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Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III · 28 of 55 · tr. Charles Johnston

Sutra 28

By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the fixed pole-star comes a knowledge of the motions of the stars. Addressing Duty, stern daughter of the Voice of God, Wordsworth finely said: Thou cost preserve the stars from wrong, And the most ancient heavens through thee are fresh and strong— thus suggesting a profound relation between the moral powers and the powers that rule the worlds. So in this Sutra the fixed polestar is the eternal spirit about which all things move, as well as the star toward which points the axis of the earth. Deep mysteries attend both, and the veil of mystery is only to be raised by Meditation, by open-eyed vision of the awakened spiritual man.
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The text refers to God having a 'Voice' and Duty being a 'daughter'.

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Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The text links moral powers with the powers that rule the worlds through a profound relation.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

The text describes 'Deep mysteries' that require Meditation to raise the veil of mystery.

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Meditationpraxis

Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.

The passage centrally describes 'perfectly concentrated Meditation' as the method to achieve knowledge of stars and raise the veil of mystery.

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Related passages · 4 parallels
western_esoteric|The Kybalion (Three Initiates)|Page 2 (part 2)
“There were always a few to tend faithfully the altar of the Truth, upon which was kept alight the Perpetual Lamp of Wisdom. These men devoted their lives to the labor of love which the poet has so well stated in his lines: "O, let not the…”
Shared concept: Hidden Sayings — Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 9, Section 1c
“For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Tarot of the Bohemians (Papus)|Chapter XIV (part 6)
“The second, symbolized by Eye, is the origin of feminine Grace, of Authority. We have seen that Power and Authority find their equilibrium in Love. Each man, a reflected molecule of humanity made in its image, contains in himself an Adam,…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIV
“Concerning another kind of divination, also, you say as follows: “ Others who are conscious what they are doing in other respects, are divinely inspired according to the phantastic part, some indeed receiving darkness for a cooperator, othe…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)