'Absolute peace of mind', Raja Bhoja's

Commentary on the Yoga Sutras

An FB status update from Ramaswami this evening

"“Yogo yuktiH samaadhaanam” is a quote from Bhoja's independent commentary

on YS. The word Yoga has two meanings one is union, from the root 'yujir' as used
in, say, Hatayoga (union of ha and ta) and the other from the root 'yuja' is 'absolute
peace of mind' as used in Rajayoga".

This meaning deriving from yuja, 'absolute peace of mind', that I rst came across
in Ramaswami's book 'Yoga for the three stages of life' was perhaps the deciding
factor for me to sell a beloved vintage Sax and y to LA to study with him.

Actually, it wasn't so much peace of mind, I've never really bought into the idea that
we're all searching for peace and/or happiness, neither concern me that much. No,
it was rather this from Ramaswami's Yoga for the Three Stages of Life, my all time
(so far) favourite book on yoga.

"Based on this interpretation the yoga of Patanjali is a system of practices

that lead to the total harnessing of mental energy without any dissipation
whatsoever (nirodha "completely contained")"
fl
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Here's the full passage for context.

"... yoga can also be derived from the root yuja and mean samadhi or samadhana,
"to put in place perfectly".... Thus yoga by this definition, would mean putting all
mental energies in place, or harnessing mental energies without any dissipation.
This definition is different from the earlier derivation of the word yoga from the root
yujir, meaning "unity" (yujir yoga).
Based on this interpretation the yoga of Patanjali is a system of practices that lead
to the total harnessing of mental energy without any dissipation whatsoever
(nirodha "completely contained") One can note that it is not unity with a higher
principle that is aimed for in this form of yoga, but rather the removal of all the
distractions of the mind.... One system talks of unity the other of freedom"
Yoga for the Three stages of Life.
Chapter III, What is yoga. p34-35
Srivatsa Ramaswami

...and again in one of Ramaswami's Newsletter's

"It can be seen that Patanjali's definition of Yoga does not suggest the usual
connotation of Yoga as union. Yoga meaning union requires at least two separate
principles to come together and ultimately unite, like prana and apana in Hatayoga,
but in this sutra only cittavritti is dealt with and no union with another principle is
suggested. Vyasa in his commentary says Yoga is samadhi, or a state of mind and
not union. Sankara in his exposition of Yogasutras refers to yoga as samadhana or
unalloyed peace. He says that Patanjali has used the word not in the meaning of
yoga as union (yukti) but as samadhana or peace of mind. The word Yoga can be
derived from two differentroots yujir meaning yoga as in union and yuja as in
samadhi meaningabsolute peace of mind and the sutras use Yoga in the (second)
sense,that of absolute peace".
Srivatsa Ramaswami April 2012 Newsletter

So it comes from the commentary on the yoga sutras by somebody called Bhoja

You have to love Wikipedia

"Bhoja (also Bhojadeva) was a philosopher king and polymath of medieval India,
who ruled the kingdom of Malwa in central India from about 1000 to 1055 CE. Also
known as Raja Bhoja Of Dhar, he belonged to the Pawar dynasty.[1] The name
Bhoja means "bountiful, liberal" and appears as the name of a tribe, the
descendants of Mahabhoja, in the Mahabharata.
Bhoja established numerous temples, including the Bhojeshvara Temple at Bhojpur,
a city he founded [2], about 30 km from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh on the banks of
river Betwa. He also established the Bhoj Shala which was a centre for Sanskrit
studies and a temple of Sarasvatī in present day Dhar.

Biography

Raja Bhoja ruled the Mālwa region from the beginning of the eleventh century to
about 1055. His extensive writings cover philosophy, poetry, medicine, veterinary
science, phonetics, yoga, and archery. Under his rule, Mālwa and its capital Dhar
became one of the chief intellectual centres of India. King Bhoja, together with the
Solanki king Bhimdev of Gujarat (Anhilwara), rebuilt the temple at Somnath
between 1026 and 1042 after it was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1024. He
founded the city Bhojpur. It is also said that Bhoja also founded the city of
Bhopal[3], but it could be possible that the city was founded by another king of the
same name. The Bhojtal (Upper Lake or bada talab) of Bhopal is said to have been
constructed by Bhoja.

rAjamArtANda (pata~Njali yoga sUtra bhAshya): Major commentary on the Yoga

Sutras of Patanjali, wherein the Raja clearly explains various forms of meditations
such as savitarka, savichAra, sAnanda and sAsmita, which are critical for
understanding the nature of cognition from the view point of yoga."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhoja

and google to for that matter

Here's a link to Raja Bhoja's commentary, available in pdf for download here
http://blavatskyarchives.com/theosophypdfs/
tatya_the_yoga_philosophy_of_patanjali.pdf

and his commentary on the rst two sutras/aphorisms.

fi
As I mentioned in my previous post I've just started to  follow along with AG
Mohan's Yoga sutras online course, for more of Krishnamacharya's reading of the
sutras and partly as an excuse to read more carefully Vachaspati-Micra's
commentary as well as to review  Arany's, seems I'll be adding Raja Bhoja's
commentary to the pile. nice thing about Mohan's course is that he's working
through the text a couple of sutras at a time, perfect for comparing other
comentaries.