Yogadarsana - An overview

The term ‘yoga’ has a ubiquitous presence today and has come to be associated with a myriad shades of meanings. The term arises from the Sanskrit root, ‘yuj’ (samādhau), and amongst other things, means to unify. In a broader sense the word has been associated with several religious/spiritual endeavors, and has come to denote specific paths to realization. To mention a few, Rāja-yoga, Haṭha-yoga, Karma-yoga, and Jñāna-yoga. The word ‘yoga’ has thus come to mean various distinct philosophical frameworks, making a precise definition of the word rather challenging. In practice the term may be understood to denote a spiritual endeavor that calls for the reining in of the senses and dedicating oneself to a chosen activity, with the sole view of rising above a limited existence. In theory, the term Yoga may be understood as a systematic description of the ideology and methodology that underlies the praxis. The most popular amongst the theories involving the word ‘yoga’ is that of Yogadarśana or the philosophy of Yoga as propounded by Patañjali in his seminal aphorisms (Yogasūtras). Yogadarśana is one of the six theistic schools of philosophy, along with Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Sāṅkhya, Pūrva-Mīmāmsā and Uttara Mīmāmsā. These schools of philosophy are accepted to be theistic not because they profess the existence of a Supreme creator. They are considered theistic on the other hand, owing to their acceptance of the Vedas as the central testimony to their arguments. Yogadarśana aligns itself closely with the sister school of the dualistic philosophy of Sāṅkhya, and is hence referred to also as Seśvara-sāṅkhya. The two schools are in agreement with regards to their theories of evolution and cosmology, purpose of human endeavor, and the goal of human endeavor. They starkly differ however, in their methodology and in the role played by the Puruṣa (Supreme) in said goal. Sāṅkhya is primarily an intellectual approach to liberation, while Yoga is a practical one. Yoga admonishes the reining in of the senses, the regulation of breath, and the disciplining of the body in order to subdue the mind. The subduing of the mind in turn, it postulates, leads to a state of dissociation from worldly identifications, resulting in greater peace and joy. In a nutshell Patañjali states, योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः yogaścittavṛttinirodhaḥ Yoga is the cessation of the vagaries of the mind. - Yogasūtra, 1.2 After thus defining in a single aphoristic statement what will result in liberation ultimately, Patañjali moves on to enumerate and describe what the vagaries of the mind are. Thereafter, he begins to divulge how it is the mind can be freed from it vagaries and thus stilled. Yogadarśana varies in methodology in this particular aspect, from its sister philosophy of Sāṅkhya. While Sāṅkhya believes that the unravelling of the true nature of creation and therefore the knowledge of the unmanifest (eternal) and the manifest (fleeting) will result in the ending of suffering, which Sāṅkhya defines to be liberation, Yogadarśana begs to differ. Yoga does indeed agree that the end of suffering is liberation, and that true knowledge alone can result in the cessation of suffering. However, it does not cater to the belief that a mere intellectual exercise to unravel the true nature of the cosmos can result in said cessation of suffering. It postulates that greater physical and mental effort is required to attain knowledge, for the human mind is fickle, intractable and unpredictable in nature. It postulates that the human mind can only be tamed with diligent and systematic effort; not merely by contemplating the permanence or the impermanence of creation. Yogadarśana categorizes the vagaries of the mind into two basic kinds – pleasant and the unpleasant. True knowledge, false knowledge, illusory knowledge, sleep and memory are the vagaries of the mind enlisted. Of these true knowledge that results from the testimonies of direct perception, inference and the Vedas is deemed to be central to liberation. However, the mind that is not stilled, cannot achieve true knowledge. The Yogadarśana thus admonished the systematic stilling of the mind through practice and dispassion – अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः abhyāsavairāgyābhyāṁ tannirodhaḥ Its cessation is through practice and dispassion - Yogasūtra, 1.12 After having described practice to be the dedicated and persistent dwelling in a state (of stillness) for an extended period of time, Patañjali then proceeds to describe dispassion. He terms it an indifference to the permanent and impermanent arising from the knowledge of the indweller. Further, he claims that the stilling of the mind that can be achieved through arduous effort and dispassion can also be achieved easily, through surrender to the indweller (Puruṣa) or Īśvara. In other words, Yogadarśana postulates the indweller to be all-powerful and filled with agency, and this is the fundamental difference between Sāṅkhya and Yogadarśana. तत्र निरतिशयं सर्वज्ञबीजम्। tatra niratiśayaṁ sarvajñabījam| There (in Īśvara) lies the unsurpassed seed of omniscience. - Yogasūtra, 1.25 The distinction from Sāṅkhya grows further when a mystical syllable is assigned to the Iśvara, thus presenting a direct calling-card to Īśvara. Yogadarśana further postulates that the mindful repetition of the sacred syllable assigned to Īśvara can result in the annihilation of the impediments upon the path to stilling the mind, and in the realization of the self. तत्र निरतिशयं सर्वज्ञबीजम्। tataḥ pratyakcetanādhigamo'pyantarāyābhāvaśca| Therefrom (from the repetition of the syllable ‘OM’) arise the realization of the self and the riddance of impediments. - Yogasūtra, 1.29 Yogadarśana then explicates how a stilled mind then becomes aware of the distinction between the experiencer, the senses organs (that facilitate experiences), and the (phenomenal world that is) experienced. With said distinction, the mind becomes non-argumentative and meditative. In a meditative state of purity, it is postulated, arises discernment (viveka), and with constant discernment the disappearance of ignorance. The disappearance of ignorance again is accompanied by its corollary, the discovery of true knowledge, and with that arrives the state of Kaivalya – a state defined by the cessation of suffering, in other words also called liberation. तदभावात्संयोगाभावो हानं तद्दृशेः कैवल्यम्। tadabhāvātsaṁyogābhāvo hānaṁ taddṛśeḥ kaivalyam| In the absence of that (ignorance) arrives the dissociation of the experiencer from the experience, and thence kaivalya. - Yogasūtra, 2.25

Yogadarsana – An overview

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