विभूतिपाद · Chapter Overview
From The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, taught by Acharya T Krishnatrey. This lesson is free to read.
<pre data-block="statement">What this chapter covers | The third pāda (56 sūtras) turns inward to the last three limbs — concentration, meditation and absorption (dhāraṇā, dhyāna, samādhi, 3.1–3) — which, practised together on one object, are called SAṂYAMA (3.4), the yogī's master-tool of insight. Most of the chapter then catalogues the extraordinary powers (vibhūtis / siddhis) that arise from saṃyama directed at different objects — knowledge of past and future, of other minds, of the body and cosmos, and unusual mastery (3.16 onward). Crucially, it ends by warning that these powers are OBSTACLES and must be renounced for the sake of freedom (3.37, 3.51). A few example sūtras follow.</pre>