[Advaita-l] Chakras in the Patanjala Yoga

[Srikanta Narayanaswami]

It is like this. Prakriti dances for the enchantment of the purusha and being under the influence of the Prakriti  the Purusha, for the time being, forgets that he was free. He realizes by the grace of his Supreme Self that he has to get back to (be united with) his  Supreme Self, where he came from, but for that he has to disentangle himself from the Prakriti by a process and that process is Yoga. This representation is faithful to the etymology of Yoga.  The Prakriti on realising that Purusha is no longer interested, ceases her dance. Thus Yoga helps the purusha in freeing himself from the wiles of Prakriti.  


As regards the Kundalini she is none other than Brahmi or Sarasvati or Brahma Vidya. When woken up she moves by the Sarasvati Nadi (or the Sushumna Nadi) and on her upward movement purifies the Chakras from Muladhara to the Sahasrara. Once all the uncleanness or the defilements in the Chakras  are removed the Jiva can see his true self.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The union of Purusha with Prakrti is called Yoga.The separation of Purusha from Prakriti is called Sankhya.These two are entirely different.
N.Srikanta.