Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Yogi Kalinath - Chapter 2, Verse 40

Pada 2, Sutra 40

Sanskrit Verse

Shaucaat svaanga-jugupsaa parair asansargah

Translation

Due to purity, there arises within the Yogin detachment from one’s own and others’ bodies.

Interpretation

Mens sana in corpore sano. A healthy/sound mind in a healthy/sound body. That ultimately we are not the body is not a contradiction to this injunction. We are a Spirit Soul having a human experience in a material body. The body is therefore the Temple of the Spirit Soul and should be perceived as such. Just like any Place of Worship, it should be kept clean inside and out in order to facilitate the right devotional attitude towards the Divinity Within. Hence the array of Yoga internal cleansing techniques (Shat Karma) as well as the plethora of Asanas and pranayamas to respectively instill the Holiness of the Body Temple physically and energetically.

Only then can we develop a healthy natural detachment from one’s own and others’ bodies as our perception and understanding have shifted from the ephemeral (the human body composed of the five elements and therefore perishable) to the perennial (the Spirit Soul that inhabits all body temples).

Reflection

Respecting our body by keeping it clean inside and out in order to facilitate the conscious installation and growth in awareness of the Divinity Within as the Spirit Soul is purity and a definite aid to Self-realization (realizing the Self Within). Cleanliness can then be affirmed as being next to Godliness as the Cosmic Prana (Holy Spirit) can then travel unimpeded in our occult corporeity or Subtle Body to expand our awareness of our True Nature as the Spirit Soul.