Page 403 - Complete Works of Dr. KCV Volume 1

Rajayoga - A New Interpretation and Practice
Rajayoga is the name given to the yoga, which utilizes the dhyana-samadhi as the means to union with the Divine. Yoga means union or connection of a thing with another; but in the mystical meaning it means union or connection with God or the Ultimate Reality. The astanga-yoga refers to the preparation for the yoga -such as yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. The preparations are of the nature of control of the body, control of desires and instincts, and their contraries which produce contra (or vicious) habits, the control of the mind in respect of the objects of desire, for the mind has the nature of wandering from one object to another, from one wish to another, or from pleasure to pain and so on. Therefore, the first step in yoga is said to be control or restraint of mental modifications, which may well be described to be the real meaning of pratyahara. If the mind is given an object which will hold
it, then the control of the mind is most easy; if not, it would wander. We see that Patanjali states the first definition of yoga as the control of mental modifications (yogah citta-vritti nirodhah) but it is seen that it is not an exhaustive definition at all. It is true that this definition is given also in the Katha Up.. Tanm yogamiti manyante sthiram indriyadharanam. The Mahapanishad states, Manahprasamanopayoyoga ityabhidhiyate. To quieten the mind, to hold the indriyas steadily without permitting them to run amok even as the horses are being kept under rein, are obviously the first steps in Yoga. The anga is called by the name of the angi even as the body is named and designated by the individual who uses the name for the soul within the body.
Thus scholars have always linked up the two meanings of the word Yoga derived from yuj: to connect, to yoke or control the senses, the mind and the ego or soul finally.
Rajayoga tried to link the individual with the divine or yoke it with the divine by means of the thought (dhi) which is expounded in the Vedic Gayatri mantra: dhiyo yo nah pracodayat. Dhimahi is the expressive verb that has made the divine thought the force by which the union can be effected. This is known later as Suraji or solar sabda (Vedic mantra) with