The role of yOga in shankara's advaita

[Guest guest]

praNAms prabhujis

Hare Krishna

 

I had posed a question for clarification with regard to yOga, its

philosophy & its role in advaita in Advaita-L list...my cyber net guruji-s

Sri Jaldhar Vyas prabhuji & Sri Vidyashankar prabhuji have gracefully

shared their invaluble understanding on the subject which I would like to

share with this group :

 

//quote //

 

(a) Sri Vidyashankar Sundaresan prabhuji:

 

Anyway, when we think of the classical darzana of Yoga, we mean not only

pAtanjala yogasUtras, but we also think of the bhAshya on it and the

subsidiary texts. Nowhere in the yogasUtras or in its bhAshya is there

anything to establish the oneness and non-duality of brahman. The system

talks of prakRti and purushas, and considers Izvara as a special kind of

purusha (purusha-vizesha), one who is not bound by entanglement with

prakRti. Philosophically, it differs from sAMkhya primarily in that

respect,

as sAMkhya does not allow for Izvara as a special kind of purusha. In all

other respects, Yoga thought is very much indebted to traditional sAMkhya

and therefore the classical Yoga system is also a dualism only. The

yogasUtra talks of svarUpa-pratishThA (abiding in one's own nature) as the

final aim and goal, but it does not say that this svarUpa is the nondual

brahman.

 

That said, is it possible to reconcile and adopt yoga thought and practice

to Advaita Vedanta thought and practice? The answer is yes, and

Sankaracarya

himself does so, in many places. His criticism of Yoga darzana extends only

to the dualism in the system. There are at least two places in brahmasUtra

bhAshya where he extols the results of Yoga practice and quotes yogasUtra

with approval. Under brahmasUtra 1.3.33 - bhAvaM tu bAdarAyaNo'sti hi -

Sankaracarya says one cannot merely dismiss the powers attained by yoga and

quotes yogasUtra 2. 44 - svAdhyAyAd ishTadevatA saMprayogaH. Under

brahmasUtra 2.4.12 - pancavRttir manovad vyapadizyate - he quotes yogasUtra

1.6 - pramANa-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidrA-smRtayaH, to identify the five vRttis

of the mind. He prefaces this quotation with the statement,"paramatam

apratishiddham anumataM bhavati" - what is not refuted in another system is

effectively accepted. Thus, he makes it clear that the classical Yoga

derived from the yogasUtras is a different system from Vedanta (paramata),

but he also explicitly accepts whatever is not in conflict with Vedanta.

Nowhere does Sankaracarya say that pAtanjala yogasUtras are very much in

line with Advaita Vedanta. To claim otherwise, more than a millenium later,

is to misunderstand both the yogasUtras and Sankaracarya himself.

 

(b) Sri Jaldhar Vyas prabhuji's reply :

 

It depends on what one means by Patanjala yoga. As we have discussed on

the list in the terms past "samkhya" and "yoga" have not been used

consistently but have gone through three broad phases of development.

 

1. pre-systematic: samkhya and yoga merely mean "theory" and "practice"

basic notions such as guna, prakriti etc. are developed. This is the

type in Gita, Mokshadharma etc. Some variants are dualistic, some

theistic and some monistic.

 

2. classical: samkhya and yoga are full-fledged systematic darshanas.

samkhya is atheistic while yoga adds ishvara as the 26th tattva. Both

are dualistic. This is the type in Yogasutras, Samkhyakarikas etc.

 

3. Vedantic: largely due I think to Shankaracharyas efforts, samkhya and

yoga are absorbed into Advaita Vedanta and their texts and terminology

are reinterpreted in an Advaitic way. This is the type in

aparokshanubhuti, vedantasara etc.

 

Further I asked the following doubt :

 

bhaskar :

> Thanks a lot for your kind clarification on different phases of sAnkhya &

> yOga...Kindly clarify whether (2) above has any influence in (3) or

> shankara while taking sAnkhya & yOga into consideration has he given

> entirely new dimension to the orthodox / classical yOga sUtra

> terminologies?? Since as you said above (2) is still a dualistic

school

> shankara would have not endorsed the views of these schools from his

> non-dualistic perspective.

>

Sri Jaldhar Vyas prabhuji's reply :

 

Yes, Advaita Vedanta has adopted the terminology and some of the practices

of Samkhya/Yoga but has taken them in a totally different direction.

 

// unquote //

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

[Guest guest]

praNAms Sri Bhaskar prabhuji

 

Great job in trying to get your doubts clarified and sharing with

this group your findings.

>>

1.6 - pramANa-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidrA-smRtayaH, to identify the five

vRttis

of the mind. He prefaces this quotation with the statement,"paramatam

apratishiddham anumataM bhavati" - what is not refuted in another

system is

effectively accepted. Thus, he makes it clear that the classical Yoga

derived from the yogasUtras is a different system from Vedanta

(paramata),

but he also explicitly accepts whatever is not in conflict with

Vedanta.

>>

This is significant and goes a long way to explain how Advaitins

throughout the ages have demonstrated strong love and respect for

the practice of Yoga.

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

praNAms Sri Bhaskar prabhuji

 

praNAms Sri Sundar Rajan prabhuji

Hare Krishna

 

SR prabhuji:

 

Great job in trying to get your doubts clarified and sharing with

this group your findings.

 

bhaskar :

 

prabhuji, I donot want to carry any doubts with regard to shankara

siddhAnta..that is the reason why I shall try my best to find all the

available resources to get my doubts clarified...I have written a detailed

letter to my guruji as well asking him for the clarification on this issue.

I am also referring shankara bhAshya on bruhadAraNyaka where shankara

comments on the upanishat maNtra *AtmAvA ...

shrOtavyo...nidhidhyAsitavyaH...I think shankara explicitly clears the

vedAntic view of yOga while commenting on nidhidhyAsana part..& I am also

referring my paramaguruji's works to determine the actual role of pAtanjala

yOga in shankara's advaita...If any useful information comes through

definitely I'll share with the group also.

 

 

SR prabhuji:

>>

1.6 - pramANa-viparyaya-vikalpa-nidrA-smRtayaH, to identify the five

vRttis

of the mind. He prefaces this quotation with the statement,"paramatam

apratishiddham anumataM bhavati" - what is not refuted in another

system is

effectively accepted. Thus, he makes it clear that the classical Yoga

derived from the yogasUtras is a different system from Vedanta

(paramata),

but he also explicitly accepts whatever is not in conflict with

Vedanta.

>>

This is significant and goes a long way to explain how Advaitins

throughout the ages have demonstrated strong love and respect for

the practice of Yoga.

 

bhaskar :

 

Yes it shows the magnanimity of our bhagavadpAda is it not?? shankara

appreciates sAnkhya yOga as *pradhAna malla* & he did accept some of the

thories of both sAnkhya & yOga school..which are not conflicting with

vEdAnta siddhAnta...But as you see above, since the ultimate siddhAnta of

sAnkhya & yOga is *dualistic* he has taken it for refutation in siddhAnta

nirNaya of advaita. Love & respect for other schools shows the generosity

of vaidika dharma followers but it does not anyway mean that siddhAnta of

those schools are on par with shrutyanugrahIta paramArtha siddhAnta of

advaita.

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar