समाधि
Samadhi
samādhi
In simple words
Samadhi is the deepest state of meditation, where the mind becomes so absorbed that the usual sense of 'me watching something' falls away. Different traditions describe it differently and value it for different reasons.
What is it?
Samadhi (literally 'putting together' or 'settling') names a state of unified, one-pointed awareness. In Patanjali's Yoga it is the eighth limb and the culmination of concentration and meditation, divided into stages with and without a supporting object. Buddhist texts use the word for concentration generally and pair it with ethics and wisdom. Vedantic and devotional traditions accept absorption but often treat it as a means or a by-product rather than the final goal.
Scholar’s note
Yoga Sutra distinguishes samprajnata (with cognitive content: vitarka, vicara, ananda, asmita) from asamprajnata samadhi, and sabija from nirbija. In Buddhist sources samadhi overlaps with the jhanas (dhyana) and is one of the three trainings (sila, samadhi, prajna); Theravada commentaries distinguish access (upacara) and absorption (appana) concentration. Advaita authors debate whether nirvikalpa samadhi is necessary for liberation or whether knowledge (jnana) alone suffices; Shankara's position is usually read as the latter.How its meaning differs
The goal-state of Patanjali's eight limbs. Objectless (asamprajnata) samadhi is where the seer abides in its own nature, discriminated from the activity of the mind.
Concentration is one of the three trainings alongside ethics and wisdom. Absorption calms the mind, but insight into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self is what liberates.
Absorption can steady the mind for knowledge, but liberation is understood as knowledge of the Self as Brahman, which is not a temporary state that comes and goes. Later Advaita texts describe savikalpa and nirvikalpa samadhi as aids.
Many devotional teachers value loving remembrance over withdrawn absorption; absorption in God through love (bhava) is prized, while trance for its own sake is often de-emphasised.
Absorption (samavesha) into Shiva-consciousness is sought not only in withdrawal but also in the midst of activity, since the world is itself an expression of that consciousness.
Where it appears in the Gita
An intellect unshaken by conflicting views
शास्त्रीय मतभेदोंसे अविचलित बुद्धि
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला।
When your intellect, confused by conflicting scriptural views, becomes still and immovable in God, you will attain Yoga.
जब शास्त्रीय मतभेदोंसे विचलित तेरी बुद्धि निश्चल और परमात्मामें अचल हो जायगी, तब तू योगको प्राप्त हो जायगा।
6.20यत्रोपरमते चित्तं निरुद्धं योगसेवया।
योगका सेवन करनेसे जिस अवस्थामें निरुद्ध चित्त उपराम हो जाता है तथा जिस अवस्थामें (स्वयं) अपने-आपसे अपने-आपको देखता हुआ अपने-आपमें ही सन्तुष्ट हो जाता है।
6.21सुखमात्यन्तिकं यत्तद्बुद्धिग्राह्यमतीन्द्रियम्।
जो सुख आत्यन्तिक, अतीन्द्रिय (और) बुद्धिग्राह्य है, उस सुखका जिस अवस्थामें अनुभव करता है और (जिस सुखमें) स्थित हुआ यह ध्यानयोगी तत्त्वसे फिर (कभी) विचलित नहीं होता।
6.23तं विद्याद्दु:खसंयोगवियोगं योगसञ्ज्ञितम् ।
जिसमें दु:खोंके संयोगका ही वियोग है, उसीको ‘योग’ नामसे जानना चाहिये। (वह योग जिस ध्यानयोगका लक्ष्य है,) उस ध्यानयोगका अभ्यास न उकताये हुए चित्तसे निश्चयपूर्वक करना चाहिये।
Where else it appears
Follow this idea
Trace the idea from one source to the next.
- 1Gita verseBhagavad Gita 2.53The Gita speaks of an intellect that becomes unwavering and settled; commentators link this settledness to samadhi.
- 2Gita verseBhagavad Gita 6.20The mind, stilled by practice, rests content in the Self.
- 3Textयोगसूत्रYoga Sutras of PatanjaliPatanjali gives the classical map of stages of samadhi.
- 4Conceptध्यानDhyanaSamadhi grows out of sustained meditation.
- 5Textहठयोगप्रदीपिकाHatha Yoga PradipikaHatha Yoga presents bodily and breath practice as preparation for absorption (raja yoga).
- 6Traditionबौद्ध दर्शनBuddhist philosophyCompare the Buddhist pairing of concentration with insight.
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