Philosophy East and West

The concept of Dharmamegha-samādhi that occurs in Patañjali’s Yogasutras, in the path to kaivalya, has not been easy to comprehend. Scholars working in the field of Yoga have explained the concept in many different ways. This essay tries to reach an understanding of Dharmamegha-samādhi based on a careful reading of the Yogasūtras along with Vyāsa’s commentary on it and the later well-known commentaries on Vyāsa’s own commentary such as the Tattvavaiśāradī, the Yogavārttika, and so on. Whether Dharmamegha-samādhi is in any way connected with the concept of jīvanmukti, or liberation while embodied, and whether jīvanmukti can be reasonably understood as being part of Yoga philosophy also comes in for discussion toward the end of this essay.