Talk:Transcending Karma through Moksha:Dhyāna Yoga and Karma:Destruction of Prārabdha Karma by Dhyāna Yoga

By Vishal Agarwal

Even the perfected Yogī-s who have attained Samādhi and have experienced the Divine must also experience their Prārabdha till they die, after which they attain Moksha. But the practice of Yoga tools like Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā and so on gives the ability to the Yogī to bear his mental and bodily afflictions with perfect equanimity, without getting perturbed at all. Furthermore, practice of Yoga gives numerous supernatural powers to him to overcome all pain and injury.

By mastering Āsana, the Yogī is no longer perturbed by the opposites (like heat and cold). Yogasūtra 2.48

One shall conquer the various defects in the body by means of Pranayama. By Pūraka (inhalation), somnolence is to be conquered. By Kumbhaka (retention of breath), one can conquer the shivering sensation. By Rechaka (exhalation), one can conquer the augmentation or excess of heat in the body. Garuda Purāṇa 1.226.16

Story: Sadāshiva Brahmendra Saraswatī

He was a great Yogi and Vedantin who lived in the 18th cent. in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. During some times of the year, the Kaveri River dries up. Swami Brahmendra choose a mound of sand on the dried river course and went into meditation. Unfortunately, soon thereafter, the river was flooded. When they receded, the Swami was nowhere to be seen. It was assumed that he had been washed away and had drowned. A few days later, a farmer came to the riverbank to take some sand for constructing his home. Suddenly, his shovel hit something hard, and emerged from the sand mound with blood on its tip. The farmer started digging the sand hill with his hands gently. He found a Sage in the state of deep meditation. Swami Brahmendra came out of the meditation and just walked away. Once, he was resting next to a heap of grain freshly harvested by another farmer and went into meditation. The farmer thought that the Swami had arrived to steal grain. He took a stick in his hands and rushed to hit the Swami with it. But half-way through, his hand and the entire body froze in that very posture! The next morning, when the Swami came out of his meditation, he opened his eyes and smiled at the farmer. The farmer came out of the frozen stupor and could now move his limbs normally. The Swami blessed him and walked away. At another time, the Swami, who hardly ever wore clothes, walked past the harem of a regional Muslim Nawab. The Swami was a completely spiritual man, but the Nawab accused him of outraging the modesty of his wives. He rushed forward and cut off both the hands of Sadashiva Brahmendra with his sword. But astonishingly, the Swami continued to walk as if nothing had happened. The Nawab was terrified and picked up the severed arms and rushed towards the Swami in deep remorse. The arms connected back to his body miraculously as if nothing had happened.

In more modern times, during the American invasion of Vietnam, numerous protesting Buddhist monks immolated themselves publicly without showing any pain. Thereby, they demonstrated the power of their mind, disciplined by meditation, over their body. This ability was noted several centuries by Rishi Kaṇāda-

When the mind abides completely in the ātmā and performs no action driven by desire, there is a total absence of pain in the body. This state is called Yoga. Vaisheshika Sūtra 5.2.16