812 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 21

He is. Samadhi is described in authoritative yoga scriptures, such as the
Patajijali-sitras, to be a transcendental pleasure. The yoga system described
in the books of Patafijali is authoritative, and the modern so-called yogis
who have manufactured their own ways, not consulting the authorities, are
simply ludicrous. The Patanjali yoga system is called astanga-yoga. Some-
times impersonalists pollute the Patanjali yoga system because they are
monists. Patanjali describes that the soul is transcendentally pleased when
he meets the Supersoul and sees Him. If the existence of the Supersoul and
the individual is admitted, then the impersonalist theory of monism is
nullified. Therefore some impersonalists and void philosophers twist the
Patanjali system in their own way and pollute the whole yoga process.

According to Patafijali, when one becomes free from all material desires
he attains his real transcendental situation, and realization of that stage is
called spiritual power. In material activities a person engages in the modes
of material nature. The aspirations of such people are (1) to be religious,
(2) to be economically enriched, (3) to be able to gratify the senses, and at
last, (4) to become one with the Supreme. According to the monists, when
a yogi becomes one with the Supreme and loses his individual existence,
that is the highest stage, called kaivalya. But actually the stage of realiza-
tion of the Personality of Godhead is kaivalya. The oneness of understand-
ing that the Supreme Lord is fully spiritual and that in full spiritual realiza-
tion one can understand what He is—the Supreme Personality of Godhead—
is called kaivalya, or, in the language of Patanjali, realization of spiritual
power. His proposal is that when one is freed from material desires and
fixed in spiritual realization of the self and the Superself, that is called
cit-Sakti. In full spiritual realization there is a perception of spiritual
happiness, and that happiness is described in Bhagavad-gita as the supreme
happiness, which is beyond the material senses. Trance is described to be
of two kinds, samprajfiata and asamprajiiata, or mental speculation and
self-realization. In samadhi or asamprajiiata, one can realize, by his
spiritual senses, the spiritual form of the Lord. That is the ultimate goal of
spiritual realization.

According to Patafjali, when one is fixed in constant realization of the
supreme form of the Lord, that is the perfectional stage, as attained by
Kardama Muni. Unless one attains this stage of perfection—beyond the
perfection of the preliminaries of the yoga system—there is no ultimate
realization. There are eight perfections in the astanga-yoga system. One
who has attained them can become lighter than the lightest and greater
than the greatest, and he can achieve whatever he likes. But even achieving
such material success in yoga is not the perfection or the ultimate goal.
