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(WITHDRAWAL AND ABSTRACTION) This means withdrawal of the senses from the sense- objects. This mind is rendered pure by practice of yamas, niyamas and pranayama, pure by the practice of yamas, niyams and pranayama, while pratahara gives supreme mastery over the senses. The control of the senses, therefore, is the primal factor in the yogic science. Unless the sense steeds are controlled and checked in their mad career in the fields of enjoyment and pleasure, the mind cannot possibly be stilled .The senses have, therefore, to be withdrawn from the sensorv plane ences. Visual perception and audition are the two main inlets from which we derive no less than 88 to 95 per cent of our impressions, and the remaining five per cent or so come from the other senses. Thus, it is of paramount importance to close down the sluice – gates of the eyes and ears to prevent the outer floodwaters from entering and inundating the lake of the mind. To shut the mind resolutely against the onslaughts of the senses, it is necessary for the student of Yoga to retrie for it is a matter of common experience that muddy water be-come clear of itself clear of itself if it is allowed to stand for some time. One can practice pratyahara (control of senses as a preliminary to attaining a state of reverie or sensory with drawal) through discrimination and discernment. With the unhealthy and unworthy discrimination and discernment. With the knowledge of the true values of life, we come to disregard the knowledge of the true values of life, we come to disregard the unhealthy and unworthy food in which otherwise the senses indule, and thereby come to control the mindstuff. It is tantamount to dislocating the sense traffic in the world by dynamiting the fields of illusory pleasures with the power of discrimination. Pratahara is very essential for achieving success in Yoga. With the senses inverted a yogin can work for the consciousness within him. By it's practice, the mind becomes purified, grows strong in self – reliance, and enabled to lead a strictly austere life. In the Bhagavad-Gita, we have: Let him hold all these (senses) in constraint and concentrate upon me; for he who has his sense in struments under his sway has wisdom abidingly set. The above five factors – yamas, niyamas, asanas pranaya |