The State of the Sage

 
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When he is a thoroughly discriminating man (knowing always the difference between God and creation), and when, fully contented by God, he no longer seeks even siddhis or any external fulfillment from his meditation, then dawns the samadhi called Raincloud of Goodness.

This is perhaps the most wonderful verse in the Yoga-Sutra.

In Yoga-Sutra versions there is a lot of variation in the way this sutra is understood and explained. Commentaries on it range from confusion to consternation to misplaced certitude.

In the verse the Sanskrit terminology for the state is dharma-megha-samadhi. Megha means mass or cloud. Many translate it as "raincloud of dharma." Then most translate dharma as virtue, morality, or merit. But virtue and morality are simply among the many good things. "Good" has long been one of the broader meanings of the word dharma.

If we look at samadhi sages such as Nityananda of Ganeshpuri this verse clearly applies to yogins of that stature and fact that all around him beings were benefited in multifarious ways though he did not necessarily direct himself to them. All get good from him. Certainly the path of the yoga-sutra, which leads to the mystic state of divine communion called samadhi, is that same path that has produced the wondrous yogins of lore and modern times with their sensational powers of healing and uplift. And certainly the Yoga-Sutra would reference this majestic state is some verse or other beyond it's cataloging of the strange particulars of siddhis in chapter three. This is, indeed, the verse where it happens.

When a commentator takes dharma here to be virtue, morality, or merit it has to be off the track for reasons I'll explain below. I take dharma here, instead, to mean "good" and "all good" but used "goodness" — for its bouquet and spaciousness.

In Dharma Megha Samadhi the yogi becomes a fount of good for himself and others. This is spontaneous and beyond his intention, being a work of the divinity that has dawned in him. Wherever he is, that place is benefited. Who thinks of him or looks upon him is benefited. Siddhis and miracles flower around him though the yogi does not endeavor with them. The good that obtains in him and around him is also of the nature of virtue: People become more virtuous by his presence or remembrance. He himself, being divine, represents all virtue including the power of healings, corrections, and uplift. It is as though he is electrically charged in a beneficial way like God, and is constantly discharging in his surroundings, producing uplift. We can easily look at the accounts of sages like Jesus Christ and Bhagavan Nityananda to understand the state.

 Is this really a new technical form of samadhi to add in with samprajnata, asamprajnata, and the rest? No, it is independent of those and it can't be described technically like those. The yogi having it may be in and out of various forms of samadhi (from a technical point of view) yet function as that raincloud in any of them. Dharma-megha-samadhi is fruitful with or without them. Dharma-megha-samadhi is by the grace of the Lord and is the fount of maha-siddhi. This means the occurrences that take place spontaneously around the yogin, or in association with him, are often without his intention though such happenings may feature his involvement or interest. This state places one in the realm of the magical, the mythical, and is the mother-fount of religion. Anyone furthermore who is around such a person, especially with a little faith and bhakti, will also find himself in the realm of the magical and the mythic. It is as if his luminous dream states begin to also belong to others.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi made a statement that bears on dharma-megha-samadhi:

"Being glorifies karma."

That is, Pure Being as in the Sat of Sat-Chit-Ananda, sheds light on duality, karma, and samsara meaning that it upgrades and improves that dark mess. The yogi with dharma-megha-samadhi is a dawning place of Sat or Pure Consciousness. Thus like a fountain that Primordial Purity flows out from him, touches his surroundings in many ways, and blesses things since God — whether as Saguna or Nirguna Brahman — has that blessing nature. In the sage having dharma-megha-samadhi the divine light is made flesh in a myriad of ways according to need, faith, and the will of The Lord as expressed through that Dawning Place. As the rain benefits the world, gives life, feeds everything, makes things grow into their beautiful forms, and creates food and prosperity — the yogi or yogess having dharma-megha-samadhi is also like a beneficial rain in his environment or wherever anybody thinks of him/her with bhakti or faith. And that yogin who has attained this fruit of religion does not even need to think about it or try to do anything. He rains down good upon the world naturally. This is why religions naturally form around such Persons. People want to remember him or her, learn how they attained This, and remember the way to it. Religions are the varied manuals for how to attain this kind of samadhi for self and others. Aum.

Another meaning of this sutra is that this sage becomes the source of dharma in the traditional sense, that is, the source of vital religious teachings. His words, when he speaks them, become like scriptures. Such sages are the renewers of protective and beneficial religion for mankind.

Were the verse to refer to a mass of virtue, as some commentators say, it would be a meaningless verse. The yogin who has passed both sabija and nirbija samadhi and who is coming to this state listed at the end of the Yoga Sutra has already attained virtue sufficient to get over the wall of life's highest attainment. He is beyond virtue and can't be touched by vice. At this point there is no reason to speak of such a yogin's "mass of virtue" as in "Oh, swami paid back his debt" or "He makes great lectures!" or "He was such a good father." The entire worldly context in which virtue has meaning is irrelevant to him now.

Likewise it doesn't work to call it "raincloud of merit." The ultimate point of gathering merit has been attained by him now, so speaking of his personal merit is meaningless. He has no need to sit on top of a heap of merit now. But the verse becomes meaningful and reveals a new dimension of the yogic path if it means his merit benefits others around him.

Lastly if we entertain the meaning as "mass of morality" it is again a meaningless verse. He has attained the purpose of morality. As Ramakrishna said, 'You use a ladder to get up onto the roof but once you have arrived you don't need the ladder any more.'  Why should there be a sutra that speaks of his great morality? These things are not his concern any more. Holding forth as a moralist is not the final goal of the yogin. Moral ways and teachings have meaning and value within society; within the world. He is not based there any more.

The "mass" or "cloud" of dharma here implies a pregnancy, an over-fullness. A raincloud is pregnant and ready to shower upon us. In dharma-megha-samadhi the realized yogi becomes a raincloud that showers all manner of blessings into the world.

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