Sadhana Pada

The karmas bear fruits of pleasure and pain caused by merit and demerit.
—Sadhana Pada: Sutra 14.

By the practice of the eight limbs of Yoga, the impurities dwindle away and there dawns the light of wisdom, leading to discriminative discernment.
—Sadhana Pada: Sutra 28.

After chapter one describes the different kinds of thought forms, practices to control them and the different kinds of samadhis culminating in the highest experience of nirbija samadhi, the second chapter follows it up with practical ways of attaining that state.

In 55 sutras, the Sadhana Pada establishes the aim of yoga as being the control of the chitta vrittis (thought processes) to attain the highest union or 'yoga'. It prescribes the practice of Karma and Ashtanga Yoga as a means of achieving this union. This Pada identifies ignorance (avidya) and other obstacles to meditation as a major cause of our inability to naturally merge with the Absolute, and to this end it advices the eradication of all such kleshas by practicing the eight limbs of yoga and benefiting from their advantages.

It might be relevant here to mention the fact that Indian philosophy involves more of perception and understanding as opposed to the Western 'love of knowledge' (philosophy). The Sanskrit word for philosophy, 'darshan' literally means 'to see' or 'to perceive'. In such a case, the philosopher takes on the role of a 'spectator' and having perceived the patterns of the 'spectacle' before him, prepares to merge with it and obliterates the subject/object dichotomy between the 'perceiver' and the 'perception'. And it is practices such as Kriya Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, which forces the yogi or seeker into action. Thus, far from being a passive 'spectator', the true philosopher and yogi actually gains mastery over the Divine Spectacle, which is our entire existence!