THE FRUITS OF SAMADHI
1. Fivefold Fruit of Samadhi
The major fruits of samadhi are five: 1) prasada (purity of the spirit), 2) rtambara prajna
(the highest wisdom or pure intellect), 3) divya sarira (divine body), 4) siddhis
(miraculous powers), and 5) moksha (liberation).
Through the practice of samadhi both the body and the mind are purified, resulting in the
complete purification of the spirit. This, in turn, unveils the pure intellect, unfolds the
highest wisdom, and transforms an ordinary body into a divine one. Intellect purified
through the practice of samadhi becomes sattvic buddhi (pure intellect) or rtambara
prajna (the highest wisdom or pure intellect). The body burned or purified in the fire of
yoga through samadhi becomes divya sarira (the divine body). Thus prasada (purity of
the spirit) has mental as well as physical aspects leading to the highest wisdom and the
divine body, respectively. These yield miraculous powers and finally lead to liberation.
2. Purification of the Body and the Mind
The body is made up of gross and subtle elements, and is nothing but a mass of these
elements. If there is a predominance of gross elements in the body, the mind becomes
dull, but if subtle elements predominate, the mind becomes sharp. The dull mind is full of
tamas, while the mind having a proportionate blend of gross and subtle elements is full of
rajas, and the sharp mind is full of sattva.
The body constituted of elements, is fed by these elements, and in the end decays and
merges into the same elements. During the waking state, the body is very active, and as a
result, many impurities creep into it. Bodily impurities affect the mind, making it impure
also.
The mind full of sattva is pure, so there is no veil between such a mind and the atman
(soul). Knowledge dawns only in such a mind. Since the mind full of rajas has a blend of
purity and impurity, there exists a thin veil between it and the atman; this results in
partial knowledge and partial ignorance. The mind full of tamas is impure and the veil
separating it from the atman is thick. As a result, it is full of ignorance. In short, the
sattvic mind leads one towards the atman, the tamasic mind takes one away from the
atman, and the rajasic mind keeps one in the middle.