Samadhi is a state of complete absorption in which the distinction between the meditator, the act of meditating, and the object of meditation dissolves. It is the eighth and final limb of yoga as outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, and represents the culmination of the entire eight-limbed path — the state toward which the preceding seven limbs progressively build. In classical yoga philosophy, samadhi is not merely a peak experience but the direct means by which the deepest goals of yoga, including liberation, are realized.
Etymology
The word samadhi combines “sam” (सम्), meaning “together” or “complete,” with “a-dhi” from the root “dha” (धा), meaning “to place” or “to put.” The compound suggests a “placing together” or “bringing into a unified whole” — a joining of the mind with its object so complete that the usual sense of separation between subject and object no longer holds. This etymological sense of unification underlies the common, if imprecise, translation of samadhi as “union.”
Position in the Eight Limbs
Samadhi is the eighth and final limb, following yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana. Together with dharana and dhyana, it forms samyama, the three progressively subtler stages of concentrated practice that Patanjali describes as the direct instrument of higher insight. Patanjali defines samadhi (Yoga Sutra III.3) as the state in which the object of meditation shines forth alone, as if the meditating mind itself were empty of its own separate form — the awareness so fully merged with its object that no sense of a separate observer remains.
Types of Samadhi
Patanjali’s system describes several gradations of samadhi. Samprajnata samadhi (“cognitive” or “with support”) retains some object of focus and involves distinguishable stages of increasingly subtle absorption. Asamprajnata samadhi (“without support”) is a deeper state without any object of focus, in which even the subtlest mental modifications cease. Later in the text, Patanjali also describes nirbija samadhi (“seedless” samadhi), the most complete state, free of any residual impressions that could give rise to future mental fluctuations, and closely associated with the ultimate goal of the Yoga Sutras: kaivalya, or liberation.
Samadhi as the Goal of Yoga
Patanjali opens the Yoga Sutras by defining yoga itself as “chitta vritti nirodhah” — the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Samadhi represents the fullest realization of this definition: a state in which mental fluctuation has ceased so completely that the true nature of the seer, previously obscured by the constant activity of thought, becomes directly apparent. The preceding seven limbs are traditionally understood as preparatory stages, each removing a layer of obstruction, leading progressively toward this culminating state.
Common Misconceptions
A common misconception treats samadhi as a singular, all-or-nothing experience, achieved once and permanently retained. Classical texts describe multiple distinct types and depths of samadhi, and describe the state as something cultivated and stabilized progressively over sustained practice, rather than a single, one-time event.
A second misconception equates samadhi with ordinary relaxation, a pleasant mood, or a fleeting sense of calm sometimes described casually as “blissful” states in modern yoga classes. Classical descriptions define samadhi far more specifically, as the structural dissolution of the distinction between subject and object in awareness — a precise technical state within Patanjali’s system, not a general feeling of well-being.