Swamiji- “From a special process of devotion and letting go into the creative source from which we emerged (ishvara pranidhana), the coming of samadhi is imminent.”
Iyengar- “Or, the citta may be restrained by profound meditation upon God and total surrender to Him”
By surrendering oneself unto whatever larger being you feel exists the path is shortened and the gates of “heaven” are opened. A major difference between these two sources is Iyengar’s use of the masculine God form and swamji use of “universal soul.”
1.24 klesha karma vipaka ashayaih aparamristah purusha-vishesha ishvara
Swamiji- “That creative source (ishvara) is a particular consciousness (purusha) that is unaffected by colorings (kleshas), actions (karmas), or results of those actions that happen when latent impressions stir and cause those actions.”
Iyengar- “God is the Supreme Being, totally free from conflicts, unaffected by actions and untouched by cause and effect”
By reading both sources, I think that Iyengar is referring to God as Ishwara, or the union of the Hindu trinity, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and at the same time AUM. “God” doesn’t experience pain or other emotions as we do, we’re both and reborn with samkaras which need to be released.
1.25 tatra niratishayam sarvajna bijam
Swamiji- “In that pure consciousness (ishvara) the seed of omniscience has reached its highest development and cannot be exceeded.”
Iyengar- “God is unexcelled seed of all knowledge”
Iyengar identifies God and swamji identifies AUM as the “seed of knowledge”
1.26 purvesham api guruh kalena anavachchhedat
Swamiji- “From that consciousness (ishvara) the ancient-most teachers were taught, since it is not limited by the constraint of time.”
Iyengar- “God is the first, foremost and absolute guru, unconditioned by time”
God or AUM is the first and eternal teacher. Most of us must learn from human teachers, tho it is possible to learn from the source from time to time.
1.27 tasya vachakah pranavah
Swamiji- “The sacred word designating this creative source is the sound
Iyengar- “He is represented by the sacred syllable AUM, called parnava”
Iyengar makes the interesting point that science, specifically quantum mechanics I believe, has proven that vibration is the basis of creation. Therefore we intone AUM so as to be the closest we can be to the universal soul in the physical world.
Swamji analyzes the AUM symbol showing what each of the parts of the written symbol means. Unfortunately I can’t draw it here – I’ll work on that…
1.28 tat japah tat artha bhavanam
Swamiji- “This sound is remembered with deep feeling for the meaning of what it represents.”
Iyengar- “The mantra AUM is to be repeated constantly with feeling realizing its full significance”
Both sources encourage repetition (Japa) of AUM, but warn about mindless repetition. That it is better to intone AUM with intention and understanding.
1.29 tatah pratyak chetana adhigamah api antaraya abhavash cha
Swamiji- “From that remembering comes the realization of the individual Self and the removal of obstacles.”
Iyengar- “Mediation on God with the repetition of AUM removes obstacles to the mastery of the inner self”
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