Classical Yoga · compiled by Patanjali
Yoga Sutras 1.41
The mind as a transparent crystal
क्षीणवृत्तेरभिजातस्येव मणेर्ग्रहीतृग्रहणग्राह्येषु तत्स्थतदञ्जनता समापत्तिः॥
When the fluctuations of the mind have been stilled, the mind becomes like a transparent crystal, reflecting the object of meditation — the knower, the knowing, and the known.
What this verse points to
The crystal takes the colour of whatever it is set beside without being changed by it. Patanjali uses this for samapatti, the state in which knower, knowing, and known stop standing apart from each other.
The condition given is a mind whose movements have thinned — kshina-vritti. A crystal that is clouded reflects nothing accurately, and no amount of concentration will substitute for the clearing.
Sit with it
Rest attention on one simple object and let it fill the whole of your attention without commentary.
About the Yoga Sutras
The Yoga Sutras are 196 terse aphorisms compiled by Patanjali, organised into four books: samadhi (absorption), sadhana (practice), vibhuti (attainments), and kaivalya (liberation). The style is deliberately compressed — each sutra is a memory-thread meant to be unpacked by a teacher — and the text is the foundational statement of the eight-limbed (ashtanga) path.
References to this text are given as book.sutra — here, 1.41.