BGBh and yoga - yama-niyama - I by Vidyasankar Sundaresan

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

This is a repost from advaita-L, for the benefit of the

readers on this list

________

The eight limbs (aShTAN^ga) of yoga, traditionally counted,

are yama, niyama, Asana, prANAyAma, pratyAhAra, dhAraNA,

dhyAna and samAdhi. I will take up references to these

limbs (aN^ga-s) in the bhagavad gItA bhAShya

(BGBh) and other commentaries, in sequential order. In this

post, we will see how and where SankarAchArya refers to the

first two, yama-s and niyama-s.

 

The yogasUtra lists tapas (penance), svAdhyAya (self-study)

and ISvara-praNidhAna (meditation on the Lord) as the three

limbs of kriyA-yoga (sUtra 2. 1). The same three, along

with Sauca (purity) and santoSha

(happiness/contentment), are listed as kinds of niyama-s

(sUtra 2. 32). The yama-s are listed (sUtra 2. 30) as

ahi.msA (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya

(non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity) and aparigraha

(non-acquisition). We may also note that the taittirIya

upaniShat (TU) gives great importance to tapas and

svAdhyAya too (tapaS ca svAdhyAya-pravacane ca

.... tapa iti taponiShThaH pauruSiShTiH ... taddhi tapas

taddhi tapaH - TU SIxAvallI; tapo brahmeti sa tapo.atapyata

- TU bhR^iguvallI).

 

bhagavad gItA (BG) 4.28 (dravya-yaGYas tapo-yaGYA ...)

refers to tapas and svAdhyAya. In the bhAShya,

SankarAchArya leaves tapas to be understood and

doesn't describe it in greater detail. However, he explains

svAdhyAya as "yathAvidhi R^ig-Ady-abhyAsaH" i.e. study (and

practice of chanting) of the Vedas. I refer to the Vedas in

plural here, because of the term Adi in the

compound R^ig-Adi, i.e. the R^igveda and so forth.

 

BG 17. 14-16 lists the kinds of physical, verbal and mental

tapas. I will take up these verses and the commentary

thereon for the next post in this

series.

 

Vidyasankar

 

 

 

 

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

 

New on my website, particularly for beginners in Hindu philosophy:

Empire of the Mind:

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/HNG/ManversusMind.html

 

Free will and Divine will - a dialogue:

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/HNG/FWDW.html