya state was only temporary.
We shall conclude this section by noting two kinds of eternity of purusha and of prakṛti, and by offering a criticism of the prajñā state. The former is said to be perfectly and unchangeably eternal (kūṭastha nitya), and the latter is only eternal in an evolutionary form. The permanent or eternal reality is that which remains unchanged amid its changing appearances; and from this point of view both purusha and prakṛti are eternal. It is indeed true, as we have seen just now, that the succession of changes of qualities with regard to buddhi, etc., comes to an end when kaivalya is attained, but this is with reference to purusha, for the changes of qualities in the guṇas themselves never come to an end. So the guṇas in themselves are eternal in their changing or evolutionary character, and are therefore said to possess evolutionary eternity (pariṇāminityatā). Our phenomenal conception cannot be free from change, and therefore it is that in our conception of the released purushas we affirm their existence, as for example when we say that the released purushas exist eternally. But it must be carefully noted that this is due to the limited character of our thoughts and expressions, not to the real nature of the released purushas, which remain for ever unqualified by any changes or modifications, pure and colourless as the very self of shining intelligence (see Vyāsa-bhāshya, IV. 33).
We shall conclude this section by giving a short analysis of the prajñā state from its first appearance to the final release of purusha from the bondage of prakṛti. Patañjali says that this prajñā state being final in each stage is sevenfold. Of these the first four stages are due to our conscious endeavour, and when these conscious states of prajñā (supernatural wisdom) flow in a stream and are not hindered or interfered with in any way by other phenomenal conscious states of pratyayas the purusha becomes finally liberated through the natural backward movement of the citta to its own primal cause, and this backward movement is represented by the other three stages.
The seven prajñā stages may be thus enumerated:—
I. The pain to be removed is known. Nothing further remains to be known of it.
This is the first aspect of the prajñā, in which the person willing to be released knows that he has exhausted all that is knowable of the pains.