Verse No 107 Mauna as BrahmanTrue mauna is not muteness but abiding in Brahman, which transcends speech and thought.Mounam hi brahma-lakṣaṇam — silence is the very nature of Brahman.Beyond linguistic categoriesWords operate by universals (jāti), qualities, or actions.Brahman is beyond all such grounds; hence unspeakable (avācya).Knowable through identityThough inexpressible, Brahman is directly realized (pratyag-abhinna), because the Self and Brahman are non-different.Sādhanā: “Tad Aham Asmi”The culmination is continuous nididhyāsana: “That Brahman I am.”This is not conceptual repetition but steady abidance in one’s true nature.Practical insightA jñānī’s silence is not void but fullness: silence as unmediated awareness of Brahman.Verse No 108 & 109 No “fourteenth aṅga” problemSomeone may mistakenly think that anusandhāna (constant contemplation) of Brahman is an extra limb of sādhana, apart from the traditional set (yama, niyama, tyāga, etc.).The teacher clarifies: it is not a new aṅga, but precisely mauna — the silence that is the recognition of Brahman.Why Brahman is vāg-atiita (“beyond speech”)Words operate by reference to class (jāti), quality (guṇa), or activity (kriyā).Brahman is nirviśeṣa (featureless), thus none of these apply.This repeats Śaṅkara’s insistence in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Bhāṣya that Brahman is avācyam (inexpressible), yet self-evident.Even prapañca (name-form manifold) ultimately escapes speechThough names and forms seem expressible, on deeper analysis they collapse into indefiniteness (neither fully real nor fully unreal).Thus both Brahman and the prapañca evade ultimate linguistic grasp — but in different ways:Brahman by being nirviśeṣa (beyond attributes),Prapañca by being mithyā (indefinable).Mauna is not mere mutenessIt is the abidance in Brahman where speech has no role, because Brahman is realized as tad aham asmi — “That I am.”This turns “silence” into the highest wisdom rather than physical stillness.Verse No 110 Deśa beyond spatialityDeśa here does not mean mere “place” in the physical sense.It points to the substratum where phenomena seem to arise. But Advaita stresses: origination (jan) is absent in all three times.Thus, Brahman is the “deśa” — the timeless locus without any event of birth, change, or destruction.Self-evident AwarenessThe non-origination of the Self is not inferred from external authority but known directly in one’s own awareness (sva-pratīti).This echoes Gauḍapāda’s ajātivāda: “no origination ever takes place.”Negation of empirical standpointsWorldly perception (laukika-pratīti) and even conventional scriptural descriptions (śāstrīya-pratīti) are insufficient, as they speak in dualistic terms.The non-origination of the Self must be grasped as immediate, experiential truth — aparokṣa-jñāna.Verse No 111 Time as kalanaTime is not an independent reality but a conceptual division (kalana = calculation).It arises only when consciousness, through avidyā, divides the indivisible.Dependence on cosmic processesTime is seen in relation to cosmic functions — creation, sustenance, and dissolution.Thus, kāla is not absolute; it is a category of Māyā, tied to change.Not ultimately realIn Advaita, time has vyāvahārika-sattā (empirical reality) but not pāramārthika-sattā (absolute reality).From the standpoint of Brahman, which is timeless and changeless, time collapses.Witness Consciousness vs. KālaThe Self, being kāla-ātīta (beyond time), is the very witness within which time appears as reckoning.This echoes Bhagavad Gītā (11.32): kālo’smi — time itself is nothing but Brahman’s appearance through Māyā.Verse No 112 Āsana redefinedUnlike in Yoga, where āsana is physical posture, here in Advaita it is abidance in Brahman, the seat of bliss (ānanda-svarūpa).“Sukhenaiva” — the ease is not bodily comfort, but the natural ease of resting in one’s own Self.Beyond doership (kartavya–akartavya-vicāra)The anxiety of dharma–adharma, duty vs. non-duty, dissolves in Brahman-realization.True āsana is the effortless stillness of mind that no longer calculates.Timeless SeatThe text highlights: Brahman is ajasa (without decay), kālatrayāvasthāyī (abiding across all times).This timeless, changeless Brahman is the only stable “seat.” All other postures are transient.Soteriological implicationThe shift is radical: instead of the Yogic pursuit of the body’s stillness, Advaita places the “seat” in the formless, timeless Self.Thus āsana becomes a synonym for Self-abidance (ātma-niṣṭhā).Verse No 113 Reinterpretation of Yogic SiddhāsanaTraditionally in Haṭha Yoga, siddhāsana is a bodily posture.Here, Śaṅkara redefines it: the only “accomplished seat” is abiding in Brahman.Twofold grammatical readingKarmadhāraya: siddham āsanam → “that āsana which is accomplished.”Tatpuruṣa: siddhānām āsanam → “the āsana of the accomplished ones.”Both converge in meaning: Brahman is the seat, and the siddhas are those who rest in it.Brahman = the True SeatThus, the “siddhāsana” is not about posture but about Self-realization.One who abides in Brahman sits in the only truly firm, unshakable seat.Advaitic turnThis subtle play shows Śaṅkara’s genius: taking Yogic categories and turning them into Vedāntic abidance in Self (ātma-sthiti).What yogins strive to steady through body, Advaita steadies in pure awareness.Verse No 114 Shift from Physical to Mental DisciplineHaṭhayoga takes mūlabandha as a contraction at the base of the body.Advaita redefines it as anchoring the mind in Brahman — the true root (mūla) of all existence.Ignorance as “false binding”The real bondage is not physical but mental — caused by mūlāvidyā (primordial ignorance).Even ignorance, however, is not independent — it depends on Brahman, being mithyā.Two meanings of “bandha”(a) Ignorance as bondage (avidyā binds the mind).(b) Restraint of the mind to Brahman (positive discipline).Both are traced back to Brahman as their substratum.Advaita–Rājayoga synthesisFor yogins, mūlabandha = unbroken concentration (avikṣipta-cittatā).For Advaitins, the same steadiness = abidance in Self, culminating in aparokṣa-jñāna.Verse No 115 True “equipoise” is not physicalUnlike Haṭhayoga where deha-sāmya means literal bodily balance/posture, here Śaṅkara explains it as seeing sameness through Brahman, the substratum.Superimposition (adhyāsa)Any perception of inequality of limbs in Brahman is mere adhyāhāra (superimposition). Brahman, the ground of all, is free from differences.Metaphor of “level water”Just as calm water represents perfect evenness, so too the body is to be seen as equalized when the mind abides in Brahman.Acknowledgment of empirical limitationŚaṅkara notes that the limbs, being naturally unequal, cannot literally become identical like the branches of a stiff dry tree.Thus, the teaching is symbolic: deha-sāmya is about vision (dṛṣṭi), not actual uniformity of limbs.Verse No 116 Brahman is not an object of attainmentUnlike ritual results (phala) that arise after action, Brahman is self-established (siddha), not something newly produced.Role of vṛtti-jñānaThough Brahman is ever-present, ignorance (avidyā) obstructs its recognition.A knowledge-vṛtti (jñānamayī vṛtti) arises through Vedāntic inquiry, taking the form “I am Brahman.”Akhaṇḍa-brahmākāra-vṛttiThe final mental modification is unique: unlike other vṛttis that grasp limited objects, this vṛtti removes ignorance and reveals the indivisible, infinite Brahman.Vision of the worldThe knower perceives the world not as a collection of independent objects, but as Brahman itself appearing as names and forms.Sthiti as abidanceHere, “sthiti” (abidance) means the mind’s unwavering dwelling in this Brahma-dṛṣṭi: the ever-present recognition that all is Brahman.Verse No. 117 Brahman as beyond attributesBrahman lacks jāti, guṇa, kriyā (class, quality, action), so no ordinary sense-perception or conceptual vṛtti can grasp it.Therefore, the objection arises: how can Brahman be “seen”?Tripuṭī-nivṛtti (cessation of the triad)Advaita resolves: “vision” here does not mean perception but the dissolution of the triad of subject-object-instrument in Brahman.Dṛṣṭi as inner abidanceThe real dṛṣṭi is an inner vṛtti aligning with Brahman-consciousness, not a yogic exercise like gazing at the nose-tip.Svarūpa-anubhava (direct realization)This interpretation harmonizes with the Advaita doctrine that Brahman is not objectified but realized as the very Self when the triads collapse.Verse No 118 Primacy of Mind over PrāṇaIn Advaita, prāṇa is considered subordinate (manodhīna).Mind is subtler and closer to Consciousness; prāṇa follows its lead.Reversal of Pātañjala OrderPatañjali holds that restraining prāṇa helps restrain mind (prāṇāyāma → manonirodha).Śaṅkara reverses: restraining the mind (through viveka, vairāgya, nididhyāsana) brings about prāṇa’s control effortlessly.Why This Matters in AdvaitaLiberation is through jñāna (knowledge), not yogic prāṇāyāma.Breath-control may aid concentration, but true nirodha (stilling) of the mind comes only by knowledge of Brahman, not mechanical restraint of breath.Vedāntic Re-definition of PrāṇāyāmaIn this context, prāṇāyāma is not the yogic technique of inhalation–retention–exhalation, but the natural quietude of prāṇa that follows the stillness of mind in Brahman-abidance.Verse No 119 Re-interpretation of Yogic TermsIn Yoga, recaka, pūraka, and kumbhaka are physical breath-controls.In Advaita, they are symbolic:Recaka (exhalation): Negating the non-Self (neti neti), casting out body-mind identification.Pūraka (inhalation): Absorbing the truth of the Self as Brahman.Kumbhaka
