विरामप्रत्ययाभ्यासपूर्वः संस्कारशेषोsन्यः। (१-१८)

Virāmapratyayābhyāsapūrvaḥ saṁskāraśeṣo’nyaḥ. (1-18)
(Virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ saṁskāra-śeṣaḥ anyaḥ)

The other Samādhi that is preceded by practice of cessation of thoughts has only subliminal impressions as residue.

Analysis of the words of the aphorism
This sūtra has two compounds, virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ and saṁskāra-śeṣaḥ.

The compound virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ explains how this samādhi is accomplished while the second compound saṁskāra-śeṣaḥ describes as to what remains in the mind of the yogin in this state.

virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrvaḥ – Virāma, derived from the verb ram (to pause, to stay are the meanings relevant here) with the prefix vi emphasizing the verb meaning takes the suffix a makes the verb a noun. Thus virāma means cessation, stopping.

Pratyaya, formed from the verb i (to go, to know, to conceptualize) with the prefix pra emphasizing the verb meaning and the suffix a. Pratyaya here means idea (not the usual meaning of cognition, knowledge). Thus the portion virāma-pratyaya of the compound means cessation of ideas. virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa means practice of cessation of ideas. The term pūrva, a pronoun when it is the final word of a compound means preceded by / accompanied by. The full meaning of the compound virāma-pratyaya-abhyāsa-pūrva, a bahuvrīhi compound means ‘(that which is) preceded by practice of cessation of ideas’.

Vyāsa, in his commentary to this aphorism connects this to the superior vairāgya mentioned by Patañjali in sūtra (1-16). His view is that this practice is made possible by the superior dispassion and not just dispassion towards gross objects (described in aphorism 1-15).

Saṁskāra-śeṣaḥ – Saṁskāra is derived from the verb kṛ with the prefix sam accentuating the verb meaning and the noun forming suffix a.Though this word has several meanings, purification, sanctification, cleaning etc, in yoga and vedanta terminology it refers to subtle mental impressions. Saṁskāras are the driving force behind conscious thoughts, latter resulting in actions. Śeṣa, from the verb śiṣ and suffix a means residue. The compound Saṁskāra-śeṣaḥ, another bahuvrīhi compound means ‘(that which has) subtle mental impressions as residue’.

The word anyaḥ means other. This word thus implies that this samādhi is other than the saṁprajñātasamādhi defined in the previous aphorism (1-17). Most books, based on Vyāsa’s commentary, refer this as asaṁprajñātasamādhi, the one in which there is no knower-known difference. Most sub-commentaries follow primary commentator Vyāsa who says that the ‘other’ refers to asaṁprajñātasamādhi.

The literal translation of the words of the aphorism is “The other is that which is preceded by practice of cessation of ideas and has subtle mental impressions as residue”.

 Concordance of words in this sūtra with other Yogasūtras
This new section cites other yogasūtras in which the component words of this aphorism occurs.