View source for Pratyahara

{{Short description|Stage of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga}}
'''Pratyahara'''<ref>{{cite web |title=pratyahara in American English |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/pratyahara |publisher=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=6 December 2019 |quote=the Yogic practice of turning the mind to introspection by voluntarily shutting out distractions provided by the senses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vivekananda |first=Swami |title=The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda |publisher=Advaita Ashram |year=1907 |isbn=9788175053830 |edition=19th. |location=India |pages=172 |language=English}}</ref> ({{Langx|sa|प्रत्याहार|translit=Pratyāhāra}}) or the 'gathering towards' is the fifth element among the [[Ashtanga (eight limbs of yoga)|Eight stages]] of [[Patanjali]]'s [[Rāja yoga|Ashtanga Yoga]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/474079/pratyahara Pratyahara] ''[[Britannica.com]]''.</ref> as mentioned in his classical work, ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]'' composed in  the 2nd century BCE.<ref>[http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-25455.htm ''Yoga Sutras'' 2.54-2.55: - Pratyahara or Sense Withdrawal] ''[[Yoga Sutras]]'', 2.54-2.55.</ref> It is also the first stage of the six-branch yoga (''ṣaḍaṅgayoga'') of the Buddhist [[Kālacakra]] tantra, where it refers to the withdrawal of the five senses from external objects to be replaced by the mentally created senses of an enlightened [[deity]]. This phase is roughly analogous to the physical isolation (''kāyaviveka'', Tib. ''lus bden'') phase of [[Guhyasamāja tantra]].
For Patanjali, it is a bridge between the ''bahiranga'' (external) aspects of yoga namely, [[yamas|yama]], [[niyama]], [[asana]], [[pranayama]], and the ''antaranga'' (internal) yoga.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Pratyahara|url=http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=893|journal=sivanandaonline.org}}</ref> Having actualized the pratyahara stage, a practitioner is able to effectively engage into the practice of [[Samyama]]. At the stage of pratyahara, the [[consciousness]] of the individual is internalized in order that the sensations from the [[senses]] of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their respective centers in the brain and takes the [[sadhaka|practitioner]] to the next stages of [[Yoga]], namely [[Dharana]] (concentration), [[Dhyana in Hinduism|Dhyana]] (meditation), and [[Samādhi (Buddhism)|samadhi]] (unification of mind), leading to the recognition (''kaivalyam'') of [[Purusha]] which is the aim of Patanjali's [[Yogic]] practices.<ref>[http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/Yogaplus/Article.aspx?id=934 Moving Inward: The Journey from Asana to Pratyahara] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719232925/http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/Yogaplus/Article.aspx?id=934 |date=2011-07-19 }} ''[[Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy]]''.</ref>
==Etymology==
Pratyahara is derived from two [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] words: ''{{lang|sa-Latn|prati}}'' and ''{{lang|sa-Latn|aahara}}'', with {{lang|sa-Latn|ahara}} meaning gathering, and {{lang|sa-Latn|prati}}, a preposition meaning towards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LearnSanskrit |url=https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=prati&dir=au |access-date=6 June 2022}}</ref>  Together they mean "checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thraldom of the senses {{lang|sa-Latn|ahara}}".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vivekananda |first=Swami |title=The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda |publisher=Advaita Ashram |year=1907 |isbn=9788175053830 |edition=19 |location=Mayawati, India |pages=172 |language=English}}</ref>
==Types of Pratyahara==
[[File:Anandabodhi2.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Monks meditating under the Anandabodhi tree in ''Jetavana Monastery'', [[Sravasti]]]]
===Withdrawal of senses or Indriya Pratyahara===
{{See also|#Noble Eightfold Path#Right effort|l1=Indriya-samvara ("guarding the sense-doors")}}
This involves withdrawal of senses, or sensory inputs into our physical being, coming from our five senses, namely organs creating a sensory overload, and hence hinders collection of the mind, as in [[Dharana]], the next stage of Yoga <ref name=dav>Yoga and Ayurveda, by [[David Frawley]], Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 2004. {{ISBN|81-208-1879-2}}. Chapter 16: Pratyahara: the Forgotten Limb of Yoga, page 261.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Pratyahara: the forgotten Limb of Yoga|url=http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/H%20-%20World%20Religions%20and%20Poetry/World%20Religions/From%20the%20Indian%20Tradition/Teachers%20from%20the%20Indian%20Tradition/David%20Frawley/Pratyahara%20-%20the%20Forgotten%20Limb/Pratyahara%20the%20Forgotten%20Limb%20of%20Yoga.htm|journal=A Buddhist Library}}</ref>
One of the most common practices for withdrawal of the senses is bringing the attention inwards towards the breath, observing it without trying to control it, as connection with the external senses and stimuli are all gradually severed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yoga.iloveindia.com/limbs-of-yoga/pratyahara.html |title=Pratyahara |publisher=Yoga.iloveindia.com |access-date=2011-12-08}}</ref> Another method is to concentrate on the point between the eyebrows, the [[Ajna]] [[chakra]] or  third eye.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rockefeller |first=James David |title=Everything You Wanted to Know About Ashtanga Yoga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8xTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 |year=2018 |publisher=The Publisher LLC |page=33 |id=GGKEY:F1JSY78B3AY}}</ref> Another common technique is to first reduce physical stimuli, then concentrate on one sense, such as hearing. The mind has a natural tendency to roam between the sensory inputs. In this situation, as there are no longer any other significant sensory inputs, when the mind gets tired of hearing, it is forced to turn inward.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Frawley |first1=David |title=Pratyahara: Yoga’s Forgotten Limb |url=https://yogainternational.com/article/view/pratyahara-yogas-forgotten-limb |publisher=Yoga International |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref> Pratyahara may make use of a [[meditation seat]], such as [[Lotus position|Padmasana (lotus position)]], combined with Pranayama breath-control, [[Kumbhaka]], and progressively more subtle internal objects of focus as the practitioner becomes more advanced. At the start, the objects are "gross", directly available to sense perception, such as the points of focus ([[Drishti (yoga)|drishti]]) used to accompany yoga asana practice, including the space between the eyebrows, the tip of the nose, or the navel. More subtle objects may then be selected, such as the chakras, together with their attributes including position, colour, and number of petals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maehle |first=Gregor |title=Ashtanga Yoga - The Intermediate Series: Mythology, Anatomy, and Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OhYeGdNK0UoC&pg=PA10 |year=2012 |publisher=New World Library |isbn=978-1-57731-987-0 |page=10}}</ref>
===Withdrawal of Prana or Prana Pratyahara===
Control of our senses requires mastery over the flow of prana, as that is what drives the senses. To stop the scattering of valuable vital energy of the body or [[prana]], we need to seek control over its flow, and harmonize it. This is done through various practices including bringing the entire focus to a single point in the body.<ref name=dav/>
These two lead to the subsequent two types of pratyahara, the Control of Action or '[[Karma]] pratyahara', which entails not just control of motor organs, but also right action or work, and [[Karma Yoga]], surrender of every action to the divine and performing it as an act of service. This leads to the final form of pratyahara - the Withdrawal of Mind or 'Mano pratyahara', which is practiced by consciously withdrawing attention from anything that is unwholesome, and distracting for the mind such as by withdrawing attention from the senses, and directing it inwards  <ref>[[Yoga Sutra]]s Book II.54.</ref>
==Further reading==
*  ''Ayurveda and the Mind'', by [[David Frawley]], Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin {{ISBN|0-914955-36-5}}.
* ''The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali'', Translated by James Haughton Woods. Courier Dover Publications, 2003. {{ISBN|0-486-43200-9}}.
* Khedrup Norsang Gyatso. ''Ornament of Stainless Light''. Translated by Gavin Kilty. The Library of Tibetan Classics 14. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004. {{ISBN|0-86171-452-0}}.
==See also==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*[[Dharana]]
*[[Dhyana in Hinduism]]
*[[Samādhi]]
*[[Samyama]]
{{Refend}}
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{wikisource|The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Raja-Yoga/Pratyahara And Dharana}}
{{wikisource|Yoga Sutras}}
* [http://sathya-sai-baba.org/stages.html#Pratyahara Pratyahara] Comments on the Patanjali's Scheme.
* [http://www.discover-yoga-online.com/pratyahara.html Pratyahara, by ''Yogacharya'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120904021900/http://www.spiritualite-livres.fr/yoga-sutras-patanjali/ Patanjali : les Yoga Sûtras], a ''Yoga Sûtras of Patanjali'' translation by Sylviane Legrand
* [http://bahiranga.com/pratyahara/ Pratyahara, fifth limb of Yoga] Bahiranga.com
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[[Category:Eight limbs of yoga]]
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