Sutras 1.27 - 1.28. Sanskrit and mantra-yoga

The following two lines of Yoga Sutras are dedicated to mantras and power of the sound.

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥

1.27. tasya vācakaḥ praṇavaḥ

तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम् ॥२८॥

1.28. tajjapastadarthabhāvanam 

Sutras 27 and 28 tell that “the expression of that (Isvara) is OM (pranava)” and “the repetition of it (Om) in one mind’s eye allows one to experience it (the Isvara)”. Without getting into specifics of what the Om-sound means let us raise a more important question: why do mantras generally exist and how do they work?

Sutra 1.23. Ishvarapranidhana and Chakra System

In the previous article I have outlined my idea of ishvarapranidhana conceptually. Now I will try to consider this issue from a more “practical” point, from the perspective of how to form this state proper and what are the elements it consists of. The methods of my review shall be based upon the concept of the man chakra system. And in order to avoid any misunderstandings which may arise in the process of reading the article I shall make a few remarks.

1. Of course Patanjali does not mention chakras expressly, especially in the context of ishvarapranidhana. The question of when and how this concept appeared in Yoga deserves a separate article that I hope to write. But in any case it does not prevent me from using this methodology since this is the very point of the commenting-on genre – to make the commented subject more clear and applicative while being guided by some more complex systems of signs. Besides, I treat chakras as objective elements of mental reality; therefore it is simply not possible to ignore them while giving any descriptions of psychic experiences.