4.2 – The overflowing of Mother Nature’s creative energy brings transformation into a new state of being.

जात्यन्तरपरिणामः प्रकृत्यापूरातः ॥२॥

jatyantara parinamah prakriti apurat

  • jati – type of birth; genus; lineage; family
  • antara – another; different
  • parinamah – consequence; fruit; result; effect; transformation
  • prakriti – primordial field of nature; root; mother; origin
  • apurat – overflowing; becoming full; flow

4.3 – One does not cause or initiate that natural flow of creative energy. In the same way a farmer removes obstructions to the proper flow of water to their land, one simply removes the obstacles which block its path.

निमित्तमप्रयोजकं प्रकृतीनांवरणभेदस्तु ततः क्षेत्रिकवत् ॥३॥

nimittam aprayojakam prakritinam varana bhedas tu tatah ksetrikavat

  • nimittam – cause
  • aprayojakam – not causing
  • prakritinam – primordial field of nature; root; mother; origin
  • varana – obstacle; wall; obstructing barrier
  • bhedas – separating; removing; division; diverse
  • tu – and
  • tatah – due to that; from that
  • ksetrikavat – like a farmer; associated with a field

Commentary on Sutras 4.2—4.3:

“An enlivening power is nurturing the universe, and we can learn to cooperate with it.” – Roy Eugene Davis

Shakti’s flow is within and all around us. The more we open to it, the more it moves through our lives.

The core practice of our yoga is surrendering all resistance to the creative current so it can come through us. The grace that pours in carries us into a new state of being.

What might that state of being look like?

As we surrender deeply to Shakti and become nourished by her energy, dormant forces become awakened within us. Tensions and blockages dissolve, and our life-force flows upward into the higher chakras. Our powers of perception become enhanced, and superconscious states unfold. We begin to live in bliss and joy and become more content and serene, even amid stressful situations.

Throughout all of this, our consciousness becomes more and more purified and still, and we see deeper into the truth of who we are and our purpose for being here. Our outer-reactive actions and ego-driven goals and ambitions give way to a new kind of living that serves Shakti’s transformative flow of grace.