Sutra 13 Tatra sthitau yatno-abhyasah

tatra: there, in that way.

yatnah: enthusiasm: zeal, endeavor. Enthusiastic sustained effort.

abhyasa: focused and conscious continuous application. At first this continuity appears difficult to sustain, because of the momentum of past karmic tendencies. However, with practice over time, practice becomes easier and effortless -- self sustaining, because the practice remediates past negative karmic patterns, creates positive karma, and heightens awareness. Thus practice becomes naturally self sustaining, liberating, and effortless.

yatno-abhyasah: A continuous sustained enthusiastic dedicated practice.

sthitau: based upon, resting upon, dependent, a state of balanced strength, stability, supported, foundational, unwavering.

Commentary: This continuous enthusiastic abiding is characterized by a resting into a great peace and stillness of the mind, which is effortless, open, liquid, and flowing. Tatra refers to Sutra 12 or vairagyabhyam. Here, distractive attachments toward an "object" are released or do not arise. Yogic practice will then become steady, stable, strengthened, and balanced (sthitau). A self supporting and naturally self instructing spiritual practice will unfold and become self-perpetuating nd enthusiastic, capable of supporting itself in itself. This way we form the stable base to progress further in yoga practice, which is to be firmly established in the practice of release (vairagya). Vairagyam as non-expectation is to be enthusiastically applied in all situations.

A sustaining, dedicated, devotional zeal, and/or natural concentrated enthusiasm enters into our practice moving us into stillness and provides direction, centeredness, and groundedness for All Our Relations. It provides an increasingly accessible still, stable, and balanced self supporting impetus in which to proceed. Thus, Patanjali defines yoga practice (abhyasa) as that activity which leads us toward, supports, and strengthens the presence of a sense of balanced and steady stillness (sthiti) where the polar turbulences or conflicts no longer tug nor nag the mind stream. Here, the word, sthitau, is translated as a passive firmness, stillness, or a restful steadiness, something like what we can experience in sama-sthiti or tadasana, rather than associate it with the idea of, fixity, which conjures up a contracted and active image of rigidity. Yogis do not pursue rigid minds and bodies. One translation of sthitau is a coming into a stable situation of rest, stillness, and quietude -- a steady abiding at REST.

Abhyasa should lead to a relaxed, stable, calmness, steadiness, restful, and self supporting foundational stillness and stability of the mind-field (sthiti). After it is firmly established it self perpetuates its own power and intelligence as we become accustomed to being stress free, empty, and open.

Swami Veda Bharati interestingly translates Vyasa's commentary (bhasya) on I.13 as:

Later SW. Veda Bharati comments on Vyasa's commentary:

Again the mutuality of abhyasa (as the sustaining practice) and vairagyam (letting go) in I-13-16 reflects a very profound and skillful balance and synergistic synthesis taken together as upaya, because "ordinary" mental processes that are operating under the dictation of dualistic mentation (the normal situation of the ordinary discursive mind) very often create a confusion between "practice" on one hand, and "letting go" (vairagya) on the other. This occurs because ordinarily we often confuse/associate practice with individual willfulness. In yoga balance and openness are key. For example, in India there often may too much indifference and surrender, then abhyasa (enthusiastic endeavor) is often emphasized, while vairagya is taken for granted. However, in the West, generally there is more fixation, goal orientation, obsession, and attachment, so vairagya has to be emphasized in order to achieve synergistic balance. However vairãgya and abhyasa both operate together in balance. For the hatha yogi, HA (or pingala nadi) represents abhyasa and THA (or the ida nadi) represents vairagya. This energetic balance between prana and apana respectively, provokes a mutual synchronization, synergy, and activation in the central channel (sushumna nadi), where a stable self-supporting (sthitau) enthusiastic base (yatnah) is`established.

Those of us who are lost in duality mistakenly think that practice, on one hand, and non-attachment to results, on the other, are conflicting. That way, a needless tension is created. Really, they are meant to work together as will be illustrated in the following sutras. In the same way, vairagyabhyam is the practice that clears the citta-vrtti and leads to samadhi. Continuous application of focused intent eventually reveals what we are holding onto; i.e., what is holding us back. Thus release (via vairagya) catalyzes our liberation (mukti) from bondage. Similarly, just the intent of taking up a practice is an affirmation of making a change in one's life and that it concomitant with letting go of something. Here effort and non-effort form the yang and yin -- the two poles of the great process of yoga sadhana that Patanjali is describing in Samadhi Pada. Just as profound is the question whether it is through man's work or divine grace that ultimate realization dawns. Is it earned or is it is bestowed? This is easily answered that by vairagya one does not mean a passive collapse or state of inertia because Patanjali calls it a practice. It is a particularly advanced practice that lets go of all attachments, even that of practice, thus creating space for Grace -- for the higher transpersonal wisdom to dawn (as we will see in Sutra 49 (Rtambhara prajna). One finds that in order to even find our practice and to have the grace to "do" practice, as well as to be successful in practice, such is due to to Grace alone due in the end to Grace -- a higher and more profound transpersonal wisdom and identification. But this does not mean that abhyasa does not act as an invitation to Grace when practiced wisely (upaya). In fact, vairagyabhyam leads to presence, whose recognition makes it much easier to let go of the citta-vrtti.

Consistent focused intent over time by itself builds up its own intelligent momentum and acts as the innate always accessible transpersonal teacher, especially apparent when we are able to give up expectation and preference (attachment to results) other than to simply abide in the sacred space which is always available and present within. This enables us to focus upon the innate beauty and power of the practice as an ongoing self revelatory process which provides access within to the timeless attributeless eternal universal transpersonal source which resides in all (isvara). HERE inspiration, zeal, dedication, devotion, and natural enthusiasm (yatnah) work reciprocally so that the practice becomes self perpetuating, self sustaining, effortless, energizing, and self inspiring. All activity becomes a moving meditation which reveals the ever present true Self and thus the practice takes on a life by itself, becomes energized and empowered, self actualizing, self empowering, self liberating, fertilizing the pregnant fields (abhumih) which gives forth beginningless birth, and which endows the fount of inspiration (virya). Eventually this practice become continuous (the esoteric meaning of the word, yoga, in All Our Relations!