विशोका वा ज्योतिष्मती ॥३६॥

visoka va jyotismati

or (illumination can be reached) through the inner light that is beyond all sorrow

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1.36

va = or
visoka = sorrow-less
jyotismati = inner light

Perhaps this is that things get so dark that you are able to see your inner light shining, like a bright star in the night sky; beyond birth, death, time and space.

St John of the Cross experienced something like this when he was imprisoned, describing it poetically and passionately in his poem “The Dark Night” –

O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!

St John of the Cross, The Dark Night

Leave a comment