Yoga Sutra 2.31

Sutra 2.31: jati desha kala samaya anavachchhinnah sarva-bhaumah maha-vratam

• jati = family, birth, lineage
• desha (deza) = country, place, origin, kingdom
• kala = season, time, era
• samaya = conditions
• anavachchhinnah = minute division, undiscriminated
• sarva-bhauma = universal-earthly/made of earth
• maha-vratam =great-vow

Translated loosely into English;

The great vow of restraint is universal to all earthly objects unbound by the conditions of time, place, birth lineage or family.

By practicing the five restraints (yamas; non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, devotion to Divine and study or Divine-study, non-attachment), the student is undertaking the great vow! The very intention to step on to a path of good will to all beings, including Self, is a choice, a decision, thus A VOW! These restraints apply universally to all earthly (and non-earthly) objects, regardless of time, place, birth lineage or family.

The student at certain times commits acts of restrain and at other times acts of violence, dishonesty, attachment or stealing is bound by time.

The student who lives in an environment of abuse, addiction, fighting, war, greed, savagery, anger or animosity, in climates of extreme heat, cold, wind or rain is bound by place.

The student born into a rich or poor, educated or non-educated family, a family that commits cruelty to others such as hunters, meat butchers, military lineage (to some extent), animal farming that promotes the killing of animals, etc., is bound by birth lineage or family.

All conditions of time, place and birth, must be surpassed! The goal of Yoga is freedom from suffering, to help other beings to be free from suffering and to be liberated from bondage of the life-death cycle. Until awareness of these situations is realized, we remain bound.