Susanta Bhattacharya

One of the central concepts in understanding the spiritual goal of Pātañjala Yoga is _pratiprasava,_ which means a process of reversal. Yet disagreements persist over how _pratiprasava_ and _kaivalya_ (liberation) are to be interpreted. Two main lines of interpretation may be identified as the ‘ontological’ and ‘epistemological’ approaches. According to the first interpretation, _pratiprasava_ means the literal dissolution of the empirical world, including one’s physical body and mind. According to the second, it means undoing of the misidentification of _puruṣa_ with _prakṛti_. I will defend an interpretation that combines aspects of both of these approaches. I suggest that _pratiprasava_ has two sequential stages: the epistemological stage and the ontological stage. In the epistemological stage, _pratiprasava_ is the first stage of freedom (_kaivalya_) from all sorts of physical and mental bondages. This type of freedom is attained when all negative and positive effects of _prakṛti’s_ manifestation no longer affect the yogin while living in this physical body. In the subsequent ontological stage, _pratiprasava_ is final freedom from existence altogether, including the body and mind. Based on this understanding of the two stages of _pratiprasava_, I will contend that there are correspondingly two types of _kaivalya_: embodied and disembodied.