[Advaita-l] Patanjali is as popular as Elon Musk (an invitation to this Sunday's webinar)

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Very well described Sundar ji.

On Fri, 17 Jul, 2026, 9:31 pm Sundar Rajan via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> >
> > Namaste all,
> >
> > Patanjali, I have come to realize, occupies the same position in some of
> > our circles that Elon Musk occupies in the wider world: half the room
> > cannot stop quoting him, and the other half winces when his name comes
> up.
> >
> > (Hatha) Yoga is popular all over the world. By association, the name
> > Patanjali is also well known. But mention Patanjali on an Advaita forum
> or
> > Facebook Advaita Group(s) and watch the temperature drop. "Upakaraka at
> > best." "We only need the first five limbs." "Samadhi? Show me where the
> > Upanishads use the word." One almost expects Patanjali's account to be
> > suspended pending review.
> >
> > Here is the curious part: Sankara Bhagavatpada himself shows no such
> > allergy.
> >
> > The acharya who demolished the yoga-darsana's metaphysics (*etena yogah
> > pratyuktah*) is the same acharya who wrote *samadhividhanat* — "because
> > samadhi is enjoined by sruti" — in his Brahma Sutra bhashya (2.3.39–40).
> > Who opened his Gita chapter 6 commentary calling yoga *antarangam
> > moksha-sadhanam* — the inner means to moksha — and then spent forty-seven
> > verses on posture, place, diet, and *na kinchid api chintayet*. That is a
> > lot of ink for something merely preparatory. And his paramaguru Gaudapada
> > named the Atman itself "samadhi" (Karika 3.37) — a name Sankara's bhashya
> > explains rather than explains away.
> >
> > So Sankara, it seems, managed what we struggle with: he rejected the
> > metaphysics, kept the discipline, and felt no need to unfollow anyone.
> >
> > I will be developing this fully — the Katha bhashya's yoga-as-avastha,
> the
> > Brihadaranyaka's *samahita*, *nididhyasitavyah* as *nishchayena
> > dhyatavyah*, and why "effortless nididhyasana" would have puzzled the
> > author of Mundaka bhashya 3.1.8 (*dhyanam prayatna-viseshah*) — in a talk
> > this weekend:
> >
> > *Hidden in Plain Sight: Sankara's Dhyana Marga*
> > Sunday, July 19 · 9:00–10:00 AM IST (Sat July 18, 8:30 PM Pacific)
> > Weekend with Wisdom, INDICA Moksha
> > Register: https://share.google/miMDKKwWhoE6NwaUi
> >
> > All views welcome — especially the winces. The Q&A should be lively.
> >
> > Pranams,
> > Sundar Rajan
> >
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