This sutra is clear without much explanation. The word "subtle" has a wide meaning, but (from the standpoint of Patanjali) is most frequently applied to the essential something which we become aware of after we have employed the five [98] senses; i.e., the rose is the objective tangible form; its scent is the "thing subtle" back of the form. This expresses its quality to the occultist and is the result of the subtler elements producing its manifestation. The grosser elements produce the form; but within that gross form is a subtler one which we can only contact through acute perception or clarified sense. In the commentary found in Woods' translation the following words may serve to elucidate, and, if meditated upon by the more advanced students, will be found to be of profound occult significance:

If this idea is extended to the macrocosm, we will find that we can meditate upon the external form of God in Nature both with and without judicial action of the mind. Then, experience in meditation having been gained, and by an act of the will, the student can meditate on the subtle subjective nature of God as manifested under the great Law of Attraction, to which the Christian [99] refers when he says "God is Love." The nature of God, the great "love" or attractive force, is responsible for the "things subtle" which are veiled by the things external.