Is there a difference between samskara and vasana?

December 22, 2004

om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya

samskaras are pre-natal or innate tendencies, i.e. acquired knowledge,

predispositions or purva-vasanas :- [sam + (s)kR - 'put together' or

'accumulated']

vasanas are the latent/subtle manifestation of these

tendencies/desires/impressions here and now in this life.

December 23, 2004

Surendranath Dasgupta describes the difference between these two words as

follows in "A History of Indian Philosophy." He is speaking here mainly of

the Yoga system:

"[samskara] means the impressions (which exist sub-consciously in the mind)

of the objects experienced. All our experiences whether cognitive, emotional

or conative exist in sub-conscious states and may under suitable conditions

be reproduced as memory (smrti). The word vasana (Yoga sutra, IV.24) seems

to be a later word. The earlier Upanisads do not mention it and so far as I

know it is not mentioned in the Pali pitakas... It comes from the root 'vas'

to stay. It is often loosely used in the sense of samskara... But vasana

generally refers to the tendencies of past lives most of which lie dormant

in the mind. Only those appear which can find scope in this life. But

samskaras are the sub-conscious states which are being constantly generated

by experience. Vasanas are innate samskaras not acquired in this life."

-- Volume I, Ch. VII, page 263n.

liorviz [liorviz]

Tuesday, December 21, 2004 10:37 AM

[RamanaMaharshi] Is there a difference between samskara and vasana?

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