1. Jivan Mukti Viveka -Goodding

Copyright

by

Robert Alan Goodding

2002

The Dissertation Committee for Robert Alan Goodding certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation:

The Treatise on Liberation-in-Life

Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of

The Jivanmuktiviveka of Vidyāraņya

Committee: Anwille J. Patrick Olivelle, Supervisor

Cynthia Talbot

Richard W. Lariviere

Joel P. Brereton

Andrew O. Fort

The Treatise on Liberation-in-Life

Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of

The Jīvanmuktiviveka of Vidyāraņya

by

Robert Alan Goodding, M.A.

Dissertation

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

the University of Texas at Austin

in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

The University of Texas at Austin

May, 2002

Dedication

To all my teachers.

yas tu bodhitam api tattvam na samyag budhyate, yaś ca vismarati,

tayor ubhayoḥ sādhusam gama evopāyaḥ.

sādhavo hi punaḥ punar bodhayanti smārayanti ca. [JMV 3.2.10]

Acknowledgments

After years of work it is at last time to give proper thanks to all those who have

helped me carry out this dissertation. I must first recognize those who were directly

involved and without whom I could never have begun to undertake the work of a

critical edition and translation of a Sanskrit text. I thank my advisor Dr. Patrick

Olivelle for sharing his vast knowledge and understanding, high standards, and

tireless workmanship that I have tried to live up to over the years. It is a great honor

to be his student at this time during his extraodinarily productive career.

I also wish to recognize Dr. K. S. Arjunwadkar of Pune, India who read with me

daily for a few months while I was in India and who always gave me exhaustive

answers to my questions about the text and my translations. Those of us learning

Sanskrit today will sorely miss the passing of his generation who grew up with the

values of the old living tradition in India where learning is priceless yet is paid for

with the total commitment of one's life. I must thank the others who were also

directly or indirectly involved in my formation as a scholar such as my committee

members Professors Cynthia Talbot, Joel Brereton, Andrew Fort, Richard Larivieve.

I also thank Professors John Turner, Paul Olson, and Gregory Schopen who gave

confirmation to my basic insights and inspired me to achieve more.

The various directors and staff members of the archives I visited in India during

1997-1998 deserve a special recognition. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research

Institute and the Ānandaśrama Sansthā of Pune provided me with congenial places

to study and permitted me access to their libraries and manuscript collections. The

Oriental Institute of Baroda, the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library of

Madras and the Saraswati Mahal Library in Tanjavur allowed me access to their

important Jīvanmuktiviveka manuscripts. My special thanks also goes to Mrs.

Nirmala Purandare of Pune for letting me stay at her guestroom at the Vanasthali

Rural Development Centre. I must also thank the Fulbright Foundation for

awarding me the support that made my research in India possible.

Of all my friends and supporters who have stood with me and given positive

inspiration over the years during my various pursuits, I wish, in no particular order,

to recognize some of my fellow "seekers of pearls in the manure." At different

points along the way, my friends Kim Wheeler, Russell Smith, Kevin Roberts, Joe

and Karuna Nicols, John Skrovan, Monte Page, Ingrid Olson and many others

touched my life and helped me understand essential things about our journey.

I must thank all of my friends who are current and former fellow students

whose intelligence, wit, and seriousness created a good atmosphere in which to

carry out our studies. In this regard I mention, again in no particular order, Lance

Ashdown, David McMahan, Larry Short, Steven Lindquist, Mark McClish, Jarrod

Whitaker, Karline McClain, Kristen Rudisill, Gardner Harris, John Nemec, Laura

Bueck, Dave Brick, Lisa Owen, Anna Shtutina, Don Davis, Parimal Patil, and Sarah

Green.

Special thanks goes to Rosemary Wetherold for her excellent copy-editing.

Lastly I would like to thank my family for supporting my pursuits during these

many years at difficult times when we all need love and acceptance the most.

vi

The Treatise on Liberation-in-Life

Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of

The Jīvanmuktiviveka of Vidyāraņya

Publication No.

Robert Alan Goodding, Ph.D.

University of Texas at Austin, 2002

Supervisor: J. Patrick Olivelle

The Jīvanmuktiviveka or "The Treatise on Liberation-in-Life," is the only work

in its period to specifically address one of the central issues in Hinduism: is

liberation reserved for the world-renouncing religious elite, or is it attainable by

everyone through devotion and organized ritual worship in the communal tradition?

The work was composed c. 1380 CE by the Brahmin scholar Vidyāranya when he

was the pontiff of the Srngeri monastery, which still endures today. This dissertation

is a new edition of the Sanskrit text based on previously unused manuscript evidence

and a new annotated English translation. The introduction is a study of some

historical and philosophical problems in the Jīvanmuktiviveka. Historians of the

vii

twentieth century long debated Vidyāranya's identity and his political activity in the

founding of the Vijayanagara kingdom in fourteenth century South India. The

position taken here minimizes his political role and explores his possible role in the

internal debates of medieval Vedānta philosophy between Advaita and

Viśiștādvaita, thus presenting a historical context for the Jīvanmuktiviveka. In this

text, Vidyāraņya takes the classical Advaita Vedanta position that internal

knowledge of the Self (atman) as Brahman and renunciation of social and ritual

conventions lead to liberation, and that liberation can be achieved in an individual's

own lifetime (jīvanmukti). Tension had existed between the individual renunciant

and the mainstream householder community in India for centuries. In medieval

India this tension became focused into philosophical positions which resulted in

lively debate. Vidyāranya attempted a novel solution to problems internal to

Advaita and resolved this tension. The knowledge of Self as equivalent to Brahman

in classical Advaita philosophy is considered insufficient to completely root out

operative action which causes future births. Liberation also requires a lifelong

commitment to the Yogic practices "eradication of latent tendencies" and

"elimination of the mind." Vidyāranya preserved the possibility of liberation in this

lifetime, while also not disturbing the conventional religious social order who could

see the virtues of the paramahamsa yogin following Vidyāranya's teaching. This

paramahamsa yogin does not compromise his position but remains an ascetic

outside of, while still recognized by, the householder society.

viii

Table of Contents

Abbreviations XV

INTRODUCTION

Introduction Part One: The Style and Content of the Jivanmuktiviveka and its Historical Context

1. General 1

2. Style, Content, and Structure of the Jīvanmuktiviveka 3

3. The Authorship of the Jīvanmuktiviveka 6

4. Controversy over Vijayanagara and Vidyāranya 9

5. Revised Views of Vidyāranya's Career 12

6. The Jīvanmuktiviveka in Context 19

Introduction Part Two: The Means of Liberation according to the Jīvanmuktiviveka

1. The Problem of Operative Action. 29

2. The Knowledge of Truth 39

3. Eradication of Latent Tendencies 46

4. The Elimination of the Mind 55

5. Conclusion 66

TRANSLATION

Chapter One: The Authoritative Basis for Liberation-in-Life

1.0 Benediction .. 71

1.1 The Renunciation-for-Knowledge 72

ix

1.2 The Renunciation-of-the-Knower 74

1.3 The Nature of Liberation-in-Life 82

1.4 The Characteristics of Liberation-in-Life 88

1.5 Bodiless-Liberation 94

1.6 One Steady-in-Wisdom 95

1.7 The Devotee-of-the-Lord 101

1.8 One Who Has Transcended-the-Qualities 102

1.9 The Brāhmana 104

1.10 One Beyond-Castes-and-Orders 110

Chapter Two: The Eradication of Latent Tendencies

2.1 The Mutual Causality of the Means of Liberation-in-Life 117

2.2 Negative and Positive Statements of the Three Pairs of Means 118

2.3 The Principal and Subsidiary Relation of the Three Means 122

2.4 Pure and Impure Latent Tendencies 135

2.5 The Nature of the Mind and The Elimination of the Mind 148

2.6 The Way Latent Tendencies are Eradicated 152

2.7 The Practice of Pure Latent Tendencies 154

2.8 The Practice of Discernment 158

2.9 The Continuance of Impure Latent Tendencies 159

2.10 The Remedy for Impure Latent Tendencies through Discernment .... 163

2.11 The Latent Tendency of Pure Consciousness 168

Chapter Three: The Elimination of the Mind

3.1 The Necessity of Elimination of the Mind 182

3.2 The Methods for the Mind's Dissolution 184

3.3 The Yogas of Posture and Diet 187

3.4 The Yoga of Breath-Control 189

3.5 Enstasis and the Eight Limbs of Yoga. 195

3.6 Enstasis of Suppression 202

3.7 The Four Stages of Control; Control of Speech in Mind 206

3.8 Control of the Mind in the Knowing Self 208

3.9 Control in the Great Self and in the Tranquil Self 211

3.10 The Enstases with and without Conceptualization 214

3.11 The Practice of Yoga 225

3.12 The Elimination of the Mind with Form 231

Chapter Four: The Purpose in Attaining One's True Nature

4.1 Safeguarding of Knowledge 237

4.2 Austerity 245

4.3 Absence of Opposition 250

4.4 Elimination of Suffering and the Manifestation of Bliss 252

4.5 The Master Yogin and the Knower of Truth 254

Chapter Five: The Renunciation-of-the-Knower

5.1 The Path of the Paramahamsa Yogins 258

5.2 The Principal Rule of the Paramahamsa Yogin 267

5.3 The Paramahamsa Yogin's Staff of Knowledge 276

5.4 The Conduct of the Paramahamsa Yogin 279

xi

TEXT

Introduction to the Critical Edition 289

prathamaņ jīvanmuktipramāņaprakaraņam

1.0 mangalacāranam 298

1.1 vividișāsamnyāsaḥ 299

1.2 vidvatsamnyāsah 301

1.3 jīvanmuktisvarūpam 307

1.4 jīvanmuktilakșanam. .312

1.5 videhamuktilaksaņam 316

1.6 sthitaprajñaḥ 317

1.7 bhagavadbhaktaḥ 322

1.8 guņātītaḥ 323

1.9 brāhmaņa 324

1.10 ativarņāśramī 329

dvitīyaņ vāsanākşayaprakaraņam

2.1 jīvanmuktisādhanānām parasparakāraņatvam 332

2.2 trisādhanadvandvānām anvayavyatirekaḥ 333

2.3 trisādhanānām pradhānopasarjanatvām 335

2.4 śuddhāsuddhavāsanā 345

2.5 manasaḥ svarūpam manonāśaś ca 356

2.6 vāsanākşayaprakāraḥ 360

2.7 śubhavāsanābhyāsaḥ 361

2.8 vivekābhyāsaḥ 365

xii

2.9 malinavāsanānuvrttiḥ 366

2.10 malinavāsanānām vivekena pratīkāraḥ 369

2.11 cinmātravāsanā 374

tritīyam manonāśaprakaraņam

3.1 manonāśasya avaśyakatvam 379

3.2 manovilayahetoḥ yuktayaḥ 380

3.3 āsanāśanayogāḥ 383

3.4 prāņāyāmayogaḥ 385

3.5 samādhir aștāngayogaś ca 390

3.6 nirodhasamādhiḥ 396

3.7 catasraḥ bhūmikāḥ. manasi vanniyamaḥ 400

3.8 jñānātmani manoniyamaḥ 401

3.9 mahātmani śāntātmani ca niyamaḥ 404

3.10 sam̧prajñātāsam̧prajñātayoḥ svarūpaḥ sādhanam ca 406

3.11 yogābhyāsaḥ 414

3.12 sarūpo manonāśaḥ 420

caturtham svarūpasiddhiprayojanaprakaraņam

4.1 jñānarakșā 422

4.2 tapas .. 431

4.3 visamvādābhāvaḥ 433

4.4 duḥkhanāśaḥ sukhāvirbhāvaś ca 435

4.5 yogīśvaras tattvavic ca . 437

xiii

pañcamam vidvatsaņnyāsaprakaraņam

5.1 yoginām parahamsānām margaḥ 440

5.2 yoginaḥ paramahamsasya mukyaḥ kalpaḥ 447

5.3 yoginaḥ paramahamsasya jñānadaņdaḥ 454

5.4 yogina paramahamsasya caryā . 456

Appendix One: Index of Sources 464

Appendix Two: Index of Subjects 468

Bibliography 497

Vita 503

xiv

Abbreviations

Adyar Jīvanmuktiviveka (Liberation in Life) of Vidyāranya. Ed. and tr. Pandit S. Subramanya Sastri and T. R. Srinivasa Ayyangar. Adyar Library General Series 6. (1978).

AitB Aitareya Brāhmaņa ed. Satyavrata Samasrami. (1895-1898).

AitĀ Aitareya Āraņyaka, ed. Keith (1909).

AmbU Amrtabindu Upanişad in Yoga Upanişads ed. Mahadeva Śāstrī (1983).

AmnU Amrtanada Upanişad in Yoga Upanişads ed. Mahadeva Śāstrī (1983).

ĀnSS Anandāśrama Sanskrit Series. Also refers to ĀnSS, 20. Jīvanmuktiviveka. Ed. Vasudeva Laxmaņa Sharma Paņaśīkara (1978).

ĀrU Aruni Upanişad in Schrader (1912).

BhG Bhagavad Gītā ed. Joshi, AnSS 34, (1981).

BhMP Bhavişya Mahāpurāņa ed. Sharma (1984).

BhP Bhāgavata Purāņa ed. Sharma (1987).

BS Brahma Sūtras ed. Šāstrī (1996)

BSBh Brahma Sūtra Bhāşya ed. Šāstrī (1996)

BāU Brhadāranyaka Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

BāBh V Brhadāraņya Upanişad Bhāşya Vārttika ed. Subrahmanya Sastri (1982).

BrS Brhaspati Smrti ed. Rangaswami Aiyangar, Gaekwad Oriental Series 85, (1941).

BU Brahma Upanișad in Schrader.

ChU Chāndogya Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

DSm Dakşasmrti in SS.

ex. conj. Ex conjectura; out of conjecture.

GK Gaudapādīya Kārikā ed. Abajisharma, ĀnSS 10 (1984).

XV

HDh P. V. Kane History of Dharmaśāstra (1977-1997).

ĪśāU Īśā Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

Jdl Jābāladarśana Upanișad in Upanișatsamgrahaḥ ed. āstrī (1980).

JU Jābāla Upanișad in Schrader (1912).

JIP Journal of Indian Philosophy

KaiU Kaivalya Upanişad in Upanișatsamgrahaḥ, ed. Šāstrī (1980).

KauU Kauşītaki Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

KU Kațha Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

KT Kulārņava Tantra ed. Vidyaratna (1965).

Khaņ Khaņdaņakhaņdakhādya ed. Dravida Šāstrī (1904-1914).

KșU Kşurika Upanişad in Upanișatsamgrahaḥ ed. Šāstrī (1980).

LVS Laghu-Vişņu Smrti in SS.

LYV Laghu-Yogavāsișțha ed. Paņaśīkara (1985).

MBh Mahābhārata ed. V. S. Sukthankar et al. (1933-1959).

MDh Manava Dharmaśāstra ed. Jolly (1993).

MNU Mahānārāyaņa Upanișad ed. Jean Varenne (1960).

MtrāU Maitrāyani Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

MunU Mundaka Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vadekar (1958).

MukU Muktika Upanişad in Upanişatsamgrahaḥ ed. Šāstrī (1980).

NrPU Nrsimhapūrvatāpanī Upanişad in Upanișatsam grahaḥ ed. Šāstrī (1980).

NkS Naişkarmyasiddhi ed. Jacob (1980).

NPS Nārada Pañcaratra Samhitā ed. Banerjea (1980).

NpU Nāradaparivrājaka Upanișad in Schrader (1912).

xvi

om. Omits, omitted

PāU Parāśara Upapurāna ed. Tripathi (1990).

PD Pañcadaī ed. Swāmī Swāhānanda (1967).

PK Pancīkaranam in Subrahmanya Sastri (1981).

PhU Paramahamsa Upanişad in Schrader (1912).

Ppd Pañcapādika ed. Subrahmanya Sastri (1992).

Pānini The Aştadyāyī ed and tr. Srisa Chandra Vasu (1962).

Pās Paramārthasāra text and tr. Danielson (1980).

Prm Pramāņamālā in Nyāya Markaranda, Chaukambha Sanskrit Series, 38, (n.d.).

PāM Pārāśara-Mādhavīya ed. Chandrakanta Tarkalankara (1973-1974).

RV Rgveda Samhita eds. Van Nooten and Holland (1994).

Rām Rāmāyaņa ed. G. H. Bhatt et al. (1960-1975).

ŚvU Śvetāśvatara Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vadekar (1958).

SūS Sūta Samhitā of the Skanda Purāņa ĀnSS, 25. 3 vols. (1898).

SauU Saubhagyalakşmī Upanişad in Upanişatsamgrahaḥ, ed. Śāstrī (1980).

Schrader Schrader, Otto. The Minor Upanisads vol. 1, Samnyāsa Upanișads (1912).

SK Sankhya Kārika ed. Colebrooke (1978).

SU Samnyāsa Upaņișad in Schrader.

sh cor. Second hand corrects.

SS Smrtīnām Samuccayaḥ ĀnSS, 48. (1905).

TĀ Taittirīya Āraņyaka ed. Rajendralala Mitra (1982).

TB Taittirīya Brāhmaņa ed. Rajendralala Mitra (1981).

TS Taittirīya Samhitā ed. Gangadhara Bapurava Kale, ĀnSS, 42. (1959-1978).

TU Taittirīya Upanişad eds. Limaye and Vaidekar (1958).

xvii

US Upadeśasāhasrī ed. Mayeda (1973).

VaP Vayu Purāņa ĀnSS 49, (1983).

Vcm Vivekacudāmaņi ed. Pravrajika Brahmaprana (1992).

VDh Vasiștha Dharmasūtra ed. Fuhrer (1983).

ViP Vişņu Purāņa ed. M. M. Pathak (1997 -? ).

VU Varāha Upanişad in Upanişatsamgrahaḥ, ed. Šāstrī (1980).

Vāvṛ Vākyavrtti ed. Ranganātha Sāstrī, ĀnSS 80, (1998).

WZKS Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens.

YDhS Y atidharmasam grahaḥ ed Joshi, ĀnSS 60, (1980).

YDhP Y atidharmaprakāśa ed. Olivelle (1976-1977)

YŚU Yogaśikha Upanişad in Yoga Upanişads ed. Mahadeva Sāstrī (1983).

YS Pātañjalīya Yogasūtras ĀnSS 47, (1984).

YSBh Yogasūtra Bhāșya ĀnSS 47, (1984).

YU Yājñavalkya Upanişad in Schrader (1912).

YV Yoga-Vāsiştha ed. Paņaśīkara (1911).

xviii

Introduction Part One

The Style and Content of the Jivanmuktiviveka and its Historical Context

1.1 General

The Jīvanmuktiviveka [JMV] is a medieval philosophical work on the Advaita

Vedānta concept of "liberation-in-life" (jīvanmukti)1 and the institution of renunciation

(samnyāsa).2 It is a prakarana, or treatise, on a specific topic wherein the Brahmin

scholar Vidyāranya discusses the evidence for and means of achieving liberation-in-

life, but it is difficult to classify because of its uniqueness in the history of Sanskrit

literature. Vidyāraņya, also known as Mādhava, composed the JMV c. 1380 C.E.3

toward the end of his life after he had entered the samnyāsāśrama and had become the

pontiff of the Srngeri matha in southwestern Karnataka. This matha, or monastic

institution, still endures today. The text is a novel work in Advaita Vedānta, though

Vidyāranya places himself in line with mainstream Advaitins Sankara, Sureśvara, and

Padmapāda, whom he calls teachers [2.9.9-14 and 2.3.64].4 Like his predecessors,

Vidyāraņya defines the renouncer's goal as the attainment of the nondual "knowledge"

(jñāna, vidyā). The mainstream Advaitins understood that this experiential knowledge

of the equivalence of the Self and Brahman is sufficient for the attainment of

liberation. Although Vidyāranya is careful to incorporate the basic positions of his

teachers, he departs from the mainstream Advaita of Sankara by prescribing in

addition to knowledge a further program of yogic discipline based on such texts as the

Bhagavad Gītā (BhG), the Pātañjalīya Yogasūtras (YS), the Gaudapādīya Kārikās

1

(GK), and the Laghu-Yogavāsistha (LYV). He integrates the structures of thought

from the Sankaran Advaita and the Pātañjaliya Yoga systems into one system bearing

on the life and goal of the renouncer.

The JMV is thus a constructive synthesis of models from Indian thought and in

this way stands as a novel contribution to the history of the idea of liberation-in-life.

Nevertheless, Vidyāranya does not claim to say anything that is not already in the

revealed Vedic truth of Sruti or in the tradition of Smrti. The work became well

known in India, but I believe it was composed for a limited, internal audience

participating in the debates in medieval Vedānta theology. Earlier in his career,

Vidyāraņya under the name Mādhava had composed a legal digest and commentary

on the Parāśarasmrti known as the Parāśara-Mādhavīya [PāM] and, within that work,

included a separate treatise on renunciation. There he deals with the first three of the

four types of renouncers: the kutīcaka, the bahūdaka, and the hamsa.5 Here in the

JMV, Vidyāranya focuses on the highest type of renouncer, the paramahamsa.

For the purpose of introducing my translation and text edition of the JMV, I shall

first give a short analysis of the structure of the text's argument and discuss the

author's identity and literary activities. Next, in the historical part, I offer some

background for the text to place it in context and, based on this, give reasons why I

believe Vidyāraņya made his departure from mainstream Advaita Vedānta. As a

philosophical text, the JMV offers very little in the way of obvious sociohistorical

data, and one must look outside the text for these data. The internal historical evidence

one can discern is more amenable to the construction of doctrinal history. Then in a

lengthier discussion, I describe Vidyāranya's self-conscious philosophical intent by

2

assessing the problem of "operative action" (prārabdhakarma) that he addresses and

how he tries to solve it. There I will describe the practical, yogic aspects bearing on

the means of liberation according to Vidyāranya's doctrine, but I leave the overall

assessment of the philosophical coherence and the fuller explanation of the text for

future studies.

1.2 Style, Content, and Structure of the Jīvanmuktiviveka

The JMV is written in an interpretive style common to medieval Sanskrit

commentarial treatises wherein objections are raised and answered, and well-known

ancient religious works are cited, followed by the author's interpretation of these

citations. It is a vāda type of discourse in dialogue form in which the author seeks to

discover the truth of the issue he sets out to discuss. In contrast, the vitanda type of

discourse seeks to attack another's positions without offering a constructive view in its

place that the author believes to be true. Examples of texts formulated in the vitanda

type of argument are the Khandanakhandakhādya of Srī Harsa, which attacks Nyāya

philosophy, and the Satadūsaņi of Vedānta Deśika,6 which attacks Advaita Vedānta.

Vidyāraņya in the JMV rarely mentions doctrines of opposing philosophical

systems.7

Vidyāranya follows the traditional Indian standards of logic and exegesis and

continually tries to establish the authoritative scriptural basis for the validity of his

position. I have translated the term pramāna as "authoritative basis" here in order to

indicate that this is not the pramāna of making inferences, which is the major concern

in Nyāya philosophy. As an Advaitin, Vidyāraņya primarily finds the evidence or

proof for the validity for his position in śabda pramāna, which is the revealed Vedic

3

truth found in Sruti and the accepted tradition of Smrti.8 Demonstrating the validity of

his position may require no more than citing a well-known Sruti or Smrti passage.

However, in some instances, Vidyāranya is forced to employ other hermeneutic

strategies. For example, Vidyāranya defines two subtypes of paramahamsa, the

vividişāsamnyāsin, or "renouncer prompted by the desire for knowledge," and the

vidvatsamnyāsin, the "renouncer who is a knower." When distinguishing between the

dharma-s, or duties, enjoined on the paramahamsa, he presents the same means of

liberation they must carry out, but he distinguishes between which means of liberation

is principal or subsidiary (pradhāna/upasarjana) based on the respective differences

(vyavasthā) between each type of renouncer [2.3.2ff, Chapter 2, n.10]. This type of

hermeneutic strategy clarifies a question of dharma in the absence of a clear injunction

or a testimonial statement derived from revealed scripture or tradition, or a doctrinal

statement gathered from another philosopher such as Sankara or Sureśvara.

Vidyāranya brings forth the objections in the dialogue (pūrvapaksa-s) without

identifying the objector, so it is never clear whether the objector belongs to a particular

school of thought. Frequently, it appears that Vidyāranya brings the objections in

order to identify possible weaknesses in his position, and then bolster his claims even

further with more citations from Sruti and Smrti and arguments based on logic and

exegesis.

The text consists of five chapters. The Chapter One gives the authoritative

scriptural basis (pramāna) for liberation-in-life, a summary of the basic definitions and

ideas on how to achieve it, and examples from scripture of those who have been

jīvanmukta-s, or persons liberated-in-life. The Chapters Two and Three are the heart

4

of the book where Vidyāranya discusses the means for achieving liberation (sādhana).

These chapters discuss the means for liberation-in-life. These means are the principal

duties that the renouncer who is a knower must undertake once he has attained the

knowledge of truth (tattvajñāna). Vidyāranya explains that the knowledge of truth,

once attained, becomes stabilized-and ultimate liberation achieved-only through the

practice of the eradication of latent tendencies (vāsanākșaya) and the elimination of the

mind (manonāśa), which are the subjects of Chapters Two and Three, respectively.

In Chapter Four, Vidyāranya discusses the purposes (prayojana-s) served by

achieving liberation, i.e., what good it does the renouncer and those around him.

Chapter Five is a commentary on the Paramahamsa Upanisad. This chapter amounts

to an excursus on the renouncer who is a knower (vidvatsamnyāsin), the person

qualified to achieve liberation-in-life.

The following table outlines structure of the JMV and sequence of its argument

and content using the numbering system I have given in the text:

I. The Authoritative Basis for Liberation-in-Life (a) Benediction 1.0.1-13 (b) The Renunciation-for-Knowledge 1.1.1-14 (c) The Renunciation-of-the-Knower 1.2.1-46 (d) The Nature of Liberation-in-Life 1.3.1-34 (e) The Characteristics of Liberation-in-Life 1.4.1-26 (f) Bodiless-Liberation 1.5.1-7 (g) One Steady-in-Wisdom .6.1-30 (h) The Devotee-of-the-Lord 1.7.1-11 (i) One Who Has Transcended-the-Qualities 1.8.1-8 (j) The Brāhmaņa 1.9.1-4 (k) One Beyond-Castes-and-Orders 1.10.1-25

II. The Eradication of Latent Tendencies (a) The Mutual Causality of the Means of Liberation-in-Life 2.1.1-9 (b) Negative and Positive Statements of the Three Pairs of Means 2.2.1-16

5

(c) The Principal and Subsidiary Relation of the Three Means 2.3.1-86 (d) Pure and Impure Latent Tendencies .. 2.4.1-87 (e) The Nature of the Mind and The Elimination of the Mind 2.5.1-26 (f) The Way Latent Tendencies are Eradicated 2.6.1-10 (g) The Practice of Pure Latent Tendencies 2.7.1-23 (h) The Practice of Discernment ... 2.8.1-7 (i) The Continuance of Impure Latent Tendencies 2.9.1-28 (j) The Remedy for Impure Latent Tendencies through Discernment 2.10.1-49 (k) The Latent Tendency of Pure Consciousness 2.11.1-38

III. The Elimination of the Mind (a) The Necessity of Elimination of the Mind 3.1.1-18 (b) The Methods for the Mind's Dissolution 3.1.1-25 (c) The Yogas of Posture and Diet 3.3.1-12 (d) The Yoga of Breath-Control 3.4.1-32 (e) Enstasis and the Eight Limbs of Yoga 3.5.1-53 (f) Enstasis of Suppression 3.6.1-33 (g) The Four Stages of Control; Control of Speech in Mind 3.7.1-6 (h) Control of the Mind in the Knowing Self 3.8.1-16 (i) Control in the Great Self and in the Tranquil Self 3.9.1-15 (j) The Enstases with and without Conceptualization 3.10.1-60 (k) The Practice of Yoga 3.11.1-48 (1) The Elimination of the Mind with Form 3.12.1-13

IV. The Purpose of Attaining One's True Nature (a) Safeguarding of Knowledge 4.1.1-58 (b) Austerity 4.2.1-34 (c) Absence of Opposition 4.3.1-18 (d) Elimination of Suffering and the Manifestation of Bliss 4.4.1-14 (e) The Master Yogin and the Knower of Truth 4.5.1-12

V. The Renunciation-of-the-Knower (a) The Path of the Paramahamsa Yogins 5.1.1-46 (b) The Principal Rule of the Paramahamsa Yogin 5.2.1-41 (c) The Paramahamsa Yogin's Staff of Knowledge 5.3.1-21 (d) The Conduct of the Paramahamsa Yogin 5.4.1-49

1.3 Authorship of the Jīvanmuktiviveka

Despite all that has been written about the sage Vidyāranya, we have little reliable

data on his identity. I want to consider first the clues available in his own writings. In

the beginning of the JMV itself, the author outlines the plan of his book, naming the

6

four types of renouncers, and says "Now, the practices of these (renouncers) have

been described by us in the commentary on the Pārāsarasmrti. Here the paramahamsa

is described." [1.0.11] These words by themselves are the single best evidence we

have that Vidyäranya the author of the JMV is the same as Mädhava the author of the

PaM. We find in the introductory verses 6-7 of the PaM that the author was the son

of Māyaņa and Srīmatī, brother of Sāyana and Bhoganātha. He was the disciple of

the Śankarācāryas Vidyātīrtha and Bhāratītīrtha. These verses also mentions

Śrīkanthanātha, who may have been his family's preceptor. He studied the black

Yajurveda and the Baudhāyana dharmasūtra and belonged to the Bhāradvāja-gotra.9

His date of birth is unknown; however, according to an inscription preserved at the

Śrgeri matha, we may be certain he died in 1386.10

In addition to the PaM already mentioned, Vidyāranya contributed widely to the

separate branches of Sanskrit literature during his career under his name Mādhava

while in his pūrvāśrama, or before he had renounced as an old person. A work

related to his digest of civil and religious law in the PāM is the Kālanirņaya. This

work falls within the general category of astrology and astronomy and treats the

nature of time and how it is divided in the Hindu calendar. But the Kālanirņaya also

relates to dharmaśāstra in that it discusses the auspicious times to perform rituals, and

the author specifically mentions that he composed it after his commentary on

Parāśara.11 Vidyāranya as Mādhava also composed the well-known work on the

fundamentals of Pūrvamīmāmsā, the Jaiminīyanyāyamālāvistara. Vidyāraņya is

mostly known for his philosophical works in Advaita Vedānta. However, from these

works earlier in his career on dharmaśāstra, ritual performance, and the

Pūrvamīmāmsā, we gather that his understanding of ritual action and Advaitic

knowledge does not place them in some conflict as one might assume they are. There

seems to be no indication that Vidyāranya as Mādhava was himself married with

children. Nevertheless, from these aforementioned works on ritual such as the

Kālanirņaya, we see that he was sensitive to the standards of social and religious life

of the wider householder population who formed the ritual-performing collective. We

can deduce, furthermore, that he recognized that the Advaitic knowledge prescribed

for the renouncer, which was the focus of his literary efforts leading up to the JMV,

was not for everyone. I argue that Vidyāranya in the JMV attempts to lessen the

tension between the householder community and the renouncer by clarifying the

renouncer's duties, or dharma-s, and the purposes, or prayojana-s, of liberation-in-life,

making them more indentifiable to the householder community. I will address this

point further in the section on the context of the JMV below.

Mādhava-Vidyāranya was involved also in the philosophical debates between the

different darśana-s, or philosophical schools. His Sarvadarśanasamgraha is an

arrangement of the various positions in Indian philosophy that Mädhava knew starting

from the materialist Carvakas and Buddhists that he thought had the least validity, up

to the Pātañjalīya Yoga system and Sankara's Advaita that is the highest expression of

the truth. The introduction of this text mentions the author "Sāyana-Mādhava," which

led A. C. Burnell to believe that Mädhava and his brother were the same person.

Without any other internal or independent evidence we may only presume the work is

his because the view expressed in this text is consistent with those of Vidyāranya the

Advaitin. We also can speculate that Mādhava and Sāyaņa collaborated and that

8

Mādhava had some involvement in Sāyaņa's Vedabhāşya.12 Vidyāraņya also

composed works from the Advaita standpoint such as the Brhadāranyakavārtikasāra, a

commentary on Sankara's Aparokșānubhūti, commentaries on the Aitareya,

Chāndogya, Kaivalya, Nrsimhottaratāpini, and Taittirīya Upanișads, as well as a

metrical work on the philosophy of the Upanisads, the Anubhūtiprakāśa. There are

the other texts attached to Vidyāranya's name but that may not be his works. This

confusion also has led to controversy over identifying Vidyāraņya with Mādhava13

and added to the confusion over Mādhava-Vidyāranya's political role in the founding

of the Vijayanagara kingdom, which I will deal with more below. Most notable are

some of the standard works of Advaita, the Pañcadasi and the

Vivaraņaprameyasamgraha. T. M. P. Mahadevan accepted the identity of Mādhava

and Vidyāraņya, and Mādhava's political activities in the founding of Vijayanagara,

but believed that the Pañcadaśi and the Vivaranaprameyasamgraha were works of

Vidyāraņya's preceptor, Bhāratītīrtha,14 suggesting Vidyāraņya may have been a

surname of both men. In the JMV itself Vidyāraņya cites the Pañcadaśī as an

authority and, therefore, does not treat the text as his own. Another text I will deal

with more below that has been ascribed to Vidyäranya, but which also may not be his,

is the Śankaradigvijaya.

1.4 Controversy over Vijayanagara and Vidyāraņya

Some historians in the twentieth century would have us understand the character of

Vidyāraņya as a unique blend of religious renouncer and secular politician active in

guiding the founders of the Vijayanagara kingdom in the early and middle parts of the

fourteenth century. His cultural, intellectual, and political contributions mark the

9

beginning of what many believe went on to become the last great Hindu empire in

South India. In another, bolder interpretation of Vidyāranya's career, Paul Hacker

suggested that Vidyāranya, "in a sort of deliberate Hindu cultural politics" (Hacker,

cited in Halbfass,1995:29), carried out his literary and institutional activities against

the effects of the incursions of the Central Asian Turkish Muslims into South India in

the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, creating a new orthodoxy of

Brahmanism. It is true that the Vijayanagara state was founded after the incursions of

the Delhi Sultanate destabilized the existing political networks of the South Indian

peninsula, leading to the collapse or decline of the previous kingdoms. However,

whatever role Vidyäranya played in the founding of this kingdom is not certain, even

though it has been presumed by many scholars.

Standard historical works dealing with the question of the founding of

Vijayanagara have repeated the same story, which would lead readers to believe this

story's general acceptance among experts. One can take, for instance, K. A. Nilakanta

Sastri's A History of South India ([1947] 1976:237-39) and N. Venkataramanayya's

contribution to The Delhi Sultanate (1960:272-273).15 The fact that this version of

the history of the founding of Vijayanagara, which represents the Andhra or Telugu

version, was chosen to appear in such a major work as Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's

History and Culture of the Indian People volume 6 on the Delhi Sultanate, excluding

the differing views of the Kannada historians, indicates its wide acceptance by many

historians some forty years ago. Subsequently, this story found its way into many

standard works on Indian history. One of the problems with the Andhra version is

that it draws heavily on the later Sanskrit textual accounts such as the Vidyāranya-

10

kālajñāna, Vidyāraņya-vrttānta, and the Vidyāranya-śaka that were composed some

200 years after the events in question. According to the Andhra version, the founding

Sangama brothers Harihara I and Bukka I were retainers of the Kākatīya royal house

and were captured by the Turkish Muslims during their attack on Warangal, the

Kākatīya capital in Andhra. The brothers were taken to Delhi and converted to Islam.

They were then sent back to the south as administrators of the Sultanate and met

Vidyāranya, who saw fit to convert them back to the Hindu Dharma. They then are

supposed to have broken away from the Sultanate and to have begun forming their

own kingdom c. 1336. This date of 1336 was then erroneously agreed upon by the

scholars who published the Vijayanagara Sexcentenary Commemoration Volume.16

According to this version, drawing as it does on later Sanskrit sources which purport

to relate Vidyāranya's activities, he is thus given a key role in the founding of

Vijayanagara. The Sangamas supposedly were successful in founding their glorious

Hindu kingdom only after they received Vidyāranya's blessing.

Against the Andhra or Telugu version, the adherents of a Karnatic origin of the

Sangamas argue that Harihara and Bukka were already in the service of the Hoysaļas.

The city called Hosapattaņa or Virūpākșapattana had already been built on the site of

the future Vijayanagara by Ballāla III, and was known also by its name still used

currently, Hampi. The early date of 1336 for the foundation of the new kingdom is

discarded also because, in the view first proposed by Father Henry Heras, it is based

only on spurious copper-plate inscriptions made in the sixteenth century. This theory

states these copper-plate inscriptions were forged by the Srngeri matha at a time when

the Vijayanagara kings shifted their interest from the Saivite matha to the Vaișnava

11

faith, and the leaders of the matha wanted to reassert their prestige by connecting

themselves directly with the foundation of the empire.

Heras and others favored the date 1346 for the founding of the kingdom, pointing

to an inscription recording what is called either the mahotsava, or "great festival,"

orvijayotsava, or "victory festival," of the brothers held at the Srngeri matha.17 This

inscription does not mention any role of Vidyāranya and thus his political activities, if

any, do not even figure in the founding of the kingdom. The actual founding of the

capital is thought to be decades later, owing to a dynastic continuity between the

Sangamas and the Hoysalas through marriage alliances. The picture is more one of a

smooth transition of power from the Hoysalas to the Sangamas. The controversy

over the origins of the Sangama brothers and the founding of the city and empire

continued for the better part of the twentieth century, without resolution among the

two factions.

1.5 Revised Views of Vidyāranya's Career

Sufficient research has appeared in recent decades to give a very different account

from what historians had written previously about the theologian Vidyāranya's role in

early Vijayanagara and the Srngeri matha. The epigraphical work of Vasundhara

Filliozat (1973, 1999) and the article drawing from Filliozat's work by Hermann

Kulke (1985), as well as the study by Phillip Wagoner (2000) treating the Sanskrit

text sources such as the Vidyāraņya-kālajñāna and the others mentioned, allow us to

further delineate the scope of Vidyāranya's activities, and perhaps more accurately

infer some of his intentions. From the work of Filliozat, Kulke, and Wagoner we may

derive the following conclusions:

12

(1) Vidyāranya had no involvement in the politics of founding Vijayanagara; at

least there is no contemporary epigraphical or textual evidence naming him in

connection with these events. Phillip Wagoner (2000:304-305) interprets the later

Sanskrit textual accounts, where Vidyāranya is mentioned and which is datable to the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as a "political foundation myth, an ideological

attempt to represent the authority of the Vijayanagara state as deriving directly from

that of the Sultanate." It is meant to cast Vijayanagara as a legitimate successor state

to Delhi among the other sultanates in the Deccan. The role played by Vidyāranya in

the founding of Vijayanagara as political and religious advisor to Harihara I and

Bukka I was probably imagined at least 200 years afterward, and Vidyāraņya's name

was used presumably to give these events legitimacy and prestige.

(2) The earlier notions of Vidyāranya's political stature derive in part from the

misidentification of his former pre-renunciation name Mädhava with the Mādhava

who was a minister to the Sangama brother Mallapa I. We cannot adduce any

political activities like those of the Mädhavamantrin as indicative of Mādhava-

Vidyāraņya's activities in his early career.

(3) Mādhavācārya is not mentioned in any inscriptions before 1374, but only the

prior jagadgurus of Srngeri Vidyatīrtha and Bhāratitīrtha are mentioned. Therefore,

the earlier role of Madhava in Srngeri and his ascension to jagadguru as Vidyāraņya

cannot be confirmed before 1374. We can only presume that he was present in 1346

at the Sangama's mahotsava at Srngeri, although he is not mentioned.

The key event in the founding of Vijayanagara that the historians favoring the

Kannada version have pointed to is the mahotsava that the Sangama rulers are said to

13

have held at the Advaita Vedanta matha at Srngeri in 1346. Srngeri is one of the

monastic institutions that the Advaitin tradition believes was founded by the great

Śankara. We may consider this mahotsava, or "great festival," an historical event

because it was recorded with an inscription found at Srngeri. Here in 1346 the new

Vijayanagara sovereigns began a patronage relationship with the Sankarācārya and

jagadguru Vidyātīrtha. They received his legitimizing blessing for their kingdom and

Śrgeri received the surrounding lands as a land grant, or agrahāra. Srngeri is in

Karnataka, near the border with Kerala, and it appears that the Sangamas' relationship

with it lends more credence to the Kannada version of the founding of Vijayanagara

kingdom, according to which the Sangamas were retainers to the Hoysala royal house

in Karnataka and not the Kākatīyas in Andhra. For the Kannada version, the date

1346 then marks the inheritance of the Hoysala domains by the new Sangama

dynasty.

(4) From the time of this mahotsava in 1346 until Vidyāranya's ascension to the

role of jagadguru in c. 1374, the lands and money granted to Srngeri by the

Vijayanagara rulers greatly increased. Therefore, when Vidyāraņya actually became

the jagadguru, Srngeri was a very different place from what it had been just 30 years

earlier, and we may surmise that the influence attached to the role of jagadguru had

increased as well.

It is not clear exactly what characterized this increased influence or what degree

of secular powers were vested in it. One can at least say it allowed for a further

promulgation of Advaitin views as they were being taught at Srngeri at this time under

the jagadgurus Vidyātīrtha, Bhāratitīrtha, and Vidyāranya, as well as provided the

14

environment for the commentaries on the Veda carried out by Sayana and his

workers. Vidyāraņya himself had presumably already completed his PāM and his

Sarvadarśanasamgraha before he had become jagadguru in c. 1374, and perhaps at

some time shortly before this he took the name Vidyāranya upon formally renouncing.

It was after this that he composed the JMV, some time between 1380 and his death in

1386.18

To return to Paul Hacker's thesis mentioned above, given what I have outlined

above from the work of Filliozat and Kulke, I pose the following questions: (1) In

what sense may we say the activities of Vidyāranya constitute a "deliberate Hindu

cultural politics?" (2) What was his intention? (3) At whom or what was it directed?

Was it prompted by the Islamic presence in South India in the fourteenth century, or

by other factors? In presenting his thesis, Hacker ascribes to Vidyāranya the

responsibility for creating the myth in the Śankaradigvijaya [ŚDV] of Śankara and

Sankara's founding of Śrngeri and the other Advaitin mathas. Jonathan Bader

(2000:55-56 and n. 75) has shown in a full-length study of all the Sankaran

hagiographical works, that Mādhava-Vidyāranya was not the author of the ŚDV

because it was composed at the earliest sometime between 1650 and 1798 and was

therefore wrongly attributed to Mādhava-Vidyāranya. If this is the case, an attempt to

infer Vidyāranya's "cultural politics" is made more ambiguous and must be revised.

It is also evident, as was noted by Kulke, that the oldest inscriptions at Srngeri

date to the twelfth century and identify a Jaina presence. Kulke believes this "does not

yet permit a Jaina origin of Srngeri" (1985:13), but for the purpose of this study, the

inscriptions at Srngeri show that the establishment had been taken as the residence of

15

the Advaitin jagadgurus at least by the Sangama mahotsava in 1346, and afterward in

1356 Bukka I designated lands near Śrngeri as an agrahāra. However, the

epigraphical evidence makes no reference to Sankara himself.

Bader (2000:56) notes that Mädhava the author of the SDV (not Mādhava-

Vidyāraņya) venerates the jagadguru Vidyātīrtha: "Because Vidyātīrtha is considered

the greatest guru in the Srngeri lineage, it is not surprising for him to be evoked by the

author of the SDV, who, we may assume, was affiliated with that tradition." Without

the supporting evidence of a contemporary hagiographical work composed by

Mādhava-Vidyāranya in the fourteenth century, it is only on the basis of the

epigraphical evidence and the literary production of Mādhava-Vidyāraņya and Sāyaņa

that we may still suppose Srngeri jagadgurus initiated a Hindu cultural politics

sometime in the second half of the fourteenth century. I think the intention behind

such a program was more limited than Paul Hacker had speculated. The literary

activities of Mādhava-Vidyāraņya and Sāyana were surely meant to promote a sort of

orthodox Brahmanism based on Advaita, though I doubt it was prompted by some

political and cultural pressure due to the Islamic presence. The most we can say is that

the presence of Muslim intellectuals on the subcontinent contributed to the overall

intellectual climate and that Vidyāranya and Sāyana produced their novel works within

this climate. Patronage given to them by the Vijayanagara sovereigns for their literary

productions also cannot be simply presumed to promote "Hinduism" versus a Muslim

presence. We must be careful in assessing the "Hindu" nature of the Vijayanagara

state.19

16

To give some provisional answer to the third question I posed above, I think it is

more likely that Vidyāranya promoted his Advaita Brahmanism in response to the

Śrīvaișnava sectarian presence in neighboring Andhra and Tamil Nadu, rather than in

response to some Islamic presence. The sharply increasing patronage the Sangamas

made available to Srngeri allowed for a never-before-realized institutional growth and

the formation of a matha based in Advaita teachings. Had there been a matha at

Śrgeri previous to 1346, it was most likely not a public institution with far-reaching

influence in its teachings and did not garner much patronage. I speculate, then, that

when the jagadgurus of Srngeri Vidyātīrtha, Bhāratitīrtha, and Vidyāraņya started

securing greater patronage in the second half of the fourteenth century, and bestowing

some sacred legitimacy on their Sangama patrons, they could begin to compete for the

patronage of other areas that had previously been under the control of other

sovereigns. It is unlikely they would have approached Islamic sovereigns for such

patronage.

I propose that the Advaitin jagadgurus looked to other territories to promote their

Advaitin theology in the political vacuum created by the collapse of institutions in the

early part of the fourteenth century after the Turkish incursions into South India.

When the newly legitimated Sangama dynastic kings filled this political vacuum and

began expanding to other territories, the Advaita jagadgurus also looked to other

territories whose sovereigns and local leaders were responsible for the management of

temples and who had long patronized the Srīvaisnava sectarians.20 Even if

territories-say in the vicinities of Srirangam in Tamil Nadu or Tirupati in

Andhra-were not yet under the control of the Vijayanagara sovereigns in the middle

17

of the fourteenth century, the Śrngeri jagadgurus could at least look to these areas

traditionally populated by the Srīvaișnava sectarians as a place to promote their

Advaitin teachings. It is in this limited sense, then, that I would use the idea of a

"deliberate cultural politics." There were also other competing groups in fourteenth-

century South India, most notably the Saiva Kālamukhas and Vīraśaivas. Surely the

Śrngeri Advaitins would have been acquainted with them and competed with them for

support. But the textual evidence to my knowledge does not mention them as serious

opponents of the Advaitin theological views. Therefore I believe the Srngeri

Advaitins would have limited the scope of their theological programs for the most part

to the Srīvaisnava Viśistādvaitins, who could argue with them on the same theological

grounds. It is in this milieu, then, that I would like to place the appearance of

Vidyāraņya's JMV.

At about the time that Vidyāranya became the jagadguru of Srngeri c. 1374, the

Vijayanagara sovereigns expanded their control to territories traditionally held by

Śrīvaișnavas in Tamil Nadu and Andhra in 1371 C.E. In his study of the Koil Olugu,

the chronicle of the Srīvaisnava temple complex at Srirangam, George W. Spencer21

(1978:23-26) discusses the motives for the Vijayanagara generals of the Sangama

sovereigns who took authority over and restored order to this temple. Drawing on the

work of Arjun Appadurai on king/temple relations, Spencer believes that aside from

piety or material gain, they patronized this temple in order to have it confer on them its

legitimation and sought the ceremonial honors. Based on the coincidences of these

dates and the expansion enjoyed by the Advaitins of Srgeri since 1356 under the

initial patronage of the Vijayanagara sovereigns, I suggest that Vidyāranya, as the new

18

Śankarācārya of Śrngeri, saw these new territories subsumed under Vijayanagara

authority as a new opportunities for the promotion of Advaita. If we can place

anything about the JMV in time and space and consider Vidyāranya's motives beyond

teaching his own Advaitin followers, I think his deliberate cultural politics was to

promote Advaita among sectarian Srīvaisnava laypeople in these newly controlled

territories and defend the idea of liberation-in-life against the Srīvaisnava theologians.

1.6 The Jivanmuktiviveka in Context

The leading theologian of the Srīvaișnava Visistādvaitin school in the fourteenth

century, and worthy opponent of Vidyāraņya, was Vedānta Deśika. Deśika's

Śatadūșani directly attacks the Advaitin positions. One can point to a couple of

obvious cases of refutations that Vidyäranya then countered with his broad program

in the JMV. The 31st refutation of the Satadūsaņi, the Jīvanmuktibhangavāda, rejects

the Advaitin notion of jīvanmukti in particular. And the 65th refutation, the

Alepakamatabhangavāda, deals specifically with the Advaitin renunciation and rejects

it as antinomian libertinism (text and trans. Olivelle 1987:97-158).

It is probable that Vedānta Deśika presumed the rules for ascetical renouncers as

set out by the Yatidharmasamucaya, a legal digest composed in the second half of the

eleventh century by Yādava Prakāśa. This text emerged out of the sectarian

Srīvaisnava theological context. The views in this text differed greatly from the

ascetic tradition of the Advaita. It retained main rules for the Brahmanical

householders, and indeed integrated the ascetical life of the renouncer into the ritual

life of the householder. Olivelle states in the introduction to his edition of the

Yatidharmasamucaya (1995: 17-18) that, for the Śrīvaișnava tradition, the renouncer

19

is really something more of "a very exalted type of Brahmanical householder rather

than a figure who contradicts the value system represented by domestic life." This

tradition was much more concerned with preserving ritual boundaries of purity and

impurity, especially concerning the body. Vidyāranya, however, specifically states in

the Chapter Two of the JMV there is no possibility of cleansing the body, and the

desire to do so is another latent tendency, or vāsanā, that should be dissolved:

"Through its nine openings filth constantly oozes out; through its innumerable pores it

is covered with sweat-who indeed is able even with the greatest effort to wash the

body?" [2.4.80] Such concerns show us the basically conservative and communal

view of the Srivaisnavas, who admitted the ancient and classical values of the ascetic

traditions, but fully subsumed them within the householder mainstream.

In medieval times, although renunciation was presented in the Brahmanical law

books as a value common to all Brahmins, or twice-born classes, the reality was that

the ascetic tradition became organized into monastic establishments divided along

sectarian lines. Interestingly, although we can be sure Vidyāranya was the head of

just such a monastic establishment, the Srngeri matha, he mentions the term matha

only once, late in Chapter Five of the JMV. This mention is in the context, moreover,

of an extended discussion of the definition of the highest type of renouncer, the

paramahamsa yogin. The term matha is mentioned by way of commentary on the

Paramahamsa Upanişad 4, where it states that "the mendicant remains homeless."

Vidyāraņya comments: "If he (i.e., the paramahamsa yogin) were to come to some

monastery (matha) in order to have a permanent residence, then, given that he feels a

sense of ownership with regard to it, its decline and growth would distract his mind"

20

[5.4.11]. Why then, would Vidyāranya compose a book at the time when he was

head of the Śrngeri matha defining an individual who, Vidyāranya seems to believe,

did not belong in his own monastic establishment?

The reason is again, I believe, that Vidyāranya was responding to refutations

given by the Viśistādvaitins, in particular that jīvanmukti is not a valid possibility. For

Vedānta Deśika, Advaitin renunciation is not a valid order in society, or āśrama

institution, nor is it valid to say it is beyond the āśrama-s, as some Advaitins,

including Vidyāranya, tried to argue. First of all let us deal with the latter objection.

One of the first arguments made in JMV concerns the nature of vividisāsamnyāsa, or

"renunciation out of the desire for knowledge." Vidyāranya cites the appropriate

pramāna-s, or authoritative scriptural passages, from the Upanisads such as BāU

4.4.22: "etam eva pravrājino lokam icchantah pravrajanti" (Desiring this alone as their

world, the renouncers undertake the life of wandering) [1.1.6]. He then defines

vividişāsamnyāsa as twofold: "the one consisting only in the abandonment of rites and

the like, which produces rebirth; the other constitutes an order in society (āśrama) that

is connected with carrying a staff and the like, which are preceded by uttering the

praișa ritual formula" [1.1.11]. This is a very important distinction which is assumed

in the rest of the text.

Roger Marcaurelle (2000:188-194) in his study of Sankara's views on

renunciation terms these two types "informal" and "formal" renunciation. Vidyāraņya

also later refers to a distinction between "Vedic" and "common" (laukika) in this

regard. One type of renunciation out of the desire for knowledge (vividisāsamnyāsa)

can be an informal, inward, mental abandonment of rites and wandering mendicancy

21

for the attainment of knowledge. The other type is a formal aśrama, or public order in

society, that is entered fulltime and involves emblems of this institution like carrying a

staff and a public declaration of the intention to renounce. It is here then that

Vidyāranya extends the entitlement to this kind of renunciation, the informal type, to

women and to members of the other aśrama-s by saying: "When, for whatever reason,

Vedic students, householders, and forest-dwellers are prevented from entering the

renunciant order, there is nothing to prevent the mental abandonment of rites and the

like for the purpose of knowledge, even while they remain performing the duties

(dharma-s) of their own order, because we see many such knowers of truth in the

Śrutis, Smrtis, Itihāsas, and Purāņas" [1.1.14]. Then, in conclusion of this section he

comments "Since the order of the paramahamsa, which is the cause of knowing and

consists in carrying the staff and the like, has been treated at length in many ways by

earlier teachers. Therefore, we will not deal with it" [1.1.15].

For Vidyāranya, the knowledge of Brahman may then be realized in either way.

This realization, however, necessarily leads to the vidvatsamnyāsa, or renunciation-

of-the-knower. While both vividişāsamnyāsa and vidvatsamnyāsa are under the

rubric of "paramahamsa," Vidyāranya that says they each have different duties or

dharma-s. The one is meant to perform means to realize knowledge of Brahman; the

other must perform that which allow the knower to safeguard that realization, i.e., by

means of yogic practices. This is not an āśrama per se. Nonetheless it seems there is

always some ambiguity here, because in Chapter Five Vidyāranya says renunciation-

of-the-knower has characteristics of both types of renunciation out of the desire for

knowledge. Given that the renunciation-of-the-knower is basically a modification of

22

renunciation-for-knowledge, it carries with it all the details pertaining to the

prototype, according to the hermeneutic maxim: "prakrtivad vikrtiḥ kartavyā" (The

modification should conform to the archetype) [5.1.39].22 That is to say, the ritual

details of the archetype ritual must all carry over to the modification: "This is just as in

the case of the Agnistoma Soma sacrifice, where the ritual details pertaining to it are

applicable to the modified rites such as the Atiratra" [5.1.39]. However, the means of

knowledge then become subsidiary for the renouncer who is a knower, and the yogic

practices become primary. [2.3]

For the more conservative householder community of the Srīvaisnava

Viśișțādvaitins, ambiguity in regard to religious life could not be tolerated. Did a

renunciant have a place in society or not? Vidyāranya took the view that once an

individual renunciant realizes the liberating knowledge of Brahman, he should

continue living a renunciant lifestyle as a yogin. Vidyāranya believed that the

knowledge of Self (ätman) as Brahman in classical Advaita philosophy is not enough

to completely root out suffering and prārabdhakarma, or operative action, which

causes future births. Liberation also requires a lifelong commitment to the yogic

practices of the eradication of latent tendencies (vāsanākșaya) and elimination of the

mind (manonaśa). To be liberated in this lifetime, a jīvanmukta, the individual who

realizes the equivalence of self and Brahman, must sustain further yogic discipline and

a renunciant lifestyle for the rest of his life, renouncing even the fact that he is a

knower of Brahman. Yoga of Patañjali was by this time already very ancient,

originating as early as perhaps the second century B.C.E. Yoga philosophy had

permeated the religious life of Hindus in various forms, including by this time the

23

Kundalini Yoga of Tantric cults and the Hatha Yoga of the Nath ascetics. I believe

that one reason Vidyäranya went back to the earlier Yoga of Patañjali and integrated it

with Sankara's philosophy of the liberating knowledge was to accommodate the

conservative Srīvaisnava view of Vedānta Deśika. Making the renouncer responsible

for further moral perfecting beyond the attainment of knowledge puts him above all

reproach directed at him by the housholder community. Indeed, one of the purposes

of liberation-in-life that Vidyaranya treats in Chapter Four of the JMV is the "absence

of opposition" (visamvādābhāvaḥ) to the master yogin by members of varying sects.

[4.3] His virtue is obvious to everyone.

Viewed from a sociopolitical standpoint, Vidyāranya wanted to mitigate the

ambiguity of the individual renunciant's position in the mainstream community by

directing him to sustain the path toward his spiritual goal, even after attaining

knowledge and liberation from desire. Vidyāranya preserved the possibility of

complete liberation in this lifetime, while not disturbing the conventional religious

social order. In following Vidyāranya's teaching, the individual who renounces

society lessens the resulting tension by maintaining an identifiable lifestyle, and the

highest moral standards, with conventional ascetical practices. He does not

compromise his position but remains an ascetic outside of, while still recognized by,

the householder society.

Granted, this may not have satisfied the Srīvaisnava community. The

interpretation and reinterpretation of normative texts and teachings, and the

appropriation of legitimate views of opposing sides continues still. It is in this sense

we can see why Walter Slaje believes that Vidyāranya's JMV is "tendentious," though

24

I don't think Vidyāranya is "naive."23 It is the business of theologians to look for

ways to interpret their normative textual tradition in order to apply it to their

contemporary situations. We do not hear scholars criticizing Thomas Aquinas for

changing anything in his new treatment of Aristotle. It may well be that Vidyāranya

changed ideas in his normative textual tradition, though all the while not admitting he

had made anything new.

25

Notes

1 The term jīvanmukta (not jīvanmukti) appears in the Mahābhārata in the context of battle but does not carry the Advaitin meaning. See Minoru Hara, "A Note on the Epic Phrase Jīvanmukta," Adyar Library Bulletin: 60 (1996) pp. 181-197. Walter Slaje has taken this point and attempts to trace sources for jīvanmukti that are separate and independent of the Advaita Vedänta treatment of the concept. See Slaje, "Towards a history of the jīvanmukti concept: the Moksadharma in the Mahābhārata," in Festschrift Minoru Hara, (2000b) pp. 325-348. See also Slaje, "Liberation for Intentionality and Involvement: On the Concept of Jivanmukti according to the Moksopaya," JIP 28 (2000a) pp. 171-194. For studies of jīvanmukti as it developed through different Indian philosophical schools, including Advaita Vedānta, see Gerhard Oberhammer, La Déliverance, Dès Cette Vie (jīvanmukti), Collège de France Publications de L'Institut de Civilisation Indienne. Série in 8ß, Fasc. 61 (Paris: Éditions-Difussion Boccard, 1994); Andrew O. Fort and Patricia Y. Mumme, eds., Living Liberation in Hindu Thought (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996); Fort, Jivanmukti in Transformation: Embodied Liberation in Advaita and Neo-Advaita (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998); L. K. L. Sristava, Advaitic Concept of Jīvanmukti (Delhi and Varanasi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan, 1990); and A. G. Krishna Warrier, The Concept of Mukti in Advaita Vedānta (Madras: University of Madras, 1981). In the introduction to his Italian translation of the JMV, Roberto Donatoni offers a more extensive philosophical background for the text than what I have attempted here. See his La Liberazione in Vita: Jīvanmuktiviveka (Milano: Adephi Edizioni, 1995) pp. 11-83.

2 For studies of renunciation in Brahmanism, see Har Dutt Sharma, Contributions to the History of Brāhmaņical Asceticism (Samnyāsa), (Poona: Oriental Book Agency, 1939); and Patrick Olivelle, Samnyāsa Upanișads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992) pp. 19-112, where he has given an extended introduction to his translation of these Upanișads. See also Olivelle, "A Definition of World Renunciation," WZKS 19 (1975) pp. 75-83. "The Integration of Renunciation by Orthodox Hinduism," Journal of the Oriental Institute (Baroda) 28 (1978) pp. 27-36; "Contributions to the Semantic History of Samnyāsa," Journal of the American Oriental Society 3 (1981) pp. 265-274; "Renouncer and Renunciation in the Dharmaśastras," in Studies in Dharmaśāstra, ed. Richard W. Lariviere (Calcutta: Firma KLM, 1984) pp. 81-152; and Renunciation in Hinduism: A Medieval Debate, De Nobili Research Library, vols. 13-14 (Vienna: University of Vienna Institute for Indology, 1986-1987). Olivelle has also edited and translated two nibandha-s, or legal digests, on yatidharma, or the rules and duties governing the life of renouncers. Vāsudevāśrama Yatidharmaprakāśa: A Treatise on World Renunciation, De Nobili Research Library, See

vols. 3-4 (Vienna: University of Vienna Institute for Indology, 1976-1977), which is a work coming from the Advaita tradition of renunciation; and Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism: Yatidharmasamuccaya of Yādava Prakāśa, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), which belongs to the Srivaisnava tradition. Olivelle also critically edited another text of this type called the Samnyāsapaddhati of Rudra Deva Adyar Library Series 114 (Madras: Adyar Library, 1986). Another work of this later type that has been edited and published is the Yatidharmasamgraha, ed. Pt. Ganesha Shastri Joshi, AnSS 60 (Pune: Anandāśrama Sansthā, 1980).

3 The date 1380 is given by J. F. Sprockhoff in the first part of his thorough study of the JMV in "Der Weg zur Erlösung bei Lebzeiten, ihr Wesen und Wert, Nach dem Jīvanmuktiviveka des Vidyāranya," WZKS 8 (1964) p. 225. He assigned it to 1350 in the earlier article "Zur idee der Erlösung bei Lebzeiten in Buddhismus," Numen 9 (1962) p. 202.

4 Andrew Fort (1996, 1998) has characterized Vidyāranya's contribution as "Yogic Advaita," stating that the JMV is syncretic. Elsewhere Fort analyzes Vidyāranya's use of the YS in his text but maintains that Vidyāranya still believed that "ultimately there is no doubt that knowing brahman is the essential element for full liberation." See Fort, "On Destroying the Mind: The Yogasūtras in Vidyāraņya's Jīvanmuktiviveka," JIP 27 (1999) pp. 377-378.

26

5 See Parāśarasmrti - Parāśara Mādhava [PāM], ed. Chandrakanta Tarkalankara, 1st ed. Bibliotheca Indica Series 1893, rpt. ed., 3 vols. (Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 1973-1974) vol. 1, pp. 530 ff.

6 Vedānta Deśika titles his specific refutations not as vițaņdā-s but rather as bhangavāda-s.

7 For example, Vidyäranya disagrees with the view in Nyāya that the mind is eternal and atomic in size. See below, 2.5.1, and Chapter 2, n.48.

8 Throughout my translation of the JMV, I have not translated the Sanskrit words śruti, smrti, sūtra, and sastra. Rather than translate them as "heard or revealed scripture," "remembered tradition," "aphorism," and "technical treatise," I wish to focus the reader's mind on the specifics of literary genre as they were formulated in Indian culture.

See PāM vol. 1, p. 3, verses 6-7: śrīmatī jananī sukīrtir māyanah | sāyano bhoganāthaś ca manovuddhī sahodarau |/ yasya baudhāyaņam sūtram šākhā yasya ca yājusī | bhāradvājam kulam yasya sarvajñaḥ sa hi mādhavaḥ //

10 The inscription has been translated and published in Vidyāranya, prepared by Uttankita Sanskrit Vidyā-Aranya Trust, Uttankita Sanskrit Vidyā-Aranya Epigraphs (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1985) vol. 1, pp. 112-117. It records a grant made by Harihāra II to the matha upon Vidyāraņya's death and is dated May 26, 1386.

11 See verse 4:vyākhyāya mādhavācāryo dharmān pārāsarānatha | tadanuśțhānakālasya nirņayam kartum udyataḥ // Kālamāchava, ed. Braja Kishore Swain, Kashi Sanskit Series 45 (Varanasi: Chaukambha Sanskrit Sansthan, 1989) p. ii.

12 P. V. Kane in HDh vol. 1, pt. 2, 3d ed. (1997) believes Sāyana must have collaborated. "It should not be supposed that Sayana single-handedly composed the Vedabhāsyas. He was probably the chairman of the committee of scholars fathered for carrying out the work of several bhāsyas" (p. 781).

13 This debate was carried on by historians in series of articles in the 1930s. R. Rama Rao, in "Origin of the Madhava-Vidyāranya Theory," Indian Historical Quarterly 7 (1931) p. 78-92, denied this identity, while K. Markandeya Sarma, in "Identity of Vidyāraņya and Mādhavācārya," Indian Historical Quarterly 8 (1932) p. 611-614, rejoins Rao and cites the same evidence given here from PaM. M. A. Doraiswamy Iyengar, in "The Mādhava-Vidyāranya Theory," Journal of Indian History 12 (n.d.) p. 241-250, rejects the identity and would "reduce Vidyaranya from the position of a world-figure to that of an insignificant ascetic who presided over the Srngeri Math from c. 1377 to 1386 A.D." (p. 243). My own view here is that they are the same, but Madhava-Vidyaranya's political role is less clear than the historians of the twentieth century want to ascribe to him. I would not, however, call him "an insignificant ascetic.'

14 See Mahadevan's The Philosophy of Advaita with Special Reference to Bhāratītīrtha-Vidyāraņya (Madras: Ganesh and Co. Pvt. Ltd., 1957) pp. 1-8.

15 See also his Vijayanagara: Origin of the City and Empire, orig. pub. 1933 (New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1990) pp. 59-90.

16 Published by Dharwar: Vijayanagara Empire Sexcentenary Association, 1936.

17 This view was proposed by Father Henry Heras in Beginnings of Vijayanagara History (Bombay: n.p., 1929) and B. A. Saletore in Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire, 2 vols. (Madras: n.p., 1931).

27

18 See above, Introduction 1, n.3.

19 See Anila Verghese, Religious Traditions at Vijayanagara as Revealed Through its Monuments, Vijayanagara Research Project Monograph Series, vol. 4 (New Delhi: Manohar, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1995). "Earlier writers have interpreted titles such as 'supporters of dharma' or 'upholders of the ancient constitutional usage' too literally. Such titles constitute an important part of the traditional pedigree of the kings of ancient India and 'protection of dharma' formed part of the coronation oath of Hindu kings. It is true that wars against the Bahmanī sultans were frequent. But their cause was more political and economic rather than religious. It was but a revival of the ancient feud that had existed between the Deccan and south India under the earlier Hindu sovereigns, e.g., between the Chalukyas of Badami and the Pallavas, the Chalukyas of Kalyani and the Cholas, the Yadavas and the Hoysalas. Besides, the major victims of the Vijayanagara arms were not always the Muslims. The expansion and maintenance of the Vijayanagara empire also necessitated military expeditions against less powerful Hindu rulers, such as the Sambuvarāyas, the Reddis of Kondavīdu, the Velamas and the Gajapatis. Also, Muslim soldiers played an important part in the successes of the Vijayanagara army. "Therefore, the Hindu nature of the Vijayanagara state should not be overstressed. However, it must be accepted that the empire did create conditions for the defense of Hindu culture and institutions and it succeeded in limiting the expansion of Muslim power in the Deccan for over two centuries. During this period the outlook of the Hindus of the south developed into an orthodoxy in social and religious matters. The encouragement of religion by the Vijayanagara monarchs, as revealed by the numerous inscriptions, included promotion of Vedic and other studies, support of brāhmanas, generous patronage extended to mathas and temples, pilgrimages to religious places and celebration of public rituals." (pp. 2-3)

20 For a theory of the power structure of South Indian temple complexes in the premodern South Indian state, see Arjun Appadurai, "Kings, Sects, and Temples in South India: 1350-1700 A.D.," in South Indian Temples: An Analytical Reconsideration, ed. Burton Stein (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1978) pp. 47-73. Those who actually carried out the operations of the temple complexes such as Srirangam and Tirupati were not the theologians like Rāmānuja and Vedānta Deśika.

21 See "Crisis of Authority in a Hindu Temple under the Impact of Islam," in Religion and the Legitimation of Power in South Asia ed. Bardwell L. Smith (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978) pp. 14-27.

22 Cf. Arthasamgraha of Laugākși Bhāskara, 23, eds. A. B. Gajendragadkar and R. D. Karmarkar, (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998) p.19: "Where there is a specification or mention of all subsidiaries, that [is] the arche-type, as the new moon and full moon sacrifices and others. For, in their context all subsidiaries are mentioned. Where all subsidiaries are not specified, that [is] is the modification, as the oblation to the sun (saurya). There some subsidiaries become available (prpta) by means of extended application."

23 See Slaje (2000a) p. 171, and "On Changing Others' Ideas: the case of Vidyāranya and the Yogavāsiștha," Indo-Iranian Journal 41 (1998) p. 103.

28

Introduction Part Two

The Means of Liberation according to the Jivanmuktiviveka

2.1 The Problem of Operative Action

At the outset of the JMV, Vidyāranya makes a basic distinction between the

renouncer who desires knowledge (vividişāsamnyāsin) [1.1], and renouncer who is a

knower (vidvatsamnyāsin) [1.2].1 Both are subtypes of the highest type of renouncer,

the paramahamsa. [1.2.17] As an Advaitin, Vidyāranya of course gives importance to

the realization of knowledge of the truth of the non-dual equivalence of the Self and

Brahman. However, realizing the liberating knowledge is not sufficient and is not the

ultimate goal. It remains possible for the renouncer who has attained that knowledge

to achieve complete liberation from all future births while still in the physical body.

The possibility of liberation-in-life, while accepted in Advaita Vedānta, remained

controversial and paradoxical and was rejected by other schools of Indian

philosophy.2 Vidyāraņya defines liberation-in-life:

The nature of the mind of a living person-a nature that is characterized by such things as being a doer or an experiencer, happiness and suffering-constitutes bondage because it consists in affliction (kleśa). Removal of this (bondage) is liberation-in-life. [1.3.2]3

Initially the bondage is removed by the knowledge of truth, but according to

Vidyāranya, bondage is not permanently removed. Knowledge is not stabilized until

the individual knower goes on to master yogic discipline, whose purpose is the

"suppression of mental activity" (cittavrttinirodhah) [YS 1.2], and he must ultimately

reach enstasis (samādhi). With knowledge alone, the knower can achieve bodiless-

29

liberation or liberation after the death of the present body (videhamukti). Both the

Adyar and AnSS editions and some manuscripts of the JMV contain the reading that

says that liberation-in-life resembles bodiless-liberation.4 However, there is

compelling manuscript evidence that Vidyāranya meant that the two types of liberation

are equal, not merely similar.5

The reading that states that liberation-in-life resembles bodiless-liberation is a

citation of LYV 3.1.88:

nrnām jñānaikanisthānām ātmajnānavicāriņām / sā jīvanmuktatodeti videhamuktateva yā// [LYV 3.1.88: P1, P2, Adyar, AnSS]

In men focused only on knowledge, and who investigate the knowledge of the self, there arises the state of liberation-in-life which is like (iva) the state of bodiless-liberation.

Some manuscripts, and the Adyar and AnSS editions of JMV, read iva here

rather than eva. However, there is compelling manuscript evidence that Vidyāranya

meant that the two types of liberation are equal, not merely similar.

YV (1911)] sā jīvanmuktatodeti videhamuktataiva yā. [B1, B2, B3, PGh, LYV (1937),

The B1, B2, B3, and PGh, as well as the 1937 Nirnayasagar edition of LYV, and

the 1911 Nirnayasagar edition of the YV at the corresponding text 3.9.2, read eva.

Though it is a mere matter of a stroke in the e versus ai vowel sign in sandhi for ā-iva

versus ā-eva in the devanāgarī script, the difference is significant for the argument put

forth here. I contend that Vidyāranya believes that liberation-in-life is equal to

bodiless-liberation, rather than merely resembling bodiless-liberation as the other

reading has it. The author takes up this point again at the end of the discussion of

bodiless-liberation, where another difficult reading in the text occurs and I believe that

30

this reading was changed by the scribes. The Adyar and AnSS editions, as well as all

the manuscripts I have been able to collate, have the reading:

evam vidhayā videhamuktyā sādrśyokter jīvanmuktāv api yāvad yāvan nirvikalpātiśayas tāvat tāvad uttamatvam drastavyam // [1.5.7]

In this manner, because of the mentioned resemblance with bodiless liberation (sādrśyokteh), one must recognize that liberation-in-life is better and better insofar as there is an increasing abundance of no-distinctions (nirvikalpātiśayaḥ).

All the manuscripts have some form of sādrśyokter: P2 and B3 read

sādrśyatvokter; which PGh has corrected in the margin by an editor to sādrśyatvokter

yathokta. P1 reads sadrśyatvokter yathokta; B2, sadrśatvokter yathokta; and ĀnSS,

sadrśatvotkarsatvokter yathokta.

I discovered that the B1 manuscript, which regularly has the difficult readings, in

this instance again has the difficult reading. Instead of some form of sādrśyokter, it

clearly has sadasatvokter. To make sense of this reading I have made a small

emendation here on the basis of the frequency with which visarga-s are dropped

before sibilants in manuscripts. The emendation simply involved adding a visarga to

make the instrumental videhamuktyā a genitive videhamuktyāh. The instrumental

evamvidhayā must also be emended to the genitive evamvidhāyāh with its visarga

dropped in sandhi. This then yields the text and translation:

evamvidhāyā videhamuktyāḥ sadasatvokter jīvanmuktāv api yāvad yāvan nirvikalpātiśayas tāvat tāvad uttamatvam drastavyam. [1.5.7]

Because bodiless-liberation of such a kind has been described as existent and non-existent, one must recognize that in liberation-in-life also, the more there is an increasing abundance of no-distinctions (nirvikalpātiśaya), the more eminent it (liberation-in-life) is.

31

The reference made by sadasatvokter is not to LYV 3.1.88 as in the others, but to

another śloka much closer to this comment. Only a few lines away, at 1.5.4, LYV

3.1.99, was cited:

videhamukto nodeti nāstam eti na śāmyati / na san nāsan na dūrastho na cāham na ca netarah // [1.5.4; LYV 3.1.99]

The bodiless-liberated neither rises nor sets, nor does he rest. He is neither existent nor non-existent; neither is he distant and not (near);6 neither I nor the other.

Liberation-in-life and bodiless-liberation are equal for Vidyāranya to the extent

that the person liberated-in-life has an increasing abundance of "no-distinctions"

(nirvikalpātiśaya). [1.5.7] I believe this is an important semantic distinction brought

out in the editing of the text that may have philosophical importance for its

interpretation. Given this different reading of the text, liberation-in-life is equivalent to

bodiless-liberation when the yogin is in nirvikalpa. Vidyāraņya is not explicit about

what he means by nirvikalpa. He may mean nirvikalpapratyaksa or nirvikalpajñāna,

which is "indeterminate perception" and "indeterminate knowledge" of the Nyāya

philosophy. However, because the JMV has a great deal to do with yoga, we may

also take it as nirvikalpasamādhi, the "enstasis-without-distinctions." In this state the

agent of perception, the instrument of perception, and the object of perception

disappear, and there is no longer a sense of being a separate individual, nor any

"experience" at all. There is "no one there," which psychologically may be equal to

death. Therefore we may interpret this statement to say that because there can be an

increasing abundance of nirvikalpasamādhi, the embodied yogin can psychologically

disappear to a greater or lesser degree. Thus when the body finally dies, there is no

32

one there to die, and therefore the liberation-in-life is already essentially equal to

liberation after the death of the body.

To show how this may be possible, Vidyäranya must deal with the problem of

'operative action" (prārabdhakarma).7 Operative, or "commenced," action is action

that brought one's current life into existence and has already begun to produce its

result, which is the continuation of the body. "Uncommenced action"

(anārabdhakarma), on the other hand, is action that is simply waiting its turn to bear

fruit. Actions are so numerous that they cannot operate simultaneously but only

sequentially. Even after the advent of the liberating knowledge, the operative action

continues and the knower lives it through until the death of the body, whereupon he

attains the bodiless-liberation. This notion is commonly expressed in the metaphors

of the arrow already in flight, or the spinning of the potter's wheel.8 Thus the

liberation-in-life in the current physical body is a liberation within the confines of

operative action that continues to sustain the body for a time.

The presence of operative action in one liberated-in-life remained an elusive

problem for the Advaitin thinkers before Vidyāranya, though they still accepted

liberation-in-life.9 How can one be said to be truly liberated-in-life by means of the

realization of the knowledge of truth alone when operative action still continues to

sustain the body? Does it not still present an obstacle to the knower's freedom?

Vidyāranya attempts a novel solution to this problem by defining the word "body" in

bodiless-liberation to mean only the "subtle body" (suksmadeha, lingadeha) or "future

body" (bhāvideha)10 [2.3.48-75]. Knowledge is the principal means for the removal

of bondage, and bodiless-liberation arises simultaneously with knowledge. After

33

equating the yogic goal of "perfect isolation" (kaivalya) with bodiless-liberation,

Vidyāranya then says that there is no perfect isolation for those who have not studied

the authoritative texts on knowledge "because the subtle body has not passed away"

[2.3.39]. The individual knower will not achieve bodiless-liberation upon the death of

his current physical, gross body, for the subtle body will produce a new gross body

into which his soul (jīva) will be reborn.

We must remember in this context the way in which the Māndūkya Upanisad

[GK 1.1-4] analyzes the four states of consciousness: waking (jāgarana), dreaming

(svapna), deep sleep (susupti), and the Fourth (turīya). Consciousness is conceived

of in its individual/microcosmic (vyasti) and comprehensive/macrocosmic (samasți)

aspects. Prajña is the individual/microcosmic soul in the deep sleep state. It is

conditioned by ignorance (avidyā). Iśvara is the comprehensive/macrocosmic soul in

the deep sleep state. It is conditioned by illusion (māya). The two aspects of the

waking state are called viśva and vaiśvānara. The two aspects of the dreaming state

are called taijasa and hiranyagarbha. Consciousness is also conceived of as being

experienced in a different body in each state: In the waking state, experience takes

place in the gross body (sthūla deha); in the dreaming state, in the subtle body

(sukşmadeha, lingadeha); in deep sleep, the causal body (kāraņadeha). The bodiless-

liberated man has neither the individual/microcosmic aspect nor the

comprehensive/macrocosmic aspect. This is the Fourth state, or turīya, in which there

is no distinction between these two aspects.

Though Vidyāranya does not explicitly state it in the JMV, I suspect that he

maintains here that the subtle body contains the seeds of future actions and thus leads

34

to rebirth. Vidyāranya was probably aware of Sankara's treatment of the subtle body

in BSBh 3.1.1. Here Sankara discusses how the soul departs from the body and takes

a new one, citing the caterpillar analogy from BaU 4.4.3. The soul, still surrounded by

the subtle elements, must experience thoughts regarding the future body, for it has its

attention turned to past action. It lengthens to the next body like the caterpillar reaches

from blade of grass to another.1 Thus for a time the soul in the subtle body, existing

in the dreaming state of consciousness, forms the final vāsanā, or latent tendency, of

the former birth, which contains the conception for the future body; mentally attaches

to it; and leads the soul into rebirth in a new physical body. Although Vidyāranya

does not refer to this explanation, at 2.3.55 he speaks of the future body (bhāvideha)

interchangeably with the subtle body. I believe that for Vidyāranya the subtle body is

the same as or connected with the future body, and the subtle body contains the

potential for generating future births. Thus with the liberating knowledge of the Self,

the knower will be freed from future births, for their potential contained in the subtle

body is removed by this knowledge.

Earlier on, Vidyāranya interprets the statement in KU 5.1, which says " ... and

freed from it, he is set free," to mean that "a living person is already freed especially

from visible bonds such as desire, but when the body dies, one is freed especially

from bondage to future births" [1.4.3]. The further explanation of what he earlier

means by "body" comes only later in 2.3.55. Vidyāranya first presents an objection,

according to which bodiless-liberation takes place after the death of the body. For

support, the objector cites Väkyavrtti 52-53, which says one that becomes liberated-

in-life through operative action and then attains perfect isolation upon the destruction

35

of operative action, i.e., at the death of the body. He also cites LYV 3.1.98, which

says that one abandons the state of one liberated-in-life at the death of the body and

enters the state of bodiless-liberation. Vidyāraņya responds:

This is not a problem, because the two views are not contradictory, owing to the specific distinction of meaning. In their descriptions, many have taken the word "body," which occurs in the expression "bodiless-liberation," to refer to all types of bodies. But we say it exclusively implies the "future body," because one acquires knowledge for the sole purpose of preventing the arising of such a body. But this body has already arisen, and therefore one cannot prevent its arising even through knowledge. Nor is removing the present body the result of knowledge, because, even for the ignorant, it is removed when operative action is exhausted. [2.3.55]

Vidyāranya will admit the type of bodiless-liberation that occurs after the death of

the current body [1.5] but elaborates on the use of this same term to include his notion

of liberation-in-life, which involves the death of the future body; for him the latter is in

essence another type of bodiless-liberation. [1.5.7] This argument is consistent with

the notion of the equivalence of liberation-in-life and bodiless-liberation and also

supports the textual emendation I have made at 1.5.7. In the subsequent discussion,

Vidyāraņya refers interchangeably to this body as the "future" body and the "subtle"

body. This future/subtle body has in some way "already arisen" and seems to exist as

the potential cause of future births, acting similar to the way in which operative action

causes experience, because it too has already arisen and continues to sustain the

present (physical) body. Bodiless-liberation is the death of this future/subtle body

rather than the death of the present body, for the death of the present body obviously

occurs even among the ignorant.

If knowledge cannot remove this body that has already arisen, the objector asks,

what will? Vidyäranya answers that we cannot see an opposing force that will

36

remove this future/subtle body; therefore one must remove the whole "causal

complex" (sāmagrī) [2.3.61]. This causal complex, Vidyāraņya says, is operative and

uncommenced, and he goes on to say that uncommenced action can be removed by

knowledge, and operative action, which is unopposed by knowledge, is removed only

by living through it. However, the future/subtle body is removed only through the

removal of this causal complex, and therefore the removal of the future/subtle body is

not the result of knowledge. One would like Vidyāranya to say more here, but

evidently he equates uncommenced and operative action with the causal complex. The

objector continues to offer other arguments for the bodiless-liberation as the death of

the body, such as its being the result of an apūrva, or "remote or unseen consequence

of a ritual act" [2.3.68; Chapter 2, n.24], and that it occurs through another knowledge

consisting in an immediate realization of truth at the last moment [2.3.70]. Vidyāraņya

dismisses each of these, saying that his type of bodiless-liberation is achieved

ultimately only by the removal of the causal complex through knowledge and when

operative action, which is not opposed by knowledge, is lived through. Operative

action itself ends, for it does not produce any further causes.

All causal factors, such as the body, senses, and so on, are removed because there is no cause at the end of operative action. Therefore, we grant the bodiless-liberation you postulate, characterized by the freedom from the current body, whereas (the bodiless-liberation) we postulate, (characterized by the freedom from a future body,) arises at precisely the same time as knowledge. [2.3.73]

Therefore, it appears that the problem of operative action faced for so long by the

other Advaitin thinkers has still not been completely solved by redefining bodiless-

liberation. The difference is that Vidyāranya's type of liberation requires the personal

yogic effort in the current life to achieve it and thus leads to his whole program of 37

yogic discipline for renouncers. One might think that it ought to be enough for

somebody seeking liberation from rebirth in samsāra to be satisfied with having

attained knowledge that will remove all future births and thus to stop making further

efforts at liberation-in-life. This rather ambiguous attempt by Vidyāraņya at

redefining bodiless-liberation is, I believe, meant to accommodate the motivation some

may have to reach videhamukti. Vidyāranya's main argument, though, is to allow for

a person to make further effort in the possibility of reaching jīvanmukti.

Liberation-in-life involves complete control of the living mind, speech, and body,

and the attainment of greater virtues in this world, as discussed in Chapter Four of the

JMV, that would manifest themselves in a fully liberated human being. I argue that

these latter aims are thus perhaps good and ethical ends in themselves, apart from the

attainment of an individual's own personal release from samsāric existence, and are

possible only for one still in a living human body. In order to understand how

liberation-in-life could be equal to Vidyaranya's type of bodiless-liberation, we need to

consider the value and necessity of yogic discipline beyond the attainment of the

liberating knowledge of Self. Yogic discipline becomes all the more pertinent when

considered in light of the need to "live through" operative action. Vidyāranya points

out earlier that "because operative action is more powerful than knowledge of truth,

we could take it that yogic discipline is more powerful than this action" [1.3.11].12

Vidyāraņya hypothesizes that while operative action may be more powerful than

knowledge, yogic discipline may be more powerful than operative action, and cites

the example of Uddālaka [LYV 5.6], who gave up his body at will. This statement

38

therefore has the force of a hypothesis, and Vidyāranya sets out to prove this

hypothesis through the rest of his book.

2.2 The Knowledge of Truth

As the two types of renunciation differ in relation to the aims of knowledge and

liberation-in-life, so also do they differ with respect to their duties (dharma-s) [1.2.24]

and the means employed for achieving these duties. The means Vidyāranya gives are

the same for both and must all be practiced simultaneously, for they exist in a mutual

causality (parasparakaranatvam). If they are not practiced together they will not bring

the desired result [2.1]. However, Vidyāranya explains the respective difference

(vyavasthā) between each type of renouncer's employment of these means by way of

the hermeneutic move of saying which is principal and subsidiary

(pradhāna/upasarjana) for each [2.3.2]. The principal goal for the renouncer who

desires knowledge is, of course, the knowledge of truth (tattvajñāna).

The knowledge of truth must be achieved before liberation-in-life may be

considered. The one who renounces for the desire of knowledge must achieve it by

performing Vedic study, reflection, and meditation (śravaņamanananididhyāsana) until

the knowledge comes about.13 The subsidiary means of the renouncer-for-knowledge

are (1) the eradication of latent tendencies, i.e., desire, anger, etc., and (2) the

elimination of the mind itself in which the latent tendencies arise. I shall discuss these

latter two in the context of the renouncer who is a knower, for whom they are the

principal means. This distinction of principal and subsidiary appears to describe a

proper order of progress in the attainment of liberation, for without having the

knowledge of truth first, nothing is possible, and without a measure of eradication of

39

latent tendencies and elimination of the mind at this stage where they are subsidiary to

the attainment of knowledge, problems arise later.

Consequently, Vidyāranya also combines the eradication of latent tendencies and

elimination of the mind carried out in this prior stage of renunciation-for-knowledge

with "symbol-oriented meditation" (upāsti, upāsana). He describes two types of

candidates for knowledge: those who have performed symbol-oriented meditation,

and those who have not. Upāsti or upāsana is a course of spiritual training through

meditation on a symbol prescribed in the Upanisads. Meditation is understood as

making mental equivalencies between symbol and abstraction. The symbol, which is

qualified by perceptible characteristics, helps concentrate the skittish mind on the

abstraction, which is without qualification. For example, the prescriptions "One

should venerate: the mind is Brahman" (mano brahmety upāsīta) [ChU 3.18.1] and

"The sun is Brahman" (adityo brahmety) [ChU 3.19.1] furnish something on which to

focus the mind that, after long training, is meant to lead to the highest knowledge.

Vidyāranya mentions "men of the present time" who "generally engage in knowledge

straightaway merely out of curiosity without having gone through symbol-oriented

meditation" [2.4.2]. Without some proficiency in symbol-oriented meditation prior to

the advent of knowledge, Vidyāranya explains, although these "men of the present

time" may properly perform Vedic study, reflection, and meditation

(śravaņamanananididhyāsana) and properly achieve the knowledge of truth, the

eradication of latent tendencies and elimination of the mind practiced by them after the

advent of knowledge "are quickly extinguished like a lamp in a windy place because

they have not been practiced rigorously, and because they are now and again opposed

40

by operative action, which produces experience" [2.4.3]. On the one hand, for the

renouncer-for-knowledge who has carried out symbol-oriented meditation, upon the

advent of knowledge "the renunciation-of-the-knower and liberation-in-life are

established all on their own because of the greater strength of (his) eradication of

latent tendencies and elimination of the mind" [2.4.2]. But on the other hand, for

those "present-day renunciants who are knowers" who lack this important supplement

of symbol-oriented meditation, Vidyāraņya says that "knowledge merely persists"

[2.4.6]. "What has arisen does not diminish because there is no evidence (pramāna)

that would annul it, and there is no cause (karana) that would create the ignorance that

has been eliminated" [2.4.3].

It appears to be in the nature of this liberating knowledge of truth that can arise in

someone and not be falsified, for it is indeed simply true, and still, nevertheless, not

necessarily lead to the complete liberation of that individual. Therefore these three

means including symbol-oriented meditation must be carried out at the right time with

their proper emphasis. The distinction Vidyāranya is making between symbol-

oriented meditation (upāsana) and other means to knowledge

(śravaņamanananididhyāsana) would involve study of the Great Texts (mahāvākya-s)

of the Upanisads, though the two types of meditation would seem to be very similar.

Śankara in BSBh 4.1.1 also distinguishes upāsana and nididhyāsana when speaking

of the need to carry out both of them repeatedly in order to achieve a deep

understanding of the mahāvākya such as tat tvam asi, because knowledge of Brahman

cannot come after the first hearing. He further prescribes at BSBh 4.1.7-9 performing

upāsana while in a sitting posture. This posture enables meditation (here dhyāna)

41

without distractions, which Sankara defines as "causing a flow of similar cognitions"

(samānapratyayapravāhakaraņam). If meditation as nididhyāsana is profound abstract

meditation then follows Vedic study and reflection, then "symbol-oriented

meditation," or upāsana, is meditation at an earlier stage. For the interpretation of the

word upāsana in Vidyāranya's historical context, we may also consider the term's

connotation with "worship" and "devotion." In this sense, upāsana would include a

growing devotional and emotional element, as the term and the practice are intended in

bhakti of the Viśistādvaitins.14 I have yet no way to prove this, but it is possible

Vidyāranya is admitting an emotional element to meditation, albeit at an initiatory

level. This element appears nonetheless necessary in order to lay the foundation for

further spiritual progress, whereas without it knowledge "merely persists."

Vidyāraņya uses the term bhakti at 1.8.8 referring to the impartial (udāsīna) nature of

the one who has transcended-the-qualities (gunātīta). This type of person is said to

carry out knowledge and meditation with "unswerving devotion" (avyabhicāribhakti).

One may ask here, what is such knowledge of truth that "merely persists" and

"does not diminish"? How can this knowledge arise even in one who Vidyāranya

says later has more difficulty achieving liberation because of his neglect of carrying

things out in the proper order? Vidyāranya gives this definition:

Knowledge of truth is this certainty: The Self is simply all this. The world consisting of form, taste, and so on that we perceive is illusory, and it does not exist in reality. [2.2.8]

Earlier on in his first discussion of the renunciation prompted by the desire for

knowledge, Vidyāranya distinguishes between "the world that is the Self and world

that is the non-Self" [1.1.1]. Citing BaU 4.4.22, "What would we do with progeny,

42

we for whom this Self is this world?" and "Desiring this alone as their world, the

renouncers undertake the life of wandering," Vidyāranya interprets the Sruti to say

that the world of the Self is something that is experienced: "The term 'world' (loka) is

derived from (the verb) 'it is seen' (lokyate), i.e., 'it is experienced' (anubhūyate). So,

accordingly, the intended meaning of the Sruti is this: they wander forth desiring the

experience of the Self" [1.1.8]. The term "experience" (anubhava) is problematic, for

it has been adopted by the so-called Neo-Advaita thinkers in modern times and has

been associated with subjective, psychological empirical states.15 The experience of

the world of the Self is the knowledge of truth, or if we take the compound tattvajñāna

as a karmadhāraya, it is knowledge that is reality. It is an internal cognitive

experience, but because the knower arrives at it through Vedic study, reflection, and

meditation on the sayings of the Vedic revelation, which, according to Mīmāmsā, are

not creations of any person (apauruseya) and are intrinsically self-valid

(svatahpramāņya), I believe we must understand Vidyāranya and the other Advaitins

to say that this experience is not a subjective experience but rather an objective

experience of the world existing in reality.16 Furthermore, the sayings of Vedic Śruti

exist in the human subjective world as models of the objective world and make it

available to human cognition, even when, as Vidyāranya appears to say, the individual

human knower receiving this experience of the objective world has present in him the

subjective experiential hazards of improper preparation. This person takes the Śruti

alongside the subjective truth or falsehood that has been acquired during his own

personal experience. The knowledge arising in this person then "merely persists." It

may be impossible for such a person to continue. As Vidyāranya says this person's

43

further efforts at the eradication of latent tendencies and elimination of the mind "are

quickly extinguished like a lamp in a windy place because they have not been

practiced rigorously, and because they are now and again opposed by operative action,

which produces experience" [2.4.3]. Without some further training to quiet his

subjective mental activity (cittavrtti-s), the cognition of the objective truth of the Vedic

reality would merely persist, though hindered from its fullness.

At this point a comment about Vidyāranya's audience and his program of

preservation of the Advaita Vedānta tradition may be appropriate. Whenever we read

about "men of the present time" who do not perform quite as well as those of ancient

times, the author appears to harken back to a prior age when people were closer to

truth. Whether or not there was a "golden age," in this regard Vidyāranya recalls the

figure of Janaka from tradition who could merely hear the truth and attain knowledge

and liberation directly [2.8.7].17 Vidyāraņya is also aware, however, that for "men of

the present" the goal is not attained so easily. It appears that for Vidyāranya, these

men are every one of his contemporaries. He preserves the mainstream Vedāntic

tradition of Sankara concerning the knowledge of truth he is heir to, while also

understanding that his contemporaries cannot adequately fulfill it. It is a risky thing to

add onto a tradition, but Vidyāranya also sees that his contemporaries require help

from something more than the Vedantic knowledge, which was all that was required

by the ancient people.

Walter Slaje (1998:103) has argued that Vidyāranya changed the ideas of his

normative tradition and that he was "naive" about what he had inherited. In a series of

articles, Slaje attempts to discern other strains of liberation theories independent of the

44

Advaita Vedānta, which nevertheless were subsumed in Vidyāranya's treatment in the

JMV. The first thing Slaje does is criticize Vidyāranya's alteration of his sources in

order to free them of his interpretation. While this is a valid project, and necessary in

order to reveal earlier historical currents, to criticize Vidyāranya and to call "naive"

seem to me unfair to Vidyaranya's effort to deal with his historical situation. In this

instance one may point out the obvious fact that Vidyāranya was a theologian and not

a modern philological historian. Whether or not Vidyaranya could or should have

known of the earlier recensions of his texts, in particular the earliest layers of the

Yoga-Vasistha tradition and their proper interpretation in former times, which Slaje is

most interested in, we may presume that Vidyāranya is primarily speaking to his own

contemporaries and addressing their problems as he sees them. It is of course

necessary to discern differing historical currents in the effort to come to historical

understanding, but to criticize Vidyāranya for changing other's ideas in the interest of

history misses the point of Vidyāranya's historical condition that we might discover as

well. As a constructive theologian, he may well have reinterpreted or changed his

normative tradition to suit contemporary needs.

I believe Slaje (2000a:171) also misses the point in criticizing Vidyāraņya for

making "conscious efforts at a tendentious text revision" of the LYV. To say that

Vidyāraņya is "tendentious," which I read as derogatory, is too strong a word for

what he was trying to do. This robs him of his creative theological insight employed

at the service of his contemporaries. It is obvious that he was an upholder of a

particular tradition vis-à-vis other traditions, and as such he had an agenda for his own

tradition. He was considered a great leader and was probably considerate of the

45

needs of his people. While he also sought to "adapt an originally alien Yogic strand to

the Advaitavedānta tradition in his Jīvanmuktiviveka" (Slaje, 2000a:180), Vidyāraņya

perhaps saw that in the broader Indian tradition, yogic discipline was the best remedy

available to his contemporaries. Many traditions speak of a "golden age" that came

before their own failing contemporary age, but I believe we may also give Vidyāraņya

his due in clearly seeing the human condition and the necessity for yogic practice in all

ages for the frail, historically-bound, human subjectivity in the face of the ultimate.

2.3 Eradication of Latent Tendencies

For the renouncer who is a knower, the knowledge of truth becomes subsidiary

because he already has knowledge, but he must still practice it as a "sustained

remembrance (anusmarana) of the truth by some means or other" [2.3.4]. At the

earlier stage of renunciation out of the desire for knowledge, the practice of eradication

of latent tendencies and elimination of the mind helps the renouncer attain knowledge.

At the later stage, they become principal for him because he has still not "done all

there is to do" (krtakrtya). Operative action remains and must be lived through.

However, for Vidyäranya, living through until the ultimate death of the body does not

involve doing whatever the renouncer pleases and merely waiting to die. It is evident

there were Advaitin renouncers like this, at least insofar as we see Vedānta Deśika

criticizing the Advaitins who abandon the duties (dharma-s) and emblems of the order

of renunciation (samnyāsāśrama) on the basis of their attainment, which for him

constitutes antinomian libertinism (svaira).18 I argued above in the historical portion

of this introduction that Vidyāranya wished to counter Vedānta Deśika's critique of

the Advaitin institution of renunciation. Here I want to simply note the internal

46

consistency in Vidyāranya's program of yogic training for renouncers that in essence

places a much greater personal responsibility on the renouncer who is a knower,

which Vedānta Deśika does not even conceive of, quite apart from external duties and

the wearing of emblems of the order of renunciation.

Even though the renouncer may live with the knowledge of truth, Vidyāranya

says, he must still practice the eradication of latent tendencies and the elimination of

the mind until the death of his body. Vidyāranya gives the example of Yājñavalkya,

who, the tradition says, is a knower of Brahman but still desires to defeat all comers in

a debate on the nature of Brahman [2.9.22 ff .; BaU 3]. He thus continues to have

desires, insofar as he desires to win the debate and take home the prize, and to have

anger, because of his killing of Sākalya. Yājñavalkya has the liberating knowledge,

but he is not finished, as it were, for impure latent tendencies continue in him; he has

yet to enter the renunciation-of-the-knower. In this stage, the purpose of practicing of

the eradication of latent tendencies and the elimination of the mind is to purge him of

his bondage to afflictions (kleśa-s), which prevent liberation-in-life.

For both types of renouncers, as noted earlier, the three means exist in mutual

causality (parasparakaraņatvam). In actual practice, Vidyāranya prescribes for each

type a balance between the knowledge of truth, on the one hand, and the eradication of

latent tendencies and elimination of the mind, on the other, depending on which is

principal and which is subsidiary for each type of renouncer. They are all practiced

together, for as Vidyāraņya says, "Practicing the means one by one not only fails to

produce the result, but their identity as a means (tatsvarūpa) is not even established"

[2.1.9]. However, the renouncer also acquires "discernment" (viveka) that is not as

47

strong perhaps prior to knowledge, and upon acquiring it, he sees the need for

"personal effort" (puruşaprayatna). According to Vidyāraņya: "'Somehow I will

definitely accomplish this': this sort of resolution is the perseverance that is 'personal

effort.' 'Discernment' is the definite analytical knowledge (vibhajyaniścayah) of these:

the means of the knowledge of truth are Vedic study (śravana) and the rest, the means

of the elimination of the mind is yoga, and the means of the eradication of latent

tendencies is producing contrary latent tendencies" [2.2.16]. In order to analyze the

knower's principal practice, let us consider the eradication of latent tendencies first.

Latent tendencies can be variously translated as "subliminal impressions,"

"traces," "desires," "habits," etc. A latent tendency is a formalized notion of

something that apparently must exist in an individual's mind and that brings about the

experience of an object, whether one enjoys it or is repelled by it. Latent tendencies

can either be good-arising from previous merit or obtained by personal effort, and in

accord with the authoritative texts-or bad-arising from one's own natural

disposition and not in accord with the authoritative texts. Vidyāranya also relates the

good tendencies to the sattvaguna, and the bad to the rājasa and tāmasa guņa-s. He

defines latent tendencies in general by citing LYV 5.10.48-51 at 2.4.8-11:

Taking to things that make one give up inquiring into their cause and effect because of a strong feeling (drdhabhāvanayā).19 That is called latent tendency. [LYV 5.10.48]

What has been manifested with sharp force by oneself, that he becomes immediately, O Strong-Armed One, forgetting all other things. [LYV 5.10.49]

For, when a person like this, who is subjugated by a latent tendency, sees whatever object, he is fooled, believing it is a real thing. [LYV 5.10.50]

48

That (object) abandons its true form because (he) loses self-control to the power of the latent tendency. One with poor sight sees everything confusedly, as if he were drunk. [LYV 5.10.51]

Vidyāraņya also defines latent tendencies in regard to their relationship to the

other two means. In regard to the elimination of the mind, they are equivalent to the

"residual impressions" mentioned by Patañjali:

Latent tendencies (vāsanā) are residual impressions (samskāra) situated in the mind that are the cause of certain mental activities such as anger, which are produced suddenly without consideration of what is before and after; they are called "latent tendencies" because they are caused to reside20 in the mind by all previous mental activity. [2.2.5]

In concert with the full arising of knowledge, one must also have some measure

of "mental control" and "sense control" (śāntidānti; śamadama), which we may also

translate as "tranquillity" and "patience." In regard to the mutual causality existing

between the eradication of latent tendencies and the knowledge of truth, Vidyāranya

says, "When the latent tendencies of anger, etc., are not destroyed, one lacks the

means such as mental control and sense control; consequently knowledge does not

arise" [2.3.10]. Mental control and sense control are apparently a form of yogic

discipline at an earlier stage in the practice of the renouncer-for-knowledge. At the

later stage in the practice of the renouncer who is a knower, he can use this mental

control and discernment gained from knowledge to see more precisely what his own

latent tendencies are, and the practice of the eradication of latent tendencies becomes a

sort of counterbalance to what is bad in him with what is good, eventually

outweighing and subduing the bad. In regard to the mutual causality existing between

the knowledge of truth and the elimination of the mind, Vidyāranya says:

When this (knowledge) has not arisen, the sense objects of form, taste, and so on continue to exist; therefore it is impossible to neutralize the mental activities that relate to those (sense objects), just as the flames of a fire are not

49

extinguished when one continues to put kindling into it. When there is no quieting of the mind, forms and so on continue to be grasped by the mental activities. [2.2.8]

Vidyāranya also equates the good and bad tendencies with the Divine fortune and

Demonic fortune (daivasampad, asurasampad)21 mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of

the BhG. The good latent tendencies, or Divine fortune, will lead to liberation.

Of these, here liberation-in-life occurs when the good latent tendencies-the Divine fortune that can be acquired by personal effort and is in keeping with the authoritative texts-destroy the bad latent tendencies-the Demonic fortune that results because of one's natural disposition and is contrary to authoritative texts. [2.3.15]

In discussing the Demonic fortune, Vidyāranya explains that bondage is either

intense or weak [2.3.20]. The Demonic is the intense bondage and consists of tamas,

e.g., hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger, rudeness, and ignorance [BhG 16.4].

These things continue to be roused through operative action and require eradication.

Commenting on LYV 4.5.20-23, Vidyāranya states that these types of latent

tendencies are those "concerning sense objects" [2.6.6]. They are residual

impressions (samskāra-s) generated by actually enjoying or experiencing objects.

Vidyāraņya also analyzes "impure latent tendencies" (aśuddhavāsanā) as they actually

manifest in a person's behavior concerning the world, learning, and the body

[2.4.50-87]. These are the latent tendencies "concerning the mind," and Vidyāranya

further says they are the residual impressions generated by desiring the objects and

constitute the weak bondage. The weak bondage, Vidyāranya explains, consists of

inevitable experiences that even the virtuous people such as Nāla, Rāma, and

Yudhisthira could not avoid and is only subdued through the elimination of the mind

[2.3.25-26]. Therefore there are four types of latent tendencies subsumed under two

50

general categories: the Demonic fortune, and those concerning the world, learning,

and the body. They constitute the weak bondage concerning the mind when they

come about by merely desiring objects, or they become intense bondage concerning

sense objects by actually experiencing the sense objects.

The eradication of latent tendencies and the elimination of the mind are similar in

that they both involve an inner suppression of mental impulses. The elimination of the

mind, however, is a general program of yogic practice that Vidyāranya derives in part

from the Pātañjalīya Yoga Sūtras. The intense bondage, which is the Demonic

fortune as it manifests in a particular individual, requires a specific intervention to

suppress it. It seems that this must take place before or in concert with the application

of the general program of yoga meant to suppress the entire mental functioning in

which all latent tendencies of both the intense and weak types arise. The personal

effort of vāsanāksaya is not a violent act, as the term ksaya might imply. Although

Vidyāraņya does say it must be practiced rigorously, it seems, rather, that it is a

delicate counterbalancing of intangible inner impulses that the individual must learn to

see impartially through the discernment of his own functioning as though he were

viewing it in another person [2.9.28]. I do not wish to speculate here too much on

what the actual practice must be like, yet we gather from Vidyāranya's own words that

upon the arising of the knowledge of truth, which as noted above is objective truth

and not subjective, the individual renouncer gains the advantage of the light of

discernment. This allows him to distinguish the pure and impure latent tendencies and

the tendencies of the Demonic fortune that actually dwell in his character, which

amount to his virtues and his flaws. Discernment has its own intrinsic value, for if the

51

renouncer actually sees the true and the false, some impure latent tendencies can be

burnt [2.10]. Yet there is more the renouncer who is a knower has to do. Coupled

with the restraint of the powerful senses, he is able to choose the specific pure

tendencies he must cultivate as a remedy for his own particular intense impure

tendencies [2.7]. Vidyāraņya cites Patañjali in this regard:

By cultivation of friendliness, compassion, contentment, and equanimity toward objects that are pleasant, painful, virtuous, or vile, the mind becomes serene. [YS 1.33; 2.7.1]

It is at this point that the renouncer stops being merely a renouncer, or what

Vidyāraņya calls a "mere paramaham̧sa" or "paramaham̧sa only"

(kevalaparamahamsa). He states: "Though the mere paramahamsa knows, facing

outward he does not abide in Brahman because he has no mental tranquillity" [5.1.24].

With application of yogic discipline, the renouncer who is a knower starts becoming a

true yogin as well. The paramahamsa yogin may be extremely rare, or perhaps even

rejected by other schools, nevertheless this state is a real possibility for Vidyāraņya

and not merely an ideal. Vidyāranya is clearly aware of the extreme rarity of such a

person and cites the support of BhG 7.3:

Among thousands of men only a few strive for perfection. Even of those who strive and become perfected, only a few see me in reality. [BhG 7.3; 5.1.21]

We see here in YS 1.33 an indication of the transcendence of opposites such as

the pleasant and the painful, the virtuous and the vile, a transcendence that is another

hallmark of the renouncer's ongoing development of detachment. The state of a

person in ordinary consciousness is constantly pulled between objects sitting

somewhere between the poles of attraction and revulsion, the agreeable and the

disagreeable. The renouncer comes to see the entire spectrum and presumably can

52

learn to manifest anywhere on it at will. He may be aware of the false appearance of

objects, but there is no harm, for he does not react to them. Not only is there no harm,

but it is precisely this recognition of the false appearances, without reaction to them,

that Vidyāranya recognizes as liberation-in-life [2.9.21-22]. However, this requires

the entrance into the renunciation-of-the-knower in order to calm the mind. By

discerning specific impure tendencies or flaws in himself, cultivating friendliness and

the rest, and controlling the senses, he reaches the eradication of the Demonic fortune.

Once the impure tendencies are eradicated, Vidyāranya says, the pure ones

continue naturally and without personal effort, like breathing or blinking the eyes.

The latent tendency left to practice is pure consciousness (cinmātra) [2.11.1 ff.]. Pure

consciousness also must become natural like breathing. But when this latent tendency

first arises, the world is seen as made up of the conscious and the unconscious (jada).

The practice of the latent tendency of pure consciousness requires the firm basis of

pure latent tendencies and cannot come at the beginning. The paramahamsa yogin

requires what Vidyāranya compares to a foundation of a house, or a purgative that

allows the medicine taken to work [2.11.8-9]. According to this analogy, the

eradication of latent tendencies would be the foundation or purgative, and yoga would

be the house or the medicine taken. By knowing how to purge himself first and

completing this purging, the paramahamsa yogin can correctly practice the latent

tendency of pure consciousness. This latent tendency is in essence the last object of

experience in the mind before it falls completely still. It is of two types: where it is

still related to the mind as instrument, and the intellect as agent, which Vidyāranya

equates with meditation (dhyāna); and where all three elements in consciousness have

53

been abandoned through "skillful practice" (abhyāsapātava), which he equates with

enstasis (samādhi) [2.11.11]. Thereafter the paramahamsa yogin also abandons the

effort to abandon. The objector raises the problem of "infinite regress" (anavasthā)

here. Logically one would also have to abandon the effort to abandon abandonment.

Vidyāranya responds with the well-known image of the kataka powder used to

precipitate dirt out of a jar of water. The effort at abandonment also removes itself

when removing the awareness of the agent and instrument [2.11.16].

At this point, Vidyāranya describes the state without latent tendencies as one

where a paramahamsa yogin still engages in ordinary duties and activities (vyavahāra)

and even experiences operative action but is unaffected by them in one way or

another. Vidyāranya cites the following metaphors of LYV 4.2.14-15 at 2.11.28-29.

If the yogin honors a thief while knowing him as a thief, that person becomes a friend

and not a thief. Also, for a yogin seeing objects of pleasure and wealth is like being a

traveler who unexpectedly comes upon a village procession. Everything can be

experienced, yet with complete impartiality, without having to react in one way or

another. This appears to be part of the solution Vidyāranya gives to the problem of

operative action I raised earlier. The picture given of a paramahamsa yogin still acting

in the world is not vastly different from the mainstream Advaita view of the

renouncer's "higher standpoint" (pāramārthika) and "lower standpoint"

(vyavahārika),22 though I suggest that Vidyāranya's work represents a development

on this doctrine. The difference is that Vidyāranya would admit the complete

extinguishing of latent tendencies that are productive of experience, practicing in their

stead the last latent tendency of pure consciousness, which amounts to the enstasis of

54

yoga, and then the abandonment of even the last tendency. It appears, however, that

we are still left with some logical paradox, for he also admits that the paramahamsa

yogin can still experience operative action, even inasmuch as it may have no

persistent, controlling effect on his inner state.

2.4 The Elimination of the Mind

When the practice of the eradication of latent tendencies reaches its most advanced

level, it appears to be virtually equivalent to the other ongoing prescribed practice of

the elimination of the mind. Vidyaranya, however, treats the elimination of the mind

in a separate analysis. Liberation-in-life has been defined as the removal of bondage

[1.3.2], and this removal is effected through the eradication of latent tendencies. This

eradication becomes secure, however, through the elimination of the mind. These two

means together become the means for liberation-in-life.

The elimination of the mind is controlling the mind through the "methods"

(yukti). Here I do not translate yukti as "reasoning," for in this instance it appears to

mean something more than vicāra, which is rational investigation in philosophy

through syllogistic inference (anumāna) or analogical reasoning (upamāna). These

methods do have an element of reasoning insofar as the knowledge of Self would

involve some rational investigation at the various progressive stages of discernment

and Vedic study, reflection, and meditation. However, at the level of development of

the renunciation-of-knowledge, the methods employed there have much greater

emphasis on yogic discipline. These methods are different from forceful (hatha) yoga,

which seeks to control the mind by controlling the seat of each of the sense organs

(golaka). The methods are the acquisition of the knowledge of the Self and complete

55

abandonment of latent tendencies, which I have already discussed here, as well as the

association with good people (sädhusamgama) and the control of the rhythm of

breathing (prānaspandanirodha, also prāņāyāma).

It is at this juncture that Vidyāranya cites LYV 5.10.129-131 and introduces a

crucial point concerning his attempt to incorporate Yoga philosophy into the argument

[3.2.1-2]. Vidyāraņya dismisses forceful restraint and endorses only gradual restraint

through the methods. He makes this statement in two verses that precede the LYV

5.10.129-131 passage but are not found in the available texts of the LYV or YV.

These statements are meant to appear to be verses belonging of this LYV passage in

both the Adyar and AnSS editions of the JMV. I suspect they are perhaps

Vidyāranya's own interpolation, if we may presume he meant for them to appear to be

part of the LYV text. They are loka-s and not prose like the rest of the JMV text,

and they are present in my best manuscripts. Making a clear distinction between

forceful yoga and the methods, Vidyāranya stresses the need for the proper

combination of the methods in order to still the mind. These latter methods are what

has also been commonly called rāja-yoga. He says that the forceful physical yoga is

ultimately ineffective and compares it to the ineffectiveness of trying to restrain an

elephant in rut with the fibers of a lotus stalk. One cannot control the organ of the

mind with forceful yoga because its organ is intangible and lies within the heart. Once

again, this organ of the mind is affected through discernment gained through Self-

knowledge, or what Vidyāranya now calls "true-seeing" (drgvastu), where the sense

objects are perceived as being false, and the mind "becomes extinguished on its own,

like a fire without fuel" [3.2.8].

56

Breath-control (prāņāyāma) is a well-known practice in yoga, and Vidyāraņya

treats it extensively. The notion of the integral place of the breath reaches far back into

some of the earliest ritual literature, such as the Satapatha Brahmana 2.3.1-39 on the

prānāgnihotra. In that text the invisible life-breath is ritually understood as equivalent

to the sacrificial fire.23 The making of mental equivalencies or homologies in the ritual

perhaps led to the "interiorization of the sacrifice" that is central in the understanding

of Brahmanical asceticism.24 Breath-control and other practices became central to the

creation of inner ascetic heat (tapas).25 Vidyāranya also presumes an understanding of

the association of the breath with the mind. [3.4.1] This seems crucial, and yet I do

not find any discussion in the secondary literature on Yoga philosophy that attempts

to explain how breath and mind are connected in practice. Later Upanișadic

homologies of breath in BāU 1.5.21 and 3.7.3 are cited by Vidyāraņya 3.4.5-6.

Breath-control appears to be a radical intervention insofar as Vidyāraņya says that

when a person cannot follow other good people because of the powerful latent

tendency of the pride of learning, he must employ breath-control. Otherwise,

association with good people is sufficient aid for those who have not fully grasped the

truth or who forget it, because "good people repeatedly make them aware and remind

them" [3.2.10]. Although breath-control is one of the "methods," it can also qualify

as part of hatha-yoga. The yogin must resort to breath-control to still the mind

because, perhaps more often than not, the latent tendencies are too powerful. Though

Vidyāraņya indicates a preference for the "methods" of rāja-yoga over hatha-yoga, he

recognizes the need to employ what amounts to "surgery,"26 forcing the mind to keep

off sense objects when the latent tendencies are overwhelming the other means. Thus

57

Vidyāranya devotes a large part of Chapter Three on the elimination of the mind [3.4]

to the technique of breath-control.

Sprockhoff (1964:n.79) has pointed out that Vidyāranya closely follows Vyāsa's

commentary on the YS in his treatment of yoga in the JMV. Fort (1999:377) has also

said that Vidyāranya's "view of Yoga is not identical with that of Patañjali in his

Yogasūtras." I cannot presently assess all possible external sources used by

Vidyāranya adequately enough to make such a judgment. However, in well over a

millennium of systematic study and application of yoga in South Asian religions, it is

more than likely that some adaptations were admitted in the understanding of

Patañjali's original formulations. I argue that for his time Vidyāraņya, as a theologian

and pontiff of the Srngeri matha, treated the application of yoga in his overall

program constructively and creatively. We can thus consider Vidyāranya's

contribution a major statement of the understanding and practice of yoga for the

medieval times.

After treating the yogas of posture, diet, and breath-control at 3.3 and 3.4, which

includes mention of the proper conditions and posture for meditation from ŚvU

2.8-10, Vidyāraņya proceeds to treat enstasis (samādhi). The point of coalescence of

all the foregoing practices is enstasis. Sprockhoff (1964:n.79) observed that

Vidyāraņya here follows Vyāsa's comment on YS 1.1, where Vyāsa says that "Yoga

is enstasis." Vidyāranya goes on to present the five stages of the mind

(cittibhūmayah), citing Vyāsa's comment on Patañjali and giving his own comment

[3.5.1-3]. He equates the first stage of the mind, the "distracted' (ksipta), with the

four types of bad latent tendencies already analyzed. The second stage, "stupefied"

58

(mūdha), is when it is overwhelmed by "sleep, laziness, and the like." The third,

"occasionally distracted" (viksipta), is when the mind can sometimes meditate and

sometimes not, falling back into distraction. Enstasis cannot occur in these three

stages. The other two are "one-pointedness" (ekāgratā) and "suppression" (nirodha).

For Vidyāranya, enstasis begins to occur in the one-pointedness stage when the yogin

gradually diminishes the mind's sequential grasping at all objects [3.5.4-7]. In

Patañjali's YS enstasis is known as the "eighth limb" coming after the mastery of the

first through fifth "external limbs" and sixth and seventh, the "internal limbs" of

concentration and meditation. Vidyāranya adopts this eight-limb yoga (astāngayoga)

but makes his own adaptation wherein he elaborates on the phases around this eighth

limb, moving from the fourth stage of the mind of one-pointedness. This is

meditation gradually leading to the enstasis-with-conceptualization (samprajñāta-

samādhi) and moving gradually to the fifth stage of the mind of suppression, which is

the enstasis-without-conceptualization (asamprajñātasamādhi).

Vidyāraņya reviews Patañjali's sūtras on the eight limbs of yoga in 3.5.8-36 with

little comment and then takes an objection concerning his treatment of enstasis. There

appears to be an inconsistency between the enstasis he referred to, coming about in the

one-pointedness and suppressed stages of the mind, and the enstasis that is the eighth

limb coming after meditation. Vidyāranya responds that there is no great difference

between these stages of enstasis. Rather, they are degrees of the development of

meditation on the same object. The yogin is like a Vedic student learning verses; he

learns haltingly at first, while later as a teacher he never stumbles even though he may

be inattentive sometimes. This distinction of gradation is apparently not clarified in the

59

citation he gives of Muktika Upanişad 2.53 [3.5.33].27 However, below in 3.10.12,

Vidyāraņya states there is a great difference between enstasis-with-conceptualization

and enstasis-without-conceptualization. He, therefore, elaborates three general states

of enstasis: enstasis that is the eighth limb of yoga; enstasis-with-conceptualization,

which is the greater development of the eighth limb and not an end in itself; and

enstasis-without-conceptualization, which seems to be completely beyond mental

activity of any kind. The latter enstasis is said in YS 1.47 and 3.38 to be "seedless"

(nirbīja), and in YS 1.48 to be "truth-bearing" (rtambhara), and is an end in itself. In

distinguishing enstasis as the eighth limb from enstasis-with-conceptualization,

Vidyāraņya appears to depart from the more standard Advaita view as expressed in

the Vedāntasāra28 using the Vedānta terminology that enstasis-with-distinction

(savikalpasamādhi) is the same as the eighth limb. Vidyāranya then concludes this

section saying that enstasis-with-conceptualization is the cause of both the eradication

of latent tendencies and the enstasis-of-suppression.

The enstasis-of-suppression is defined for Vidyāranya in YS 3.9 [3.6.2]:

The transformation of suppression (nirodha), which associates the mind with a moment of suppression, occurs when the residual impressions (samskāra) of coming out (of enstasis) (vyutthāna)2 are overcome and the impressions of suppression arise.

The process that began in the stage of one-pointedness, where the yogin

gradually meditated on diminishing his mind's sequential grasping after outer objects,

develops into a stage where the yogin intervenes moment to moment, suppressing

each inner residual impression in his mind arising from the state of vyutthāna. With

more suppression gradually comes more stillness. This state is what is meant by

enstasis-without-conceptualization, for no concepts of the grasper, the grasped, and

60

grasping30 are left, and the mind is left with only a residual impression of stillness.

This state of mind with only stillness remaining might be equivalent to the latent

tendency of pure consciousness and its similar abandonment discussed here earlier.

Vidyāraņya had defined vāsanā-s as samskāra-s and did equate the stage of the

practice of the latent tendency of pure consciousness with enstasis. [2.11.11]

Following the analysis of enstasis, Vidyāranya presents what might be

considered the metaphysical analogue to the practical yogic progression of

development, in which the refinement of awareness of levels of consciousness occurs

[3.7; 3.8; 3.9]. He adopts the teaching from KU 3.13 for his analysis. This text

defines the progressive stages of control, first of speech in the mind, on up through

more encompassing levels of mind from egoic consciousness (ahamkāra) to the

knowing self (jñānātma), the Great Self (mahātma), and the Tranquil Self (śāntātma).

In this context Vidyāranya merely alludes to some interesting recommendations for

the practice of yoga. For instance, in the context of control of the mind in the Great

Self, only the Great Principle (mahat) remains. Here Vidyāranya makes an intriguing

analogy between the decrease of the individual ego in ordinary life when one becomes

fatigued, and the ego's dissolution in the Great Self when a person makes an effort at

"forgetfulness" (vismaraņa). This forgetfulness resembles the indeterminate

knowledge (nirvikalpajñāna)31 of the Naiyāyikas [3.9.1]. Vidyāraņya does not give

textual source for or elaborate on what the effort at vismarana could mean, yet this

seems to be an important definition for the practice involved, and I offer the following

speculation. Before there is a specific knowledge, there must be a general knowledge.

In order to know a particular case or manifestation of something, one must know the

61

universal without specifics first. That is indeterminate knowledge. The meaning of

forgetfulness as something similar to this stage of pure knowledge of things, free of

particulars, may be clearer if one thinks of it in a positive statement as "the elimination

of the past in memory." The mind is freed from particular associations of a thing

remembered from the past and, therefore, one sees more clearly the reality of the thing

being perceived at present.

In general, Vidyāranya expresses in these sections the same growing competence

at yogic practice. It requires the establishment of a firm grounding on each level that

permits the stability of the next.

Just as a person engaged in practicing the Sastras, before he gains proficiency he needs explanation of every text. Yet when he has sufficient proficiency, the meaning of the later text appears by itself. So also, for a yogin who has correctly mastered the previous stage, the means of the later stage appears by itself. [3.9.3]

In section 3.10, Vidyāranya examines more closely the two advanced states of

enstasis that he defines as beyond the enstasis that is the eighth limb of Patañjali.

Here he again considers the relation between knowledge of truth and elimination of

the mind, though now at the high level of the enstasis-of-suppression. The separate

individual self (tvampadārtha) can be purified through the enstasis-of-suppression, yet

to know oneself as Brahman, one requires the knowledge of Brahman, arrived at by

means of the Great Texts in the Upanisads. Thus Vidyāranya admits that yoga and

knowledge gained through discernment are equally valid means at direct realization of

the purified individual self (padartha). In this instance he cites LYV 5.9.72 and

6.1.60, which says that yoga and knowledge are both options available to humanity in

order to carry out the elimination of the mind.32 The objector argues that discernment

62

also amounts to yoga insofar as it relates to one-pointedness completely absorbed in

the realization of the Self and is equal to enstasis-with-conceptualization. Vidyāraņya

agrees but then, contrary to what he said earlier, states that the two higher types of

samādhi are very different from each other, owing to the presence or absence of any

mental activity. The three limbs of concentration (dhāraņā), meditation (dhyāna), and

enstasis derived from Patañjali are internal limbs for enstasis-with-conceptualization

and external limbs for enstasis-without-conceptualization. These types of enstasis

thus depend again on the yogin's practicing them at their proper time in the overall

development of the practice. The internal limb of enstasis-without-conceptualization is

ultimately an effort to suppress the enstasis-with-conceptualization, whereby the

"seedless" is brought about. This state is similar to the "deep sleep" (susupti) state of

consciousness, though it is devoid of any mental activities. This then is the Fourth

state of consciousness (turīya).

Vidyāraņya then cites GK 3.42-46 and comments on still another series of states

of the mind: dissolution (laya), distraction (viksepa), taint (kaşaya), and the attainment

of equilibrium (samaprāpti) [3.10.38-58]. For Vidyāraņya these states are meant to

describe the mind of the yogin in enstasis-without-conceptualization and the effort

needed to stay there. Vidyāranya interprets "dissolution" as a moment when, as the

yogin controls the mind and turns it away from objects, he tends to fall asleep.33 He

must rouse himself somehow or take care of the potential causes of this sleep, such as

lack of proper sleep for the body, indigestion, overeating, or making oneself tired. All

this again points to proper preparation. It would appear that even on a daily basis the

63

yogin must conserve his energy for its proper use in his daily effort at meditation. In

this instance Vidyāraņya cites Saubhāgyalakșmī Upanișad 2.2:

After completing sleep (one should eat) a small amount of easily digestible food, avoid tiring exercise, and in an isolated place free of disturbances, always sit effortlessly free of longing, or control the breathing in the way he has become adept. [3.10.44]

If the yogin can hold the mind in control from objects and not dissolve into sleep,

the mind may still become "distracted"34 by desires and enjoyments. This simply

requires more discernment, repeatedly recalling the suffering created by such things,

and comparing them to the reality of the non-dual Brahman, thus seeing their

unreality. Vidyāranya interprets "taint" as the same as latent tendencies, which again

are the bondage constituted by affliction leading to dualities such as attraction and

aversion. Interestingly, Vidyaranya says that the state of a mind with this taint can

amount to a state similar to enstasis (tayā cittam kadācit samāhitam iva). The mind can

enter a state of one-pointedness where it is free from dissolution and distraction, yet it

is actually suffering, because it is seized by latent tendencies. In order to see his way

free of this taint, the yogin again requires discernment, comparing this suffering in

one-pointedness to true enstasis.

The "attainment of equilibrium" is what remains after the yogin has discerned the

pitfalls of the other three states. Establishing the mind in it with the subtle intellect

(sūkșmayā buddhyā), the yogin should remain absolutely still and not move. Holding

the mind still in this way the yogin permits the "highest happiness" (paramānanda)

that is the essential nature of Brahman (brahmasvarūpa) to manifest fully in his mind.

This state seems to be both a positive move of grasping happiness by the intellect and

a negative suppression of all the yogin's own mental activity moment to moment.

64

Vidyāraņya then cites the Maitrāyani Upanișad 4.9 where it says this state is

impossible to describe with words. It seems Vidyāranya might emphasize a lifelong

practice of yoga and discernment rather than permanence of such a state. He has

already described the nature and characteristics of one liberated-in-life and the various

types found in authoritative texts in sections 1.3 through 1.10 and does not dwell on

describing this highest happiness here. However, in the Chapter Five, he does go on

to describe the way and behavior of the paramahamsa yogin who is established

permanently in this state.

The objector leads into the final issue of this part of the discussion of enstasis-

without-conceptualization [3.10.51-60], saying that Sruti and Smrti mention the

manifestation of the bliss of Brahman, yet Gaudapāda gives the prohibition that "one

should not relish the happiness there" (nasvādayet sukham tatra) [3.10.41; GK 3.45].

Vidyāranya responds that this does not prohibit the intellect from grasping this

happiness, but rather it prohibits remembering it and trying to describe it later when

one has come out of enstasis (vyutthāna). This constitutes another attachment to

relishing this happiness and describing it. The mind of a yogin might come out from

time to time wishing to relish happiness or might come out because of the experience

of "cold, wind, or mosquitoes" [3.10.56]. He must bring the mind back into

unification again in order to allow Brahman to manifest continually.

The knower's principal aim is to root out as much as possible the bad latent

tendencies, habits, desires, and so on still lurking in him and finally to completely

quiet the mental apparatus in which these tendencies arise. Only then is there nothing

left to do. He has to practice his own personal work, such as friendliness and so on,

65

according to the specific defects in his character. Ultimately he discards even the need

for good latent tendencies. He must then practice the latent tendency of pure

consciousness and the yogic discipline as described by the YS and achieve the state of

enstasis in which all parts of the structure of cognition are gathered together in

completely controlled stillness. Only then he may be said to have achieved all there is

to achieve.

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Notes

1 Donatoni (1995) p. 39 n.1 states that this same distinction is evident in the commentaries of Sureśvara, and that Anandagiri found it in Sankara, citing an example in Anandagiri's Bhagavad Gīta Bhāșya Vivecana in his commentary on BhG 4.21.

2 In particular Vedānta Deśika's Satadūșani, refutation 31. For a discussion of this refutation, see S. M. Srinivasa Chari, Advaita and Viśistādaita: A Study based on Vedānta Deśika's Satadūșani (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976) pp. 170-172.

3 jīvataḥ puruşasya kartrtvabhoktrtvasukhaduhkhādilakșanaś cittadharmaḥ kleśarūpatvād bandho bhavati, tasya nivāraņam jīvanmuktiḥ. [1.3.2]

See 1.4.8 where Vidyaranya cites LYV 3.1.88. The Adyar and AnSS editions, and some mss. have: nrnām jnānaikanisthānām ātmajnānavicāriņām / sā jīvanmuktatodeti videhamuktateva yā // See also 1.5.7 and Chapter 1, n.31 where the variant reading evam vidhayā videhamuktyā sadrśatvokter of the Adyar and AnSS editions would refer to LYV 3.1.88.

5 Ibid. In this case, LYV 3.1.88 reads: sā jīvanmuktatodeti videhamuktataiva yā.

6 Cf. ĪśāU 5.

7 For a discussion on karma in Advaita Vedānta see Fort (1998) pp.8-11.

8 Cf. SK 67: samyagjñānā 'dhigamād dharmādīnām akāranaprāptau / tisthati samskāravaśāc cakrabhramavad dhrtaśarīrah // See Sprockhoff (1964) n. 29 where he notes the image of the spinning wheel in SK 67 and gives some of the history of its interpretation as referring to liberation-in-life.

9 For a study of how the problem of operative action was dealt with by Sankara and later Advaita, see Lance Nelson, "Living Liberation in Sankara and Classical Advaita: Sharing the Holy Waiting of God," in Fort and Mumme (1996) pp. 17-62, esp. pp. 27-38. I think the solving of this problem is most relevant to Vidyaranya's philosophic program, and while it is well known from BSBh 2.1.3 that Sankara thought yogic practice is only preparatory and conducive to the knowledge of truth obtained from the Upanisads, Nelson finds instances where even Sankara could not completely explain how knowledge of Brahman produces ultimate liberation and seems also to have had to endorse some sort of yogic efforts beyond the attainment of knowledge: "One would not expect to find the great Advaitin slighting jñāna in favor of karma. But at least in the case of prārabdha-karma he does. In his commentary on BU 1.4.7, to give the most remarkable example, he speaks of the 'weakness of the operation of knowledge (jñāna- pravrtti-daurbalya),' in comparison with that of prärabdha: 'Because the fruition of the karma that has produced the body is inevitable, activity of speech, mind, and body will be necessary, even after the attainment of knowledge. As the flight of the arrow that has been released [is stronger than any effort to arrest it], the karma that has already become active is stronger [than right knowledge].' In the face of this admission, Sankara finds it necessary to add an uncharacteristic reference to yogic praxis. The Brahman- knower, in some cases, may need to employ methods of disciplined concentration to overcome the power of prärabdha-karma: 'Therefore one must maintain a continuous stream of recollection of Self- knowledge by having recourse to the strength of disciplines (sādhana) such as renunciation and detachment.'" (p. 28, emphasis mine)

0 See Sprockhoff (1964) pp. 234-236, and Fort (1998) pp. 104-105. For a book-length discussion on the states of consciousness doctrine in Advaita Vedänta see Andrew Fort, The Self and its States (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990).

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11 BSBh 3.1.1: nanvanyā śrutir jalūkāvat pūrvadeham na muñcati yāvan na dehāntaram ākramatīti darśayati -"tad yathā trņajalāyukā [BāU 4.4.3] iti. tatrāpyappariveșțitasyaiva jīvasya karmopasthāpitapratipattavya dehavișayabhāvanā dīrghībhāvamātram jalūkayopamīyata ity avirodhaḥ.

12 1.3.11: athavā prārabdham karma yathā tattvajñānāt prabalam tathā tasmād api karmaņo yogābhyāsaḥ prabalo 'stu. The imperative third person of Vas astu expresses here possibility or potential.

13 For a study of the knowledge of truth as understood in the earlier Upanisadic literature, see Sprockhoff, "Die Vorbereitung der Vorstellung von der Erlösung bei Lebzeiten in den Upanisads," WZKS 6 (1962) 153 ff. I have translated tattvajñāna everywhere as a genitive tatpuruşa, "knowledge of truth." Donatoni (1995) p. 39, n. 3 points out that Abhyankar in his Advaitamoda paragraph 3.12 interprets tattvajñāna as either a genitive tatpurusa, or as a karmadhāraya in the sense of "knowledge that is reality."

14 See S. S. Raghavachar, Viśistādvaita (Madras: University of Madras, 1977). In this public lecture on Viśiştādvaita he says: "By bhakti is meant a form of knowledge, for ultimately love is just knowledge of what is a source of joy to the knower. This is not the knowledge of the scriptures. That knowledge, however necessary, is lower. It is not the knowledge gained through divine self-revelation. That would constitute the very end pursued, the phala itself. Bhakti must be an intermediate type, rising beyond and on the basis of scriptural revelation, but striving after the final perceptual experience. So it is properly called meditation. It is a conscious and willed practice of upāsana or dhyāna, intense concentration characterized by intense love. When the Upanisads say that only jñāna liberates, they signify this exercise of intelligence by way of perpetual, ever-growing and imaginatively vivid meditation on God with utmost love towards object and therefore towards the meditation itself. So bhakti, in short, is living mediation on God. The maturation of it in point of magnitude and of depth brings about the saving illumination" (pp. 55-56).

5 See Wilhelm Halbass's essay "The Concept of Experience" in India and Europe: An Essay in Understanding, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988) pp. 378-402.

16 Ibid. "Sankara uses such terms as anubhava rarely and cautiously. But this does not mean that experience is not very significant for his thinking and his interpretation of the Veda. On the contrary-the Upanisads are texts which teach or indicate the knowledge of brahman (brahmajñāna), and that means ultimate experience. Sankara uses the example of sense perception, of the sheer perceptual, experiential giveness of something, in order to illustrate the nature of brahmanjñana and to distinguish it from anything that can be produced or pursued by human action. However, that experience which the Veda itself teaches as a transcendent soteriological goal, the sheer undisguised presence of brahman, should not be confused with "personal experiences," or "observations" which one might use as evidence for or against the Veda. The Veda reveals brahman and its modes of presence; and it legitimizes anubhava as a mode of access to it. "Instead of being a documentation of subjective experience, the Veda is an objective structure with guides, controls and gives room to legitimate experience, as well as legitimate argumentation. Sankara compares the Veda to a sun which shines into the world of appearance, orienting man towards what transcends such appearance and making true seeing possible. It is an objective, transpersonal epiphany, an authorless, yet didactically well-organized body of soteriological instruction, which distinguishes between different levels of qualification, eligibility or mandate (adhikāra). It adjusts its message, in its work and knowledge portions, accordingly. Although its ultimate message is that of the unity and identity of ätman and brahman, it carefully structures the path towards such unity through the multiplicity of appearance." (p. 388)

17 2.8.7: "But for Janaka knowledge of truth arose suddenly like fruit falling from the sky merely by listening to the Siddha Gīta, as a result of the ripening of the vast quantity of his merit accumulated in previous lives."

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18 See Olivelle (1987) pp. 126-127.

19 See below, Chapter 2, n.30.

20 Compare the roots Vvas class 1: (1) to dwell, reside, stay, and (2) exist, be found in; and Vvās class 10:

Apte's dictionary. (1) to scent, perfume, incense, fumigate, make fragrant, (2) to steep, infuse, and (3) to spice, season. Cf.

21 sampad: fortune. This term has been translated variously in the BhG. I have chosen the term "fortune" to indicate what one arrives at in life by fate or chance, similar to the term "lot" chosen by Franklin Edgerton. This is a more neutral sense and has less to do with riches or success. Another even more neutral sense of the root sam pad is "to take place," and we may understand the term sampad as "what takes place," "what comes together," or simply as "a grouping." Therefore the BhG may simply be listing traits with each sampad as the Divine or Demonic "group (of traits)."

22 See Karl Potter, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Advaita Vedānta up to Sankara and his Pupils, vol. 3 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981): "It is evident that Samkara does not teach withdrawal from the work at any point along the path of spiritual progress, even at the samnyāsa or jīvanmukta stage. The samnyāsin is working out this karma, and although from the higher standpoint he is not "acting," this makes not difference at all fro the lower standpoint, which is only standpoint from which questions about social mores matter. As far as the rest of us are concerned, the samnyāsin is acting-he eats, sleeps, and moves around-and furthermore, he is doing so motivated by vāsanās determined by his karmic residues. What kind of vāsanās these are must, then, depend on what kind of residues he has stored up, which in turn must depend on the acts he has performed in previous lives, and earlier in this one" (pp. 35-36).

23 See H. W. Bodewitz, Jaiminīya Brahmana I, 1065: Translation and Commentary With a Study: Agnihotra and Prānāgnihotra, Orientalia Rheno-Traiectina, vol. 17 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1973).

24 See below, 4.2.27-34, where Vidyāranya cites and comments on the passage in the Mahānarāyana Upanisad which homologizes the renouncer's activity with the sacrifice. See also, Olivelle (1992) p. 68-71.

25 See Walter Kaelber, Tapta Marga: Asceticism and Initiation in Vedic India(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989) p. 101-124. The connection of yogic breath-control with tapas, or "austerity,' "ascetic heat," and the sacrifice, as in the "interiorization of the sacrifice," is well known and has been noted often by others. See for instance Mircea Eliade Yoga: Immortality and Freedom (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969) pp. 106-114.

26 Cf. below, 3.10.1, where Vidyāranya's objector refers to enstasis as "therapy for the mind" (cittacikitsaka).

27 "This flow of mental activity in the form of Brahman and without egoism, produced by the intensity of the practice of meditation, is enstasis-with-conceptualization" [MukU 2.53].

28 Following the statement on meditation (dhyana) which is the seventh limb, the Vedāntasāra states: samādhis tūktaḥ savikalpaka eva. See Swami Nikhilananda, Vedāntasāra or The Essence of Vedānta of Sādanda Yogīndra, 5th Impression (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1968) pp. 121-122.

29 vyutthāna: coming out (of enstasis). I have chosen to translate this term differently than others have, e.g., "agitation," "emergence," "distraction."

30 Cf. YS 1.41: grahītṛ, grāhya, grahaņa.

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31 See Tarkasamgraha of Annambhatta, sec. 42, ed. Yashwant Vasudev Athalaye, tr. Mahadev Rajaram Bodas(Pune: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1988) pp. 29-31 and 215-20.

32 This citation of LYV shows that Vidyäranya has some awareness of the diverging views in his source concerning yoga versus knowledge. I argue that Vidyāranya interprets the knowledge referred to in his source as the Sankya path of knowledge as contrasted with the Yoga path. Based on V. Raghavan's study in "The Yogavasistha Quotations in the Jīvanmuktiviveka of Vidyaranya," Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society 12 (1938-1939) pp. 142-156, we may presume Vidyāranya had before him the LYV, and not the longer, earlier YV. Slaje (1998) would argue, however, that Vidyāranya was aware of the earlier, longer YV tradition before the abstracted LYV version. Slaje says in his published remarks that he is even convinced of Raghavan's study, as well as his own investigations into the LYV abstract available in South Indian Grantha mss. which do not extend past the Sarga 6.15, just as Vidyaranya's citations of it do not. Slaje then remarks: "Still, we cannot exclude the possibility that he was at least acquainted with the text of one of the longer versions, but nevertheless avoided exploiting it for his purposes." (p. 104) I, for one, cannot see why we have to include this possibility that Vidyāranya knew of a longer YV version. We may, however, accept Slaje's excellent analysis of the Moksopaya recension showing that it did not endorse yoga or the doctrine of samādhi from the astāngayoga of Patañjali (p. 112-113). This tradition defines samādhi quite differently from that of Patañjali. It involves a detached state based on a prior development through vicāra and jñana that is wakeful and frees one of intentionality and involvement with the world. The final vāsanā remaining in the jīvanmukta allows him to see life in a calm, detached attitude, "causing calm actions as if life were indeed nothing but a game: things lose their importance for someone who-in the absence of the notion of an individual self-has no opportunity to establish intentional references to himself or rather, to his self" (Slaje, 2000a:178-180). It seems to me that we also cannot exclude the possibility that Vidyāranya's understanding of yoga by which he interprets passages such as LYV 5.9.72 is contrary to this understanding of samādhi that Slaje has recovered from the Moksopaya because Vidyāraņya did not know about it, and not, as Slaje argues, because he wanted to change the YV tradition. Whether or not Vidyāranya did know about it, this is not relevant because it seems to me much more likely that Vidyāraņya would place great importance on Patañjali's version of samādhi and ascetical samnyāsa because this is the tradition he did know. Thus as I argued above in 1.4 of this introduction, Vidyāranya, being a constructive theologian, interpreted his later version of the LYV based on his own Advaita Vedänta background and study of the YS and Sankhya, which were probably more accessible to him, and not the earlier layers of the YV tradition Slaje has revealed.

33 Śankara, however, interprets laya in the GK 3.42 to refer to susupti, "deep sleep," and not the ordinary sleep of the body. See Sagaudapādīyakārikārthavavedīyamāņdūkyopanișat AnSS 10, ed. Vișņutanu Abaijiśarma (Pune: Ānandāśrama Sansthā, 1984) p. 150-151.

34 Distraction (viksepa) in this instance may be understood as the same thing as the "occasionally distracted" state (viksipta) of Vyāsa in his YSBh 1.1.

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JĪVANMUKTIVIVEKA

(TREATISE ON LIBERATION-IN-LIFE)

Chapter One: The Authoritative Basis for Liberation-in-Life

1.0 Benediction

1. I venerate the Great Lord Vidyatīrtha, whose breath is the Vedas [BāU 2.4.10; MtraU 6.32] and who created the whole world from the Vedas.

2. I will discuss separately the renunciation-for-knowledge (vividişāsamnyāsa) and the renunciation-of-the-knower (vidvatsamnyasa). The former is the cause of bodiless-liberation (videhamukti); the latter is the cause of liberation-in-life (jīvanmukti), respectively.

3. The reason for renunciation is detachment, because of the Vedic declaration: "The very day when one becomes detached, one should wander forth." [JU 4 p. 64] But its divisions are found in the Purāņas.

4. Detachment is declared to be of two types: sharp and sharper. When the sharp type is present, the yogi should renounce into the kutīcaka status,

5. and if he is strong enough, into the bahūdaka status. When the sharper type is present, one should renounce into the hamsa state, and if he is desirous of liberation, into the paramahamsa state, which is the means of attaining knowledge directly.

6. "Away with samsära" is when a temporary thought occurs at the time of the loss of a son, wife, wealth, and so on; it is the dull state of detachment.

7. "In this world let me not have a son, wife, etc.," that sort of firm mind is the sharp detachment.

8. "Let there never be a world subject to rebirth," that is the sharper detachment. There is not any renunciation in the dull level of detachment.

9. In the sharp type, there may be two types of renunciation on the basis of the ability or inability to undertake pilgrimages, and so forth. The two types are the kuticaka and the bahūdaka. Both of these are triple-staffed.

10. In the sharper type, there are two types of renunciation, according to the distinction of Brahmaloka and liberation. The Hamsa knows the truth in that world (Brahmaloka); the paramahamsa knows the truth in this world.

11. Now, the practices of these (renouncers) have been described by us in the commentary on the Pārāśarasmrti. Here the paramahamsa is described.

12. The paramahamsa is thought to be of two types: one desirous of knowledge and a knower. The Vajasaneyins have prescribed renunciation for one desirous of knowledge for the purpose of acquiring knowledge.

13. "Wanderers renounce desiring this world." [BaU 4.4.22] Now the meaning of this will be explained in prose for the benefit of those who are dull-minded.

1.1 The Renunciation-for-Knowledge

1. Now, the world is twofold, namely, the world that is the Self and the world that is

the non-Self. 2. Of these, in the third chapter of the Brhadāranyaka, the world that

is the non-Self is declared to be threefold:

Now, there are clearly three worlds: the world of men, the world of the ancestors, and the world of the gods. This world of men here is to be won only by sons and by no other (action). The world of the ancestors is to be won by ritual action. The world of the gods is to be won by knowledge. [BāU 1.5.16]

3. The world of the Self is also declared in the same text:

Clearly, for one who departs from this world not having seen his own world, that, being unknown, would be of no use to him. [BāU 1.4.15]

4. And:

He should venerate the Self alone as his world. If he venerates the Self alone as his world, his rites indeed do not diminish. [BāU1.4.15]

5. Also in the sixth chapter:

What would we do with progeny, we for whom this Self is this world? [BaU 4.4.22]

6. Thus in:

Desiring this alone as their world, the renouncers undertake the life of

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wandering, [BāU 4.4.22]

it is understood that the world that is the Self is meant, 7. because of the fact that the

term "this" refers to the Self that is introduced by the statement beginning:

This is the great, unborn Self. [BāU 4.4.22]

8. The term "world" (loka) is derived from (the verb) "it is seen" (lokyate), i.e.,

"it is experienced" (anubhūyate). So, accordingly, the intended meaning of the Sruti is

this: they wander forth desiring the experience of the Self. 9. The Smrti also declares:

For the purpose of attaining knowledge of Brahman, the one named paramahamsa should have all the means such as mental control and sense control (śāntidānti). [NpU p. 195]

10. Because it has been brought about by the desire for knowledge that has arisen

through Vedic recitations and so on, properly performed in this life here or in a former

life, this is called "renunciation-for-knowledge." 11. And this renunciation, which is

cause of knowing, is twofold: the one consisting only in the abandonment of rites1

and the like, which produces rebirth; the other constitutes an order in society (aśrama)

that is connected with carrying a staff and the like, which are preceded by uttering the

praișa ritual formula.2 12. And abandonment is declared in the Taittirīya and other

Upanișads:

Some have reached immortality by abandonment, and not by rites, offspring, or wealth. [TA 10.10.21; KaiU 1.3]

13. Even women are qualified to undertake this abandonment. For this reason,

the statement of Maitreyi was given in sacred scripture:

What would I do with that which doesn't make me immortal? Tell me, Lord, what you know. [BāU 4.5.4]

14. When, for whatever reason, Vedic students, householders, and forest-dwellers are

prevented from entering the renunciant order, there is nothing to prevent the mental

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abandonment of rites and the like for the purpose of knowledge, even while they

remain performing the duties (dharma-s) of their own order, because we see many

such knowers of truth in the Srutis, Smrtis, Itihāsas, and Purānas.3 15. The order of

the paramahamsa, which is the cause of knowing and consists in carrying the staff and

the like, has been treated at length in many ways by earlier teachers. Therefore, we

will not deal with it.

1.2 The Renunciation-of-the-Knower

1. Now we consider the renunciation-of-the-knower. The renunciation-of-the-knower

is that which is brought about by those who have come to know the highest truth by

properly performing Vedic study, reflection, and meditation. 2. This is what

Yājñavalkya carried out. For example, the blessed crest-jewel of knowers,

Yājñavalkya-after he had defeated the sages, beginning with Aśvalāyana, by

explaining the truth in various ways in the discussion on one seeking victory and by

enlightening Janaka through a variety of short and long explanations in the discourse

of one who has gone beyond passion-wishing to awaken Maitreyi, declared to her

the (the rite of) renunciation, which he himself was about to undertake, so as to make

her quickly turn to the truth. Then, having awakened her, he performed (the rite of)

renunciation. 3. This is given in the Vedic tradition of the Vajasaneyins both at the

beginning and end of the Maitreyī Brāhmaņa.

Now when he was about to begin another activity of life, Yājñavalkya said, "Maitreyī as you see, my dear, I am about to wander forth from this station," [BāU 4.5.1-2]

4. And also:

"That, my dear, you should know is the extent of immortality." Having spoken

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thus, Yājñavalkya went forth. [BāU 4.5.15]

5. Even in the Kahola Brāhmaņa [BāU 3], the renunciation-of-the-knower is given:

Clearly, having known just that Self, the Brähmanas rise above the desire for sons, wealth, and the world; afterwards they live as mendicants. [BāU 3.5.1]

6. One should not presume that this statement refers to the renunciation-for-

knowledge, because it would result in the annulment of the meaning of the word(s)

"having known" (viditvā), which expresses a previous time with a "tva" suffix, and

because the word "Brähmana" expresses the one who knows Brahman. 7. Nor is the

word "Brähmana" here the designation of caste, because in the remainder of the

passage "(from) then (on a) Brāhmana" [BāU 3.5.1] was declared with reference to

the direct realization of Brahman, which is attained by Vedic study, reflection, and

meditation (śravanamanananididhyāsana) and is referred to by the terms "learning,"

"living as a simpleton," and "remaining silent" (pāndityabālyamauna), respectively.

8. [Objection] Does the word "Brähmana" in this passage not also refer to

someone who has undertaken the renunciation-for-knowledge and is living as a

scholar and so on?

Therefore, a Brahmana having completely mastered learning may wish to live as a simpleton. [BāU 3.5.1]

9. [Reply] No, because the use of the word "Brähmana" there refers to future

activity. Otherwise, how would the word "then" be used (in the text) "(from) then (on

a) Brāhmaņa," a term that refers to a time after the employment of the means? 10. In

the Śarīra Brāhmaņa [BāU 4] also, both the renunciation-for-knowledge and the

renunciation-of-the-knower are clearly specified.

This (Self) alone having known, one becomes a sage (muni). Desiring this

4.4.22] alone as their world, the renouncers undertake the life of wandering. [BāU

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11. The state of the sage is one in which a person is disposed to reflection

(mananaśīlatvam). This is possible only when there is nothing else that has to be

done. By implication, therefore, it ("sage") refers only to the manifest (samnihitah).4

12. This is made clear in the rest of the sentence:

Indeed, the ancient people who knew this didn't want offspring, (thinking) "What shall we do with offspring, we for whom this Self is this world?" Indeed they rise above desire for sons, wealth, and the world, and afterwards they live as mendicants. [BaU 4.4.22]

"This world" means it is being directly experienced.

13. [Objection] In this passage, after attracting (someone) with the fruits of the

state of a sage, just this (type of renunciation) is explained at length in the rest of the

sentence that contains an injunction concerning the renunciation-for-knowledge.

Consequently, one need not conceive of another type of renunciation.

14. [Reply] This is not so, because of the fact that knowing itself is the result of

the renunciation-for-knowledge. Moreover, one should not suspect that knowledge

and the state of the sage are identical, because we see that these two, of which the

former is prior to the latter according to the statement "(This alone) having known,

one becomes a sage," have the nature of the means and the goal.

15. [Objection] The state of the sage is simply another, albeit highly developed,

condition of knowledge. Hence, it is a result, through the intermediary of knowledge,

of the previously mentioned renunciation itself.

16. [Reply] Certainly. It is for this very reason that we posit this renunciation,

which is different from and constitutes the result of the renunciation that constitutes

the means. Just as the renouncer seeking knowledge should carry out Vedic study

and so on for the purpose of knowing the truth, so also should the renouncer who is a

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knower carry out elimination of the mind (manonāśa) and eradication of latent

tendencies (vāsanāksaya) for the purpose of liberation-in-life. We will deal with this

in greater detail later on.5

17. Even though there is the subdistinction of these two types of renunciation,

nevertheless, having combined them under the the general rubric of paramahamsa, the

Smrtis consider there to be four in number: "Mendicants are of four kinds." [MhB

13.129.29]6 18. From the Jäbāla Sruti we gather that both the former and the latter

two types of renunciation fall within the category of paramahamsa. For in that text,

when being asked by Janaka about renunciation, Yājñavalkya first explained the

renunciation-for-knowledge, together with the rule regarding the special qualification

for it and the rites a person should perform after he has the necessary qualification.

[JU 4 pp. 63-67] Later on, when Atri raised the objection as to whether a man who

has abandoned the sacred string retains the rank of a Brähmana, he established that

knowledge of the Self alone constitutes the sacred string. [JU 5 pp. 67-69] 19.

Therefore we conclude that it is the state of a paramahamsa because of the absence of

an external sacred string.

20. So also in another section, the same text introduces the subject thus: "Of

these, the paramahamsas are" [JU 6 p. 69], then gives examples of Brahma-knowers

such as Samavartaka and others who are liberated-in-life and goes on to describe

renouncers who are knowers:

Those who have no visible emblems and practices, are not insane, but behave as if insane. [JU 6 p. 69]

21. Likewise, the text enjoins the renunciation-for-knowledge, which is characterized

by the single-staff, for one who is a triple-staff carrier in the statement:

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When abandoning the triple-staff, the water pot, the sling, begging bowl, strainer, tuft of hair, sacred string, and all this, saying "Bhū svāhā" in water, he should seek the Self. [JU 6 p. 70]

22. Then the text describes the renunciation-of-the-knower, which constitutes the

result of the renunciation-for-knowledge, thus:

He is called paramahamsa who is one who keeps the form he had at birth [naked], is indifferent to pairs of opposites, has no possessions, is firmly set on the way of Brahman, has a pure mind, randomly begs with the belly as a begging-bowl' for the sake of supporting life, is impartial to gain and loss; (making an abode in) a deserted house, temple, haystack, and anthill, the root of a tree, a potter's house, a fireplace, a sandy riverbank, a mountain cave or cleft, the hollow of a tree, a river bed in a deserted place; he does not strive, has no egoism, with an aim of meditation in the self-luminous Brahman, he has steadiness in the supreme Self; dedicated to rooting out impure actions, he abandons the body by means of renunciation. [JU 6 p. 70]

23. Therefore it is established that both of these (types of renunciation) have the

character of the state of a paramahamsa.

24. Even though we have determined (that both of these are included in) the state

of a paramahamsa, we should also admit their subclassification because they are

associated with different duties (dharma-s). We can see the fact that their duties are

different by examining the Aruņi and Paramahamsa Upaniads.

25. When he was asked by student Aruni about the renunciation-for-knowledge,

which consists in abandoning all ritual actions, such as the topknot, the sacred string,

private Vedic recitation, and private recitation of gāyatrī, (the question) "By what,

Lord, can I give up rites completely?" [ArU 1 p. 3], teacher Prajāpati explained the

abandonment of everything in the statement beginning with "topknot, sacred string."

[ÄrU 1 pp. 3-4] He then enjoined taking the staff and so on with the words "He

should take a staff and a robe" [ArU 1 p. 5]8 and enjoined as obligatory the duties of

the order (aśramadharma-s), which are the cause of knowing,

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26. He should bathe at the beginning of the three junctures of the day (trisamdhyā-s), he should realize union in the Self in enstasis (samādhi), and turn to all the Vedas, which are the Aranyakas, i.e., he should turn to the Upanișads. [ĀrU 2 pp. 6-7]

27. When he was asked by Närada about the renunciation-of-the-knower: "What

is the path of the paramahamsa yogins?" [PhU 1 p. 45] the Lord teacher

(Prajāpati) explained renunciation as before, beginning with the words: "(That man

should renounce his own) sons, friends ... " 28. Then he explained that taking up the

staff and so on has a worldly motive (laukikatvam), in the words:

He should take up the loincloth, the staff, and robe, for the good of his own body and as a benefit to the world. [PhU 1 p. 46]

29. Then he denied that that custom is based on scriptural authority (by the statement):

"That is not principal." He then declared that the absence of emblems such as the staff

and so on is founded on scripture:

If it is asked "What is principal?" (he said,) What is principal? paramahamsa lives without the staff, topknot, sacred string, and robe. [PhU 1 p. 46]

30. And further, with the words "Neither the heat nor the cold (affect him)" and "with

the sky as clothing, paying no homage," [PhU 2 p. 47; 4 p. 50] he explained that it

goes beyond social conventions. 31. Finally, he stated that it ultimately results in

direct realization of Brahman with the section ending:

"I am Brahman, which is perfect bliss and unitary consciousness:" realizing this, he is one who has done all there is to do. [PhU 4 p. 55]

32. Hence, because of the fact that these states contain different duties, there is indeed

a great distinction between these two (types of renunciation). 33. Even in the Smrtis

this distinction can be seen in the way I have pointed out.

34. Statements such as this refer to renunciation-for-knowledge:

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Having seen that the world is simply without substance, those desiring to see the substantial wander forth, without getting (married), seeking the highest detachment. [BrS 2.534; NpU p. 139]9

35. Yoga10 is characterized by the life of action (pravrtti). Knowledge is characterized by renunciation. Therefore, the wise should renounce here, with knowledge as his objective. [NpU p. 139]

36. Statements such as this refer to the renunciation-of-the-knower:

When That is known as the highest eternal Brahman, then having taken the single staff, he should abandon the topknot together with the sacred string. [NpU p. 139]11

37. Having realized perfectly the highest Brahma, he should abandon everything and wander forth. [untraced]

38. [Objection] As in the case of the fine arts, sometimes the desire to know is

indeed produced also by mere curiosity. One also observes the state of knower in a

person who sees superficially, who is also thought of as a learned man. But these two

are not seen to be wanderers. Therefore, what is the type of desire for knowledge and

state of a knower that is meant here?

39. [Reply] When sharp hunger arises, one doesn't want to do anything but eat,

and one cannot tolerate any delay in eating. In this same way, there arises complete

disgust regarding the rites that cause birth, and a great urge to undertake the means of

knowing, beginning with Vedic study and rest. Such is the desire for knowledge that

causes renunciation. 40. The condition of the state of the knower is declared in the

Upadeśasāhasrī:

For one who has the knowledge that suspends the notion that the body is the Self and is like that notion, should he be in the Self, he is released without wishing it. [US 4.5]

41. Also in the Sruti passage:

The knot of the heart is split, all doubts are cut off, and his actions come to an end when that, the highest is the lower (parāvara), is seen. [MuņU 2.2.8]

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42. He, with respect to whom even the "highest" state, such as that of the

Hiranyagarbha, is "lower," is "parāvara." "Heart" refers to the intellect. Its

superimposition of identity on the witness is called "knot" because it is of the nature

of a strong conjoining like a knot, created as it is by ignorance that has no beginning.

Such things (as these) are the doubts: Is the Self a witness or a doer? Even in the case

of its being the witness, is it Brahman or not? Even in the case that it is Brahman, is it

possible to know this by the intellect or not? Even in the case of its being possible,

does knowing that alone bring about liberation or not? "Actions" refers to what has

not begun (bearing fruit and is) the cause of future births. Seeing the Self brings

about the cessation of these three, namely the knot and so on, because they are created

by ignorance.

43. This meaning is also found in the Smrti:

For one whose nature is not to make an I, and whose intellect is not tainted, even though he kills these worlds, he does not kill and is not bound. [BhG 18.17]

44. "One whose" means one who knows Brahman. "Nature" means existence, one's

true nature, in this case the Self. "Is not to make an I" means that he is not inwardly

involved because of a superimposition of identity by making an "I." Taint of intellect

is doubt. In the absence of that (doubt), he is not bound even by killing the "three

worlds," let alone by any other action. That is the meaning.

45. [Objection] If this is so, because future births are prevented simply by the

knowledge of truth, which is the result of renunciation-for-knowledge, there is no use

troubling with the renunciation-of-the-knower, because it is impossible to get rid of

the remainder of the present birth without experiencing it.

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46. [Reply] No, because of the fact that renunciation-of-the-knower is the cause

of liberation-in-life. Therefore, just as renunciation-for-knowledge is to be carried out

for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, so also the renunciation-of-the-knower is to

be carried out for liberation-in-life. Thus ends the discussion of the renunciation-of-

the knower.

1.3 The Nature of Liberation-in-Life

1. [Objection] What is this liberation-in-life? What authoritative basis (pramāna) is

there for it? How is it achieved? What is the purpose of achieving it?

2. [Reply] We respond: The nature of the mind of a living person-a nature that

is characterized by such things as being a doer or an experiencer, happiness and

suffering-constitutes bondage because it consists in affliction (kleśa). Removal of

this (bondage) is liberation-in-life.

3. [Objection] Is bondage removed (a) from the witness or (b) from the mind?

Not the first, because bondage is removed only through knowledge of the truth. Nor

in the second, because it is not possible. When one can remove fluidity from water, or

heat from fire, then there is the possibility of removing the notion of being a doer from

the mind; the fact that these attributes are a part of the nature of the things discussed is

common to all.

4. [Reply] This is not so, because while their complete removal is not possible,

overcoming them, however, is possible. Just as one overcomes the fluidity of water

by mixing soil with it, just as one overcomes the heat of fire with such things as a

jewel or a mantra, so also it is possible to overcome all mental activities with the

practice of yoga.

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5. [Objection] When operative action (prarabdhakarma)12 has blocked the

knowledge of truth, which is engaged in destroying the totality of ignorance and its

effects, it fixes the body, the sense organs, and the like, to giving its (operative

action's) own results. Moreover, it isn't possible to bring about the experience of

happiness or suffering, and the like, except through mental activities. How then is it

(mental activity) overcome?

6. [Reply] There is no difficulty, because liberation-in-life, which is the

achievement of this overcoming, is included within the category of the result of

operative action by the fact that it consists in the highest happiness.13

7. [Objection] In that case, that acquired action itself will bring about liberation-

in-life; there's no need for a person's effort.

8. [Reply] This argument is the same even in regard to agriculture, commerce,

and other efforts.

9. [Objection] In such things as agriculture, personal effort is required because, in

regard to an action which is itself invisible, it is not possible for it to produce a result

without the application of a visible instrument.

10. [Reply] The same justification would apply to liberation-in-life. Even when

there is personal effort, wherein one does not see the resulting yield of agriculture and

the like, there we must assume there is an impediment created by some more powerful

action. And that powerful action hinders only by producing a visible complex of

conditions, consisting in the absence of rain and so on, which is helpful to itself. This

hindrance is removed by an action such as the Karīristi14 rite, which is opposed to that

hindrance and supports (personal effort) in a stronger manner. This action removes

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the hindrance only by producing a visible complex of conditions, consisting in rain

and so on, helpful to itself.

11. In short, by greatly supporting a belief in operative action, Sir, you can't even

think with the mind about the futility15 of personal effort consisting in yogic

discipline. Rather, because operative action is more powerful than knowledge of

truth, we could take it that yogic discipline is more powerful than this action.

Accordingly, we find Uddālaka [LYV 5.6] and others abandoning the body by their

own free will. Even if such yoga is not possible for people such as us who live a

short time, nevertheless, what problem is there in yoga merely to suppress mental

activities such as desire?

12. If you do not accept the strength of effort sanctioned by Sästra, then it would

follow that all Sästras beginning with medicine right up to liberation are useless.

Merely because there is sometimes a disappointment owing to the result of action, we

can't assume that action in general is ineffectual. Otherwise, having seen an

occasional defeat, all kings would dissolve their armies of elephants and horses, etc.

13. For the same reason, Ānandabodhācārya said:

One does not give up food out of fear of indigestion, nor does one not cook a meal out of the fear of beggars, nor does one give up clothes out of a fear of lice. [Prm p. 21]

14. We gather clearly the power of effort sanctioned by Sästra in the dialogue of

Vasistha and Rāma beginning with "Everything here" and ending with "afterward

let go of even that, and stand virtuous."

Everyone attains everything here in this samsaric existence, O Son of Raghu, 15. Vasistha:

by properly performed personal effort. [LYV 2.1.1]

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"Everything" means rewards such as sons, wealth, heaven, Brahman loka, etc.

"Personal effort" means effort by people consisting in ritual to acquire sons,

agriculture, commerce, and the Soma sacrifice.

16. The Smrtis say personal effort is twofold: in accord with Sastra and deviating from Sästra. Of these, effort deviating from Sāstra leads to harm, effort in accord with Sastra leads to the highest good. [LYV 2.1.2]

"Deviating from Sästra" refers to such things as sleeping with another's wife and

stealing another's property. "In accord with Sästra" refers to such things as carrying

out perpetual and occasional rituals. "Harm" is hell, while "highest good" is

liberation, namely, the highest among good things such as heaven.

17. That aim which is beneficial is brought about by personal effort (endowed) with qualities such as association with good people and Sästra cultivated well from childhood. [LYV 2.1.3]

"Well" is fully, i.e., perfectly fulfilled. One needs to supply the word "endowed"

before "with qualities." "Beneficial" means consisting of the ultimate bliss.

18. Śrī Rāma: O Muni! I stand just as the prior web of latent tendencies (vāsana) compel me to. What will a limited creature such as I do? [LYV 2.1.4]

"Latent tendencies" refers to residual impressions (samskāra) contained in the

individual self (jīva) consisting of either what is right and what is wrong

(dharmādharma).

Precisely because of that, O Räma, you will attain the highest good (śreyah)16 19. Vasistha:

only by your personal effort and by none other. [LYV 2.1.5]

Precisely because you are subject to latent tendencies, in order to oppose the

subjugation, you require personal work (vyāpāra) brought about by one's own energy

(utsāha), produced in the mind, speech, and body.

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20. The multitude of previous latent tendencies is twofold; they are good and bad. Are both found in you, O Rama, or just one of them? [LYV 2.1.6]

The distinction is this: do both what is right and what is wrong (dharmādharma)

propel you, or just one of the them? Even if it is just one, a further alternative of

'good and bad" is established by implication.

21. Of these, if you are swept away by a flood of tendencies that are good, then you will gradually just in this way reach the eternal state without delay. [LYV 2.1.7]

"Of these" means among these options. "Then" means in that case. "Just in this way"

means by the behavior that is conveyed by the good latent tendencies alone without

any other effort. "Eternal state" is liberation.

22. Now if the bad inclination (bhāva) propels you into trouble, then that previous thing should be conquered by your own effort. [LYV 2.1.8]

"Inclination" (bhava) refers latent tendencies. "Then" means in that case. "Effort"

means carrying out duty (dharma) that is opposed to the bad and is sanctioned by

Sāstra. It should be conquered by him himself, but it is not possible to conquer by

means of another person, as in war it is not possible to conquer by means of

soldiers.17

23. One should channel the river of latent tendencies that carry the good and bad ways onto the good path by personal effort. [LYV 2.1.9]

In the alternative when both are present, even though there is no need for effort with

respect to the good latent tendencies, the bad tendencies should be removed by effort

sanctioned by the Sastra. The good alone should be practiced in its place.

24. O Best of the Strong, carry your mind that is entangled with the bad things over to the good things by one's own strong personal aim. [LYV 2.1.10]

"Bad things" refers to such things a stealing another's property and sleeping with

another's wife. "Good things" refers such things as contemplation of the gods, which

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is the meaning of the Sastras. "By personal aim" means by personal effort. "Strong"

means powerful.

25. Like a child, the mind of a person is caused to move from the bad, goes to the good, and vice versa. Therefore one should cause it to move by force. [LYV 2.1.11]

Just as child is prevented from eating clay by directing him to eat fruit, so also it is

possible to restrain even a mind from objects that are opposed to the mind by means

of association with the good.

26. One might coax the child that is the mind quickly by soothing words that lead to equanimity, and not quickly but gradually by strong personal effort. [LYV 2.1.12]

27. There are two ways to make a restive beast enter a stall: one is showing green

grass, scratching it, etc., and the other shouting at it with harsh speech and threatening

it with a stick, etc. Of these two means, one makes the beast enter quickly by the first;

one makes it enter gradually, running here and there, by the second. Likewise, there

are two ways to still the mind: by perceiving enemies, friends, etc., with equanimity

and happiness, and by personal effort such as breath control and withdrawal of the

senses. One will quickly coax the mind by the first way, which is gentle (mrdu) yoga;

one would not coax the mind quickly by the second way, forceful (hatha) yoga, but

only gradually.

28. When the development of (good) latent tendencies comes about in you through the influence of the quick exercise, O Arisūdana, know that the practice has attained its fruit. [LYV 2.1.13]

When the good latent tendencies have arisen through the practice of gentle yoga, then

it should be said that the practice has attained fruit. But you should not worry that it is

impossible because you have practiced for such a short time.

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29. Even in doubt, vigorously bring together just the good (latent tendencies). There isn't any fault, dear one, when there is an excess in the good tendencies. [LYV 2.1.14]

30. When there is doubt as to whether the good latent tendencies being practiced

are complete or not, even then one should certainly continue to practice the good. It is

like this. When a man who has undertaken the one thousand recitations has a doubt

about the tenth hundred, then he should recite one hundred times more. If it was

incomplete, it would become complete and will bear fruit. But if it was complete, by

doing an excess the one thousand recitations are not spoiled.

31. So long as you have not cultivated the mind, you have not realized the highest state. However, to that extent practice what has been determined by the authority of the Gurus and the Sastras. [LYV 2.1.15]

32. Then, when you have extinguished the bad deeds and understood reality, with restraint, you should give up also that flood of good tendencies. [LYV 2.1.16]

33. When having performed by means of an intellect of an agreeable nature that auspicious practice followed by the noble, always bring yourself to that state without sorrow, and afterward let go of even that, and stand virtuous (sādhu). [LYV 2.1.17]

34. The meaning is clear. Therefore there cannot be a dispute over the existence

of liberation-in-life because one can overcome desire and the like by means of the

practice of yoga. Thus ends the description of the nature of liberation-in-life.

1.4 The Characteristics of Liberation-in-Life

1. Declarations in Sruti and Smrti provide us with the authoritative basis of the

existence of liberation-in-life. They are taught in texts such as the Kathavalli. 2.

There is in the Kathavalli the statement:

... and freed from it, he is set free. [KU 5.1]

3. A living person is already freed especially from visible bonds such as desire,

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but when the body dies, one is freed especially from bondage to future births. One is

certainly released from desire and the like prior to the advent of knowing by bringing

about mental control, sense control (śamadama), etc .; nevertheless, at that time the

desires and the like that have already arisen are suppressed through effort.

4. But in the case we are discussing, there is simply no arising of such things as

desire because of the mere non-arising of mental activities. It is for this reason we say

"especially." Likewise, when the world dissolves and the body dies, one is freed

from the bondage to future bodies for a short while. In this case, we said "especially"

with reference to permanent liberation. 5. We read in the Brhadāranyaka:

When all the desires that are lurking in his heart are let go, then the mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman here (in this world). [BaU 4.4.7; KU 6.14]

6. Also in another Sruti:

Although he has sight, he is as if sightless. Although he has hearing, he is as if without ears. Although he has a mind, he is as if with no mind. [Quoted in BSBh 1.1.4]

In like manner, one can also cite similar texts from other sources.

7. In the Smrtis in different places, liberation-in-life is designated by such names

as "steady-in-wisdom" (sthitaprajña), "devotee-of-the-Lord" (bhagavadbhakta),

"transcended-the-qualities" (gunātīta), "Brāhmana," and "beyond-the-castes-and-

orders" (ativarņāśramin). In the conversation between Vasișțha and Rāma

beginning with "In men focused only on knowledge" [LYV 3.1.88] and ending with

'some little thing remains" [LYV 3.1.100], one who is liberated-in-life is taught.

8. Vasiştha: In men focused only on knowledge, and who investigate the knowledge of the self, there arises the state of liberation-in-life that is the very (eva)18 state of bodiless-liberation. [LYV 3.1.88]

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To be "focused only on knowledge" means to abandon all Vedic and worldly

(laukika) ritual. The distinction between these two types of liberation is based merely

on the presence or absence of the body and the senses, but not on experience, because

in both the perception of duality is absent.

9. Śrī Rāma: Tell me, O Brahmana, the characteristics of the bodiless-liberation and liberation-in-life by which I may thus strive by the vision found in the Sāstras. [LYV 3.1.89]

One for whom, behaving even when this continues to exist as it is, it has set, 10. Vasiştha:

it is empty space-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.90]

11. "This," consisting of such things as mountains, rivers, and oceans that are

being perceived together with operations of the body and the senses of the perceiver at

the time of the great dissolution being absorbed by the Supreme Lord, "has set"

because the characteristic form of its existence has been abolished. But in this case (of

the one liberated-in-life) this (abolition of characteristic form) is not so. On the

contrary, the operation of the body, senses, and so on are still present. And because

the mountains, rivers, and so on have not been absorbed by the Supreme Lord, they

are clearly observed by all other beings.

12. In the case of the one liberated-in-life, everything "has set" as in deep sleep

because he does not have mental activities that cause perception of the world. Only

the self-luminous space of consciousness remains. Though a bound person when in

deep sleep has a similarity (to the one liberated-in-life, in that) during that time there

are no mental activities, nevertheless he does not have the state of liberation-in-life

because of the existence of the seed of future mental activities.

13. The shine of his face does not rise or set in pleasure or pain, and he

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subsists on whatever he happens to get-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.91]

14. "The shine of his face" is elation. Even when he encounters pleasure from

garlands, sandal paste, and other ministrations like other people in the world, the

elation does not arise. The setting of the shine of his face is dejection. Even when he

encounters the pain from the decrease of wealth, someone speaking insolently to him,

and so on, he does not become dejected. "Whatever he happens to get" refers to such

things as begged food that he found in the prior course of events generated by

operative action and without any special effort at the time on his part.19 "Subsists"

refers to sustenance of the body. The absence of elation is reasonable because (a) he

is not aware of garlands, sandal paste, and so on, because of his firmness of enstasis

(samādhi), and (b) whenever it happens that he also becomes aware (of them)

unexpectedly when he comes out (from his enstasis), by the firmness of his

discernment, he has no consciousness that one thing should be shunned and another

welcomed.

15. One who remains awake while experiencing deep sleep, and who is never awake, whose understanding (bodha) is free of latent tendencies-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.92]

16. He "remains awake" because his sight and other senses have not ceased to

function, because they remain in contact with their respective sense organs. He

remains "in deep sleep" because he is free of mental activities. Consequently, he is

"never awake" because the waking state as defined in the statement "perceiving

objects through the senses" [PK p. 416] is not present in him. Even when there is

"understanding" (bodha), defects of thought continue to arise, defects consisting in

such things as pride in being a knower of Brahman and desire caused by pleasurable

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objects. Such defects are not found in him, because he lacks the mental activities

resulting from latent tendencies. Consequently, he is "free of latent tendencies."

17. One who, though behaving in conformity with craving, hatred, fear, and so on, internally he is clear like the sky-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.93]

18. "In conformity with craving" is the activity of eating and so on. "In

conformity with hatred" is the aversion to Buddhists, Kapālikas, and so on. "In

conformity with fear" is running away from such things as snakes and tigers. The

words "and so on" refer to jealousy and the like. In conformity with jealousy is

carrying out enstasis in a manner more than other yogins. Even though at the time of

coming out (from enstasis) (vyutthana) such behavior takes place because of previous

habit, one whose mind is still is inwardly clear because he is free from impurity. His

case is just like that of the sky, which, though it is contaminated with smoke, dust,

clouds, and the like, it is nevertheless extremely clear because it is by its very nature

untainted.

19. One whose nature is not to be egotistical and whose intellect is not tainted, whether he is performing action or not-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.94]

20. I explained the first half in my treatment of the renunciation-of-the-knower.21

In the world, the pure consciousness (cidatman) of a bound person performing action

sanctioned by the Sastras assumes a sense of ego thinking "I am the doer." The

intellect is tainted by elation, thinking "I will attain heaven in the future." But (the

pure-consciousness) of one not performing action, there is egoism in thinking "I have

abandoned." In his case, his taint consists in dejection over not attaining heaven.

Likewise, this reasoning should be extended to prohibited and worldly actions as

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appropriate. But one who is liberated-in-life does not have these two taints because of

the absence in him of the superimposition on the Self (on the non-self), and the

absence of elation and the like.

21. One from whom the world is does not recoil, and who does not recoil the world,22 and who is free from excitement, indignation, and fear-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.95]

22. Because he does not engage in assault and verbal abuse, people do not fear

him. For the very same reason, because the world doesn't engage in abuse and so on

toward him, even though some wicked person may engage in such activities (toward

him), such mental changes (vikalpa) do not arise in his mind. For these reasons he

does not recoil.

23. One in whom the defects of samsaric existence have come to an end, who, although he is master of the arts, is without arts, with a mind but without a mind-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.96]

24. The "defects of samsaric existence" are distinctions such as those between

enemies and friends, respect and disrespect. The "arts" are the sixty-four branches of

learning.23 Even though they are present, he is "without arts" because he neither

practices them nor is proud of them. Even though the mind as such is present in him,

he is "without a mind" because no activities arise in him. If we use the reading "(even

though he is) thinking, (he is not thinking)," (it would mean that) even though the

mental activities directed at the contemplation of the Self are present in him by force of

latent tendencies, "he does not think," because mental activities directed at the world

are absent.

25. One who even though he is engaged in activities of all kinds, he is cool as if engaged in the activities of others, having a perfect nature (pūrņātmā)-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.97]

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26. As when a man goes to another's house for a marriage festival and the like,

though he may help in the other person's work as a favor to him, nevertheless, his

mind is not disturbed by rejoicing at gains and being dejected at losses. Likewise, a

liberated man is "cool" even with regard to his own affairs. This coolness is not only

due to the absence of disturbance, but also because he is aware of the fully perfect

nature (paripūrņasvarūpānusamdhāna).24 Thus ends the discussion of the

characteristics of the one liberated-in-life.

1.5 Bodiless-Liberation

1. Now we will discuss the characteristics of bodiless-liberation.

2. When abandoning the state of one liberated-in-life at the death of the body, one enters the state of bodiless-liberation, like the wind that falls still. [LYV 3.1.98]

3. As the wind sometimes gives up its movement, it abides in its own nature, so

also is a liberated man who abandons samsāric existence made of attributes and

remains in his own nature.

4. The bodiless-liberated neither rises nor sets, nor does he rest. He is neither existent nor non-existent; neither is he distant and not (near);25 neither I nor the other. [LYV 3.1.99]

5. Rising and setting are elation and dejection. "Nor does he rest" means he does

not abandon them because his subtle body dissolved in this very world. What is

designated by "existent" is prajña and īśvara which are the cause of the world and

have the limiting attributes of ignorance and illusion; he is not that.26 What is

designated by "non-existent" is what consists of material elements; he is not that. The

expression "neither is he distant" means he hasn't gone beyond illusion.27 The

expression "and not (near)" denies that he lives close by, as one enjoying of the world

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in a gross body (sthula bhuk.)28 in the waking state. "Neither I" means he is not the

macrocosm (samasti), and "nor the other" means he is not the microcosm (vyasti).29

The meaning of all this is that (in this case) the distinctions we normally make are

totally inapplicable.

6. Then some little thing remains, immovably profound, neither light nor dark, indescribable, unmanifest. [LYV 3.1.100]

7. Because bodiless-liberation of such a kind has been described as existent and

non-existent, one must recognize that in liberation-in-life also, the more there is an

increasing abundance of no-distinctions30 (nirvikalpātiśaya), the more eminent it

(liberation-in-life) is.31

1.6 One Steady-in-Wisdom

1. In regard to the one who is steady-in-wisdom,32 in the second chapter of the

Bhagavad Gītā we read:

2. Arjuna said: How, O Keśava, do you describe one who is steady-in-wisdom, who is steady in enstasis? How should one whose thought is steady speak? How should he act? How should he walk? [BhG 2.54]

3. "Wisdom" means the knowledge of truth. It is twofold: steady and unsteady

The steady wisdom is this. The mind of a woman in love who focuses only on her

lover, even during all her activities, instantly forgets the tasks at hand deemed to be

standard (pramānapramitāni) even as she is doing them. In like manner the mind of

one who has reached the highest detachment, and who has achieved complete control

through skillful practice of yoga, once there is knowledge of the truth, focuses on

nothing except the truth in the same way (the mind of the woman focuses) on the

lover. The unsteady wisdom is this. In regard to one who does not possess these

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said qualities, while at some time he also may have achieved knowledge of truth

through some special merit, he forgets the truth like (that woman forgets her)

housework. 4. In reference to this same thing, Vasistha says:

A wife obsessed with another, though engrossed by housework, internally relishes only that which is the elixir of being with another. [LYV 5.9.58]

5. Thus, a wise man that has come to rest in the pure, highest truth, internally relishes only that, though engaging in external affairs. [LYV 5.9.59]

6. In the above passage,33 the one "steady-in-wisdom" is twofold, depending on

the time: one who is in enstasis, and one who has come out (of enstasis). Arjuna asks

about the characteristics to these two in the first and second halves of the stanza: How

do you describe one who is steady-in-enstasis, who is steady-in-wisdom? This

means: By what words and indicating what characteristics do we speak of him? In

what manner does the one steady-in-wisdom speak when he has come out (of

enstasis)? In what way does he differ from the dull-minded in his acting or walking?

7. The Lord said: When one has abandoned all desires that are found in the mind, O Partha, content with the mind in the mind, then he is called on who is steady-in- wisdom. [BhG 2.55]

8. There are three types of "desires:" the external, the internal, and those that

consist only in latent tendencies. The external are such things as sweets that have

been procured. The internal are such things as sweets that are dreamt of. The latent

tendencies consist in the (desires) perceived fleetingly, such things as grass found on

a path.34 Because of the complete destruction of the mental activities, the one in

enstasis abandons all (desires). Nevertheless, he has contentment, which can be

gathered from the sign of gratification in the face. Moreover, this (contentment) does

not relate to desires but rather to the Self alone, because he has abandoned desires, and

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because his mind is face-to-face with the reality of Self as the highest bliss. In this

case however, the happiness of the Self is shaped not by mental activities as in the

state of enstasis-with-conceptualization (samprajñātasamādhi)35 but by the Self that is

self-illuminated consciousness (svaprakāśacid).36 And contentment does not consist

in mental activities but consists in the residual impression (samskāra). One in enstasis

is spoken of with words indicating such characteristics.

9. One who is free from sorrow while in suffering, who is free from longing while feeling pleasure, and who is free of passion, fear, and anger is called a sage with a steady mind. [BhG 2.56]

10. "Suffering" is the disagreeable mental activity produced by causes such as

disease, consisting of an effect derived from the quality of energy (rajoguna) and

constituted by anguish (at that moment). "Sorrow," i.e., the mental activity that

consists of delusion insofar as it is an effect of the mental activity of the quality of

darkness (tamoguna), is constituted by remorse (afterward) once such suffering has

taken place as expressed in the sentiment: "I am a sinner. Shame on me, one with an

evil nature." If it were done in the previous life, it would be useful because it would

prevent the tendency toward that sin. But now it is useless. Therefore, even though

this looks like discernment, nevertheless, we must see it as delusion. "Pleasure" is an

agreeable mental activity consisting in joy and goodness (sāttvikī) produced by the

acquisition of kingdom, sons, and so on. "Longing" is the mental activity consisting

of darkness (tamas) whereby one vainly expects to have that pleasure without

performing the merit that would create such future pleasures.

11. In the case at hand, both the activities of pleasure and suffering are possible,

because both are caused by operative action, and because the mind of one who has

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come out (of enstasis) (vyutthana) is capable of mental activities. But sorrow and

longing are not possible in the case of one possessed of discernment. So also,

passion, fear, and anger, since they are derived from darkness, aren't found in him,

because they are not forced on him by action. Thus distinguished by such

characteristics, the one "with a steady mind" makes statements based on his own

experience that explain freedom from sorrow and freedom from longing, and so on,

for the sake instructing his students. That is the meaning (of this quotation).

12. One who is everywhere without attachment (anabhisneha), whatever he may attain whether good or bad, who neither rejoices nor hates, his wisdom is well established. [BhG 2.57]

13. "Attachment" is the special kind of mental activity consisting of darkness that

refers to someone else whenever someone else's success or failure is superimposed on

oneself. "Good" is one's wife and the like, which is the cause of happiness. "Rejoice"

is the mental activity that is the activity of talk of good qualities and so on. In this

case, because talking of good qualities has no intention of exhorting another, rejoicing,

which is the cause of that, consists of darkness because it has no purpose. A "bad"

thing is someone else's knowledge and the like, which is the cause of suffering by

generating jealousy with regard to another person. "Hatred" is the mental activity that

causes the condemnation of that person. This also consists in darkness because there

is no intention of making the person desist by condemning that person. Therefore it

has no purpose. How could these qualities consisting of darkness be possible in a

person who has discernment?

14. And when he withdraws his senses from sense objects on all sides, as a tortoise withdraws his limbs, he is well established in wisdom. [BhG 2.58]

15. In the previous two verses, the complete absence of mental activities deriving

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from darkness in one who has come out (from enstasis) has been declared. One who

is in enstasis, on the other hand, has no mental activities at all-how could one even

suspect that (he has) mental activities connected to darkness? This is the meaning of

the foregoing passage.

16. For the embodied soul that is not allowing admittance,37 the sense objects disappear, but the taste (rasa) for them does not; for one who has seen the highest, even the taste disappears. [BhG 2.59]

17. Operative action, just by itself, brings about some sense objects that are the

cause of pleasure and pain, consisting of such things as the rising of the moon and

darkness. But it brings about sense objects such as houses, fields, and so on by

means of a personal effort. Among these the rising of the moon and so on

"disappear" only by means of enstasis, which is characterized by the prior withdrawal

of the senses, and in no other way. But houses and so on disappear even without

enstasis. "Allowing admittance" is taking in with effort. For one who is without

effort, objects such as houses fade away, but the taste for them does not. "Taste" is

mental thirst. 18. That (thirst) also disappears from things that are the cause of little

joy in accordance with the Śruti:

What would we do with progeny, we for whom this is our Self, this is our world? [BāU 4.4.22]

when one has seen Brahman, which is the highest bliss.

19. To be sure, O son of Kunti, the tormenting senses forcibly carry off even the mind even of a wise man who is making effort. [BhG 2.60]

20. After restraining them all, he should sit in yogic discipline with Me as the highest aim; for when one's senses are subdued, his wisdom is well established. [BhG 2.61]

21. Enstasis is practiced for the sake of taking away occasional lapses, even for

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someone who is making efforts at the preparation for abandonment and the realization

of Brahman. This verse is a reply to the question "How should he sit?" [BhG 2.54]

22. When a man thinks about sense objects, he becomes attached to them. From attachment grows desire; from desire grows anger. [BhG 2.62]

23. Out of anger grows delusion; out of delusion grows loss of memory; from loss of memory the intellect is destroyed; because of the destruction of the intellect, the man is lost. [BhG 2.63]

24. The details of lapses (that occur) when a man fails to practice enstasis is

introduced. "Attachment" refers to a nearness to the sense objects reflected on.

"Delusion" refers to turning away from discernment. "Loss of memory" refers to the

absence of investigation of the truth. "Destruction of the intellect" refers to the

incapacity of knowledge to yield liberation, when that knowledge is hindered by the

accumulated fault of brooding over (bhāvanā) (objects) contrary (to Brahman).

25. But when exposed to sense objects with senses that are separated from passion and hatred and controlled by the Self, a man who has mastered the Self attains serenity. [BhG 2.64]

26. To have "mastered the Self" is to have the mind under control. "Serenity" is

purity, namely, freedom from bondage. One who practices enstasis, by the power of

the latent tendencies left by that enstasis, attains serenity perfectly even while engaging

in normal activities with his senses during times when he has coming out (of

enstasis). This verse is a reply to the question "How should he walk?" [BhG 2.54]

One who is steady-in-wisdom is also explained in several portions (of the BhG)

further on.

27. [Objection] Is not the freedom from such things as passion and hatred

required even before the knowledge has arisen and become established as the means

of that knowledge?

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28. [Reply] Certainly. Nevertheless there is a distinction. This has been pointed

out by the author of the Śreyomārga:38

29. Things that play the role of a means for the purpose of the establishment of knowledge are to be achieved by effort, but now they become characteristics that come naturally to one steady-in-wisdom. [Untraced]

30. They say "liberation-in-life" is the state of the sustained awareness of the Self, which is the appearance in the mind of the invalidation of duality because of its power of its perpetual awareness of the Self. [Untraced]

1.7 The Devotee-of-the-Lord

1. The "devotee-of-the-Lord" is described by the Lord in the twelfth chapter of

the Bhagavad Gitā:

2. One without hatred, truly friendly and compassionate toward all beings, without possessiveness and egoism, the same toward either suffering or happiness, one who is patient, [BhG 12.13]

3. One who is contented, a yogin who always controls the Self, with firm resolve, with the mind and intellect fixed on me, devoted to Me, he is dear to Me. [BhG 12.14]

4. A man in the state of enstasis is the same toward happiness and suffering

because he is not aware of other things, since the mind is fixed on the Lord; and even

one who has come out (of enstasis) is the same toward happiness and suffering

because he has no elation or dejection since his awareness is impartial (udāsīna). 5.

The same reasoning applies to the pairs of opposites listed below.

6. One who the world does not fear and is not afraid of the world, who is free from excitation, impatience, fear, and anxiety, he is also dear to me. [BhG 12.15]

7. One who is disinterested, pure, capable, impartial, free from distress, who abandons all undertakings, devoted to me, he is dear to me. [BhG 12.16]

8. One who is not excited nor repelled, neither laments nor craves, who abandons the good and the bad, full of devotion, he is dear to me. [BhG

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12.17]

9. One who is the same toward an enemy and a friend, so also to fame and dishonor, who is the same toward cold and heat, happiness and suffering, free from attachment, [BhG 12.18]

10. One who is the same toward condemnation and praise, who is silent, content with whatever comes, homeless, with a firm mind, full of devotion, that man is dear to me. [BhG 12.19]

11. Here also the Vārttikakāra (Sureśvara) has pointed out the distinction as

before:

The qualities such as non-hatred and so on exist without effort in one who has awakened to the arising of the Self, but they do not constitute a means for him.39 [Nks 4.69]

1.8 One Who Has Transcended-the-Qualities

1. One who has transcended-the-qualities has been described in the fourteenth

chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā:

Arjuna said: What are the marks of one who has transcended these three qualities, O Lord? What is his conduct and how does he get beyond these three qualities? [BhG 14.21]

2. The three qualities are goodness, energy, and darkness. The samsāric

existence of everything continues from the force of the permutations (parināma) of

these. Therefore the state of having transcended-the-qualities is not being samsāric,

and that is "liberation-in-life." "Marks" are what indicate to others that a person has

transcended the qualities. "Conduct" is the way this person's mind acts. "How" is a

question about the means (for transcending the three qualities).

3. The Lord: One who is not repelled by the illumination, activity, or even delusion when they are present, O Pandava, and doesn't long for them when they disappear. [BhG 14.22]

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4. Sitting like one who is impartial, he is not agitated by the qualities; saying "The qualities exist," he remains unshaken. [BhG 14.23]

5. One who is the same in suffering and happiness, self-contained, for whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are the same, for whom the pleasing and displeasing are the same, firm, for whom condemnation and praise of himself are the same. [BhG 14.24]

6. One for whom honor and dishonor are the same, friendly and enemy partisans are the same, who has abandoned all undertakings, he is said to have transcended-the-qualities. [BhG 14.25]

7. And one who serves me with constant yoga of devotion, transcending these qualities, he is fit to become Brahman. [BhG 14.26]

8. "Illumination," "activity," and "delusion," refer to goodness, energy, and

darkness. They are active during waking and dreaming, and inactive during the states

of deep sleep, enstasis, and when the mental states cease (turīya).40 "Activity" is

twofold: agreeable and disagreeable. Of these, when a fool is awake, he hates the

disagreeable activity and longs for the agreeable activity. But for a man who has

transcended-the-qualities, there is no hatred or desire, because of the absence of the

superimposition of what's agreeable or disagreeable. As an onlooker observing two

people having a dispute remains impartial himself, not agitated as to who wins or

loses this way or that, so also the discerning man beyond-the-qualities himself

remains impartial. This "impartiality" is the discernment expressed in the statement:

"The qualities operate among the qualities. But not I." [BhG 3.28] "Agitation" is the

superimposition "I do," and he (the one who has transcended-the-qualities) doesn't

have that (superimposition). This is the answer to the above question "What is his

conduct?" [BhG 14.21; above 1.8.1] "Marks" [BhG 14.21; above 1.8.1] are such as

being "the same in suffering and happiness," [1.8.5] the service to the Highest Self

carried out by the practice of knowledge and meditation together with unswerving

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devotion (avyabhicāribhakti). [Cf. BhG 13.10] The above is the answer to the

question concerning the means of transcending the qualities.

1.9 The Brāhmaņa

1. The Brāhmana has been described by Vyāsa and others:

One who has no outer garment, who lies down with no spreading, who has his arm as a pillow, and is tranquil, him the gods know as a Brāhmana. [MhB 12.261.29]

2. The word "Brahmana" has been described as the knower of Brahman because

of the Sruti: "(from) then (on a) Brāhmana;" [BāU 3.5.1] 3. it is also because a

knower of Brahman has the entitlement to the renunciation-of-the-knower. 4. Sruti

such as:

As one wearing the form in which he was born [JU 6 p. 70] the paramahamsa goes about unclothed. [PhU 2 p. 47]

declare that being without possessions constitutes the principal type of paramahamsa.

For this reason, the statement that he has "no outer garment" and so on is proper to

him.

5. One who would wear whatever garment he gets, who would take whatever food he gets, who would sleep wherever he is, him the gods know as a Brahmana. [MhB 12.237.12]

6. Even when looking for food for the subsistence of the body, clothes, and a

place for a bed, he does not question the quality or fault in food and so forth, because

in regard to the subsistence consisting in filling the belly, good nourishment, and like,

they are the same, and because futile inquiry after whether they are good or bad causes

a mental fault. 7. For this very reason, it is taught in the Bhagavata:

Why further describe the characteristics of quality or fault? Discerning good or fault is a fault. But avoiding both of them is a quality. [BhP 11.19.45]

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8. But one who is dressed in a patched garment and loincloth, who is holding a staff and is devoted to meditation, who delights in being alone, him the gods know as a Brāhmaņa. [YDhS p.37]

9. He should bear the emblems of the staff, the loincloth, and so on to create faith

by making known his eminence in wishing to show favor to living beings through the

teaching of Brahman and the like,41 because of the Sruti:

He should take up the loincloth, the staff, and the robe for the good of his own body and as a benefit to the world. [PhU 1 p. 46]

10. He should not discuss his affairs such as household business even out of the

desire to show favor, but rather he should be focused on meditation, because of the

Śruti:

You must know that alone is the Self; discard all other talk. [MuņU 2.2.5]

11. and because of the Sruti:

By knowing that very one, a wise Brähmana should create wisdom for himself. He should not think too much of words, for that tires the voice. [BaU 4.4.21]

12. Teaching Brahman is not "other talk;" this Śruti is not a prohibition to

meditation. This meditation becomes unobstructed when a person is in solitude. 13.

For this very reason the Smrti declares:

One (man) constitutes a mendicant as prescribed. Two (men), the Smrtis say,

[DSm 7.34] constitute a pair. Three constitute a village. But beyond that constitute a city.

14. A man should not make a city, a village, or a pair, for among such mendicants there would be discussion of politics and alms. [DSm 7.35a-36a]

15. One who offers no blessing and has no undertakings (ārambha), one who pays no homage and no praise, one who is undiminished and whose ritual actions are diminished, him the gods know as a Brāhmana. [MhB 12.237.24, 12.255.33]

16. The worldly people of higher status pronounce blessings to persons who pay

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respects (to them). A "blessing" is prayer for the success of something that each

person desires. Likewise, because people want different things, the worldly latent

tendency of mental agitation increases when a person is trying to find out what people

want, and this tendency obstructs knowledge. 17. Accordingly another Smrti

declares:

A man who has latent tendencies regarding the world, the body, and even learning simply cannot produce knowledge correctly. [MukU 2.2; SūS 14.15; Vcm 202]

18. The same thing also applies in the case of "undertakings," "paying homage,"

and so on. "Undertakings" are things such as the effort to acquire a house, land, etc.,

for one's own sake or for the sake of benefit to another. A man who is liberated

should abandon both giving a blessing and undertakings. One should not presume

that when a blessing is no longer given, the men offering an obeisance (will be)

offended, because to eliminate both worldly tendencies and giving offense, one

employs of the word "Nārāyana" as a substitute for all types of blessings. [Cf. NpU

p. 146] But all (types of) undertakings are also bad. 19. Accordingly the Smrti

prescribes:

For all undertakings are accompanied by defects like fire by smoke. [BhG 18.48]

20. Even paying homage is prescribed to the renouncer-for-knowledge:

Homage is to be paid to someone who is a senior renouncer and if he is one's equal in Dharma, never to another. [YU p. 314; YDhS p. 105]

21. Among these, when one examines (another's) seniority and equal duty

(dharma), the mind is disturbed. For this very reason, we find many (renouncers)

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quarreling over simple matters of homage. 22. The reason for that is given by the

Vārttikakāra (Sureśvara):

One even sees renouncers who are careless, with minds drawn to the outside, scandalous, and looking for fights, and whose minds are impaired by fate. [BāBhV 1.4.1584]

23. Bhagavatpada (Sankara) describes the absence of homage among ones who

are liberated:

If one is situated on the earth that is beyond name42 and the like, that is sovereign and non-dual, then to whom would one who knows the Self bow? There is no use for ritual action then. [US 17.63]

24. Even while the homage that is the cause of mental disturbance is prohibited,

one accepts homage that creates mental serenity through perceiving the sameness (of

all creatures). 25. Accordingly the Smrti declares:

Thinking that the Great Lord has entered through the portion as an individual Self, he should make obeisance by prostrating on the ground even to a dog, an outcast, a cow and a donkey. [BhP 3.29.34cd-11.29.16cd; YU p. 314]

26. The "praise"43 prohibited is that which has men as the object, but not that which

has the Lord as its object. 27. Accordingly the Smrti declares:

As a man respectfully praises a rich man for the sake of wealth, who would not be liberated from bondage if he praises the maker of the universe? [VU 3.13; YDhS p. 89]

28. The state of being "undiminished" [MhB 12.237.24] is the state of not feeling

dispirited. 29. For this very reason the Smrti declares:

When the resolute man has not gotten (food) at the proper time, he should not be despondent. Having gotten it, he should not feel elated. Both are dependent on fate. [BhP 11.18.33]

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30. The state of one "whose ritual actions are diminished" [MhB 12.237.24]

refers to the state of being beyond injunctions or prohibitions, because the Smrti

declares:

How can there be an injunction or a prohibition for one who walks on the path beyond the three qualities? [Untraced]

31. It was with reference to this very thing that the Lord said:

The Vedas have as their domain the three qualities. Be beyond the three qualities, O Arjuna! Without the pairs of opposites, always established in

2.45] goodness, without acquisition and preservation, possessed of the Self. [BhG

32. Nārada declares:

One should always keep Visnu in mind and never let him out of the mind. All injunctions and prohibitions would just be subordinates to these two. [NPS 4.2.23]

33. One who fears a crowd as he would a snake, honor as he would death, women as a corpse, him the gods know as a Brāhmaņa. [MhB 12.237.13]

34. The fear of a crowd in the same way as a snake stands to reason because of

the statement "for among such mendicants there would be discussion of politics."

[1.9.14; DSm 7.36a] Honor is to be shunned as death because is an obstacle to the

aim of human life by being a cause of attachment. Or there is the reading "as Hell."44

35. For this very reason the Smrti declares:

An increase in asceticism comes from dishonor, but a destruction of asceticism comes from honor. The sage who is respected and worshipped wastes away like a cow that is not milked. [Untraced]4

36. With reference to this very point in mind, Smrti presents dishonor as

something to be courted:

Without discrediting the duty (dharma) of good people, the yogin should behave so that people would dishonor him and refuse to associate with him. [ViP 2.13.43]

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37. There are two types of defects among women: they are both forbidden and

disgusting. The rule forbidding them is violated sometimes because of the strength of

operative action. 38. It is with reference to just this that the Smrti says:

One should never be in the same bed or chair with one's mother, sister, or

2.215] daughter. The senses are powerful and pull on even a wise man. [MDh

39. Likewise, the Smrti describes their disgusting nature thus:

Even though there is no difference between the unspeakable place on a woman and a running tubular sore, people are generally deceived by imagining them to be different. [NpU p. 160]

40. It is a bifold slitted piece of skin, stinking from gas. How are the men who take pleasure in it not equal to worms? [NpU pp. 160-161; YDhS p. 92]

41. There is a variant reading: "What could be more reckless than men taking delight

in that?"46 In the above passage [1.9.33], the comparison (of a woman) with a corpse

was with the intention of indicating a woman is both forbidden and disgusting.

42. A man by whom alone the whole atmosphere is as if always filled, and for whom a crowded place is empty, him the gods know as a Brahmana. [MhB 12.237.11]

43. Remaining alone is to be avoided in the case of those in samsāric existence

because it causes fear, torpor, etc., and the company of people is to be pursued

because it does not have such characteristics (that cause of fear, torpor, etc.). But it is

the opposite for yogins. When a course of meditation is followed unhindered in

solitude, the whole atmosphere appears as if filled by the complete highest bliss of the

Self. 44. Hence such things as fear, torpor, sorrow, and confusion do not arise,

because of the Sruti:

(When the Self becomes all beings in the one who has understood,) seeing this unity, what confusion, what sorrow is there? [ĪśāU 7]

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45. Because it obstructs meditation by such things as "discussion of politics"

[1.9.14; DSm 7.36a], a "crowded place" [1.9.42; MhB 12.237.11], where the

perception of the Self as bliss is absent, It afflicts the mind as empty of that (bliss),

because the world is not real and the Self is perfect. That is the meaning.

1.10 One Beyond-Castes-and-Orders

1. In the Sūta Samhitā the fifth adhyāya of the section on liberation,47

Parameśvara describes one who is beyond-castes-and-orders:

Student and householder, then forest-dweller, mendicant, the one beyond- castes-and-orders: these all are listed in the order of their superiority of knowledge. [SūS 5.9]

2. It is declared that the one beyond-castes-and-orders is the preceptor of all those qualified to study (adhikārin-s). Just like me, O Best of men, he can never be a pupil of anyone. [SūS 5.14]

3. The one beyond-castes-and-orders is said to be the teacher of teachers in reality. There is no doubt that no one in this world is equal or superior to him. [SūS 5.15]

4. He who understands the highest state as the witness of everything, distinct from the body and senses, the absolute consciousness, Self as bliss, self- luminous-he is one beyond-castes-and-orders. [SūS 5.16-17ab]

5. He who realizes the Lord as the Self only by hearing the great sayings of Vedānta, O Keśava-he is one beyond-castes-and-orders. [SūS 5.17cd-18ab]

6. He who is freed from the three states and knows the great Lord as always witness of the three states-he is one beyond-castes-and-orders [SūS 18cd-19ab]

7. When a man knows through Vedanta: "The castes, orders, and so on are made to appear in the body by illusion. They never belong to me who am the

5.19cd-20] Self consisting in consciousness"-he is one beyond-castes-and-orders. [SūS

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8. When a man knows through Vedānta: "As all people pursue their activities on their own in the presence of the sun, so also the people pursue activities in my presence"-11. he is one beyond-caste-and-orders. [SūS 5.21-22ab]

9. When a man knows through Vedānta: "As necklaces, upper arm bracelets, rings, good-luck charms, and so on are fashioned in gold, so also, by means of illusion the world is constantly imagined in me"-he is one beyond-castes- and-orders. [SūS 5.22-23ab]

10. When a man knows through Vedānta: "As in mother-of-pearl one imagines silver through illusion, so the universe consisting of the Great Principle (mahat)48 and so on consisting of illusion is imagined in me"-he is one beyond-castes-and-orders. [SūS 5.24-25ab]

11. He, O Purusottama, who knows through Vedanta: "I am that highest immortal, the great god, steadfast, uniform, who is freed of all bonds, who, like the atmosphere, has constantly penetrated into the body of an outcast, into the body of a beast and the like, into the body of a Brähmana, and into other beings standing in varying degrees"- [SūS 5.25cd-27] -he is one beyond-castes-and-orders.

12. When a man knows through Vedānta: "As the direction appears as before even to one whose confusion over directions is removed, so also the world, falsified by knowledge, appears to me, for it is non-existent"-he is one beyond-caste-and-orders. [SūS 5.28-29ab]

13. When a man knows through Vedanta: "As the visible world in the dreaming state expands in me through illusion, so also the visible world in the waking state expands in me through illusion. [SūS 5.29cd-30]

14. When the practice of castes and orders has drained away in someone because of the vision of the Self, he, going beyond all castes and orders, is established in his own Self. [SūS 5.31

15. The man who, abandoning his own caste and order, is established in the Self, him the knowers of the meaning of all the Veda declare to be beyond castes and orders. [SūS 5.32]

16. As the Self is in fact Brahman, absolute consciousness, being, and bliss, so it is not the body, nor the senses, nor the breath, nor the mind, nor the intellect, nor egoism, nor thinking, nor even illusion and the world starting with the atmosphere; it is not a doer, nor even an experiencer, nor one who causes experiencing. [SūS 5.33-34]

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17. As the sun's unsteadiness is only due to the movement of the water, so the samsāric existence of the Self is only due to the samsāric existence of egoism. [SūS 5.35]

18. Therefore, O Keśava, the castes and orders are also existing in something else. They are superimposed on the Self only by confusion, and they do not belong to the knowers of the Self. [SūS 5.36]

19. O Janardana, neither injunctions, nor prohibitions, nor ideas about what should and should not be avoided, likewise nothing else exists for the knowers of the Self. [SūS 5.37]

20. O lotus-eyed, the mortals who are deceived by illusion never understand the state (nisthā) of the men of realization (sādhu). [SūS 5.38]

21. O Keśava, this state of the knowers of Brahman cannot be seen by the fleshly eye; it is brought about on its own by a person who knows. [SūS 5.39]

22. O Keśava, where people are always asleep, the restrained-one is awake. Where they are awake, the knower is in deep sleep." [SūS 5.40]

23. Thus, he is indeed the highest preceptor and is declared to be beyond castes and orders who knows with certainty, through the Vedanta and by his own experience, the Self that is without pairs of opposites, which is formless, spotless, always pure, without false appearance, which is being and pure consciousness, and the highest immortal. [SūS 5.41-42]

24. Therefore, in this way, the Srutis such as " ... and freed from it, he is set

free" [KU 5.1] and the statements in the Smrti teaching the one liberated-in-life, the

"one steady-in-wisdom," the devotee-of-the-Lord," the "one who has beyond-the-

qualities," the "Brahmana," a and the "one beyond-castes-and-orders" are the

authoritative basis for the existence of liberation-in-life. 25. So ends the discussion of

the authoritative basis for liberation-in-life.

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Notes

1 The Adyar and AnSS editions of JMV and some mss. read "the abandonment of optional rites, and the like, which cause rebirth" (janmapādakakāmyakarmādityāga-), indicating perhaps that some redactors would not permit the abandonment of the permanant (nitya) and occasional (naimittika) śrauta and smārta rites.

2 The renunciation out of the desire for knowledge (vividişāsamnyāsa) may be either a private practice that is open to men of other aśrama-s as well as to women, involving the adandonment of all rites, or a public renunciation considered to be an aśrama , i.e., an organized order or life-stage recognized by the Brahmanical society at large. The latter involves a specific rite of renunciation, which is the last official public rite the individual renouncer performs. The "praisa ritual formula" is a technical name for the words samnyāstam mayā, "I have renounced," which the individual declares during the public rite. For a description of the rite, see YDhP 16, Olivelle (1976) pp. 46-47 and (1977) pp. 95-96.

3 The conclusion is that members of the other orders may inwardly, mentally abandon rites (karmādityaga), without living as formal members of the public renunciant order (samnyāsāśrama), and still be qualified for and attain knowledge. In his study of Sankara's views on renunciation, Roger Marcaurelle argues that Vidyaranya was following Sankara in the idea that formal, physical renunciation is not necessary for the attainment of knowledge. See Freedom through Inner Renunciation: Sankara's Philosophy in a New Light (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000) pp. 188-194. In Marcaurelle's view, Vidyāraņya justifies entering the samnyāsāśrama on a public, formal basis when a person cannot be one-pointed, free from distractions, and cannot make Self-knowledge permanent. Therefore one who has attained knowledge may have to resort to physical renunciation as a full-time mode of living in order to safeguard that knowledge. The safeguarding of knowledge is, according to Vidyaranya's argument in JMV Chapter 4, one of the major purposes of liberation-in-life itself. The safeguarding of knowledge would seem, then, all the more elusive and not assured even by physical renunciation.

4 Here following samnihitah the lectio difficilior, rather than samnyasah. Cf. the same term in MunU 2.2.1: āviḥ samnihitam guhācaram nāma mahat padam atraitat manarpitam.

5 The eradication of latent tendencies and the elimination of the mind are the subjects of JMV Chapters 2 and 3 respectively.

6 This idea of there being four types of mendicants is found also in PaM vol. 1 (1973) pp. 530-553. The four types are the kutīcaka, bahūdaka, hamsa, and the paramahamsa.

7 udarapatrena: with the belly as a begging-bowl. This phrase refers to a vow a mendicant has undertaken to imitate the behavior of an animal, such as the govrata, or "cow-vow." People throw food on the ground and he eats it directly from the ground, without using his hands, like a cow. Thus he has only his belly as a begging-bowl.

8 The entire text reads:

"Aruņi went to the world of Prajapati. Approaching, he asked: "By what, Lord, can I give up rites completely?" And Prajapati said: "One should leave his sons, friends, brothers, relatives, and so on; he should give up the topknot, sacred string, the sacrifice, the ritual sūtra, and Vedic recitation; he should turn away from the worlds of Bhūr, Bhuvas, Svar, Mahas, Jana, Tapas, Satya, Atala, Pātāla, Vitala, Sutala, Rasātala, Talātala, and Mahātala, and the whole Universe. He should take a staff and a robe. Let him reject the rest." [ĀrU 1, pp. 3-5]

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9 Also cited in PāM vol. 1 (1973) p. 532.

10 Schrader's text of NpU here reads pravrttilaksanam karma "rites are characterized by the life of action," and he gave no variants. I have so far not found variants for yogo in JMV mss. It is not clear whether Vidyāranya or the redactors have deliberately changed this received text in order to define yoga as associated with pravrtti. This definition is not commented on elsewhere in JMV, and is inconsistent with the theology of renunciation.

11 Also cited in PāM vol. 1 (1973) p. 547

12 See Introduction 2.1. See also Fort (1998) pp. 8-11.

13 Apparently the understanding is that operative action, while it conditions existence, does not deny the possiblity of changing the course of events in life, allowing actions which result in the highest happiness, which is liberation and the experience of the Self. This happiness is still a conditioned result of operative action.

14 karīrīști: the sacrifice with bamboo. Refers to the bamboo used in the rite meant to bring rain.

15 vaiyarthyam: futility, uselessness. This reading obviously does not make sense, and one would rather have the direct opposite meaning here. In the absence of clear mss. evidence, I have not changed it. However, a ms. deposited at the Prajña Pāthaśala Mandala Collection in Wai, 6617/8-2/439, which I obtained but did not fully collate for this edition, reads prayatnasyaiveyarthyam here instead of prayatnasya vaiyarthyam.

16 śreyah: highest good. For Vidyāranya the highest state is the same liberation-in-life. Walte Slaje has studied the use of this same term by Uddyotkara in the Nyāyavārttika where he distinguishes nihśreyasam as having a lower and a higher state. For Uddyotkara the lower state is the same as liberation-in-life. See Slaje, "Nihsreyasam im alten Nyāya" WZKS 30 (1986) pp. 172ff. Slaje (2000b) pp. 336-337 would take this "a separate jīvanmukti current, independent from that of the Vedānta tradition."

17 tena svayam jetavyaḥ, na tu yuddhe bhrtyamukheneva purusāntara mukhena jetum śakyah. Here I have gone against B1, which along with P1 has bhrtyamukhenaiva, in order to preserve the comparison being made through iva. One may, however, accept this reading of eva over iva and translate eva as "only" in which it might make more sense:"in war it is not possible to conquer only by means of soldiers."

18 See my discussion above, Introduction 2.1, p. 29-32; see also below, 1.5.37 and n. 30.

19 This may refer to the five types of begging mentioned in the SU (Adyar: 1912) p. 266.

20 First pāda borrowed from BhG 18.17.

21 See 1.2.

22 First pāda borrowed from BhG(?).

23 The sixty-four branches of learning: arts, crafts, literary arts, and other skills traditionally considered to be sixty-four in number.

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24 purņātmā / pūrņasvarūpa: Ātman is understood as "nature" or svarūpa. Svarūpa is also synonymous with Brahman, so purnātmā here describes the one liberated-in-life who is completely unified with Brahman because of his awareness (anusamdhana) of the perfect nature, which is Brahman.

25 Cf. ĪśāU 5.

26 See Introduction 2.1 and GK 1.1-4 on the states of consciousness.

27 Meaning unclear

28 See Introduction 2.1, pp. 32-33 on the "bodies." See also Fort (1990).

29 Ibid.

30 Because the author states only nirvikalpātiśaya, is not entirely clear whether this nirvikalpa refers only to the yogic nirvikalpasamādhi "enstasis-without-distinctions." The commentator Acyutarāyamodaka clearly takes it as asamprajñātasamādhi, AnSS 20 (1916) p. 177. We cannot exclude the possibility that it refers to the Nyāya concept of nirvikalpapratyaksa, "indeterminate perception. See also nirvikalpajñāna mentioned in 3.9.1, and my discussion in the Introduction, 2.1, p. 31.

31 I take this to mean that liberation-in-life, insofar as the individual is in nirvikalpasamādhi, can be said to be existent and non-existent (sadasat) and is in this way the same as bodiless-liberation. I argue that, in other mss., the scribes changed sadasatvokter to sadrsatvokter and in some cases added other words to support this reading. See above Introduction, 2.1, pp. 29-32. This statement in 1.5.7 would be referring to LYV 3.1.88 if one accepts the reading evamvidhayā videhamuktyā sadrśatvokter, "In this manner, because of the mentioned resemblance with bodiless liberation ... " However, we may emend the instumental evamvidhayā videhamuktyā to the genitive evamvidhāyā videhamuktyāh. Thus it would give the reading evamvidhāyā videhamuktyāh sadasatvokter, "Because bodiless-liberation of such a kind has been described as existent and non-existent," and would refer to the citation of LYV 3.1.99, which says, na san nāsan. I think the reading evamvidhāyā videhamuktyāh sadasatvokter would also make more sense because this citation is nearer to this commentarial statement in the text.

32 The names listed above in 1.4.7, are now explained in 1.6 ff.

33 BhG 2.54 [1.6.2].

34 The meaning here is unclear. See Donatoni (1995) p. 123, n. 4.

35 samprajñātasamādhi: enstasis-with-conceptualization. The term from the Yoga system for the state in which the struggling spiritual aspirant is aware of Brahman, but a mental activity still intervenes that consists in the awareness of the process of knowing the distinctions of the knower, the knowledge, and the object of knowledge. The Vedānta term for this state is savikalpasamādhi, "enstasis-with- distinctions." See Swami Nikhilananda,Vedāntasāra 194 (1968) pp. 116-117.

36 This presumably is asamprajñātasamādhi, "enstasis-without-conceptualization," also understood by the Vedānta term nirvikalpasamādhi, "enstasis-without-distinctions." It is the state where there is no longer any awareness of the conceptualizations or distinctions of the knower, known, or knowing in consciousness. Cf. below, Chapter 3, n. 7.

37 Nirāhārasya: one who is not allowing admittance. Vidyāranya takes this expression in the sense of nirodha, "suppression," i.e., blocking the sense objects. Therefore I have not translated Vidyāranya's quotation from the BhG literally as "one who is abstaining from food."

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38 The term Sreyomarga may not refer to a text, but rather, literally, to "the way of the highest good." Donatoni (1995) p. 128, n. 3 finds the same phrase mentioned in Vidyāraņya's Taittirīya Upanișad Dīpika AnSS 36 (1981) vol. 3, 6, p. 678. I was not able to obtain the 1981 printing of this AnSS edition.

39 This verse of Nks has the same purport of the Sreyomarga verse quoted earlier, that what was a means (sādhana) for the liberated later becomes his characteristic (lakşana).

40 Jagrat and svapna, sușupti and samādhi. The first three of these states correspond to those mentioned in GK 1.1-4 but for Vidyāranya enstasis (samādhi) is an intervening state between deep sleep and the fourth state (turīya) "when the mental states cease." See above, Introduction 1.3 on the four states of consciousness, and Introduction 1.6 on Vidyāranya's elaboration on the concept of enstasis, and Vidyāranya's discussion of enstasis below, 3.10.

41 If he feels the kindness to impart his knowledge, and if ordinary people want to have his knowledge, they must have faith. Before attempting to have discourse, he must create this faith in the people, and he does this by wearing the loincloth.

42 Cf. ChU 7.1 ff. Nāma is wordy knowledge.

43 Here resumes Vidyāranya's commentary on MhB 12.237.13.

44 This is a variant reading of MhB 12.237.13.

45 Donatoni (1995) p. 136, n. 4, finds this citation in Brahnoktayājñavalkyasamhitā 7, 51cd-52ab in the Smrtisamdarbhaḥ, vol. 4, (Delhi: Nag Publishers, 1988) p. 2409. I could not obtain this text.

46 Schrader selected this variant for his constituted text of NpU (Adyar: 1912).

47 Sūta Samhitā of the Skanda Purāņa, Chapter 5 (Muktikhaņda) ĀnSS 25 vols. 1-3 (Pune: Anandāśrama Sansthā, 1898).

48 Mahāt : A Samkhya term; next highest form of consciousness after prakrti, produced out of egoism/identity. See 3.8.1-2.

49 Cf. BhG 2.69.

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Chapter Two: The Eradication of Latent Tendencies

2.1 The Mutual Causality of the Means of Liberation-in-Life

1. Next we examine the means of achieving liberation-in-life. 2. Its means are the

knowledge of truth, the elimination of the mind, and the eradication of latent

tendencies. 3. For this very reason, at the end of the Vāsistharāmāyana [Chapter

on Becoming Still (Upaśamaprakarana), LYV 5]1 when dealing with the topic

introduced by the verse: "in the bodies of ones liberated-in-life," Vasistha says:

Eradication of latent tendencies, knowledge of truth,2 and elimination of the mind, O man of great intelligence, practiced simultaneously and for a long time, are bearers of fruit. [LYV 5.10.116]

4. Having declared the positive connection (of these means), he gives the negative

converse:

As long as these three are not well practiced equally again and again, the state is not attained even for hundreds of years. [LYV 5.10.115]

5. He shows how success is prevented when they are not practiced simultaneously:

If these are pursued even for a sufficiently long period, but one at a time, they do not bring success like mantras proclaimed together. [LYV 5.10.117]

6. It's like this. During bathing at twilight devotions, three verses beginning with

"apo hi stha" [RV 10.9.1] have to be recited together. By reciting one of those verses

each day, the bathing is not carried out as scripturally enjoined. Similarly, one does

not accomplish anything by reciting singly a mantra of mantras relating to six body

parts.3 Again, in ordinary life, (serving) a vegetable, a soup, and boiled rice

separately does not constitute a meal.

7. (Vasistha) states the purpose of long practice:

The tight knots of the heart are undoubtedly split apart by long practice of these three, like the fibers (split apart) from the cutting off of a lotus stalk. [LYV 5.10.118]

8. He gives the negative converse of this:

O Rāma, samsāric existence has repeated through the repetition of a hundred former lives. It is never destroyed except by engagement with long and repeated practice. [LYV 5.10.119]

9. Practicing the means one by one not only fails to produce the result, but their

identity as a means (tatsvarūpa) is not even established. Therefore he says:

Since knowledge of truth, elimination of the mind, and eradication of latent tendencies exist in mutual causality, they are difficult to accomplish (separately). [LYV 5.10.113]

2.2 Negative and Positive Statements of the Three Pairs of Means

1. Of these (three means), three pairs are produced by uniting any two from among

these three. 2. Accordingly, (Vasistha) gives the mutual causality of the pair of

elimination of the mind and eradication of latent tendencies by means of the negatively

converse statement:

So long as the mind is not dissolved, latent tendencies are not destroyed; so long as latent tendencies are not destroyed, mental activity does not become quieted. [LYV 5.10.110]

3. Because this elemental substance4 (dravya) of the inner organ (antahkarana) is

being transformed, insofar as it consists in a continuous series of mental activities like

the continuous flame of a lamp, it is called "mind" (manas) because of its nature to

think (manana). Now its elimination is a transformation (parinama) in the form of an

opposition after one gives up the transformation that is of the nature of various mental

activities. 4. Accordingly, Patañjali gives a sūtra in his Yogaśāstra:

The transformation of suppression (nirodha), which associates the mind with a moment of suppression, occurs when the residual impressions (samskāra) of

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coming out (of enstasis) (vyutthāna) are overcome and the impressions of suppression arise. [YS 3.9]

5. "Residual impressions" (samskāra) (leading to) the "coming out (of enstasis)"

(vyutthāna) are subjugated. Residual impressions (leading to) supression become

manifest. The moment of suppression is connected with the mind. This should be

recognized as elimination of the mind. Latent tendencies (vāsanā) are residual

impressions situated in the mind that are the cause of certain mental activities such as

anger, activities that are produced suddenly without consideration of what is before

and after;5 they are called "latent tendencies" because they are caused to reside6 in the

mind by all previous mental activity.

6. And the eradication of these latent tendencies is the non-production of anger

and so on, even in the presence of an external cause, when there are latent tendencies

such as mental control and sense control (śāntidānti) that are firm and generated by

discernment. In this case, when there is no elimination of the mind and mental

activities arise, there is no eradication of latent tendencies, because sometimes anger

and the like arise through an external cause. And when there is no eradication of

latent tendencies, likewise there is no elimination of the mind because mental activities

continue to arise.

7. (Vasistha) then gives the mutual causality of the knowledge of truth and the

elimination of the mind by means of the negatively converse statement:

So long as there is no knowledge of truth, how can there be mental quieting (śama)? So long as there is not mental tranquillity (upaśama) there is no knowledge of truth. [LYV 5.10.111]

8. Knowledge of truth is this certainty: The Self is simply all this. The world

consisting of form, taste, and so on that we perceive is illusory, and it does not exist in

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reality. When this (knowledge) has not arisen, the sense objects of form, taste, and so

on continue to exist; therefore it is impossible to neutralize the mental activities that

relate to those (sense objects), just as the flames of a fire are not extinguished when

one continues to put kindling into it. When there is no quieting of the mind, forms

and so on continue to be grasped by the mental activities. Consequently, one doubts

Srutis such as "the sacrificer (yajamana) is the grass-bundle (prastarah)"7 [TS 2.6.5],

and "Brahman is without a second" [cf. ChU 6.2.1], which is because of the Sruti

"there is here no diversity at all" [KU 4.11], and consequently uncertainty arises.

9. (Vasiștha) states the mutual causality of the eradication of latent tendencies

and the knowledge of truth by means of the negatively converse statement:

So long as there is no attainment of truth, there is no eradication of latent tendencies. So long as there is not eradication of latent tendencies, how could there be knowledge of truth? [LYV 5.10.112]

10. When the latent tendencies of anger, etc., are not destroyed, one lacks the means

such as mental control and sense control (śamadama); consequently knowledge does

not arise. And when the truth of the secondless reality of Brahman is not understood,

the confusion about the reality of the cause of anger and the like is not blocked, and

consequently the latent tendencies are not destroyed.

11. Now we state the mutual causality of the three aforementioned pairs by

positive statements. When the mind has been eliminated, there is no perception of an

external cause that awakens residual impressions, and latent tendencies are destroyed.

And when latent tendencies are eradicated, the mind is eliminated because mental

activities such as anger do not arise, owing to the absence of their cause. This, then, is

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the pair consisting of elimination of the mind and eradication of latent tendencies. 12.

Because of the Sruti:

Yet it is seen with a sharpened and subtle mind [KU 3.12]

(we understand that) seeing is the cause of the mental activity focused on the oneness

of Self. Consequently, elimination of the rest of mental activities is the cause to the

knowledge of truth. And when there is knowledge of truth, the mind is eliminated

like a fire without kindling, because (a) no mental activity arises relating to the world

that is not real, like a man's horns and so on, and (b) there is no further use for mental

activities since the Self has been seen.8 This, then, is the pair consisting of elimination

of the mind and the knowledge of truth.

13. The author of the Vārttikas (Sureśvara) states that the knowledge of the

truth is the cause of the eradication of latent tendencies, such as anger:

Seeing one and the same Self present in an enemy, relative and in his own body, like it is present in the parts of his own body, how can a discerning man possess anger? [NkS 2.18]

14. It is widely known that mental control (śanti) and so on is the cause of

knowledge consisting in the eradication of latent tendencies such as anger. Vasistha

also states:

Qualities such as tranquillity (śama) (arise) from knowledge; so knowledge (arises) from such things as tranquillity. The two enrich one another like the lotus in a pond. [LYV 2.1.107]

This, then, is the pair consisting of eradication of latent tendencies and the knowledge

of truth.

15. (Vasistha) states the means in the bringing about of the three, knowledge of

truth and the rest:

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Therefore, O Raghava, one should resort to these three with personal effort together with discernment, abandoning from afar the desire for enjoyment. [LYV 5.10.114]

16. "Somehow I will definitely accomplish this": this sort of resolution is the

perseverance that is "personal effort." "Discernment" is the definite analytical

knowledge (vibhajyaniścayah) of these: the means of the knowledge of truth are

Vedic study (śravana) and the rest, the means of the elimination of the mind is yoga,

and the means of the eradication of latent tendencies is producing contrary latent

tendencies. "From afar" was said because of the difficulty of restraining the

exceedingly undesirable result in admitting even a small desire for enjoyment,9 as in

the maxim: "It grows ever more like fire with an oblation." [MDh 2.94]

2.3 The Principal and Subsidiary Relation of the Three Means

1. [Objection] Earlier, you explained the respective difference (vyavasthā)10 this way:

the result of renunciation-for-knowledge is knowledge of truth and the result of

renunciation-of-the-knower is liberation-in-life.11 If that is the case, it seems that a

man, having first acquired the knowledge of truth and then entering the renunciation-

of-the-knower, should finally carry out the destruction of his own latent tendencies

and mental activities, which constitute bondage while he is still alive. But here you

ordain simultaneous practice of knowledge of truth and the rest; hence there is a

contradiction between what you said and what you say now.

2. [Reply] This is not a difficulty, because we can prove their respective

difference on the basis of (their) being principal and subsidiary. For the renouncer-

for-knowledge, knowledge of truth is principal, while elimination of the mind and

eradication of latent tendencies become subsidiary. But for the renouncer who is a

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knower, just the opposite is the case. In both cases, therefore, there is no contradiction

in their being practiced together. And one should not entertain the doubt: "What is the

use of practice at a future time for a man who has obtained the purpose merely by

attaining the knowledge of truth?" because it will be refuted in our explanation of the

purpose of liberation-in-life.12

3. [Objection] Even with the subsidiary status in the case of the renouncer who is

a knower, what is the sort of practice taking place at a future time, for (a) carrying out

the means of knowing such as study and so on is fruitless, and (b) it is impossible to

carry out knowing, which by nature is beyond doing, not doing, or otherwise? [cf.

BSBh 1.1.4]

4. [Reply] We say: it is the repeated, sustained remembrance (anusmarana) of the

truth by some means or other. And such practice is described in the Lila episode

(of LYV):

Thinking about That, discussion about That, enlightening one another in regard to That, and singular devotion to That: (these) the wise know as the practice of knowledge. [LYV 3.2.108]

5. At the beginning of creation, this visible manifestation did not exist, at no time does it exist as "the world and I": (this the wise) know as the highest practice of enlightenment. [LYV 3.2.111]

6. [Objection] The practice of elimination of the mind and eradication of latent

tendencies is also described in the same passage:

Those who apply themselves through authoritative texts and methods (yukti) to realizing the complete absence of the existence of the knower and what is to be known, they are accepted as its practitioners. [LYV 3.2.110]

7. Realizing the absence is the discretion that the knower and what is to be known are

illusory. "Realizing the complete absence" is not to recognize them even in

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themselves (in their physical form). "Methods" are yoga.13 This is the practice of

elimination of the mind.

8. When passion, anger, and so on become reduced through awakening to the non-existence of the visible world, a strong delight (rati) arises. That is called the practice of Brahman. [LYV 3.2.112]

This is the practice of eradication of latent tendencies. It is not possible to discriminate

among these three admittedly similar practices which is principal and which is

subsidiary.

9. [Reply] This is not so, because it is possible to discern according to the

objective (prayojana). For a person who desires liberation, the two objectives are

liberation-in-life and bodiless liberation. Because of precisely this the Sruti declares:

"But freed from it, he will be set free." [KU 5.1] In this instance, liberation comes for

the living man through Divine fortune; bondage comes through Demonic fortune.14

10. This was declared by the Lord (Krsna) in the sixteenth chapter (of BhG):

The Divine fortune is regarded as leading to liberation, and the Demonic fortune to bondage. [BhG 16.5]

11. And these two fortunes described in the aforementioned chapter:

Fearlessness, purity of goodness, steadfastness in the yoga of knowledge, alms-giving, self-control, and sacrifice, Vedic recitation (svādhyāya), austerity, and uprightness, [BhG 16.1]

12. Non-violence, truthfulness, absence of anger, abandonment, peace, absence of slander, compassion toward living beings, absence of greed, kindness, modesty, and absence of capriciousness. [BhG 16.2]

13. Energy, patience, resolve, purity, and absence of treachery and of excessive pride are (the qualities) of one born to the Divine fortune, O Bharata. [BhG 16.3]

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14. Hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, anger and rudeness and ignorance are (the qualities) of one who is born to the fortune of the Demonic, O Partha. [BhG 16.4]

15. The Demonic fortune is described all the way up to the end of the chapter. Of

these, here liberation-in-life occurs when the good latent tendencies-the Divine

fortune that can be acquired by personal effort and is in keeping with the authoritative

texts-destroy the bad latent tendencies-the Demonic fortune that results because

one's natural disposition and is contrary to authoritative texts.

16. The Sruti teaches that the cause of liberation-in-life is also the elimination of

the mind accompanied by the eradication of latent tendencies:

Mind alone is the cause of man's liberation and bondage. Attached to sense objects, (it leads) to bondage; free of objects, (it leads) to liberation. So teach the Smrtis. [AmbU 2]

17. Because one desires liberation of the mind free from objects, therefore a man desiring liberation should always keep the mind free of objects. [AmbU 3]

18. When the mind has rejected attachment to sense objects and is restricted to the heart, then it attains the transmental state (unmanībhavam).15 This is the highest state. [AmbU 4]

19. Until (the mind) has become eliminated in the heart, it should be restricted.

[AmbU15] This is knowledge and meditation. The rest is the prolixity of logic.

20. Bondage is twofold: intense and weak. Of the two, intense bondage is the

Demonic fortune because it is the immediate cause of impurities. But weak bondage

is the perception of mere duality because (a) it does not consist of impurity by itself,

and (b) because it generates the Demonic fortune. Of these two, eradication of latent

tendencies removes only the intense bondage, but elimination of the mind removes

both.

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21. [Objection] In this case, elimination of the mind alone is sufficient, while

eradication of latent tendencies is useless.

22. [Reply] This is not so, because eradication of latent tendencies is useful in

removing the intense bondage that is aroused in the mind by powerful operative

action, which is the cause of enjoyment, and because enjoyment arises even through

weak bondage. Intense bondage is the mental activity consisting in darkness (tamas).

Weak bondage is the two mental activities consisting in goodness and energy (sattva,

rajas). 23. This was made clear in this passage (beginning with):

One who is free from sorrow while in suffering, (who is free from longing while feeling pleasure, and who is free of passion, fear, and anger is called a sage with a steady mind.) [BhG 2.56]

24. [Objection] In that case, because the weak bondage has to be admitted and the

intense bondage has been removed by only the eradication of latent tendencies, the

elimination of the mind is useless.

25. [Reply] This is not so, because it (elimination of the mind) is useful in

remedying inevitable experiences brought about by weak operative action. 26. With

reference to the ability to remove such experiences by means of a remedy, it was

stated:

If there were a remedy of inevitable experiences, then Nala, Rāma, and Yudhisthira would not have been subject to suffering.16 [PD 7.156]17

27. In this way then, because the elimination of the mind and eradication of latent

tendencies are the direct means of liberation-in-life, (they are) principal. Whereas,

knowledge of truth, because it is farther removed (from liberation-in-life) by

production of the other two, is therefore subsidiary. 28. It is declared frequently in the

Sruti that the cause of eradication of latent tendencies is the knowledge of truth:

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Having known God, all the bonds fall off. [ŚvU 1.11]

29. Thinking of (him) as God, the wise man leaves joy and sorrow through learning the contemplation of the highest Self. [KU 2.12]

30. One who knows Self crosses over sorrow. [ChU 7.1.3]

31. What confusion, what sorrow is there for a man who sees this unity? [ĪśaU 7]

32. Having known God, he is freed from all bonds. [ŚvU1.8]

33. The Sruti establishes that the cause of the elimination of the mind is the

knowledge of truth. 34. With regard to the condition of knowledge, we find Vedic

statements such as:

But when everything has become one's very Self, then whom and by what means does one see, whom and by what means does one smell, ... ? [BāU 2.4.14]

35. Gaudapādācarya also says:

When one does not form concepts owing to awakening to the truth of the Self, then he attains the condition of not having a mind; when there is nothing to grasp, he does not grasp. [GK 3.32]

36. Just as in the case of liberation-in-life, elimination of the mind and eradication

of latent tendencies are principal, so also in the case of bodiless-liberation, knowledge

is principal because it is the immediate cause of bodiless-liberation, (and) because of

the Smrti:

Perfect isolation is achieved through nothing but knowledge, by means of which one is liberated. [Untraced]

37. The state of the Self alone is "perfect isolation," namely, the absence of a body and

so on. And this is "achieved through nothing but knowledge" because the state of

having a body, since it is created by ignorance, is removed only through knowledge.

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38. The words "nothing but" in "nothing but knowledge" indicate the exclusion of

ritual action because of the Śruti:

Neither through ritual action, nor offspring, nor wealth. [TĀ 10.10.21]

39. But for one who has not studied the authoritative texts on knowledge, though

he has practiced the eradication of latent tendencies and elimination of the mind as far

as possible, (and) worships Brahman as having attributes, there is no perfect isolation

for him because the subtle body has not passed away. Hence, because of the words

'nothing but," those two18 are also excluded.

40. The meaning of the phrase "by means of which one is liberated" is as

follows: by means of which, i.e., by means of this isolation attained through

knowledge, one is freed from all bondage. And bondage is of many kinds, because of

the usage here and there of such words as "the knot of ignorance," "believing that one

is not Brahman," "the knot of the heart," "doubts," "actions," "not desiring the All,"

'death," and "rebirth." All these types of bondage can be removed by knowledge.

41. Accordingly the Srutis state:

One who knows this that is placed within the cave, my dear, cuts the knot of ignorance in this world. [MuņU 2.1.10]

42. (He who) knows (the highest) Brahman, himself becomes Brahman. [MuņU 3.2.9]

43. The knot of the heart is split, all doubts are cut off, and his actions perish

2.2.8] when that, with reference to which the highest is the lower, is seen. [MuņU

44. He who knows (Brahman) placed in the cave, in the highest heaven, enjoys all his desires together (with the wise Brahman.) [TU 2.1.1]

45. Only when a man knows him (purusa) does he pass beyond death. [ŚvU 3.8]

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46. But one who has understanding, who is mindful and always pure, attains that state from which he is not reborn again. [KU 3.8]

47. One who knows "I am Brahman" in this way becomes the All. [BāU 1.4.10]

These and other similar statements concerning the removal of such bondages as "not

knowing the All" could be cited here.

48. This bodiless-liberation one should understand comes about at the same time

as the arising of knowledge, because when these bondages that have been

superimposed on Brahman by ignorance have been destroyed by knowledge, they

cannot arise again nor be experienced. 49. The commentator (Sankara) has

explained that bodiless-liberation comes about at the same time as knowledge in his

commentaries on the sūtra on the cohesion (samanvaya) [BS 1.1.4] and on the sūtra:

Upon the realization of that, there occurs the non-attachment and destruction (respectively) of subsequent and previous sins, because it is so declared (in the Upanisads). [BS 4.1.13]

50. [Objection] Many describe the bodiless-liberation as taking place immediately

after the death of the present body. So the śruti declares:

There is a delay for me only until I am freed; then I will succeed.20 [ChU 6.14.2]

51. It is also stated in the Vākyavrtti:

One becomes liberated-in-life for a time through the power of operative action; then, on the destruction of the bondage of operative action,

52. One attains the perfect isolation freed from rebirth, the highest state of Vișnu, which is the unsurpassed bliss. [Vāvr 52-53]

53. The author of the sūtras (Badarāyana) also says:

But by having exhausted the two others by experiencing (them), he merges (into Brahman). [BS 4.1.19]

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54. "The two others" refers to the good and the bad operative action. Vasistha says:

Having abandoned the state of one liberated-in-life at the death of one's body, one passes into the state of bodiless-liberation, like the wind falls into stillness. [LYV 3.1.98]

55. [Reply] This is not a problem, because the two views are not contradictory,

owing to the specific distinction of meaning. In their descriptions, many have taken

the word "body," which occurs in the expression "bodiless-liberation," to refer to all

types of bodies. But we say it exclusively implies the "future body,"21 because one

acquires knowledge for the sole purpose of preventing the arising of such a body.

But this body has already arisen, and therefore one cannot prevent its arising even

through knowledge. Nor is removing the present body the result of knowledge,

because, even for the ignorant, it is removed when operative action is exhausted.

56. [Objection] In that case, let us say the removal of the current subtle body is a

result of knowledge, because it cannot be removed without knowledge.

57. [Reply] This is not so, because in the case of liberation-in-life, even when

there is knowledge, there is no removal of that (subtle body).

58. [Objection] Is it not true that even though knowledge cannot remove it for

some time, because it is obstructed by operative action, it will be able to remove the

subtle body when that obstruction is destroyed?

59. [Reply] No, because the teacher of the Pañcapādika (Padmapāda) has

demonstrated:

Because knowledge removes only ignorance. [Ppd 1.3]

60. [Objection] Then what is the means of removing the subtle body?

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61. [Reply] We say: the removal of the whole complex (of causes). For what

removes an effect is twofold: the existence of an opposing force and the elimination of

the whole causal complex. So a lamp is extinguished by the opposing force of the

wind or by the removal of the whole causal complex of the oil and the wick. We do

not see an opposing force in the case of the subtle body. Its causal complex is

twofold: operative and uncommenced.22 Through these two, the subtle body of the

ignorant exists in this world and the next. In the case of knowers, when the

uncommenced action has been eliminated through knowledge and when operative

action has been eliminated by living through it, the subtle body is eliminated because

of the removal of the causal complex. Therefore the removal of that (subtle body) is

not a result of knowledge.

62. [Objection] Is it not true that according to this line of argument, the non-

occurrence of a future body is also not the result of knowledge. For either the non-

occurrence itself should be the result, or its continuation. It is not the first, because it

(non-occurrence) consists in a prior non-existence;23 it is established with no

beginning. It is not the second, because preservation of the prior non-existence of

(future) embodiment takes place only through the elimination of the entire causal

complex consisting of uncommenced action. And the result is not the removal of that

(future body), because only the removal of ignorance is the result of knowledge.

63. [Reply] This is not a difficulty, because of the fact that the non-occurrence of

future births, etc., is the result of knowledge based on authoritative texts. The

authoritative basis is Srutis that have been cited above beginning with:

(From which) he is not reborn again. [KU 3.8]

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64. This does not contradict the doctrine that knowledge removes only ignorance,

because by the word "ignorance," [2.3.59] the teacher of the Pañcapādika

(Padmapāda) meant the definite associations joined to ignorance, such as believing

that one is not Brahman, and so on. Otherwise it goes against experience, for we

experience such things as the removal of the belief that we are not Brahman, just as

we experience the removal of ignorance. Therefore, bodiless-liberation, in the sense

of freedom from the future body, is simultaneous with knowledge. 65. And thus the

words of Yajñavalkya are handed down in the Sruti:

Truly, Janaka, you have attained freedom from fear. [BāU 4.2.4]

66. And:

That (experience) is all there is to immortality. [BāU 4.5.15]

67. Another Sruti also states:

A man who knows him in this way becomes immortal in this world. [TĀ 3.12.7; NrPU 1.6]

68. [Objection] If even after the arising of the knowledge of truth, bodiless-

liberation, which is its result, does not arise at that moment, but at another time, then

one must assume some sort of apūrva24 generated by knowledge, just as in the

Jyotistoma ritual and so on. Consequently, the entire Sāstric teaching on knowledge

would be subsumed under the Sastric teaching on ritual action. Suppose that

knowledge impeded by operative action, like fire impeded by incantations and the like,

will give bodiless-liberation at another time.

69. [Reply] This is not so, because there is no opposition (between operative

action and knowledge). For the bodiless-liberation that we mean, characterized by the

total non-existence of the future body, is not opposed by operative action, which only

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establishes the current body and which (you say) might impede (knowledge).

Moreover, how could knowledge, since it is momentary,25 give liberation at another

time, (while it) itself is not found?

70. [Objection] Another knowledge will arise that is characterized by immediate

realization at the last moment.

71. [Reply] No, because there is no means. What means could there be for you,

because all appearances of the world such as teachers, texts, bodies, and senses are

removed, together with the removal of the impeding operative action?

72. [Objection] In that case, what is the meaning of this śruti?

... and further in the end all illusion ceases. [ŚvU 1.10]

73. [Reply] The meaning is simply this. All causal factors, such as the body,

senses, and so on, are removed because there is no cause at the end of operative

action. Therefore, we grant the bodiless-liberation you postulate, characterized by the

freedom from the current body, whereas (the bodiless-liberation) we postulate

(characterized by the freedom from a future body,) arises at precisely the same time as

knowledge. 74. It is with reference to this very point that Lord Sesa says:

At a pilgrimage site or in the house of a dog-cooker (an outcaste), even with memory lost, abandoning the body, liberated at the same time (he attains) knowledge, he attains perfect isolation, with sorrow destroyed. [Pās 81]

75. Therefore, with regard to bodiless-liberation, knowledge of truth, which is its

immediate cause, is principal. Whereas eradication of latent tendencies and elimination

of the mind are subsidiary because they are the means of knowledge.

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76. We learn in Sruti and Smrti that the means of knowledge is the Divine latent

tendencies, which are the cause for the eradication of Demonic latent tendencies

because of the Śruti:

(A man who knows this, therefore,) having become mentally still, with senses controlled, quiet, patient, and collected, he sees the Self in just himself. [BāU 4.4.23]

77. The smrti also says:

Absence of pride and deceit, non-violence, patience, sincerity, respect for the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-restraint. [BhG 13.7]

78. Detachment from sense objects, and also without egoism, insight into the defects of birth, death, old age, illness, and suffering. [BhG 13.8]

79. Non-attachment, absence of intense attachment for son, wife, house, and so on, and with a constant even-mindedness among desired and undesired events. [BhG 13.9]

80. With engagement in Me and no other, with unswerving devotion, inhabiting isolated places, dislike for a crowd of people. [BhG 13.10]

81. Constancy in the knowledge of the highest Self, seeing the purpose of the knowledge of truth. This is called knowledge; ignorance is what is otherwise. [BhG 13.11]

82. "Intense attachment" refers to the feeling of one's ego in another. The word

"knowledge" (jñāna) here has the sense of the means of knowledge (and not the act of

knowledge), according to the etymology "that by which (something) is known."26 83.

It is well known in the Srutis and Smrtis, moreover, that elimination of the mind is a

means of knowledge because of the ruti:

But a man sees him who is without parts, as he meditates. [MuņU 3.1.8]

84. And also:

Realizing the God by acquiring the yoga of the Self, the wise man leaves elation and sorrow. [KU 2.12]

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The meaning (of the latter text) is having realized the God27 by means of the

attainment of enstasis on the Self. 85. The Smrti declares:

Homage to that Self of yoga,28 which those who are engaged, are vigilant, have controlled the breath, are contented, and have the senses controlled see as the light. [MBh 12.47.35]

86. Therefore, in this way, we have established the following distinction: the

three means, namely, knowledge of truth, eradication of latent tendencies, and

elimination of the mind are subsidiary and principal, depending on whether we are

dealing with bodiless-liberation or liberation-in-life.

2.4 Pure and Impure Latent Tendencies

1. [Objection] Given that these three means have been carried out by the renouncer-

for-knowledge after he has reached the renunciation-of-the-knower, do they merely

continue, or is special effort required? It cannot be the first case, because even when

someone achieves the other two, in the same way just as knowledge, without effort,

then it would result in not treating those that are principal with special attention

(ādara). It cannot be the second case, because when knowledge also requires effort

like the other two, then it would result in not treating those that are subsidiary with

impartiality.

2. [Reply] This is not a difficulty, because our position is that knowledge merely

continues, while the other two are attained with effort. Accordingly, a person entitled

to knowledge is of two kinds: one who has gone through symbol-oriented meditation

(upästi),29 and one who has not. Of these two, if a man were to engage in knowledge

after going through training until he has directly realized the object of meditation, then,

after that realization, the renunciation-of-the-knower and liberation-in-life are

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established all on their own because of the greater strength of (his) eradication of

latent tendencies and elimination of the mind. Such a one is the principal type of

person entitled to knowledge, the type postulated in the authoritative texts. Therefore,

because renunciation-for-knowledge and renunciation-of-the-knower are both

prescribed together for him in authoritative texts, these two appear as if they are

overlapping even though they are by nature distinct.

3. The men of the present time, however, generally engage in knowledge

straightaway merely out of curiosity without having gone through symbol-oriented

meditation (upāsana). They carry out a temporary eradication of the latent tendencies

and elimination of the mind. To that extent, they also practice Vedic study, reflection,

and meditation. By the strength of these practices ignorance, doubt, and

misapprehension are expelled, and the knowledge of truth properly arises. What has

arisen does not diminish, because there is no evidence (pramāna) that would annul it,

and there is no cause (karana) that would create the ignorance that has been eliminated.

But eradication of latent tendencies and elimination of the mind are quickly

extinguished like a lamp in a windy place because they have not been practiced

rigorously, and because they are now and again opposed by operative action, which

produces experience.

4. Vasistha (describes it) in this way:

But this is considered more difficult than the previous efforts; for abandonment of latent tendencies is considered to be even more difficult to achieve than uprooting Mount Meru. [LYV 5.10.109]

5. Arjuna also says:

For this mind is fickle, O Krsna, impetuous, strong, and obstinate. I think it is as difficult to restrain as the wind. [BhG 6.34]

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6. Therefore, in the case of the present-day renunciants who are knowers, knowledge

merely persists. It is made steadfast, while eradication of latent tendencies and

elimination of the mind are carried out by means of effort.

7. [Objection] What is this latent tendency which one must make effort in order to

destroy?

8. [Reply] Vasiștha states the nature of it:

Taking to things that make one give up inquiring into their cause and effect

[LYV 5.10.48] because of a strong feeling (drdhabhāvanayā).30 That is called latent tendency.

9. What has been manifested with sharp force by oneself, that he becomes immediately, O Strong-Armed One, forgetting all other things. [LYV 5.10.49]

10. For, when a person like this, who is subjugated by a latent tendency, sees whatever object, he is fooled, believing it is a real thing. [LYV 5.10.50]

11. That (object) abandons its true form because (he) loses self-control to the power of the latent tendency. One with poor sight sees everything confusedly, as if he were drunk. [LYV 5.10.51]

12. The Demonic people do not know action nor inaction. Neither purity, nor even good custom, nor truth are found in them. [BhG 16.7]

13. They say the world is without truth, without foundation, without God, produced by one another. What else causes it? Simply desire. [BhG 16.8]

14. Maintaining this view, from those whose Selves are lost, have little intelligence. [BhG 16.9ab]

15. Moreover, (this passage) illustrates in general terms the insistence of peoples on

the traditions of their countries, customs of their families, the dialects, as well as the

proper and improper usages found in them, and so on. But we will give specific

examples after stating their varieties.

16. With reference to latent tendencies as we have described, then, it is stated in

the Brhadāraņyaka:

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As is a man's desire, that becomes his will; what his will becomes, that is the action he does; what action he does, he turns out to be that. [BāU 4.4.5]

17. Vālmīki describes the varieties of latent tendencies:

Latent tendency is said to be twofold: pure and impure. The impure is the cause of births; the pure is the destroyer of births. [LYV 1.1.10]

18. The wise people say the impure latent tendency has the form of very dense ignorance, is full of dense egoism, and causes rebirth. [LYV 1.1.11]

19. The pure is said to be that which has known what is to be known, has remained like a dried seed having given up the sprout of rebirth, and lives for the sake of the body. [LYV 1.1.12]

20. The meaning of the phrase "has the form of very dense ignorance" is as

follows. The covering up of the difference between the five sheaths,31 beginning with

the body and so on, and the witness of that, which is the pure consciousness

(cidātman), is ignorance, i.e., that whose form has become exceedingly dense. This

"has the form of very dense ignorance."32 Just as milk becomes dense by mixing with

buttermilk, or as melted ghee becomes dense (when) placed for a long time in a very

cool place, so also should we understand latent tendencies. And here density means a

perpetuation of confusion.

21. The Lord states this in the explanation of the Demonic fortune:

(They) perform cruel deeds, become dominant for the destruction of the world. [BhG 16.9cd]

22. Attached to insatiable desire, possessing deceit, pride, and arrogance, having taken untrue conceptions because of delusion, they engage in impure vows. [BhG 16.10]

23. And they have relied on unbounded care, which continues until death. With enjoyment of desires as the highest, they have become certain that is all there is. [BhG 16.11]

24. Bounded by hundreds of chains of desire, they have become chiefly intent on desire and anger. Gathering wealth by the wrong means, they endeavor for the sake of enjoyment of desire. [BhG 16.12]

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25. "Dense egoism" [2.4.18, LYV 1.1.11] is also illustrated in the same text:

I acquired this today; I will attain what I have set my heart on. This wealth is mine, and that too will be mine. [BhG 16.13]

26. I have slain that enemy, and I will also slay others. I am the Lord. I am the enjoyer. I am the perfected one, strong and happy. [BhG 16.14]

27. I am rich and of noble descent. Who else is there like me? I will sacrifice, give alms, and rejoice. So say the ones deluded by ignorance. [BhG 16.15]

28. Confused by many thoughts, tangled in a snare of delusion, intent on the gratification of desires, they fall into a foul hell. [BhG 16.16]

29. The passage states that (impure latent tendencies) are the cause of rebirth and

goes on to explain it:

Self-conceited, stubborn, full of pride and arrogance, they fraudulently perform sacrifices only in name, not according to injunction. [BhG 16.17]

30. Indulging in egoism, power, arrogance, desire, and anger, the indignant ones hating Me in the bodies of themselves and others. [BhG 16.18]

31. These hateful, cruel, and vile men, I perpetually throw these evil ones only in samsaric existence, into Demonic wombs. [BhG 16.19]

32. They have attained a Demonic womb and are deluded in birth after birth; not having attained Me, O son of Kunti, they then go to the lowest state. [BhG 16.20]

33. Pure latent tendencies are "that which has known what is to be known."

[2.4.19, LYV 1.1.12] The Lord states the nature of what is to be known in the

thirteenth chapter:

I shall tell what the object to be known is, knowing which, one attains immortality. With no beginning, the highest Brahman, it is said to be neither existent nor non-existent. [BhG 13.12]

34. That has hands and feet on all sides, eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere.

[BhG 13.13] That is heard everywhere, it stands in the world encompassing everything.

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35. Appearing to have the qualities of all the senses, yet free of all the senses. Unattached, and yet supporting everything; without the qualities, and yet enjoyer of the qualities. [BhG 13.14]

36. Outside and inside of beings; moving and unmoving. Because of subtlety, that is incomprehensible. That stands far, and yet it is near. [BhG 13.15]

37. Undivided, yet it has stood as if shared among beings. That is to be

[BhG 13.16] known as the supporter of beings, as well as (their) devourer and creator.

38. That is also called the light of lights beyond darkness (-knowledge, what is to be known, and attainable through knowledge, standing in the heart of everything.) [BhG 13.17]

39. In this passage, the two natures conditioned (with adjuncts) and absolute (without

adjuncts) have been presented, which are to be understood through temporary

definitions and inherent definitions.

40. [Objection] You have said that a characteristic feature (of latent tendencies) is

the disregard of the investigation of what is before and after.33 But the knowledge of

what is to be known is to be produced by rational investigation (vicāra). Therefore,

this definition does not apply to pure (latent tendencies).

41. [Reply] This is not so, because the definition uses the words "because of a

strong feeling." [2.4.8, LYV 5.10.48] It is just as impure latent tendencies such as

egoism, possessiveness, desire, and anger arise without any instruction from another

in this life, because they have been felt strongly during many births. Similarly the

reality bursts forth like a jar and the like standing in front of you, without any

dependency on words, reasoning,34 or judgment, when one cultivates (bhāvite) the

truth for a long time, uninterruptedly, and with deep care, [YS 1.14, adapted] even

though the first understanding (bodha) of it is produced by rational investigation.

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42. Pure latent tendencies are the operation of the senses connected with such

continuing understanding. They are good only for the purpose of sustaining the body,

but not for the purpose of producing the Demonic fortune, such as deceit and pride,

nor for the production of what is right and what is wrong (dharmädharma), which are

the cause of future births. It is just as roasted grain such as rice is good only for the

purpose of filling a granary5 but not for preparing delicious food or for planting

another crop.

43. Impure latent tendencies are of three types:36 tendencies having to do with the

world, those to do with learning, and those to do with the body. "I will always

behave in such as way that no one criticizes me, but rather so that everyone praises

me," such an urge constitutes a latent tendency concerning the world. It is impure

because it is impossible to bring about.

44. Vālmīki posed this question in many ways:

Who presently in this world is virtuous and heroic? [Rām 1.1.2]

45. Nārada gave the answer beginning with:

It is Rāma, arisen from the Ikșvāku lineage, renowned to everyone. [Rām 1.1.8]

46. Even in the case of Rama, who was a person like that, and his devoted wife,

Sītā, the crest-jewel of women and the Mother of the world, people said awful things

that one could not bear to hear. How much more so then in the case of others? Just

so, people frequently insult each other with respect to their native place. The northern

priests, knowers of Veda, are condemned by the southern priests as meat-eaters. And

the southerners are condemned by the northerners for marrying their cross-cousin and

for carrying a clay pot while traveling. The Rg Vedins consider the Āśvalāyana

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Śākhā to be better than the Kāņva Sākhā, but the Vājasaneyins think the opposite. So

it is well known that everywhere, from the learned, to women and cowherders, that

people praise their own family, gotra, relatives, gods, and so on and belittle those of

others. 47. With reference to just this it was said:

A thoughtless person is considered a thief, and a beautiful person a lecher. Who is capable of winning the favor of the world? [Untraced]

48. And:

One can find (or knows) no way of completely satisfying the whole world. By all means one should manage one's own welfare. What can critical people do to you? [Untraced]

49. Therefore, with reference to the impurity of latent tendencies concerning the

world, the Sästras on liberation describe the master yogin as being the same both

when people praise him and when people revile him.37

50. Latent tendencies having to do with learning are of three types: attachment to

study, attachment to many Sastras, and attachment to performance of ritual action. We

recognize the addiction to study in Bharadvāja. He studied many Vedas during three

human lifetimes. Then when he was enticed into a fourth lifetime by Indra, he

endeavored to study Vedic appendices. Because such study is impossible to

complete, it is impure. Indra, making him (Bharadvāja) realize the impossibility of

such study, turned him away from it and, for the sake of an even higher human goal,

taught (him) the knowledge of the Brahman with qualities. This all can be seen in the

Taittirīya Brahmaņa. [TB 3.1.3-5]

51. In the Kāvașeya Gītā38 we find the impurity of attachment to many Sāstras

because it does not lead to the ultimate human goal. A sage named Durvāsa

approached Mahādeva to pay homage, bringing along many kinds of Sāstric books.

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In that god's council a certain sage Nārada compared him to a donkey carrying a load.

Durvāsa then in anger threw the books in the salt ocean. Mahādeva introduced (him)

to the knowledge of the Self. Knowledge of the Self does not arise merely by

studying the Veda for one who is not inward-looking and is without a guru who has

compassion for him. 52. Similarly the Sruti states:

[KU 2.23] This Self cannot be attained by teaching, by intelligence, or by great learning.

53. Elsewhere it is said:

Talking a lot of Sästras-what use is there is chewing that rag? Knowers of truth should seek strenuously their inner light. [MukU 2.63]

54. As the ladle does not know the taste of cooking, so a man does not know the truth of Brahman by studying the four Vedas and innumerable Dharmaśāstras. [MukU 2.65]

55. We read in the Chandogya Upanişad (seventh ādhyāya) that, even though

conversant with the sixty-four arts, dejected over not having found the Self, Nārada

approached Sanatkumāra.

56. We recognize the attachment to performance of ritual action in the case of

Nidāgha in the Vișnu Purāna, and in the case of Dāsūra in the

Vāsișțharāmāyaņa. For Nidāgha, even though instructed by Rbhu again and again,

did not give up the dullness of faith in ritual action for a long time. [ViP 2.15-16]

And Dāśūra, owing to his exceeding dullness of faith, did not find any pure place on

the earth for the purpose of performing ritual actions. [LYV 4.4.122-259] This latent

tendency of ritual action is impure because it is the cause of rebirth. 57. Similarly an

Atharvaņic passage reads:

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Frail vessels are they in the form of sacrifices, in which inferior action (characterized by) eighteen39 is prescribed. Fools who praise that as the best, they again go to old age and death. [MuņU 1.2.7]

58. Wallowing amid ignorance, wise unto themselves, thinking they are learned, fools, being hurt repeatedly, go about as a group of blind men being led by someone who is himself blind. [MuņU 1.2.8]

59.Wallowing in ignorance so many times, simpletons think "We have reached our aim." Those who perform rites do not understand, because of their passion. Therefore they fall down sick, their world exhausted. [MuņU 1.2.9]

60. Thinking sacrifice and charitable deeds (istapūrta)40 are the best, fools know nothing better. Having enjoyed their good deeds at the height of heaven, they enter this world or a lower one. [MuņU 1.2.10]

61. The Lord has also said:

That flowery talk the undiscriminating use, those that delight in Vedic discourse, O Partha, who say "there is nothing else," [BhG 2.42]

62. Whose self is desire, who seek heaven-it (that talk) gives rebirth as the

[BhG 2.43] fruit of ritual; it is full of many distinct rites aimed at pleasure and power.

63. In those who are attached to pleasure and power and whose minds are carried off by this (talk), no resolute intellect is established in enstasis (samādhi). [BhG 2.44]

64. The Vedas have the three qualities as their domain. Be without the qualities, O Arjuna, without duality, always steadfast in goodness, without concern for acquiring and keeping property, and self-possessed. [BhG 2.45]

65. There is as much value in all the Vedas for a Brahmana who knows as there is in a pond when it is flooding everywhere. [BhG 2.46]

66. The latent tendency of learning is impure because it is the cause of arrogance.

In the sixth adhyaya of the Chandogya Upanisad we read that Svetaketu, having

studied all the Vedas in a very short time, did not behave with respect even in the

presence of his father. Similarly it is recorded among the Kausītakins and the

Vājasaneyins that Bālāki, becoming arrogant by learning some meditative practice,41

having humiliated many sages by his world conquest through many regions such as

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Uśīnara, reached Kaśi and had the audacity to teach the crest-jewel of Brahma-

knowers, Ajātaśatru. [KauU 4.1.20; BāU 6.2.1]

67. The latent tendency of the body is also threefold, owing to the distinction

between the error of ascribing Selfhood to the body, the error of developing good

qualities, and the error of removing defects. 68. Of these, the commentator

(Sankara) describes ascribing Selfhood to the body:

The ordinary people and materialists think that the Self is merely the body characterized by consciousness. [BSBh 1.1.1]

69. The Taittirīya Upanişad makes this same thinking of ordinary people clear in

the passage beginning with "Indeed this very person is formed from the essence of

food," [TU 2.1.1] and ending with "Therefore it is called food." [TU 2.2.1]42 The

eighth adhyaya of the Chandogya Upanisad gives a tradition that Virocana, even

though he was taught by Prajapati, clung to the idea that the Self is the body, because

of faulty thinking, and taught (it) to all the asuras. [ChU 8.7-8]

70. Developing good qualities is twofold: worldly and according to Sāstric

authority. Developing such things as a good voice is worldly. People try hard to sing

and recite with a good voice by drinking oil and eating pepper. People take

nourishing medicines and food in order to get soft skin. They rub oils, apply

powders, and wear fine clothes and ornaments in order to be beautiful. They wear

garlands and apply ointments in order to smell good. To acquire qualities according to

Sastric authority, they perform religious acts such as bathing in the Ganges and going

on pilgrimage to Sālagrama.43

71. Getting rid of defects (is achieved) by drugs prescribed by a doctor and by

rinsing out the mouth, etc., and this is worldly. It is also achieved by purification and

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sipping water, and this is Vedic. Thus this is also achieved through both worldly and

Śastric means. We will explain the impurity of this latent tendency of the body. The

selfhood of the body is impure because it has no authoritative basis and because it is

the cause of all suffering. All former teachers without exception attacked this

(fallacy). For the most part, we do not see people developing qualities. There are

singers and teachers very well known, many of whom, even though they try, do not

obtain a beautiful voice. A soft skin and a well-nourished body are not guaranteed.

Also looking beautiful and smelling good depend on fine clothes and garlands, etc.,

but not on the body. 72. For this reason it was declared in the Vișnu Purāņa:

If a fool delights in the body, a mass of flesh, blood, pus, excrement, urine, tendon, marrow, and bone, he will find delight even with Hell. [ViP 1.17.63; NpU 3.48]

73. A man who is not disgusted with the foul smell of his own body, what other reason for detachment can one teach him? [MukU 2.66; PaP 2.66.80]

74. Developing qualities according to Sästric authority is set aside by another

stronger Sastra. It is like the injunction "You must not harm any living being" [MhB

3.203.45; 12.269.5, 316.18] (is set aside) by the special rule (apavāda)44 "You must

sacrifice the beast in the Agnistoma." [TS 6.1.11.6] 75. The following Sāstra is

stronger:

One who thinks of the Self in the mortal body consisting of three humors, who thinks his family and so on are his, who thinks God is a clay statue, who thinks a place of pilgrimage is the water, but never wise men-he is like an ass among animals. [BhP 10.84.13]

76. Also:

The body is absolutely impure and the embodied soul is absolutely pure. When one knows the difference between the two, to whom will one prescribe purification? [MukU 2.67; SūS 2.14.19]

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77. Even if this Sastra prohibits getting rid of defects but not developing qualities,

nevertheless, because it is impossible to develop a quality when a stronger opposing

defect is present, this Sāstra by implication also prohibits developing qualities in the

case of the body. 78. The absolute impurity is declared in the Maitrāyaņīya Śākhā:

O Lord, what is the use of enjoying pleasures in this body, which is without substance, smelly, an aggregate of excrement, urine, air, bile, and phlegm, and polluted by bones, flesh, tendon, marrow, semen, blood, the rheum discharged from the eyes, and tears? [MtrāU 1.3]

79. And:

This body, born from sex and without intelligence, is a Hell, come forth through the urinary tract, built up by bones, coated with flesh, covered over with skin, and filled up with excrement, urine, phlegm, bile, marrow, lymph, fat, and many other impurities, like a bag filled with riches. [MtrāU 3.4]

80. Furthermore, curing sicknesses by medical treatment is uncertain. Even when

a disease is in remission, sometimes it arises again. Through its nine openings filth

constantly oozes out; through its innumerable pores it is covered with sweat-who

indeed is able even with the greatest effort to wash the body? 81. Therefore the

former teachers have said:

The bodies made of nine holes leak like a clay pot. They are not cleansed by external purifications, but there is no internal purification. [Untraced]

Therefore the latent tendency of the body is impure. 82. Vasistha says this with

regard to this impurity:

"From head to toe, I am what my mother and father made me," this single fixed opinion, O Rāma, leads to bondage because it is an untrue perception. [LYV 5.2.42]

83. The belief that "I am the body," that is the path to the Kālasūtra Hell, that is the trap of the Mahävīci Hell, that is the row of trees of the forest of the Asipatra Hell,45 [LYV 4.5.16; NpU 3.49]

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84. Spare no effort to abandon this, even if it exposes one to total destruction. A righteous person must avoid this like the outcast woman carrying dog meat. [LYV 4.5.17; NpU 3.50]

85. These three latent tendencies concerning the world, learning, and the body,

then, although they appear attractive to the indiscriminate, must be abandoned by the

discriminate because they obstruct the arising of knowing in those desiring knowledge

and obstruct the stability of the knowledge of those who do know. 86. Precisely

because of this the Smrti declares:

Surely knowledge does not arise properly in a person with the latent tendency of the world, learning, and the body. [SūS 4.14.51]

87. The impurity of the latent tendencies of the mind,46 which is the Demonic

fortune, consists in deceit, pride, and the like and is very well known because it is the

cause of Hell. Hence, by some means or other, one must bring about the eradication

of the fourfold latent tendency.

2.5 The Nature of the Mind and the Elimination of the Mind

1. Just as one must bring about the eradication of latent tendencies, so also one must

eliminate the mind. The Vedic people do not agree with the view of the logician that

the mind consists of an eternal substance the size of an atom,47 in which case the

elimination of the mind would be difficult to attain. On the contrary, the mind is

something that is composed of parts, not eternal, and is subject to constant manifold

changes in the same way as lac and gold, and the like. The Vedic tradition of the

Vājasaneyins gives its definition and its evidence (pramāna).

2. This is its definition:

Desire, forming concepts, doubt, faith, lack of faith, steadfastness, lack of steadfastness, shame, intelligence, and fear-all this is simply the mind. [BāU 1.5.3]

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3. The meaning is this: mental activities, such as desire arising gradually, appear very

clearly through the direct perception of the witness, as a clay pot and so on appears to

the direct perception of the eye. The mind is the material cause of these mental

activities.

4. Such (Sruti) is the evidence:

We say "I didn't see; my mind was elsewhere. I didn't hear; my mind was elsewhere." For it is through the mind that one sees and hears. [BāU 1.5.3]

5. The meaning is this: when a man is inattentive, he does not perceive a clay pot in

front of his eyes and in the middle of full light, or the Veda recited loudly close to the

ear, but when he is attentive, he perceives them. One arrives at this sort of common

means of perception of all objects through positive and negative concomitance.48

6. And this is the example:

Therefore, even when someone touches us on the back, we perceive it through the mind. [BāU 1.5.3]

7. Because the mind has been established by giving the definition and the evidence

(for it), consequently an example is provided for it this way. Even though he has been

touched by another on the back, Devadatta knows specifically "This is the touch of a

hand; this is the touch of a finger." The eyesight does not extend to it, while the

sensation of the skin reaches its limit in mere softness and hardness. Therefore, only

the mind remains as a means of knowing such distinctions. It is called "mind"

(manas) because of internal reflection (manana) and it is called "mind" (citta) because

of its awareness of things (cetana). This mind (citta) consists in the qualities of

goodness, energy, and darkness, because in it we see illumination, activity, and

delusion, which are the effects of goodness and the others.

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8. By the definition of the one who has transcended-the-qualities [1.8], we

recognize that illumination and so on are the effects of qualities (because it is stated):

One who doesn't hate the illumination, activity, or even delusion when they are present, O Pandava, (and does not long for them when they disappear). [BhG 14.22]

9. Also in the Samkhya Sāstra it has been said that

Illumination, activity, and delusion have the purpose of restriction (of the other effects of the qualities). [SK 12, adapted]4

10. "Illumination" in the above passage does not mean a white or shining color, but on

the contrary, it means knowledge, because it has been said:

Knowledge is born of goodness, just as greed is born of energy, and negligence, delusion, and ignorance have come from darkness. [BhG 14.17]

11. Happiness, like knowledge, is also an effect of goodness. This has also been

stated:

Goodness causes attachment to happiness, energy to action, O Bharata, but darkness, having obscured knowledge, certainly causes attachment to negligence. [BhG 14.9]

12. Among the qualities that constantly change like waves on the ocean, at a

given time one of them comes into power, while the other two are overpowered. This

has been declared:

Goodness, having overcome energy and darkness, prevails, O Bharata; as energy prevails over darkness and goodness, and darkness, having overcome goodness and energy. [BhG 14.10]

13. And:

They assume the relative position of suppressed and suppressor, like waves on the ocean. [ViP 5.1.20]

14. Among these, when darkness prevails, the Demonic fortune arises. When

energy prevails, the three latent tendencies, namely, those concerning society, etc.,

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come into being. When goodness prevails, the Divine fortune is produced. 15. With

reference to this it has been said:

When illumination that is knowledge is produced in all the openings of this body, then it is said you should know that goodness becomes strong. [BhG 14.11]

16. Even if the internal organ appears to consist of the three qualities,

nevertheless goodness alone is its primary material cause. But energy and darkness

are supporting causes. For this reason, goodness alone remains the knower's nature

when energy and darkness are removed by means of yogic practice. 17. With

reference to this it has been said:

The mind of the knower would become a non-mind; the mind of the knower is called goodness. [LYV 6.3.13ab]

18. This goodness is one-pointed because it is devoid of the quality of energy that

is the cause of unsteadiness. It is subtle because it is devoid of the quality of darkness

that is the cause of the forms of gross material objects, which are of the nature of the

non-Self and fabricated by false cognition. Therefore, it (goodness) is capable of

seeing the Self. 19. Precisely because of this the Sruti declares:

[KU 3.12] Yet it is seen with a sharpened and subtle mind by people with subtle vision.

20. It is not possible to ascertain the characteristics of a jewel, a pearl, and the like

with a lamp that is flickering in the wind. Nor can one sew a fine cloth using a big

shovel as one can with a needle. This very goodness as we have described, when it is

colored by the quality of energy with a core of the quality of darkness, and when it

operates in imagination with multifarious dualities, becomes the mind in non-yogins.

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This mind, when there is an abundance of the quality of darkness, becomes swollen

by accumulating Demonic fortune. 21. Thus Vasiștha says:

By taking the Self to be in the non-Self, thus having regard for merely the body, by having children, wife, and family, the mind becomes swollen. [LYV 5.6.17]

22. By the disease of egoism, by amusement in the dirt of possessiveness, by thinking "This is mine," the mind becomes swollen. [LYV 5.6.18]

23. By playing in mental and physical disease, by believing in samsāric existence, by dividing things into what is to be thrown away and what is not, the mind becomes swollen. [LYV 5.6.19]

24. By affections, by greed for wealth, by acquiring jewels and women, which are momentarily pleasing, the mind becomes swollen. [LYV 5.6.20]

25. By drinking the milk of vain hope, and by the strength of (inhaling) the air of enjoyment, by the movement of taking hope, the snake of the mind becomes swollen. [LYV 5.6.21] 50

26. Thus the nature of latent tendencies (2.4) and the mind (2.5), which must be

destroyed, has been defined.

2.6 The Way Latent Tendencies Are Eradicated

1. Hereafter we will describe in the proper order the eradication of latent tendencies

and elimination of the mind.51 2. Of these two, Vasistha describes the way latent

tendencies are eradicated:

Bondage is simply the bondage of latent tendencies, so liberation is the eradication of latent tendencies. Having abandoned latent tendencies, abandon even the pursuit of liberation. [LYV 4.5.20]

3. Having earlier on renounced the latent tendencies concerning the mind and latent tendencies concerning sense objects, take up pure latent tendencies

4.5.21] concerning the development of friendliness and the other virtues. [LYV

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4. Even having internally abandoned them, continuing to engage in them, become a person who internally develops love in highest stillness and whose latent tendency is of pure consciousness. [LYV 4.5.22]

5. Having internally abandoned even that, which is connected with mind and intellect, absorbed firmly in what is left, abandon that by which you abandon. [LYV 4.5.23]

6. Here by the expression "latent tendencies concerning the mind" the author

intends to refer to the three latent tendencies described above, [2.4.43 ff.] namely,

latent tendencies concerning the world, learning, and the body. By "latent tendencies

concerning sense objects" he intends such things as deceit and pride, which are the

Demonic fortune. The reason for his distinguishing the implications is that one is

weak and the other is intense. An alternative interpretation is that sense objects are

sounds, textures, forms, tastes, and smells. The residual impressions (samskāra)

produced from the state of desiring these are the latent tendencies concerning the

mind. Residual impressions produced from actually enjoying them constitutes latent

tendencies of objects. In the latter alternative, the four types of latent tendencies

mentioned earlier [2.4.85-87] are included in just these two types, because besides

what exist internally in the mind or what attach externally to objects, there can be no

other type of latent tendencies possible.52

7. [Objection] How is the abandonment of latent tendencies possible? Surely

they have no tangible form whereby we could pick them up with the hand and throw

them out like dust and straw are swept up with a broom.

8. [Reply] This is not so, because one can do it like one keeps a fast or a vigil.

Eating and sleeping are naturally valid functions, even though they are intangible, and

yet everyone keeps fasts and vigils, which entail giving up these two. In this instance

also, we can assume this happens in the same way.

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9. [Objection] Abandonment in the other instance is remaining alert after the

declaration of intent beginning with: "Remaining today without food."

10. [Reply] In this instance also, there is no punitive measure to prevent such an

abandonment. One can remain alert after making the declaration of intent with the

praișa ritual formula.53 People who are not entitled to utter Vedic mantras can declare

their intention using common language.54 If in the other instance one abandons

proximity to using vegetables, soup, rice and so on, in this instance also, one can say

that he abandons proximity to garlands, sandal paste, and women. Further, in the

other instance, the mind is entertained with recitation of Puranas, worship of the gods,

dancing, singing, and music, and so on, to make it forget about hunger, sleep, and

laziness; also in this instance, the mind would be entertained by "friendliness and the

other virtues."

2.7 The Practice of Pure Latent Tendencies

1. Patañjali comments on "friendliness and the other virtues" in the sūtra:

By cultivation of friendliness, compassion, contentment, and equanimity toward objects which are pleasant, painful, virtuous, or vile, the mind becomes serene. [YS 1.33]

Mind is turbid by attachment and hatred, virtue and vice. 2. Patañjali comments on

passion and hatred in the sūtras:

Attachment follows what is pleasant. [YS 2.7]

3. Hatred follows what is painful. [YS 2.8]

4. A particular mental activity following a pleasure one experiences is "Would

that all kinds of pleasures were mine." But this is not possible to attain, because of the

lack of a causal complex, seen or unseen. Hence, this attachment makes the mind

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turbid. When a person cultivates friendliness toward happy beings, thinking "All

these happy people are mine," then he realizes that their happiness is his very own.

Hence, his attachment to those is removed. It is just like a person who, even though

he has no kingdom of his own, regards the kingdom of his son and so on as his own.

When attachment is removed, the mind settles like a river during the autumn season55

when the monsoon rains have ceased.

5. Likewise, the thought "Let such pain never be mine" follows pain. It is not

possible to remove all pain when there are diseases, enemies, tigers, and so on. Nor is

it possible to remove all the causes of pain. Therefore, this hatred always burns the

heart. When a person cultivates compassion toward suffering beings in this manner:

"As for me, so for all, let there be no untoward pain," then hatred toward enemies

ceases, and the mind becomes clear. 6. Hence the smrti declares:

As life is dear to oneself, it is also just so to other beings. Men show compassion to other beings by putting themselves in their place. [MBh 13.116.21cd-22ab; YDhS p. 31]

7. The great people show how this can be done:

May everyone be happy here, may everyone be healthy, may good things come to everyone, may no one suffer any pain. [BhMP 2.35.14]

8. Now it is not in the nature of living things to do good; instead they do evil

things. So, they say:

People want the results of good deeds, but do not want to do good deeds. They do not want the results of evil, yet they diligently do evil. [Untraced]

Both these, good and evil, produce remorse. 9. This remorse is described by Śruti:

Why did I not do the right thing? Why did I do evil? [TU 2.9]

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10. If this person were to cultivate joyfulness toward virtuous people, then through

the latent tendency created by that, he would himself vigilantly engage in good deeds.

Likewise, by cultivating indifference toward evil sinners, he would himself desist

from sin. Therefore, through the absence of remorse, the mind becomes calm.

11. When a person cultivates friendliness toward happy people, not only is

attachment eliminated, but also calumny, envy, etc., are removed. Calumny is the

intolerance of another's virtues. Envy is finding faults in virtues. When the happiness

of others is made into one's own through the power of friendliness, then how could

jealousy and the like toward virtues be possible? In this manner one should infer the

removal of other faults according to the circumstances. When a person cultivates

compassion toward people who suffer, and hatred, which causes such things as the

killing of enemies, ceases, then the pride generated by one's own happiness, which

belongs to the antithesis of suffering, ceases. 12. This pride was cited earlier in the

context of egoism in (the treatment of) the Demonic fortune:

I am the lord. I am the enjoyer. I am the perfected one, strong, and happy. I am rich and noble descent. Who else is there like me? [BhG 16.14cd-15ab]

13. [Objection] You have presented the engagement in good deeds as the result

for a person who cultivates joyfulness toward virtuous people. This is not suitable for

a yogin, because in a previous passage you have included virtue within the impure

latent tendencies related to learning.56

14. Reply: This is not so, because in that discussion rites prompted by desire,

such as the sacrifices and charitable deeds57 that are the cause of rebirth, are mentioned

as impure. But in this instance, we mean the action produced from yogic practice,

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which, because it is neither white nor black, as such is not productive of future births.

15. Patañjali declared that it is neither white nor black in this sūtra:

The action of a yogin is neither white nor black; in the case of others it is threefold. [YS 4.7]

16. Rites prompted by desire are "white" because they are enjoined. Those that are

prohibited are "black." Those that are mixed are white and black. These three come

about "in the case of others," i.e., in the case of people who are non-yogins. And

these three produce three kinds of birth. 17. This is stated by the Viśvarūpācaryas:

By good actions a person attains the divine; by prohibited acts he goes to Hell,

1.41] and by both virtuous and evil acts he then comes to the human state. [NkS

18. [Objection] Although yoga is not black, because it is not prohibited,

nevertheless it is white because it has been enjoined.

19. [Reply] This is not so because it is called non-white, with the meaning that it

is not prompted by desire. Hence, yogins are expected to engage in virtuous activities

that are neither white nor black.

20. [Objection] Even yogins, by this principle, having, as is proper, cultivated

joyfulness toward virtuous people, would engage only in virtuous activities.

21. [Reply] Let him by all means do so, because true yogins are only those who

have calmed their minds through friendliness and so on. The four virtues beginning

with friendliness constitute a synecdoche (upalaksana), which implicitly includes

Divine fortune "fearlessness, purity of goodness," etc., [2.3.11; BhG 16.1] the means

of knowledge such as "absence of pride and deceit," etc., [2.3.77; BhG 13.7] and

qualities indicated by the words "liberation-in-life, steady-in-wisdom, etc.," [1.3, 1.4,

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and 1.6] because all these, insofar as they constitute pure latent tendencies, remove

impure latent tendencies.

22. [Objection] There are an unlimited number of latent tendencies. It is

impossible for one person to practice them all. Attempting to practice them is futile.

23. [Reply] No, because it is not possible for there to be in the mind of a single

person an unlimited number of impure latent tendencies that are to be removed by the

practice of pure latent tendencies. Surely it is not possible for one person to take all

the medicines mentioned in the Ayurveda. Nor do all diseases to be cured by those

medicines exist in the body of one person. Similarly in this case, one should first

examine one's own mind. When one finds in it a certain number of impure latent

tendencies, then he should practice an equal number of opposing pure latent

tendencies.

2.8 The Practice of Discernment

1. As a man who is vexed by such things as children, friends, and wife becomes

detached from them, and takes renunciation as a removal of them, so also, being

irritated by such impure latent tendencies as the arrogance of learning, the arrogance of

wealth, and the arrogance of family and conduct, one should practice discernment that

is opposed to them. 2. Janaka describes this discernment:

Those who today are the greatest of the great, as days go by they fall downward. O mind, why do you place such faith in your greatness? [LYV 5.1.39]

3. Where is the wealth of kings? Where are the worlds of Brahman? The

[LYV 5.1.41] ancient things have crumbled. Why do you place such faith in your greatness?

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4. Ten millions of Brahmas have come and gone. A succession of heavens have vanished. Earth-lords have crumbled like dust. What confidence do I have in life? [LYV 5.1.42]

5. People the closing and opening of whose eyes signal the creation and destruction of worlds-even they have died. What significance does someone like me have? [LYV 5.1.49]

6. [Objection] This discernment, however, comes before the rise of the

knowledge of truth, because in the absence of the means58 such as discernment of

eternal and non-eternal reality cannot possess knowledge of Brahman. But here you

have begun to discuss means such as the eradication of latent tendencies in order to

attain liberation-in-life for a person who has realized Brahman. So, what is this

offbeat (akanda) dance?

7. Reply: This is not a difficulty. "Knowledge of Brahman comes to a man after

he has equipped himself with the four means"-this is the main road trod upon by,

and common to, all people. But for Janaka knowledge of truth arose suddenly like

fruit falling from the sky, merely by listening to the Siddha Gita,59 as a result of the

ripening of the vast quantity of his merit accumulated in previous lives. Therefore,

because this discernment is done for the purpose of calming the mind, the dance is not

offbeat.

2.9 The Continuance of Impure Latent Tendencies

1. [Objection] Even so, since this discernment arises immediately after the rise of

knowledge, impure latent tendencies do not continue. Therefore, the practice of pure

latent tendencies is not required.

2. [Reply] No, because even though they do not continue in the case of Janaka,

we see their continuance in the case of Yājñavalkya, Bhagīratha, and others. It is

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obvious that Yājñavalkya and his opponents Usasta, Kahola, and the others were

extremely arrogant about their learning, because they were all participants in the story

about people desiring victory. [BāU 3]

3. [Objection] They have quite another type of knowledge, but not knowledge of

Brahman.

4. [Reply] No, because the questions and answers found in the story have

Brahman as their object.

5. [Objection] Even though they have Brahman as their object, these people have

only a general knowledge but not a complete comprehension.

6. [Reply] No, because based on the undesirable result that if that is the case, our

own knowledge based on their discourses would also be incorrect.

7. [Objection] Even though it is correct, yet their knowledge is indirect.

8. [Reply] No, because (in passages such as:) "(explain to me) the Brahman that

is directly and not indirectly perceived" [BãU 3.4.1]60 we find questions that have as

their object the direct knowledge of the ultimate that is directly (perceivable).

9. [Objection] The Teacher (Sankara) does not accept the arrogance of learning

in the case of knowers of the Self. 10. Accordingly he states in the Upadeasāhasrī

in this way:

Likewise only he who has freed himself from being a knower of Brahman, he becomes a knower of Self and no other. [US 12.13]

11. In the Naikarmyasiddhi also:

The knower does not even have the pride associated with the knowledge of Self, since it is demonic. If a knower has the Demonic quality, the knowledge of Brahman would be fruitless. [NkS 1.75]

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12. [Reply] This is not a problem, because what is intended here is the

knowledge of truth that has culminated in liberation-in-life. We certainly do not claim

that those who are liberated-in-life have pride of learning either.

13. [Objection] Then let us admit that those who desire victory simply do not

have the awareness of the Self, since the Teachers (Sureśvara) admit:

Attachment to objects that cause strife for the mind is the mark of one who is ignorant. How can a tree that has fire in its hollow produce foliage? [Nks 4.67]

14. [Reply] No, because the Teachers (Sureśvara) admit attachment and the

like in this passage:

Granted, attachment and the like exist abundantly; its existence does not pose a threat. Like a snake with its fangs pulled out, what can ignorance do? [BāBhV 1.4.1539.2, 1.4.1746.1]

15. There is no mutual contradiction here in these passages, because the two

statements refer to two distinct individuals, the one steady-in-wisdom and the mere

knower61 respectively.

16. [Objection] If we admit that a knower can have attachment and the like, there

is the undesirable result that he may be reborn through righteous and unrighteous acts.

17. [Reply] This is not so, because like unburnt seeds, only desire and the like

preceded by ignorance, insofar as they are the principle form of attachment and the

like, are the cause of rebirth. But for a knower, attachment and the like only appear to

be what they are, like unburnt seeds.62 18. With reference to just this it has been said:

Attachment and the like are burnt as they arise by the fire of discernment right then and there. How could they sprout? [VU 3.24]

19. [Objection] In that case, let us grant that the one steady-in-wisdom also has

them (attachments).

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20. [Reply] No, because, at that moment, the (falsely) apparent one is also

detrimental, just as the real form. It's just like this. Even the rope-snake causes fear at

the moment it is perceived just as a real snake.

21. [Objection] In that case, there is no impediment in continuing to be aware of

the (false) appearance.

22. [Reply] Agreed, Sir! It is precisely this that we recognize as liberation-in-life.

But Yajñavalkya, at the time when he was desirous of victory, was not such a person,

and he had yet to enter the renunciation-of-the-knower in order to calm the mind.

[BäU 3] He had not only the desire for victory but also a great thirst for wealth,

because of which, after driving away the thousand richly adorned cattle arrayed in

front of the numerous knowers of Brahman, he himself said:

23. We bow to the wisest Brahmana. But we just want these cows. [BaU 3.1.2]

24. [Objection] This is some sort of ironic sentence (intended) to snub the other

knowers of Brahman.

25. [Reply] In that case, this is still another problem. The other knowers of

Brahman also became angry realizing that he had deprived them of their wealth.

Yājñavalkya for his part, overcome by anger, brought about the death of Sākalya with

a curse. One should not presume that liberation was not possible for Yājñavalkya as a

killer of a Brāhmaņa. 26. Because of this, we have the text given by the

Kaușītakins:

By no act here whatever is the world diminished; not by killing the mother, nor by killing the father, nor by stealing, nor by killing a fetus. [KauU 3.1]

27. Śeșa also, in his work the Āryāpañcaśīti,63 says this:

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He may perform 100,000 horse sacrifices, or he may kill a lakh of Brahmaņas, but the knower of highest truth is not touched by good and evil deeds and remains immaculate. [Pās 77]

28. What is the use of further discussion? Impure latent tendencies continue to

exist in Brahman-knowers such as Yājñavalkya. Vasiștha [LYV 6.8.1-61] relates

in one episode that Bhagiratha, even though he knew the truth, because his

consciousness was not stilled, due to the influence of impure latent tendencies, while

he was ruling his kingdom, he abandoned everything and thereafter became still.

Therefore, after clearly observing the kind of impure tendencies going on within

himself, just as he would a flaw in another person, he should cultivate the remedy for

that. 29. With just this sense, the Smrti declares:

If a very clever person who takes delight in examining the flaws of others in great detail were to take as much delight in examining his own, he would not be freed from bondage? [VU 3.25]

2.10 The Remedy for Impure Latent Tendencies through Discernment

1. [Objection] To begin with, what is the remedy for the arrogance of learning?

2. [Reply] Are you talking about a remedy for one's own arrogance, or is it for

another's arrogance directed at oneself? In the first case, one should constantly keep

in mind the thought: "One day my pride will surely be crushed." So, for example,

Śvetaketu, feeling proud of his learning, went to the court of King Pravāhana. When

questioned by the king on the doctrine of the five fires, he was ignorant of it and could

not give a response. Derided by the king in many ways, he returned to his father and

told of his frustration. But the father, being without pride, approached that king and

obtained the knowledge. Likewise, the proud Bālāki, derided by the King Ājātaśatru,

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abandoned his pride, and he became the student of the king. [cf. ChU 8.7-8] Also,

Ușasta, Kahola, and others proudly engaging in debate were vanquished.

3. If another's arrogance were directed at oneself, one should cultivate these

thoughts: "Let this proud man insult and deride me. There is no harm in any way." 4.

For just this reason they say:

If they insult the Self, they only insult their own Self. If they insult the body, I would consider them as my allies. [Untraced]

5. When insult and derision are the highest ornaments of a yogin, how can babblers here disturb his mind? [Untraced]

6. Jñānāńkuśa64 describes how insult is an ornament:

If people derive pleasure by insulting me, is this not a favor I have generated without effort? For, desiring the highest goal, people even donate all the wealth they have acquired with great difficulty to please others.65

7. In the human world where happiness is absent and suffering is always abundant, if someone derives joy by criticizing me, let him criticize me at will to my face or behind my back. For in a world of much suffering, it is hard to find joy. [Untraced]

8. The Smrti describes how derision is an ornament:

Without discrediting the duty (dharma) of good people, a yogin should behave so that people dishonor him and refuse to associate with him. [ViP 2.13.43]

9. As (we understand) both the arrogance of learning based in oneself and based

in others that Yajñavalkya, Usasta, and the others have remedied by discernment, so

should we understand the remedies for greed and anger. 10. This is discernment

concerning wealth:

There is trouble in earning wealth, so also in guarding it. When it is lost, here is suffering. When it is wasted, there is suffering. Damn wealth, the maker of trouble! [PD 7.139]66

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11. Anger is also twofold: one's anger directed at another, and another's anger directed

at oneself. Of these, this passage addresses anger situated in oneself:

If you have anger at one who does you harm, why do you not have anger at

317] anger which violently hinders Dharma, Artha, Kāma, and Moksa? [YU p.

12. If it destroys the Dharma, fame, and wealth of one seeking results, if it is useless, burns up one's body, if it does not benefit you, in this world or the next, why does anger occupy the minds of the righteous? [Untraced]

13. This passage addresses anger directed at oneself:

One must never think "I have done not wrong, so why are people angry with me for no reason?" He should consider his inability to remove the bondage with samsāra to be his greatest fault. [Untraced]

14. Let homage go to the god of anger, who is violently burning his own dwelling, who is bestowing detachment on me, a man prone to anger, and who is causing me to perceive flaws. [YU p. 317]

15. In the same way as anger and craving for wealth, craving for women and

children is also to be removed through discernment. 16. Of these, Vasistha

describes the discernment toward women:67

What beauty is there in women who are puppets of flesh stuffed with tendons, bones, and joints, in a cage of limbs moved by a mechanism? [LYV 1.2.90; YU pp. 314-315]

17. Look closely if there is something pleasing in her eyes, after separating the membrane, flesh, blood, and watery tears. Why are you vainly infatuated? [LYV 1.2 .. 91; YU p. 315]

18. Shining with the glitter of a string of pearls on her breast comparable to the rapid waters of the Ganges glittering on the slopes of Mount Meru, [LYV 1.2.92; YU p. 315]

19. This very breast of a woman is, at death, devoured by dogs like a small morsel of food at a remote cremation ground. [LYV 1.2.93; YU p. 315]

20. Wearing tresses of hair and collyrium, charming to look at but unpleasant to touch, women, who are the flame of fire of sins, burn a man like grass. [LYV 1.2.94; YU p. 315]

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21. Even from afar they burn; appearing as full of love,68 they are without love. For women are the fuel of hell-fire, beautiful yet terrifying. [LYV 1.2.95; YU p. 315]

22. Women are snares set by the hunter named Desire, binding the limbs of birds that are men with foolish minds. [LYV 1.2.96; YU p. 316]

23. A woman is the bait on a hook tied to the line of evil latent tendencies of men, who are fish in the pond of rebirth, wallowing in the mud of their minds. [LYV 1.2.97; YU p. 316]

24. May I be through with woman forever-of the beautiful casket of all the jewels of evil wrapped with the chain of suffering. [LYV 1.2.98; YU p. 316]

25. Flesh here, blood here, bones there-so woman, O Brahman, becomes a beauty that is poison in just a few (days). [LYV 1.2.99; YU 316]

26. One who has a woman has desire for pleasure. Where is there room for pleasure in one who is without a woman? Abandoning woman, you have abandoned the world; abandoning the world, you would become happy. [LYV 1.2.100; YU p. 316]

27. Discernment toward children is described in the Brahmānanda:69

Not conceiving a son causes a married couple distress for a long time. Even if he is conceived, (the pregnancy) is troubled by miscarriage and (labored) delivery. [PD 12.65; YU p. 316]

28. When he is born, one worries about spirits and diseases and the like, and the youth may be a rogue. Even after he has received Vedic initiation, he may remain ignorant. When he has become learned, he may remain unmarried. [PD 12.66; YU pp. 316-317]

29. When he is young, he may commit adultery and the like; when he has a family, he may be poor. If he possesses wealth, then he dies (young). There is no end to the suffering of a parent. [PD 12.67; YU p. 317]

30. As discernment is the remedy for impure latent tendencies concerning

learning, wealth, anger, women, children, and so on, so also one should employ the

remedy for others by investigating their flaws using the Sastras or one's own

reasoning as circumstances merit. And when he has employed the remedy, he attains

the highest state, described as liberation-in-life. 31. This is stated by Vasiștha:

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If you make sufficient effort in the abandonment of latent tendencies, then all your mental and physical diseases become diminished. [LYV 5.10.107ab-108]

32. Vigorously abandoning latent tendencies by personal effort, if you remain firm, then you are able to reach the (highest) state. [LYV 5.10.101cd-102ab]

33. [Objection] Surely "personal effort" here refers to the discernment of flaws of

sense objects discussed earlier. This discernment, though exercised repeatedly, is

overwhelmed by the activity of the exceedingly powerful senses. 34. This has been

stated by the Lord:

The annoying senses forcibly carry off the mind, O son of Kunti, even of a discerning person who strives. [BhG 2.60]

35. For when the mind yields to the wandering senses, it carries off its wisdom like the wind a boat on the water. [BhG 2.67]

36. [Reply] Yes, but in that case, in order to safeguard the discernment that has

arisen, the senses should be restrained. 37. This has also been described in the very

next couple of verses in the same text:

Controlling them all, one should sit disciplined, focused on Me. For if one's senses are in control, his wisdom is fully steadfast. [BhG 2.61]

38. Therefore, O Strong-Armed One, if one's senses have been completely withdrawn from sense objects, his wisdom is fully established. [BhG 2.68]

39. Also in another Smrti:

An ascetic is one whose hands and feet are not fidgety, whose eyes are not darting to and fro, and whose voice in not quavering. Thus is the mark of a liberated man. [MhB 14.45.18; YU p. 317; VDh 6.42]

40. This very thing has been made clear elsewhere, both through short summaries

and long commentaries:

A mendicant who has no tongue, is impotent, lame, blind, deaf, and foolish, is without a doubt liberated by these six. [NpU pp. 146-147]

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41. One who is not attached while eating saying "I like this, I do not like that," he speaks beneficially, truthfully, and temperately, that one is considered tongueless. [NpU p. 147]

42. One who remains unchanged seeing a sixteen-year old girl as when seeing a girl born today and woman of a hundred years, he is impotent. [Ibid.]

43. One who, roaming about for alms or going out for the purpose of relieving himself, goes altogether no farther than a yojana,"he is surely lame. [Ibid.]

44. Whether standing or walking, one whose gaze does not go far, except four yoke-lengths,71 he is called a blind renouncer. [Ibid.]

45. One who, hearing words beneficial, temperate, pleasant to the mind, and relieving sorrow, is as if he does not hear, he is called deaf. [Ibid.]

46. A mendicant whose senses are intact and able to perceive objects close by, but acts like he is asleep, he is called foolish. [Ibid.]

47. One like this would not give blame or praise, nor touch any vulnerabilities, nor speak overbearingly, but would be even in all things. [Untraced]

48. He would not address any woman, nor remember one seen before. He would avoid conversation with her, and not even see a picture of her. [NpU p. 156172

49. As someone taking a vow, after declaring his intent to perform a vow such as

eating at night, eating once a day, fasting, or silence, and remaining cautious that he

make no deviation, guards himself well, so also a man who has undertaken vows such

as tonguelessness should attentively guard his discernment. So in this way, when the

latent tendencies of friendliness and so on are firmly established through discernment

and restraint of the senses attended to with long and uninterrupted care [YS 1.14,

adapted], the impure latent tendencies constituting the Demonic fortune are eradicated.

2.11 The Latent Tendency of Pure Consciousness

1. Even though he continues to act in the world, accompanied by latent tendencies

such as friendliness, etc., which continue without personal effort, like inhaling and

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exhaling, or opening and closing the eyes, a man should abandon in his mind

consideration of whether these (friendliness, etc.) are complete or insufficient. He

should vigorously still all activities consisting in sleep, fantasy, and so on, and he

should practice the latent tendency of pure consciousness. The world, then, reveals

itself to consist in both consciousness and unconsciousness (cijjadobhayātmakam).73

2. According to the Sruti:

The Self-Existent One pierced the openings outward, [KU 2.1.1, 4.1]

even if the senses were created for the purpose of illuminating unconscious things

such as sound and touch, nevertheless, because it is impossible to ignore

consciousness since it is the material cause, the unconscious world reveals itself only

when preceded by consciousness, according to the Śruti:

3. Him alone, as he shines, do all things reflect. This whole world radiates with his light. [KU 2.2.15, 5.15]

4. That being the case, having determined that consciousness alone, which shines first,

is the true form of the unconscious, which shines later, he should disregard the

unconscious and cause the pure consciousness to dwell in his mind. 5. We

understand this clearly from the dialogue between Bali and Sukra:

What is there here? What is its extent? What does it consist of? Who are who? Who am I? What are these worlds? Tell me immediately. [LYV 5.3.50]

6. There is consciousness. This is pure consciousness. This consists in consciousness alone. You are consciousness, I am consciousness, and these worlds are consciousness. This entire world is consciousness. This is the short answer. [LYV 5.3.51]

7. As someone wanting gold tries to focus his mind only on the color and the

weight when buying a bracelet, while disregarding its refinements and its

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imperfections, so also one should focus one's mind on pure consciousness. As long

as one has entirely disregarded the unconscious and the concentration of the mind on

pure consciousness takes place as naturally as breathing in and out, one must strive

after the latent tendency of pure consciousness.

8. [Objection] Let the latent tendency of pure consciousness come at the very

beginning, since that alone will remove impure latent tendencies. What, then, is the

point of this superfluous exercise of friendliness and so on?

9. [Reply] This is not so, because of the undesirable consequence that the latent

tendency of consciousness would have no firm basis. As a house, though built with

posts and walls, does not stand firmly without a solid foundation, or as medicine

taken without cleansing the strong impurities through a purgative does not promote

health, so it is in the case of the latent tendency of consciousness.

10. [Objection] We gather from the text "Now even this should be renounced"

[LYV 4.5.23, adapted] that even the latent tendency of pure consciousness should be

abandoned. This is not correct, because after abandoning pure consciousness, there is

nothing else that one can take up.

11. [Reply] This is not a problem. The latent tendency of pure consciousness is

twofold: one accompanied by mind and intellect, and one free from them. Mind is the

instrument and intellect has the attribute of the agent. That being the case, one should

abandon the primary type of latent tendency of pure consciousness bearing the name

"meditation" (dhyāna) and accompanied by such awareness of the agent and the

instrument as "I will attentively and with a sharpened mind cultivate pure

consciousness." But one should take up the latent tendency of pure consciousness,

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which bears the name "enstasis" (samädhi) and is free from the interruption caused by

the awareness on the agent, etc., by means of skillful practice. 12. Patañjali has

given a sūtra about the definition of meditation and enstasis:

Meditation is the continuity of cognition there (on a place). [YS 3.2]

13. Enstasis is the illumination of the place alone, as if (the perceiver) is empty of form. [YS 3.3]

14. After having gotten settled in such enstasis attended with long and

uninterrupted care, [YS 1.14, adapted] one must thereafter abandon even the effort

aimed at abandoning the awareness of the agent and instrument.

15. [Objection] If this is the case, then even the effort to abandon that should be

abandoned. Thus there would be infinite regress.

16. [Reply] This is not so, because it removes both itself and the other in the

same way as kataka powder.74 Just as kataka powder when thrown into dirty water

also removes itself along with the other impurities, so too the effort aimed at

abandonment will remove itself while removing the awareness on the agent and the

instrument. When this is removed, the mind remains without any latent tendencies,

because the pure latent tendencies are diminished just like the impure latent tendencies.

17. With reference to this very thing, Vasistha says:

Therefore, the mind is bound when it has latent tendencies and is free without them. O Räma, secure the state without latent tendencies through discernment at once. [LYV 4.3.45]

18. Through the true complete insight, latent tendencies are dissolved. On the dissolution of latent tendencies, the mind becomes still like a lamp. [LYV 4.3.46]

19. One who remains awake while experiencing deep sleep, and who is never awake, whose undertanding (bodha) is free of latent tendencies-he is liberated-in-life. [LYV 3.1.92]

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20. And:

With a mind whose activities have been extinguished as if in deep sleep, who always remains awake, who is always served by wise men like the full moon by the gods-him the Smrtis call liberated. [LYV 5.2.36]

21. And:

The wise man who abandons everything from his heart and stands without agitation-he is liberated, he is the highest Lord. [LYV 4.5.26]

22. Let him perform enstasis and rituals, or let him not; a man who has discarded all desires with his heart is indeed liberated, and with the highest mind. [LYV 4.5.27]

23. One whose mind is without latent tendencies, he has no use for abstinence from ritual action, or for ritual actions, or for enstasis and muttering prayers. [LYV 4.5.28]

24. The Sastras have been studied enough, clarified through debate long enough. Except for the silence that comes from the abandonment of latent tendencies there is no higher state. [LYV 4.5.29]

25. One should not suspect that ordinary activity which is the cause of living

would be stopped for one whose mind is without latent tendencies. Is it the stopping

of the activity of sight and the rest, or is it stopping the mental activity? 26. Of the

two, Uddālaka rejects the first:

The senses such as sight proceed outward to their respective objects all by themselves even without latent tendencies; in this case (of a liberated person) latent tendencies are not the cause (of the operation of the senses). [LYV 5.6.70; MukU 2.22]

27. Vasitha rejects the second:

Just as the eye settles without attachment to things that appear without effort (on the part of the viewer) in space, so does a man of firm thought on his duties. [LYV 4.2.13]

28. The same author argues for the enjoyment of operative action with such a mind:

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When a person enjoys something knowing what it is, enjoyment brings contentment. When a person honors a thief knowing who he is, he becomes a friend and not a thief. [LYV 4.2.14]

29. Just like travelers behold a village procession they have come upon even

4.2.15] unexpectedly, so too do the knowers look upon pleasure and wealth. [LYV

30. For contentment, the bliss of liberation, but not for bondage, he describes the

distinction of those without latent tendencies from those with latent tendencies even at

the moment of enjoyment:

Like the golden lotus at night, they do not completely sink down. They do not think of anything other than the present case; they delight in the path of the superior people. [LYV 4.5.42]

31. Even in misfortune they do not give up their constant fullness, which is undisturbed within and beautiful like the moon; like the moons, they do not lose coolness. [LYV 4.5.43]

32. Like the ocean, they are spread wide but keep within the bounds. Like the suns, the great ones never swerve from the fixed path. [LYV 4.5.45]

33. Janaka also when he was awakened from enstasis is said to have behaved like

this:

After remaining in silence for a long time, awakened, Janaka reflected upon the life of people with a mind completely still. [LYV 5.1.60]

34. What is there to be attained here? What can I accomplish through effort? With a pure mind contained in myself, what imagination could I have? [LYV 5.1.61]

35. I do not long for what I have not acquired. I do not give up what I have acquired. Contented I remain in myself. Let that be mine what is mine. [LYV 5.1.62]

36. Thus that awakened Janaka, after reflecting, unattached, arose to perform the appropriate duties, just as the sun rises to make the day. [LYV 5.1.63]

37. He does not think about the future, nor think about the past, but happily follows the present moment. [LYV 5.1.64]

38. Therefore, in this manner as described it is firmly established that liberation-

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in-life will arise through the eradication of latent tendencies as described. Thus the

eradication of latent tendencies has been described in the Treatise on Liberation-in-

Life.

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Notes

1 vāsiștharāmāyaņasyāvasāne: "at the end of the Vāsiștharāmāyana." The following citation is in the fifth sarga of LYV and obviously not at the end of the text. The earlier AnSS and Adyar editions of JMV changed this to vāsistharāmāyaņa upaśamaprakaraņasyāvasāne. I have as yet found no manuscript evidence for this change. The editor of the AnSS 20 1916 edition of JMV with Acyutaraya Modaka's commentary notes that mss. K and N have this reading but it is not clear whether these mss. are the same K and N used in the earlier AnSS 20 (1978) edition without the commentary. I was able to obtain a photocopy of the ms. K deposited at the Anandāśrama Sanstha collection in Pune. However, it does not have the upaśamaprakaranasyāvasāne reading as the 1916 edition noted. V. Raghavan (1938-1939) p. 151, had noted this discrepancy and pointed out that Acyutaraya Modaka, the commentator on JMV, said Vidyāranya was quoting from a Madhyavāsistha. Cf. AnSS 20 (1916) p. 148. A condensation of YV with this title has not to my knowledge so far been discovered.

2 Here the term for the knowledge of truth is vijñānam, whereas elsewhere tattvajñāna is used.

3 Cf. Andre Padoux, Vac (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990) pp. 346-347 and n. 40. See also H. Brunner, "Les membres de Siva," Asiatische Studien/Etudes Asiatiques 40.2 (1986) pp. 89-132, and also Aśvalāyana Grhapariśistha Grhyasūtra, ed. V. S. R. R Gokhale, AnSS 105, (1936) pp. 142-143.

In Nyaya philosophy an elemental substance is a thing that supports a quality or adjunct, e.g., paper is a substance, and white is a quality or adjunct of that paper.

5 Cf. 2.4.8-11 [LYV 5.10.48-51].

6 See above, Introduction 2, n.20.

7 On "yajamāna prastaraḥ" (TS 2.6.5), cf. Śabarabhāsya 1.4.12.23, trans. G. Jha (1933), rpt. Gaekwad Oriental Series 70 (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1973) pp. 155-157. Sabara concludes this text is to be taken as an arthavāda, or statement of praise, not as an injunction whereby the use of the word "sacrificer" eulogizes the "grass-bundle," since the sacrificer is the most important person in the sacrificial ceremony. This is a laksana, or figurative description. The grass-bundle thus is understood to partake of the sacrificer's qualities, even though it does not possess the quality of a person as such. Sabara says the quality understood in the sacrificer is accomplishment of purpose, and this is denoted by the grass- bundle's accomplishment of the sacrificer's purpose in the ceremony. Vidyaranya, however, resolves this conflict of terms according to the Advaita Vedanta epistemology. He takes this text as indicating the realization of ontological equivalence of the world and Brahman, and not as mere figurative speech. The reality is that the two are the same, and their apparent difference is due to ignorance and illusion.

8 A mental activity (vrtti) is the mind taking shape of the object. Once it takes shape of the Self, the mind stays there. There is no need to know itself further. Knowing has a range of purposes, but knowing the Self is itself the ultimate purpose. Initially knowledge of Self is necessary; then it deepens through the process of intellectual level to the experiential. After the mental activity is no longer necessary, what remains to be achieved is to continue to live the Self.

' The liberated one discards desires "from afar," before they come near, not allowing desires to arise even at the slightest impulse.

10 vyavasthā: respective difference, or restrictive option. This is a hermeneutic concept used by the Advaitins to avoid a vikalpa, or option, in a debate that might give legitimacy to the opponent's position. By restricting the option, there is therefore no option, but rather the Advaitin would show that there are different alternatives referring to different classes of individuals. In the present case the objector

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is not attacking the author's position, as much as clarifying up his use of the concept of vyavasthā: in regard to the legitimate existence of renouncer who desires knowledge and the renouncer who is a knower, where each has his own specific qualifications and duties, making them legitimate alternatives. See Olivelle (1987) pp. 56-61.

11 See above, 1.1, 1.2.

12 See Chapter 4.

13 yukti : methods. In the gloss of "methods" here as "yoga" the objector perhaps takes them as synonymous with dhyāna, or "meditation," rather than "reasoning." The first stage of understanding of the knower and the known is that they are false through authoritative texts. The second stage is not even to recognize them. This is possible only when one has undone the mind through yoga and experienced what before was known only intellectually. However, below in 3.2.3-4, Vidyāranya cites the definition of the methods in LYV as acquiring knowledge of the Self, association with good people, [LYV 5.10.128ab] complete abandonment of latent tendencies, and controlling the rhythm of breathing. [LYV 5.10.128cd] Below in 2.4.41, yukti as "reasoning" appears to be synonymous with vicara, "rational investigation."

14 See above, Introduction 2, n.21.

15 unmanībhavam is a suspicious reading here, and indeed, the Adyar edn of Amrtabindu Up in The Yoga Upanişads (Madras: The Adyar Library, 1968) p. 27, has ātmano'bhāvam. The conventional sense of unmanībhu is "to become uneasy or mentally disturbed," and cannot fit here. There is a tantric usage of this term indicating the highest level of the utterance of OM. See Padoux (1990) pp. 348 and 405 or a "prematerial stage of speech." See also Teun Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta Hindu Tantric and Sakta Literature, History of Indian literature vol. 2, fasc. 2 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981) pp. 62 and 68, and n. 36. However, these meanings also seem out of place in a Vedānta text. Vidyāranya may have considered the term synonymous with amanibhavam as "state of being with no-mind" as found in GK 3.31. Cf. also the use of the term unmanibhāvam in Brahmabindu Upanișad 1.4.

16 This is a vyatirekha drstānta, or example through the negative statement of the converse. Nala et al. did not have the requisite elimination of mind, and therefore they suffered from experiences that are bound to occur because of weak operative action.

17 The Vidyaranya of the JMV does not seem to treat this quote from the PD as his own. It may have been quoted from yet a third source other than the PD or may lend some support to the view of Mahädevan in The Philosophy of Advaita (Madras: Ganesh and Co. Pvt. Ltd., 1957) pp. 1-8 that there are two Vidyāranyas, one who composed the JMV and another who composed the Pañcadasi. See also the discussion above, Introduction 1.3, p. 9.

18 Eradication of latent tendencies and elimination of the mind, or these two together and Brahman.

19 The sins coming after attaining knowledge do not stick to him, and the previous sins are destroyed.

20 In Vedic usage the third person singular is also possible: "There is delay only until he is freed; then he will succeed." One waits only so long, until the body drops; then he is united with Brahman.

21 See Introduction, 2.1, pp. 32-33.

22 Ibid. See also above, 1.3.5-6 and 2.3.61.

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23 prāgabhāva: prior non-existence. This is one of the four types of non-existence which include pradhvamsābhāva, "posterior non-existence;" atyantābhāva, "total non-existence;" and anyonyābhāva, 'mutual non-existence." Prior non-existence only applies to the material cause, e.g. the clay, wherein the non-existence of an object, e.g., the pot, resides. Non-occurrence is the prior non-existence of the future body. It is not the result of knowledge, because knowledge does not destroy the material cause of the future body, which is operative action. Cf. also Tarkasamgraha, sec. 9, ed. Yashwant Vasudev Athalaye, trans. Mahadev Rajaram Bodas, 2d ed., rev. and enl., Bombay Sanskrit Series 55 (Pune: BORI, 1988) pp. 6 and 99-103.

24 apūrva is the "remote or unforeseen consequence of an act (as heaven or religious rites)" (Monier- Williams). Kane calls it "invisible, mysterious, or subtle potency," HDh vol. 5, pt. 2, (1977) pp. 1210-1212. Apūrva is presumed to exist because a sacrifice is only of brief duration, whereas the sacrificer attains the desired result only after a long time. There must be, therefore, some potency in the doing of the sacrifice that accrues to the sacrificer and connects him to the results in the future, which he cannot achieve by himself. Vidyāranya says bodiless-liberation is simultaneous with knowledge. He challenges the opponent that if the result of knowledge is deferred, then it lands him in the undesirable

ritual action. position having to presume there is an apurva, and this would mean that knowledge is subsumed under

25 Knowledge is momentary because it occurs as a perception in the inner organ (antahkarana), and the inner organ does not hold more that one perception at once. Knowledge registers there only once and goes on.

26 The suffix "ana" in "jnana" has the sense of "the means of knowing" or "the act of knowing," according to Pāņini 3.3.115, 117. Vidyāranya wishes to restrict the interpretation of jñana in BhG 13.11 to "the means of knowing" to support his discussion on the means of knowledge.

27 Deva here is understood as the effulgent ātman.

28 yogatmane: to that Self of yoga. A variant of the MhB 12.43.55 text here, vidyatmane, "to the Self of knowledge," possibly reveals an interesting doctrinal difference in the transmission of the JMV. The mss. P1 and B2 had copied the reading vidyātmane here, perhaps reflecting a more purely Advaitin association, but this was corrected in both to the reading yogätmane. Both of the earlier editions of the JMV also have the reading vidyātmane.

29 upāsti: symbol-oriented meditation. See also the discussion on symbol-oriented meditation above, Introduction 2.2, pp. 39-41.

30 Donatoni (1995) translates bhāvanā as evocazione in every instance, but evocation or conjury does not seem to me as felicitous in English. The difficulty lies in the sense that bhāvanā means to deliberately bring something into being in oneself, which can be done either consciously or unconsciously, for either the good or the bad. To manifest oneself consciously, under controlled awareness of everything internally and externally, and not under the sway of latent tendencies, would be to bring up thoughts, emotions, and gestures in accord with the real nature of objects being perceived. To manifest oneself unconsciously, while it seems one is deliberately choosing how to manifest oneself, is actually to bring up thoughts, emotions, and external behaviors that are a reaction to the perception of objects, mostly under the power of whatever latent tendencies reside in the individual. The result is that "one with poor sight sees everything confusedly, as if he were drunk." [2.4.11, LYV 5.10.51] In cases where bhāvanā means a conscious deliberate manifestation for a special yogic or religious purpose, as in YS 1.33 [2.7.1], I translate it as "cultivation." In this latter instance Vidyāranya describes the bringing of pure latent tendencies into being in oneself where there is full awareness of the purpose and the circumstance. In cases where bhāvanā refers to an unconscious reaction to objects, which for the Advaitin have no existence in themselves, I have translated the term variously.

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31 pañcakośa: the five sheaths. According to the doctrine derived from TU 2.1-9 and 3.1-6, the "five sheaths" are food (anna), breath (prana), mind (manas), knowledge/perception (vijñāna), and bliss (ananda). Each is a sheath within a sheath, suffused like the layers of an onion, covering the cidātman and Brahman within.

32 For the sake of clarity in English translation, I have further paraphrased the Sanskrit vigraha of the compound as it reads in the original: tena susthu ghanībhūta ākāro yasyāh seyam ajñānasughanākārā.

33 See above, 2.2.5 and 2.4.8-11 [LYV 5.10.48-51].

34 yukti: reasoning. I have translated the term yukti elsewhere as "methods" where it appears to mean yogic methods and not reasoning. See above, 2.3.7 and n.13, and below, 3.1.17 and 3.2.1 ff. In this instance here, Vidyaranya contrasts the attainment of knowledge by means of vicara, or "rational investigation," which may be synonymous with yukti, with another means that is only loosely defined here with a participial form of bhāvanā in a locative absolute, i.e., "when one cultivates the truth" (bhāvite tattve). A form of the same term bhāvanā was used earlier in the defintion of impure latent tendencies, which I translate as "because of a strong feeling" (drdhabhāvanayā) [2.4.8, LYV 5.10.48] But this former use of bhāvana must refer to an internal yogic discipline involving more than rational investigation. Vidyāranya clearly does not deny rational investigation or reasoning as a means to the knowledge of truth but hastens to add that only the "first understanding" is produced by it. A "continuing understanding" (bodhanuvrtti) partly involves the cultivation (bhāvanā) of the senses to sustain contact by means of the "methods" with the pure latent tendencies mentioned in YS 1.33: friendliness, compassion, contentment, and equanimity toward objects. See below 2.7.1 and 3.2. For the Mimāmsa definition of bhāvanā as "creative energy" see also, Arthasamgraha, sec. 4-9, (1998) pp. 4-7 and 81-96.

35 Presumably the purpose is to protect the grain from insects, etc.

36 Though Vidyäranya begins this discussion by saying that there are three types of latent tendencies, at the end he adds a fourth, which is the Demonic fortune.

37 A paraphrase of BhG 12.19.

38 Source untraced.

39 "Eighteen" may refer to the sixteen officiating priests in the sacrifice, the sacrificer, and his wife.

40 istapūrta: sacrifice and charitable deeds. Ișta is Vedic ritual and pūrta is performing charitable deeds such as constructing gardens or wells for the public or rest houses for pilgrims.

41 See above, Introduction 2.3, pp. 39-41.

42 The entire passage is:

Indeed this very person is formed from the essence of food. This surely is his head; this is his right side; this is his left side; this is the torso; this is his hind end on which he rests. [TU 2.1.1] There is also a verse on this: From food surely creatures are born-whoever live on the earth. Then they live on food alone; then they pass into it also at the end. Food is the chief of beings; therefore it is called "all herbs." From food, beings are produced; once they are born, they grow by food. It is eaten and it eats food; therefore it is called food. [TU 2.2.1]

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43 A Vaisnava pilgrimage site on the river Gandakī in Bihar near which the black stone worshipped as Vișņu is found.

44 apavāda : special rule. The term here refers to the grammatical rule of exceptions to the general rule (utsarga). Cf. Panini 3.1.94. In this case the rule is applied to a ritual context as an analogue to the present discussion of injunctions in Sastra for developing good qualities being set aside by special exceptions to the general Sastric authority.

45 For a description of hells in Hindu mythology, cf. BhP 5.26, and HDh vol. 4, (1991) pp. 162-165. The Kālasūtra derives its name from the thread on a potting wheel a potter uses to cut off a raw clay pot. (Kane) It is paved with heated copper plates, and the sun above and fire below continually burn the sinners, who hate Brahmins. (BhP) Mahavīci is for those who tell a lie under oath in court, while buying and selling, or when making a gift. The name comes from the land's resemblance to waveless water. The sinner is continually thrown from a mountaintop down into this hell. (BhP) The name Asipatra refers to the leaves of a forest hell whose sharp edges continually cut the sinner who has embraced a heretical view against the Veda. (BhP)

46 Here a fourth type of impure latent tendency is added to the three discussed at length. It is the same as the Demonic fortune which was discussed earlier.

47 Cf. Tarkasamgraha 18, (1998) pp. 13-14 and 145-150. The system of logical realistic philosophy (Nyaya) holds that the mind is the instrument of cognition of inner experiences and is atomic and therefore eternal. Although the mind is not an external sense organ (indriya), it functions like a sense organ insofar as it receives the data of a sense object and aids in linking the data to the seat of consciousness in the Self. But the mind directly receives the data of internal experiences, like pleasure, etc., and links those data to the Self. Nyaya still refers to mind by the term indriya, while Vedānta prefers the term antahkarana. This may be only a quibble of terms, for they nevertheless agree on the process of cognition. A cognition occurs when there is contact between the mind and a sense organ carrying data of a sense object, or contact between the mind and an internal experience, like pleasure, etc. The mind then connects to the Self with the data of the external sense object or the inner state, and the actual cognition is made in the Self. Appealing to the evidence of our daily existence, the Naiyāyikas note that the mind can be connected to only one sense organ at a time, and thus we have only one cognition at a time. We experience a lapse of time in the process of sensing an object and perceiving it, and we experience the world and our inner state as a succession of one such perception followed by another. Because this succession of cognitions is limited to one at a time, the Naiyayikas infer that the magnitude of mind as an internal connecting link is by nature atomic. The mind can admit only one connection to a sense organ or internal experience at a time because it is infinitesimally small. Apparently the mind is not itself an atom but is like an atom in size. Thus it also possesses the qualities of atoms, such as being eternal and without parts. The Naiyayikas further state that every self has its own mind, and the number of selves can be infinite, and therefore the number of minds can also be infinite. Vidyāraņya as a Vedantin denies the Naiyayika view that the nature of the mind is atomic and eternal, for then there could be no elimination of the mind.

48 anvayavyatirekha: positive and negative concomitance. This phrase also occurs earlier in 2.2 where I translate it without a technical meaning as simply a "positive and negative statement." In this instance I translate it with its technical meaning from Nyaya philosophy. To elaborate the concomitance: Where there is mind, there is awareness; where there is no mind, there is no awareness. Mind is the element of cognition, depending on the presence or absence of which there is the awareness or not of the object before one.

49 Samkhya Kārika 12 states that the qualities (guna-s) have as their purpose illumination (prakāśa), activity (pravrtti), and restriction (niyama). The Adyar and AnSS (mss. K Kh) editions of JMV add "delusion" (moha) to illumination and activity, making it the third effect of the three qualities, and then

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put "restriction" (niyama) in a bahuvrihi compound with "purpose" (artha). This insertion makes Samkhya Kārika 12 accord with Vidyaranya's discussion of the way the qualities are mutually overpowering, which is further below described as like waves on the ocean. By quoting only a part of the whole karika and adding "delusion" in this way, the phrase can mean: "Illumination, action, and delusion have the purpose of restriction (of the other effects of the qualities)." The editors of both the two aforementioned editions of JMV chose this reading for their constitution of the text. Although moha is not present in most my mss., it was added by a second hand in the margin of B1. I have included this reading in my edition because I follow B1 as the best ms.

50 The passage quoted from LYV 5.6.21 is a sangarupaka, or multiple metaphor. The main metaphor is the snake compared with the mind. The subordinate metaphors are the milk compared to vain hope, the air to enjoyment, and the movement of the snake compared to the movement of the mind. Snakes are thought to be fond of drinking milk, and when drinking it, they poison it. So the mind, when feeling hope, does it in vain. Snakes are also thought to drink air, because they are observed with their tongues moving in and out, lapping the air as it were. Snakes move in a zigzag pattern, which movement is commented on in a gloss interpolated here at 2.5.25 as a "coming and going" (gamanāgamanakriyā) pattern of the mind. In such a pattern of taking hope in this or that, the mind keeps moving onward.

51 Vidyāranya will discuss the eradication of latent tendencies for the remainder of Chapter 2, and the discussion of the elimination of the mind constitutes Chapter 3.

52 The rest of Chapter 2 is a commentary on LYV 4.5.20-23.

53 See Chapter 1, n. 2. A person is to keep alert to the temptations he discarded, which were pointed out in his declaration of intent, just as in fasting or keeping a vigil.

54 Even if one isn't entitled to speak official Vedic mantras, one could use the bhāsa, or common language. Women and śudra-s were not entitled to say Vedic mantras because they had not undergone the Vedic initiation, nor were they even permitted initiation. But here, according to Vidyāranya, a declaration of intent could still carry the same force even though it is not an official Vedic mantra. It was believed that there is a power in words that binds one to the act. Vidyāranya allows that if someone intends to eliminate latent tendencies, they can say it in common language, maybe in a regional language or even spoken Sanskrit, but not use the Vedic mantras.

55 śarad: the season occurring during the months Bhadra and Aśvin, or Asvin and Karttika, from August to November, depending on the climate in the different parts of India.

56 See above, 2.4.59-69.

57 Cf. MuņU 1.2.10, cited above in 2.4.60. See also Chapter 2, n. 40.

58 The four sadhana-s, or means, mentioned in BSBh 1.1.1 are discernment (viveka), detachment (vairāgya), acquiring the six requisites (satsampatti), and desire for liberation (mumukșutva).

59 Cf. YV 5.8.9-18, and LYV 5.1.22-31.

60 The entire passage from BaU 3.4.1. runs:

Then Usasta Cākrāyana began to question him. "Yājñavālkya," he said, "explain to me the Brahman that is directly and not indirectly perceived, the Self that is within all." "This is your Self. It is the Self within all."

61 One with intellectual knowledge but not the experience of Brahman.

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62 Cf. PD 7.163-65

63 This text was also known as Paramārthasāra, Śeşārya, or Ādhārakārika by Ādiśeșa, assigned to the fourth century. Cf. New Catalogus Catalogorum; an alphabetical register of Sanskrit and allied works and authors ed. J. Kunjunni Raja, vol. 11, (Madras: University of Madras, 1949) p. 126.

64 For mss. of Jñānānkuśa, see New Catalogus Catalogorum vol. 7, (1949) p. 343.

65 This verse is cited in Sūktimuktāvalī of Bhagadatta Jalhaņa, ed. Embar Krishnamacharya, Gaekwad Oriental Series 82, (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1938) p. 445.

66 Also cited in MhB 13, app. 15, 3971-3972.

67 See Olivelle (1992) pp. 279 ff. See also YV 1.21.1 ff.

68 Rasa as "love" here instead of "juice." As "juice" it would be contradictory here, but as "love" it is not, based on being merely apparent.

69 Atmananda section of the PD.

70 A yojana is eight miles.

71 Four cubits, or six feet.

72 The entire passage from NpU is also cited in YDhS (1980) pp. 28-29, where it is attributed to Jābāla.

73 Commentary on LYV 4.5.22; see above 2.6.4.

74 Strychnos potatorum; commonly called the soap nut or clearing nut plant, from which the kataka powder is made.

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Chapter Three: The Elimination of the Mind

3.1 The Necessity of Elimination of the Mind

1. Now we explain the elimination of the mind, which is the means of liberation-in-

life. Although when all the remnants of latent tendencies are eradicated, by

implication, the mind is surely eliminated, nevertheless, when one properly practices

elimination of the mind by itself, the eradication of latent tendencies becomes secure.

And one must not presume that it becomes secure through the practice of

tonguelessness, impotence, and the rest [2.10.43-51], for the effort in their practice

becomes impossible because, upon elimination of the mind, tonguelessness and the

like follow as a natural consequence.

2. [Objection] Is the effort of practicing elimination of the mind not present there

at this stage also?

3. [Reply] Let it be present, for it is necessary. Without elimination of the mind,

tonguelessness and the rest, though practiced, are still not steady. 4. For just this

reason, Janaka declares the necessity of eliminating the mind:

The mind is the root of this tree' of samsaric existence, possessing thousands of sprouts, branches, boughs, fruits, and leaves-that is the truth. [LYV 5.1.53]

5. The mind, I believe, is just imagination. When imagination is stilled, the mind disappears. As I make that dry up, so the tree of samsāric existence dries up. [LYV 5.1.54]

6. I am awakened, I am awakened! I have seen the thief of the Self. I strike him who is called the mind, and I have been struck by the mind for a long time. [LYV 5.1.55]

7. Vasistha has also said:

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There is but one way (to destroy) this tree of samsäric existence, bringer of all disasters-restraint of one's own mind. [LYV 4.4.1]

8. Flourishing of the mind leads to destruction, while destruction of the mind leads to ultimate bliss. The mind of a knower is destroyed, but it is the chains of an ignorant man. [LYV 4.4.5]

9. As long as the mind is not subdued from intense practice of the single

4.2.23] truth,2 the midnight demons of latent tendencies play havoc in the heart. [LYV

10. For one whose mental conceit has perished, and whose enemy, the senses,

4.2.22] are restrained, the desire for pleasure withers, like a lotus in winter. [LYV

11. At first, one should overcome one's own mind, pressing hand against hand, grinding teeth against teeth, and attacking limbs with limbs. [LYV 4.2.18]

12. Those who are not overcome by their own mind, they are the blessed people, people with saintly minds who should be counted among the stories of great men on this vast Earth. [LYV 4.2.19]

13. I venerate that unchanging one, arisen like the moon, whose snake of the mind with its powerful poison that is imagination is stilled, coiled within the cave of his heart. [LYV 4.2.20]

14. The mind is undoubtedly here the hub of the wheel of illusion. If one remains, subduing it (the mind) in every way, it harms one in no way. [LYV 5.5.921

15. Gaudapādācarya has also said:

For all yogins, fearlessness, elimination of suffering, as well as imperishable stillness, depends on restraint of the mind. [GK 3.40]

16. But as to what Arjuna has said:

For this mind is fickle, O Krsna, impetuous, strong, and obstinate. I think it is as difficult to restrain as the wind. [BhG 6.34]

that statement refers to forceful (hatha) yoga. 17. For this reason Vasistha says:

By assuming different yogic postures over and over again, one cannot subdue the mind, without using methods (yukti)3 that are faultless. [LYV 5.10.126]

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18. As a vicious elephant in rut cannot be controlled without a goad, just so the mind cannot be controlled without using the methods. [LYV 5.10.127]

3.2 The Methods for the Mind's Dissolution

1. Vasistha has first of all properly explained the methods that cause the dissolution of the mind. When a man employs them steadfastly, his mind comes under his control. [Untraced]

2. Control of the mind is said to be twofold: by force and by employing the methods. Control by force is the control of the modifications of thought through the control of the seat of the organs. 3. Rarely is someone born who dissolves the mind through force. [Untraced]4

Acquiring knowledge of the Self, association with good people, [LYV 5.10.128ab] 4. complete abandonment of latent tendencies, and controlling the rhythm of breathing [LYV 5.10.128cd]-they say these are the methods in subduing the mind that are powerful. [LYV 5.10.129ab]

5. When these methods are available, those who control the mind out of force are throwing out the lamp and trying to dispel darkness by using soot. [LYV 5.10.130]

6. Those fools who are working to subdue the mind by forceful exercises, they are tying up a huge elephant in rut with fibers from a lotus stalk. [LYV 5.10.131]

7. Restraint is twofold: forceful restraint and gradual restraint. Among these, a

man restrains through forceful exercise the eyesight, hearing, and the other sensory

faculties, as well as the voice, the hands, and other faculties of action, simply by

controlling the respective bodily organs. Following this example, a fool makes an

error by thinking: "I will also restrain the mind in the same way." But one does not

restrain it, because it is not possible to control its organ, which is the lotus of the heart.

Hence, only gradual restraint is suitable.

8. Moreover, the means of gradual restraint consists only of "acquiring the

knowledge of the Self" and the rest. This knowledge makes one aware that the

objects of knowledge are false and that true-seeing (drgvastu) is self-illuminated.

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When this happens, the mind-becoming aware that the objects that fall within its

field of perception are of no value, and that the true-seeing, which is of value, is

imperceptible-becomes extinguished on its own, like a fire without fuel. 9. The Śruti

declares thus:

Like a fire without fuel is extinguished within its source, so also the mind is extinguished within its own source by the destruction of activities. [MtraU 4.4]

The "source" is the Self. 10. But for one who, though he has been made aware of the

truth, does not grasp it fully, and for one who forgets it-the only means for both of

these is association with good people. For good people repeatedly make them aware

and remind them. But for one who, being beset with bad latent tendencies such as the

pride of learning, cannot bear to follow the good people, the means are to abandon the

latent tendency by the discernment discussed earlier. [2.8]

11. In the event that it is impossible to abandon latent tendencies because of their

great power, the means is to control the rhythm of breathing. Because the rhythm of

breathing and latent tendencies propel the mind, with the control of these two, the

mind becomes still.5 12. Vasistha states how they propel the mind:

There are two seeds of the tree of the mind, bearing the creeping vine of mental activities. The first is the rhythm of breathing, and the second is strong latent tendencies. [LYV 5.10.38]

13. When the omnipresent consciousness (sarvagata samvit) is aroused by the rhythm of breathing, then from this act of perception (samvedana) come endless harmful experiences of the mind. [LYV 5.10.40]

14. Just as blacksmiths blow with a bellows on a fire covered in ashes and the

fire flares up because of the wind produced by the bellows, so too, consciousness,

covered by ignorance, which acts like kindling wood and is the material cause of

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mind, flares up in the form of mental activities being awakened by the rhythm of

breathing. From this act of perception, which has the designation "mental activity,"

painful experiences are produced. This is how the mind comes into being propelled

by the rhythm of breathing. 15. This same author points out another way it comes

into being:

Listen to another way the mind comes into being, O Raghava, generated by latent tendencies, manifested through states of consciousness, and experienced. [LYV 5.10.47]

16. The extremely fickle mind is produced by thinking (bhāvanā) constantly of things that have been strongly experienced, the mind that is the cause of birth, old age, and death. [LYV. 5.10.53]

17. Not only do breathing and latent tendencies propel the mind, but they also

propel each other. This is stated by Vasistha:

The rhythm of breathing depends on latent tendencies and vice versa. By means of that, the sequence of seeds and sprouts of the tree of the mind comes into being. [LYV 5.10.65]

18. For this reason, he also declares that the elimination of either one results in the

elimination of both:

There are two seeds of the tree of the mind: the rhythm of breathing and latent tendencies. When one of them is destroyed, both are also quickly eliminated. [LYV 5.10.64]

19. And he declares the means of eliminating them and the results of their elimination:

Through the firm practice of breath control and methods prescribed by the teacher, by following the yogas of posture and diet, the rhythm of breathing is restrained. [LYV 5.10.122]

20. By carrying out one's daily activities without attachment, by refraining from thinking about the world (bhavabhāvanā), by the habit of seeing the perishability of the body, latent tendencies cease. [LYV 5.10.123]

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21. By completely abandoning latent tendencies and controlling the rhythm of breathing, the mind reaches the state of mindlessness-perform whichever you wish. [LYV 5.10.121]

22. Just this much, O Raghava, I think is the nature of the mind: the internal brooding over (bhāvanā) an object as a thing and as something of interest. [LYV 5.10.57]

23. When one does not brood over an object as something to be abandoned or acquired, and remains steadfast after abandoning everything, then the mind does not arise. [LYV 5.10.54]

24. When the mind stops brooding because of the continuous absence of latent tendencies, then the state of mindlessness (amanasta)° arises, which bestows the highest stillness. [LYV 5.10.55]

25. He states that peace is absent when the state of mindlessness does not arise:

Friends, relatives, teachers, and other people cannot save a man firmly seized by the evil spirit that is the mind. [LYV 6.2.18

3.3 The Yogas of Posture and Diet

1. With regard to what was mentioned above: "by following the yogas of posture and

diet," [LYV 5.10.122] among these, Patañjali has given three sūtras on the

definition, means, and result of posture:

Posture is stable and comfortable. [YS 2.46]

2.47] 2. By the relaxation of effort and meditative identification7 with Ananta. [YS

3. Thence there is no effect from pairs of opposites. [YS 2.48]

4. Any position of the body, such as the Padma or Svāstika, which for a

particular man brings comfort-defined as not producing pain in his limbs-and

stability-defined as the absence of movement in his body-is the principal posture.8

The ordinary (laukika) means to this is the "relaxation of effort." And the spiritual

(alaukika) is to relax the effort, namely, the mental preoccupation, with reference to

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moving around and performing household duties, to going on pilgrimage, ritual

bathing, performing sacrifices, ritual offerings, and so on. Otherwise, having

forcefully stirred up the body, this preoccupation sends the body wherever it will.

5. The meditative identification of the mind with Ananta is this meditation: "I am

the very same Ananta who with his thousand serpent hoods is steadfast holding up

the Earth." This brings about the unseen subtlety (adrsta)' that bestows the prescribed

posture. When the posture is perfected, one is not affected as before by the pairs of

opposites such as cold and heat, pleasure and suffering, respect and contempt. 6. The

Śruti declares the place for that type of posture:

One adopts a comfortable posture in an isolated, clean place, with the head, neck, and body in a straight line. [KaiU 4]

7. In a level and clean place, free of gravel, fire, and sand, with the sound of running water and so on; in a place agreeable to the mind but not offensive to the eye, with a cave or a retreat protected from the wind, let him practice (yoga). [SvU 2.10]

This is the yoga of posture.

8. But the yoga of eating is the moderation with food because of the Śruti:

A yogin should always avoid overeating and fasting. [AmbU 27]

9. The Lord has also said:

Yoga is not for an overeater, nor for one who does not eat at all; nor is it for

[BhG 6.16] one who sleeps too much, nor for one who always stays awake, O Arjuna.

10. But for one whose eating and diversion are disciplined, whose effort in actions is disciplined, whose sleeping and waking are disciplined, it becomes the yoga that destroys suffering. [BhG 6.17]

11. The elimination of the mind through breath-control for one who has gained

mastery over posture has been given in the Vedic tradition of the Śvetāśvatara:

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Supporting the body evenly, with the three parts erect, merging the senses together with the mind into the heart, the wise man should cross all the dangerous rivers with the raft of Brahman. [ŚvU 2.8]

12. Controlling the breath here (in the posture), a man whose movements are disciplined should breathe through the nose when the breath is stopped. A wise man should restrain the mind vigilantly, as if that were a carriage hitched to wild horses. [ŚvU 2.9]

3.4 The Yoga of Breath-Control

1. Then there are two types of yogins: one is free of the Demonic fortune consisting

of the pride of learning and so on, and the other is subject to that. Of these two, in the

case of the first when his mind is restrained by meditation on Brahman, his breath is

also restrained, because it is inseparably associated with the mind.10 The verse that

reads "with the three parts erect" [SvU 2.8] refers to this type. In the case of the

second type, his mind is also restrained, because it is inseparably associated with the

breath when the breath is restrained through practice. The verse that has been given as

"controlling the breath" [SvU 2.9] refers to that type. We will describe the method of

controlling the breath. A person becomes one "whose movements are disciplined"

[ŚvU 2.9] by means of this control. Mental movements, such as the pride of learning

and so on, are restrained. 2. Elsewhere the Sruti gives an example regarding the

restraint of the mind's defects though restraint of the breath:

Just as impurities in the metal ore are burned off by a bellows, so are defects that are the activities of the senses burned off by control of breath. [AmnU 7]

3. In this regard Vasistha shows its correctness:

For the rhythm of the wind of breath is the very same thing as the rhythm of mind. The wise man should make a supreme effort to control the breath. [LYV 5.10.125]

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4. Mind, voice, eyesight, and other senses-these deities, after taking a vow that

"We will each constantly perform our own function," were overtaken by death in the

form of exhaustion. But (the deity of) death did not capture (the deity of) breath.

Therefore, (the deity of) breath, though continuously performing the exhaling and

inhaling, does not feel exhausted. Then, after reflecting, the deities adopted the form

of breath. 5. This point is made in the Vedic tradition of the Vājasaneyins:

"He is surely the best among us; whether moving or still, he is not exhausted nor suffers harm. Come! Let us all assume forms of him." They all became a form of him; therefore they are called "breath" after him. [BāU 1.5.21]

Hence, to say that the senses have the form of breath is to say that their activity

depends on breath. 6. This is declared in the brahmana on the Inner Controller

(antaryāmī) [BāU 3.7] in the context of the essential thread (sūtrātman):

The air is clearly that thread, Gautama. By the thread of air, Gautama, this world and the world beyond and all beings are strung together. It's because of just this, Gautama, that they say of a dead person: "His limbs have fallen apart," for, Gautama, they are strung together by the thread of the air. [BaU 3.7.3]

Hence, because of the association of the rhythm of breath and mind, when the breath

is restrained, the mind is restrained.

7. [Objection] It does not stand to reason that the two operate with the same

rhythm, because in deep sleep we find the action of breathing, but we do not find the

action of the mind.

8. [Reply] This is not so, because the mind is absent at that time since it has

dissolved.

9. [Objection] Is it not contradicted by the statement: "(A man whose movements

are disciplined) should breathe through the nose when the breath is stopped"? [ŚvU

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2.9] For we do not see breathing anywhere in a dead person whose breath has been

stopped. Nor is there stopping of breath in a person who is alive and breathing.

10. [Reply] This is not so, because in this verse "stop" is meant to indicate a lack

of (breathing). Just as we do not find as much (breathing) in one who is standing,

sitting, or sleeping as in one who is busy digging, chopping wood, climbing a

mountain, or running quickly, where there is a rapidity of breathing, so also we find

less breath in one who has become skilled in breath-control than in someone else. 11.

With reference to this the sruti declares:

With the breath having become lengthened in that (posture), he should breathe very slowly. [YSU 6.7cd; K$U 5]

12. Just as when a chariot with wild horses, leaving the road, is drawn here and

there, and the charioteer pulling the horses firmly at the reins returns (the chariot) to

the smooth road, so also the mind, when it is drawn here and there by the senses and

latent tendencies, is brought under control by firmly pulling the reins of the breaths.

13. With regard to what was said in the passage beginning "controlling the

breath," [SvU 2.9] and another Vedic passage provides the method of controlling the

breath:

With the breath lengthened, he should recite the vyāhrti, the prānava, the gayatrī along with the siras three times-this is called breath-control.11 [AmnU 11]

14. There are said to be three breath-controls: exhalation, inhalation, and retention. Raising the air, making the inner space void, empty, one should connect the air with voidness. This is the definition of exhalation. [AmnU 12]

15. (Just as) a man should draw water up through a lotus stalk with his mouth, so should he take in air. This is the definition of inhalation. [AmnU 13]

16. And one should not exhale, nor inhale, nor should he move the limbs, thus should one organize (the air). This is the definition of retention. [AmnU14]

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In this respect, raising the air inside the body in order to expel it outside, making the

space in the body "void," "empty," i.e., deprived of air, not letting even the smallest

amount of air to enter, one should regulate it only with voidness. This is exhalation.

17. Retention is twofold: internal and external. Both of these are described by

Vasișțha:

As long as the out-breath has stopped, and the in-breath has not yet arisen into the heart, that is the state of (internal) retention that is experienced by the yogins. [LYV 6.1.211]

18. As long as the in-breath has stopped from outside and the out-breath has not yet arisen (from inside), that fullness they know as the state of external retention. [LYV 6.1.216]

19. As regards the above passage, exhaling is an obstacle to internal retention, (and)

inhaling is an obstacle to external retention. Moving the limbs is an obstacle to both,

because when it occurs, either one or the other, inhaling or exhaling, necessarily

occurs. 20. Patañjali also gives a sūtra on breath-control that falls within the context

of posture:

When this (posture is perfected), the halting of the movement of inhaling and exhaling is breath-control. [YS 2.49]

21. [Objection] Even in the absence of movement in retention, when there is

exhalation and inhalation, we find the movements of exhaling and inhaling.

22. [Reply] It is not so, because the two are halted as a result of the evenness of

breath brought about naturally by practicing them in increasing measure. 23.

Patañjali gives a sūtra on this very practice:

External, internal, and fixed phase; regulated by location, duration, and number; it becomes long and subtle. [YS 2.50]

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24. Exhalation is the "external" phase. Inhalation is the "internal" phase.

Retention is the "fixed" phase. These should be tested, one after another, by means of

"location," and so on. It is like this. In the case of exhalation established naturally,

the breath, coming out from the heart, terminates as far away as twelve digits in front

of the tip of the nose. But through practice, the air gradually comes forth from the

navel, or the base (ādhāra), and terminates as far away as twenty-four or thirty-six

digits. In this respect, when exhalation is practiced with special effort, it can be

internally confirmed by a sensation at a location (down to) the navel and so on.

Holding out a bit of cotton, one should make external confirmation by the motion of

that cotton. This is a "location" test.

25. To mentally repeat "OM" ten, twenty, or thirty times during the time of one

exhalation: such (practices are) a "duration" test. To practice ten exhalations per day

during this month, twenty per day during the coming month, and thirty per day during

the following month: such (practices are) a duration test. Now a "number" test (is

carried out) by (practicing) the particular location or duration of breath-controls as

mentioned ten, twenty, thirty times, and so on in one day. A number test should be

applied in this way even in the case of inhalation.

26. Even if one does not perceive the correlation (vyāpti) of a specific distance

with the development of the retention of breath, nevertheless one certainly perceives

the correlation of a duration and a number. As a dense ball of cotton being stretched

out becomes "long," and because of attenuation it becomes "subtle," so also breath,

being trained with increasing location, duration, and number (tests), it possibly arrives

at "long" and, because of its being barely perceptible, "subtle."

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27. Patañjali gives a sūtra on another kind (of movement of breath-control)

different from the three beginning with exhalation:

The fourth transcends (aksepi) the region of the external and internal. [YS 2.51]

28. One performs external retention having exhaled all the air inside as much as one

can. One performs internal retention having inhaled air inside as much as one can.

Thus the retention being practiced by itself, without concern for either exhalation or

inhalation, becomes the fourth, relative to the previously mentioned three. The

distinction is that the three beginning with exhalation are for those who are under the

influence of the powerful defects of sleep, laziness, and so on, whereas the fourth is

for those who are free of such defects. 29. Patañjali gives another sutra on the result

of breath-control:

From this the covering of the light is eliminated. [YS 2.52]

The "light" is goodness. The "covering" of the light is darkness, which is the cause of

sleep, laziness, and so on. Its elimination is (through breath-control). 30. Patañjali

gives a sūtra on another result:

And the mind fit for concentration (dhāraņā). [YS 2.53]

31. "Concentration" is fixing the mind on specific places such as the base plexus,

navel plexus, heart, interval between the eyes, or Brahma's aperture (on top of the

head), from the sūtra:

Concentration is binding the mind to one place. [YS 3.1]

32. The śruti also states:

Considering that the mind is prone to imagination, the discerning person withdraws it into the Self and holds it in that manner-this is called concentration. [AmnU 15]

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A mind that becomes fit for this concentration by means of breath-control is removed

from changeability, which is the effect of the quality of energy, and removed from

laziness, which is caused by the quality of darkness.

33. Through the firm practice of breath-control and the methods given by the teacher ( ... ) [LYV 5.10.122ab]

The word "methods"12 in this passage is understood (to be referring to practices) well

known to yogins, such as moving Mount Meru in the form of the head, moving the

uvula around with the tip of the tongue, meditating on the light in the navel plexus

(and) in the heart, and taking drugs that give forgetfulness.

3.5 Enstasis and the Eight Limbs of Yoga

1. So far we have described the following means of elimination of the mind:

application of spiritual knowledge, meeting with the good people, eradication of latent

tendencies, and restraint of breath. Now we shall describe the enstasis that is a means

(of elimination of the mind). Enstasis (samadhi) consists of the two stages that remain

after abandoning the first three of the five stages of the mind. 2. The commentator

on the Yogasūtras (Vyāsa) has described these stages:

Distracted, stupefied, occasionally distracted, one-pointed, and suppressed are the stages of the mind. [YSBh 1.1]

3. The "distracted" mind exists in the latent tendencies concerning the world,

learning, and the body, which are the Demonic fortune. [2.4.43-87] It is "stupefied"

when i when overwhelmed by sleep, laziness, and the like. It is "occasionally distracted"

when it is disciplined from time to time by meditation, thereby being distinct from

"distracted." Among these, as far as the states of distracted and stupefied are

concerned, there is no question of enstasis. But when the mind is occasionally

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distracted, enstasis, being dependent on the distraction, does not persist on the side

(paksa) of yoga. By being in the midst of the occasionally distracted stage, it

(enstasis) is quickly annihilated, like a seed that is engulfed in flames. But what

enlightens the object properly shaped in the one-pointed stage, loosens the bonds of

action, and makes one inclined toward restraint-this is called "yoga-with-

conceptualization." But when every (mental) activity is removed, this is the "enstasis-

without-conceptualization" stage.13 4. Among these, Patañjali gives a sūtra on one-

pointedness, which is the stage of enstasis-with-conceptualization:

When the stilled or arisen cognitions (pratyaya)14 are alike, this is the transformation of the mind that is one-pointedness (ekāgratā). [YS 3.12]

5. "Stilled" refers to what is past. "Arisen" refers to what is present. "Cognitions"

refers to activities of the mind. If an arisen cognition were to grasp the same object

that a past cognition grasps, then the two become "alike." Such a transformation of

the mind is called "one-pointedness." 6. Patañjali gives a sūtra on enstasis that is

characterized by an increase in one-pointedness:

When there is the diminishing of (the grasping at) all objects and the arising of one-pointedness, this is the enstatic transformation of the mind. [YS 3.11]

7. A mind being stirred up by the quality of energy (rajas) sequentially grasps at all

objects.15 The special effort of the yogin being made so as to suppress this quality of

energy diminishes day by day the "grasping at all objects" and brings about one-

pointedness. Such a transformation of the mind is called enstasis.

8. Among the eight limbs of enstasis, restraint, discipline, posture, breath-control,

and withdrawal of the senses are the five external limbs. Among these, Patañjali

gives this sūtra on restraint:

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The restraints are non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity, and non- acquisitiveness. [YS 2.30]

"Restraints" are what restrain a yogin away from prohibited practices (dharma-s) such

as doing violence and the rest. 9. Patañjali gives this sūtra on discipline:

The disciplines are purification, contentment, austerity, private Vedic recitation, and devotion to the Lord. [YS 2.32]

They are "disciplines" because they discipline, i.e., they drive a person toward actions

free from desire, which cause liberation, having turned one away from actions

motivated by desire, which cause rebirth. 10. The Smrti points out the difference

between carrying out restraint and discipline:

A wise man should constantly perform discipline, but he should not always perform restraint; when he engages only in discipline and fails to perform restraint, he falls. [MDh 4.204]

11. A man falls engaged in discipline and indifferent to restraint; but one engaged in restraint and idle in regard to discipline does not sink. Thus after thoughtfully distinguishing between restraint and discipline, one should apply the mind principally to restraint. [Untraced]

12. Patañjali gives these sūtras on the results of restraint and discipline.

(When a person is grounded in non-violence,) in his presence (living beings) give up natural enmity. [YS 2.35]

13. (When grounded in truthfulness,) actions and results depend on him. [YS 2.36]

14. (When grounded in non-stealing,) precious things come to him. [YS 2.37]

15. (When grounded in chastity,) vigor is enhanced. [YS 2.38]

16. (When grounded in non-acquisitiveness,) he recognizes how rebirth happens, [YS 2.39]

17. From purification there is disgust for one's own body and no contact with another's, [YS 2.40]

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18. also the washing (of the impurities) of mind, purity of mind, one-

[YS 2.41] pointedness, control of the senses, and fitness of the realization of the Self

become possible.

19. From contentment, there results the attainment of unsurpassed happiness. [YS 2.42]

20. From austerity, there is the diminishing of impurity and the purity of mind, body, and the senses. [YS 2.43]

21. From private Vedic recitation, there is union with the favored deity. [YS 2.44]

22. From meditation on the Lord, there is the attainment of enstasis. [YS 2.45]

23. Posture and breath-control have been explained already. [3.3] Patañjali

gives this sutra on the withdrawal of the senses:

When the senses disconnect from their respective sense objects as if adopting the form of the mind, it is the withdrawal of the senses. [YS 2.54]

"Objects" are sounds, textures, forms, tastes, and smells, and the like. Turning away

from them, the sense of hearing and the rest attain a state as if they were adopting the

form of the mind. 24. And there is also the Sruti:

One should think of the five, whose objects are sound and so on, and the very changeable mind, as the reins of the Self-this is called withdrawal of the senses. [AmnU 5]

The meaning of this is: the "five" are hearing, etc., whole "objects" are sound, etc.

With the mind, these constitute six. One thinks of these as reins of the Self insofar as

one restrains them from sound, etc., which are different from the Self. That is the

withdrawal of the senses. 25. Patañjali gives a sūtra on the result of the withdrawal

of the senses:

From this (results) the highest control of the senses. [YS 2.55]

26. Then Patañjali gives three sūtras on concentration, meditation, and enstasis:

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Concentration is fixing the mind on a place. [YS 3.1]

27. Meditation is the continuity of cognition there (on a place). [YS 3.2]

28. Enstasis is the illumination of the place alone, as if (the perceiver) is empty of form. [YS 3.3]

29. The "places" such as the base have been discussed earlier. [3.4.31] The Śruti

mentions another place:

Considering that the mind is prone to imagination (samkalpaka), the discerning person withdraws it into the Self and holds it in that manner-this is called concentration. [AmnU 15]

30. Withdrawal into the Self is this sort of effort: "The mind that is forming an image

of every thing, let it form an image of just the Self and nothing else." "The continuity

of cognition there" [3.5.27; YS 3.2] is the flow whose object is in one place. This is

of two types: being generated intermittently or continuously. These two become

meditation and enstasis, respectively. 31. The yogin Sarvānubhava described both

of them:

Since the mentioned knowledge arises from mental one-pointedness, hence meditation is correctly taught as the means of that (knowledge). [MukU 2.49]

32. After causing the dissolution of the entire complex of effects (vikrti) gradually in the reverse order of its creation,16 he should meditate only on the remaining being, consciousness, and bliss. [MukU 2.50]

33. And:

This flow of mental activity in the form of Brahman and without egoism, produced by the intensity of the practice of meditation, is enstasis-with- conceptualization. [MukU 2.53]

34. The Bhagavatpādā (Sankara) explained the same:

The highest-whose nature is cognition, like the sky, forever shining, but unborn, singular, imperishable, unmixed, present everywhere, and non- dual-I am That alone, forever liberated. OM. [US 10.1]

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35. I am cognition, with a pure and unchanging nature. I have by nature no object. I am filled by the plenitude (bhūman)17 in front and across, above and below, everywhere. Though unborn, I subsist in the Self. [US 10.2]

36. I am unborn and deathless, not aged, immortal, self-luminous, present everywhere, and non-dual. I am neither cause nor effect, altogether immaculate, always contented, therefore liberated. OM. [US 10.3]

37. Objection: Enstasis-with-conceptualization has subordinate limbs (i.e., is

principal). How can you show that it is in the position of enstasis, which is the eighth

limb coming immediately after meditation?

38. Reply: This is not a problem, because there is no great difference (between

these types of enstasis). A young Vedic student stumbles at every word and corrects

himself again and again, one who has studied the Veda does not stumble so long as he

is attentive (sāvadhana), and a teacher does not stumble even when he is inattentive or

fatigued. Similarly, one must understand the mutual difference among meditation,

enstasis (the eighth limb), and enstasis-with-conceptualization by their differing

degrees of development, even though their object of meditation is the same.18 39. The

three beginning with concentration are the internal limbs in (enstasis-with-)

conceptualization because they are located in the mind. But the five beginning with

restraint are its external limbs. 40 . Patañjali gives a sūtra on this:

The three are internal limbs compared to the previous (five). [YS 3.7]

Therefore, when the internal limbs are accomplished first by some sort of merit, one

does not have to make a great deal of effort in order to accomplish the external limbs.

41. Even though Patañjali detailed in many ways the enstases-with-

conceptualization and with-distinctions-having as their object the effects of elements,

elements, subtle elements, the senses, and egotism-nevertheless, we take no notice of

them because, by being the cause of supernatural powers such as invisibility and the

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like, they oppose enstasis, which is the cause of liberation. 42. In the same vein

Patañjali gives this sūtra:

In enstasis they are obstacles; in coming out (from enstasis) (vyutthāna) they are supernatural powers. [YS 3.38]

43. And:

When there is an invitation from highly placed ones, one should not feel attachment or pride because they may lead to undesirable conditions. [YS 3.51]

The "highly placed ones" are the gods. The story is told that Uddālaka, though invited

by the gods, snubbed the gods and cultivated only enstasis-without-distinctions.

[LYV 5.6.125-137] 44. We also gather the very same thing from this dialogue:

Śrī Rāma: Why is it, O best of Self-knowers, that we do not see such powers as the ability to fly through the air among the bodies of those liberated-in-life? [LYV 5.10.1]

O Raghava, even one who does not know the Self and is not liberated acquires 45. Vasistha:

the trick (yukti) of roaming about the clouds and the like through the use of elixirs, incantations, rites, and time. [LYV 5.10.2]

46. This concern does not belong to the Self-knower, for the Self-knower sees only the Self. Satisfied by himself in himself, he does not run after ignorance. [LYV 5.10.3]

47. Any worldly things whatsoever, the wise know them to be fashioned by ignorance. How could a Self-knower who has abandoned ignorance possibly plunge into these things? [LYV 5.10.5]

48. The powers of elixirs, incantations, rites, and time are effective for bestowing supernatural abilities, but none of these help in attaining the state of the highest Self. [LYV 5.10.7]

49. The attainment of the Self arises when the web of all desires comes to an end. How could a mind immersed in the pursuit of supernatural abilities attain that? [LYV 5.10.9]

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50. None of these worldly things attract the knower of truth, as ordinary village women do not attract the courtly gentleman who is in love with a refined courtesan. [LYV 4.5.34]

51. The man liberated-in-life does not show amazement even when the sun emits cool rays or when the orb of the moon is hot or when a fire shoots downward. [LYV 5.9.66]

And:

52. Curiosity in these sorts of wonders does not arise for him because he knows that these powers thus appear in the world from the highest Self. [LYV 5.9.67]

53. But enstasis-with-conceptualization whose object is the Self is the cause both

of the eradication of latent tendencies and the enstasis-of-suppression. Therefore we

have given it (rather than supernatural powers) serious attention here.

3.6 Enstasis-of-Suppression

1. Now we examine the enstasis-of-suppression (nirodhasamādhi), which constitutes

the fifth stage (of the mind). 2. Patañjali comments on this suppression in the sūtra:

The transformation of suppression (nirodha), which associates the mind with a moment of suppression, occurs when the residual impressions (samskāra) of coming out (of enstasis) (vyutthāna) are overcome and the impressions of suppression arise. [YS 3.9]19

The residual impressions (samskāra) of coming out (of enstasis) are opposite to

enstasis. 3. They have been illustrated in the enstasis of Uddālaka:

When will I ever reach that continuous repose for a long time in the state that is most purifying, free from deliberations, like a cloud on the peak of Mount Meru? [LYV 5.6.29]

4. Thus overwhelmed by this thought, the twice-born Uddālaka forcibly sat and practiced meditation again and again. [LYV 5.6.35]

5. But when the mind like a fickle monkey was being led about by worldly objects, he did not reach the stability that gives joy in enstasis. [LYV 5.6.36]

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6. Sometimes after it left external objects, his monkey-mind jumped to groups of internal objects. [LYV 5.6.37]

7. Sometimes jumping from internal objects, his mind seized on external objects. Sometimes soaring up, his mind flitted about like a frightened bird. [LYV 5.6.38]

8. Sometimes he saw pervasive light resembling that of the rising sun, sometimes only the sky, then pitch darkness. [LYV 5.6.39]

9. With the mind, he cut through the illusions repeatedly coming up at random, like a hero with this sword cutting through an enemy in combat. [LYV 5.6.109]

10. When the multitude of images was completely cut down, he saw the sun of discernment blocked by a billowing cloud dark as lampblack. [LYV 5.6.110]

11. He destroyed that with the sun of correct knowledge as well; when the darkness had ceased, he saw light building up within his mind; he destroyed

5.6.111] that like a young elephant trampling on a bed of ground lotuses. [LYV

12. When the light had ceased, that sage's mind, revolving, went to sleep like a lotus at night. He immediately cut off that as well. [LYV 5.6.112]

13. When sleep disappeared, there arose in his mind the consciousness like the sky. When the consciousness like the sky disappeared, his mind became stupefied. This noble man wiped away even that delusion from the mind. [LYV 5.6.113]

14. Then reaching an indescribable state untouched by light, darkness, sleep, delusion, and the rest, his mind became still for a moment. [LYV 5.6.114]

15. These residual impressions of coming out (from enstasis) are overcome

moment to moment through the yogin's effort, which is the cause of suppression, and

the residual impressions of suppression opposed to that (coming out) arise. When

this happens, suppression follows the mind at each moment. The "transformation of

suppression" of the mind comes about in this manner (as mentioned above). [YS 3.9]

16. [Objection] According to the maxim:

Things except for the energy of consciousness undergo transformation at each moment [Untraced]

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it must be said that there is a flow of transformation in the mind at all times.

17. [Reply] Certainly. In that passage the flow of activities of the mind that has

come out (from enstasis) is made clear.

18. [Objection] But what of the mind that is suppressed?

19. [Reply] Anticipating this doubt, Patañjali gives the next sūtra:

Then its flow is calmed because of the residual impressions. [YS 3.10]

As a fire flames up increasingly higher and higher when oblations of fuel and ghee are

thrown into it, and when the fuel and so on are burned up, in the first moment it calms

down slightly, and moment by moment it becomes increasingly still. Just so for the

mind that has been suppressed, stillness flows more and more. In those moments,

each residual impression that was previously generated by stillness is the cause of

each and every (effect of) stillness (generated) later. 20. The Lord clearly describes

this same flow of stillness:

When the restrained mind is established only in the Self, free from longing for all desires, one is then called a man established in yoga. [BhG 6.18]

21. "As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker," that is the simile quoted for the yogin with a controlled mind who is practicing the yoga of meditation on the Self. [BhG 6.19]

22. When the mind becomes quiet, suppressed by the practice of the yoga of meditation, and when seeing the Self by himself, he is content in himself; [BhG 6.20]

23. When a man experiences that ultimate happiness which is to be grasped by the intellect beyond the senses, and when established only in this, he does not move from reality; [BhG 6.21]

24. And attaining which, he thinks there is no greater attainment than it, when he is in that state, he is not disturbed even by heavy suffering. [BhG 6.22]

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25. He should know that separation (viyoga) from the connection with suffering is what is called yoga. That yoga should be practiced with resolve and a mind that is not despairing. [BhG 6.23]

26. Patañjali gives a sūtra on the means of enstasis-of-suppression:

The other (i.e., enstasis-of-suppression) is left with only the residual impression and is preceded by the practice of the basis (pratyaya) of cessation. [YS 1.18]

"Cessation" is the stopping of mental activities. Its "basis," i.e., cause, is personal

effort aimed at stopping mental activities. Its "practice," i.e., frequent repetition,

brings it about; (it) "is preceded by" that (practice), i.e., (it) results from that (practice).

Because the enstasis-with-conceptualization was declared in the immediately

preceding sūtra, with respect to that, the "other" is enstasis-without-conceptualization.

In this passage, because absence of activity is difficult to characterize, the mind is left

in the form of a residual impression. 27. The Lord clearly states (that this enstasis)

results from the basis of cessation:

Completely giving up all desires springing from imagination (samkalpa),20 controlling the group of senses on all sides with only the mind; [BhG 6.24]

28. He should gently and gradually become quiet, with a resolute intellect. Making the mind abide in the Self, he should not think of anything else. [BhG 6.25]

29. Wherever the fickle and unsteady mind proceeds, controlling that, he must ever lead it back from there under the influence of the Self. [BhG 6.26]

30. Although desirable things such as garlands, sandal paste, women, children,

friends, houses, land, and so on are associated with many defects well known to

discerning people adept in the Sästra of liberation, they imagine (kalpyanti) there is

goodness in these things, having covered up the defects through beginningless

ignorance. From this imagination (samkalpa), desires with the form of "May this be

mine" develop. 31. Likewise the Smrti declares:

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Surely desire is rooted in imagination; and sacrifice arises from (that) imagination. [MDh 2.3]

32. O desire, I know your root-you clearly grow out of imagination. I will not think of you. You will be destroyed along with the root. [MBh 12.171.25]

33. In this passage, when the defects of sensory objects have been manifested

through discernment, one gives up desire for them as one does for milk-porridge that

has been vomited by a dog. The word "all" [BhG 6.24] was used in reference to

giving up desires involving the Brahma world and the eight superhuman powers,21

such as the ability to become as small like an atom, like (one would give up) things

such as garlands, sandal paste, and women. Now, in a man who has made the vow of

a month-long fast, although he has given up food for a month, desire arises again and

again. To indicate that he should not be like this, the word "completely" [BhG 6.24]

was used. Even when the intentional tendencies created by mind are eliminated, upon

the abandonment of desire, the mind itself should make every effort to control also the

natural tendency of the eyes and the rest toward form and the like. The words "on all

sides" [BhG 6.24] were used to indicate turning away from continuing even to view

the gods (devatādarśana) and so on. The words "gently and gradually" [BhG 6.25]

were used because what is implied is cessation (of activities) with progressive

perfection by stages.

3.7 The Four Stages of Control. The First Stage: Control of Speech in the Mind

1. There are four stages as explained in the Kathavalli:

(1) The wise man should control speech in the mind; (2) should control the latter in the knowing self (jñānatman); (3) he should control knowing in the Great Principle (mahātman); (4) he should control that in the Tranquil Self (śānātman). [KU 3.13]

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2. The function of speech is twofold: worldly and Vedic. The worldly speech is talk

about daily affairs, and the Vedic speech is private recitation of sacred words and the

like. Of these, because the worldly speech causes a great deal of distraction, the yogin

should abandon it, even at the time when he has come out (from enstasis). 3. For just

this reason a Smrti declares:

The single-staffed ascetic practices seven things: silence, yogic posture, meditation (yoga), endurance, the habit of staying in seclusion, freedom from longing, and equanimity. [NpU pp. 159-160]

4. But one should give up such things as silent recitation of sacred words in the

enstasis-of-suppression. This is that first stage, which pertains to speech. Having

firmly mastered this stage only through effort in a few days, months, or years,

afterward one should make efforts on the second stage, which pertains to the mind.

Otherwise, the upper levels of yoga would be destroyed like a multistorey palace

because of the collapse of the first stage. Though the eyes and the rest have to be

suppressed, nevertheless one should consider that they are included in the level

pertaining either to speech or to the mind.

5. [Objection] "(The wise man) should control speech in the mind." [KU 3.13]

This is impossible because one organ cannot merge into another.

6. [Reply] This is not so, because merging is not implied. What is meant here is

this. Both speech and mind create various distractions. Of these two, when one first

controls the function of speech, only the function of mind remains.

3.8 Control of the Mind in the Knowing Self

1. When the control of speech has become natural as in the case of cows, buffaloes,

horses, and so on, then he should control mind in the "knowing self." The self is

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threefold: knowing self (jñānātma), the Great Self (mahātma), and the Tranquil Self

(śāntātmā). In this passage, what is meant by the word "knowing" is the ego

(ahamkāra), which possesses the attribute of being the knowing subject, as in: "The

self residing here (in the body) knows," because the mind, which is an instrument,

was mentioned separately as something to be controlled. Ego is twofold: individual

and universal. The specific thought "I am his son" constitutes the individual ego. The

simple thought "I am" is the universal ego. It is called "Great" because it is pervasive

among all individuals. There are two types of selves with these two types of egos as

their attributes. The Tranquil Self is without attributes. All these operate both

internally and externally. The Tranquil Self exists within everything and is pure

consciousness (cidekarasa).

2. It is on this (Tranquil Self) that the Primal Nature (mūlaprakrti), which is

unmanifest (avyakta) and constituted by inanimate power (jadaśakti), rests. This

becomes manifest first with the name "Great Self" in the form of the universal ego.

Then it becomes manifest externally in the form of the individual ego; then it becomes

manifest externally in the form of the mind; and finally it becomes manifest extenally

in the form of the senses, such as speech and so on. 3. With regard to this, the Sruti

makes clear that each of them is progressively more internal:

They say the senses are high; the mind is higher than the senses. The intellect is higher than the mind, and the Great Principle is higher than the intellect. [KU 3.10]

4. The Unmanifest is higher than the Great Self, and the Spirit (purusa) is higher than the Unmanifest. [KU 3.11ab]

5. This being the case, one should control the mind, which is an instrument and is

that by which one forms concepts and makes distinctions (samkalpavikalpa) in the

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ego. Having abandoned the function of mind, only the ego should be allowed to

remain. 6. One must not say "This is impossible," because giving an answer to

Arjuna, who says:

I think it is as difficult to restrain as the wind. [BhG 6.34]

the Lord says:

7. Without a doubt, Great Arm, the mind is difficult to restrain and fickle. But with practice and detachment, son of Kunti, it is restrained. [BhG 6.35]

8. Yoga is difficult to attain by someone who is not self-disciplined. That is my view. But for someone who is self-controlled and has made effort, it is possible to attain with the right means. [BhG 6.36]

"Practice" and "detachment" will be explained later through citation of Patañjali's

sūtras. "Someone who is not self-disciplined" refers to one who is not firmly

established in the previous stage. "Someone who is self-controlled" refers to one who

is so established. 9. Gaudapādācarya declares the attainment "with the right

means" with an example:

As one would empty the ocean drop by drop with the tip of a blade of kuśa grass, so should one untiringly restrain the mind. [GK 3.41]

10. In this connection, those versed in the tradition relate the following story. It

is said that the ocean arrogantly carried off with its tide a bird's eggs that were lying

somewhere on the shore. Thinking "I shall dry up the ocean," the bird set upon

throwing out one drop at a time with its beak. Then, though many groups of relatives

tried to dissuade the bird, undeterred, it on the contrary asked them for assistance.

Nārada took pity, seeing them all toiling so much flying up and down, and sent forth

Garuda into the vicinity (to help). Then the ocean, drying up from the wind of

Garuda's wings, was frightened and, bringing back the eggs, gave them to the bird.22

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11. In this same manner, the Lord graces the yogin engaging in the highest

religious practice (dharma) of tirelessly restraining the mind. The tirelessness is

brought about by combining it (restraining the mind) with a supportive activity at

intervals. It is just like a person who is eating rice tastes a bit of curd and relish in

between mouthfuls. 12. In regard to just this, Vasistha says:

In the ideal schedule of one who is without knowledge, he would fill up two parts of the mind with enjoyment, one part with Sastra, and one part with service to the teacher. [LYV 5.3.36]

13. For one who has gained some knowledge, he would fill up one part with enjoyment, two parts with service to the teacher, and one part with thinking over the meaning of the Sāstra. [LYV 5.3.37]

14. For one who is advanced in the knowledge, he should every day fill up two parts of the mind with Sästra and detachment, and two parts with meditation and service to the teacher. [LYV 5.3.38]

In this passage, the word "enjoyment" refers to the activity of begging, which is the

means for (sustenance of) the life, and activities that are proper to one's caste and

order.

15. He should practice yoga for a half hour or one hour23 according to his ability;

attend to his teacher for an hour, either by listening to Sastra or serving him; take care

of his own physical needs for an hour; reflect on Yogaśāstra for an hour; and again

practice yoga for another hour. In this manner, having combined other activities so as

to give priority to yoga, and having practiced those activities quickly, when going to

bed one should count the hours spent in yoga during the day. Then on the next day,

or in the next two weeks, or in the next month, one should increase the periods of

yoga. So, even when a single moment of yoga is added on to each hour, within just a

year the total amount of time spent on yoga becomes greater.

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16. Other activities would be neglected if one is devoting oneself only to yoga.

The qualification for yoga is only for one who has given up all other activities. For

this reason, it requires the renunciation-of-the-knower. Therefore, a man focused

solely on that gradually becomes elevated through yoga, like one who is a student or a

merchant and the like. Just as a young student who, gradually learning part of a

quarter of a Vedic verse, then a quarter, then a half of a verse, and then a whole verse,

then two verses, and then a whole section, becomes a teacher in ten or twelve years, or

just as one conducting a business earns one coin, then two coins, etc., eventually

becomes a millionaire or a billionaire, so also, why would one having begun along

with this same student and merchant, joining in as if seized with envy, not ascend into

yoga during that same time period? Therefore, like Uddalaka [above, 3.6.3-14]

giving up by personal effort the forming of concepts and making of distinctions

(samkalpavikalpa), which one is arriving at again and again, one should control the

mind within the knowing self, namely, the ego.

3.9 Control in the Great Self and in the Tranquil Self

1. Having mastered this second stage, when the state of mindlessness becomes natural

as in children, the deaf and dumb, etc., then one should control the knowing self,

which is manifest and constituted by individual ego, within the Great Principle

(mahattattva), which is the unmanifest universal ego. Just as the individual ego

decreases on its own for one who has become fatigued, so also the ego decreases even

without fatigue (tandrã) for one who makes an effort at forgetfulness (vismarana).

This is the third stage that is similar to fatigue well known in the world, similar to

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indeterminate knowledge (nirvikalpajñāna)24 acknowledged by the logicians, and is

the condition in which only the Great Principle remains.

2. When this (third stage) has been subdued by skill gained through practice, one

should control the Great Principle, which is constituted by the universal ego, in the

Tranquil Self, which, insofar as it is without attributes, is pure consciousness.

Having set aside the Great Principle, one should let pure consciousness remain. [Untraced]

3. In this passage also, the effort at forgetfulness mentioned earlier becomes a

means to a greater degree (in the fourth stage than what it was in the third stage). Just

as a person engaged in practicing the Sastras, before he gains proficiency, he needs

explanation of every text. Yet when he has sufficient proficiency, the meaning of the

later text appears by itself. So also, for a yogin who has correctly mastered the

previous stage, the means of the later stage appears by itself. 4. The author of the

Yogabhaşya (Vyāsa) also states this:

Yoga is to be known through yoga; yoga proceeds from yoga. That yogin

SauU 2.7] who is attentive by means of yoga is content for a long time. [YSBh 3.6;

5. [Objection] The Śruti [KU 3.11] stated a principle called "Unmanifest," which

is the material cause of the Great Principle, occurring in between the Great Principle

and the Tranquil Self. Why was no mention made of control within that?

6. [Reply] We answer that it is not mentioned because it would result in

dissolution (of the Great Principle). Just as a clay pot submerged in water, which is

not the pot's material cause, does not dissolve in it but is dissolved in clay, which is

the element of the pot's material cause, so also the Great Principle is not dissolved in

the Self but is dissolved in the Unmanifest. 7. To dissolve one's own nature is of no

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benefit to a person because (a) it is not conducive to the vision of the Self, (b) having

prescribed the vision of the Self in the statement quoted earlier [2.2.12]:

Yet it is seen with a sharpened and subtle mind by people with subtle vision. [KU 3.12]

suppression was stated in order to bring about this subtlety (of the mind), and (c)

because the dissolution occurs on its own every day during sleep, an effort toward it

would be pointless.

8. [Objection] Enstasis-with-conceptualization, which is to be brought about by

concentration, meditation and enstasis, is a cause of seeing (the Self) since it consists

in the one-pointed mental activity. But the mind, held in check in the Tranquil Self

and brought to enstasis-without-conceptualization, is bereft of mental activities as in

sleep, and therefore is not the cause of seeing (the Self).

9. [Reply] This is not so, because it is impossible to take away the vision that has

come about on its own. 10. Wherefore the Sreyomarga25 declares:

The mind, which by nature always takes on the form of both the Self and the non-Self, one should make the mind bereft of the non-Self by making it exclusively take on the form of the Self. [Untraced]

11. As a pot is being produced, it is automatically produced full of empty space,

but afterward when the pot has been produced, it becomes full of water, rice, and so

on by human effort. Though the water and so on has been poured out, it is impossible

to pour out the empty space. Even when the mouth has been covered, the empty space

inside still remains. In like manner, when the mind is being produced, it is made full

only with consciousness of the Self. Afterward when the mind has been produced, it

assumes the form of mental activities such as pots, cloth, shape, taste, pleasure, and

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suffering like molten copper poured into a mold, due to the power of virtue and vice,

etc., which are the causes of experience.

12. Among these, even if shape, taste, and the like, which are the form of the

non-Self, have been taken away, the shape of pure consciousness, which is without a

cause, cannot be taken away. Then the mind-which is without activities because it is

restrained by enstasis-(of-suppression), which is subtle because only residual

impressions are left, and which is one-pointed because it is focused only on pure

consciousness-experiences the Self unhindered. 13. With the same intention the

author of the Vārttikas (Sureśvara) and yogin Sarvānubhava state:

The mind consists of jars, suffering and so on because of virtue, and the like. The Self that has no cause comes about because of its essential activity. [BāUBhV 1.1.544]

14. The mind whose activities are stilled illuminating the highest bliss: this is the enstasis with the name "without conceptualization," and dear to the yogins. [MukU 2.54]

Even when the vision of the Self has been established automatically, the practice of

suppression is intended to ward off the non-Self. 15. For just this reason it was

declared:

6.25] Making the mind abide in the Self, he should not think of anything else. [BhG

3.10 The Nature and Means of Entasis-with-Conceptualization and Enstasis-without-Conceptualization

1. [Objection] Because the endeavor of the Yogaśāstra is focused only on enstasis

as the therapy for the mind,26 the vision of the Self in the enstasis-of-suppression is

not mentioned there directly.

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2. [Reply] But it is understood indirectly because, when having first given the

sūtra:

Yoga is the suppression of mental activity, [YS 1.2]

3. Patañjali then gives the sūtra:

Then the seer resides in his own form. [YS 1.3]

4. Even if the unchanging "seer" always resides only in his own form,

nevertheless, when the mental activities are being produced, an image of

consciousness becomes reflected in them, and the seer is as if not firm in himself,

because he is unable to discern it in the reflection (from his own form).27 5. This is

also explained in the next sūtra:

At other times he takes the same form as the activity. [YS 1.4]

6. Elsewhere there is the sūtra:

Experience comes about by not perceiving the distinction between the goodness (sattva) and Spirit (purusa), which are completely different. [YS 3.35]28

7. And:

When unchanging consciousness assumes the form of that (mode of goodness), there is a combined cognition of itself with the intellect. [YS 4.22]

8. Even when the individual self (tvampadartha) purified through the enstasis-of-

suppression has been realized directly, in order to make it possible to perceive that it is

Brahman, another mental activity called knowledge of Brahman is generated (for the

meditator) by means of the Great Text (tat tvam asi). The enstasis-of-suppression is

not the sole means of direct realization of the purified individual self (padārtha). For,

on the contrary, its direct realization is possible also in making the separation through

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the discernment of consciousness from the inanimate (jada).29 9. For just this reason

Vasitha says:

There are two paths to the elimination of the mind, O Raghava: yoga and knowledge; yoga is the suppression of activity in the mind, and knowledge is right perception. [LYV 5.9.72]

10. And:

For some, yoga is unattainable; for some, conviction through definite knowledge is unattainable; therefore, God, the highest Lord of the world, made two ways from the world of the gods. [LYV 6.1.60]

11. [Objection] Even "discernment" itself ends up as yoga, because the one-

pointed mental activity, which is totally absorbed in just the Self at the time of

realization, is indeed momentary enstasis-with-conceptualization.

12. [Reply] Quite so. Nevertheless there is indeed a great difference between

enstasis-with-conceptualization and enstasis-without-conceptualization in regard to

their inherent nature and means of attaining them. The difference in their natures is

clear because of the presence and absence (respectively) of mental activity. But since

the three means beginning with concentration and the others are similar to enstasis-

with-conceptualization, they are the internal limbs; whereas since they are dissimilar to

enstasis-without-conceptualization, which has no mental activity, they are the external

limbs (for establishing enstasis). 13. Likewise, Patañjali gives a sūtra:

Even they30 are external limbs to the seedless. [YS 3.8]

14. Even though they are dissimilar (to enstasis-without-conceptualization),

because they are helpful in removing the many kinds of mental activities relating to the

non-Self, it is not contradictory to take them as external limbs. 15. Patañjali gives a

sūtra to clarify this same helpfulness:

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For others (yogins) it is preceded by faith, vigor, memory, enstasis, and wisdom. [YS 1.20]

16. After pointing out the enstasis that occurs right from birth in the case of some

gods and others in the previous sūtra, he gives this sūtra with reference to man.

"Faith" is the conviction "For me this yoga alone is the means of attaining the highest

goal of human life." It is brought about by hearing about the excellence (of yoga).

17. This excellence (of yoga) is declared in the Smrti:

The yogin is greater than the ascetic; he is considered greater even than men of knowledge; and the yogin is greater that ritual performers. Therefore, Arjuna, be a yogin. [BhG 6.46]

18. Yoga is greater than ascetic practices such as the painful vow and the lunar

fast,31 and ritual actions such as the Soma sacrifice, because it is the means of attaining

the highest world. It is even greater than knowledge because with respect to

knowledge it is an internal limb and it is a cause of mental control/tranquillity* (śānti).

When a man knows this, faith in yoga wells up in him. When this faith has been

internalized, "vigor," i.e., strenuous effort, comes into being with the thought "I shall

carry out yoga in every possible way." By means of strenuous effort, the yogin

remembers to perform the limbs of yoga at the (proper) time. Similarly, when the

tranquillity of the highest Self has arisen as a result of the enstasis correctly

performed, through that "memory," the truth-bearing insight comes about. For it to be

achieved by "others," i.e., by men who are below the gods and the like, enstasis-with-

conceptualization has to be preceded and caused by that insight.

19. Patañjali gives a sūtra on that insight:

There the insight is truth-bearing. [YS 1.48]

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20. It is "truth-bearing" because it bears, i.e., illuminates, "truth" (rta), i.e., reality

(satyam), or the actual nature of a thing. This all means "truth-bearing." "There"

refers to when the serenity (prasda) of the highest Self produced by the height of

enstasis has arisen. 21. Patañjali gives a sūtra on the reason for its being "truth-

bearing:"

It has objects other than scriptural or inferential knowledge because its object is particular. [YS 1.49]

22. The perception of non-yogins does not extend to things that are subtle, concealed,

or remote. Non-yogins come to know those things through scripture (agama) and

inference (anumāna). Those two types of knowledge produced by Sāstra and

inference perceive objects only in their universality. But this direct perception of a

yogin is "truth-bearing" because it perceives an object in its particularity.

23. In order to show that the direct perception of a yogin is an external limb with

respect to enstasis-without-conceptualization, Patañjali gives a stra stating that the

direct perception of a yogin is helpful (to enstasis-without-conceptualization):

The residual impression generated by it blocks other impressions. [YS 1.50]

24. Having declared the means that is the external limb of enstasis-without-

conceptualization, Patañjali gives a sūtra declaring the effort to suppress that as

being the means that is the internal limb (of enstasis-without-conceptualization):

Because of the suppression of everything upon the suppression of even that, the seedless enstasis comes about. [YS 1.51]

25. This enstasis is similar to deep sleep (susupti) and is able to be experienced by the

witness-consciousness. One must not presume that this is the same as deep sleep

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since it lacks all mental activities, because they are different insofar as the mind as

such is present in one and not in the other.

26. This has been stated by Gaudapādācarya:

But one should know that this is the functioning mind that is controlled, free from making distinctions, and intelligent. Its functioning is different from deep sleep, and is not similar to that. [GK 3.34]

27. For that (mind) is absorbed in (its material cause) in deep sleep; it is not absorbed when controlled. That very (mind) becomes the fearless Brahman; it is the light of knowledge (shining) all around. [GK 3.35]

28. In the Māņdūkya Sākha is it also declared:

The non-perception of duality is the same in both prajna32 and the Fourth (turya). Wisdom is associated with germinal sleep, and it is not found in the Fourth. [GK 1.13]

29. The first two are associated with dreaming and sleep, but wisdom with dreamless sleep. Those who are settled in the Fourth neither perceive sleep nor even dream (i.e., those settled in the Fourth perceive neither non- knowledge nor mistaken knowledge). [GK 1.14]

30. Dreaming belongs to one who has misperception, and sleep to one who does not know the truth. When the mistake has been destroyed in these two, the Fourth state is attained. [GK 1.15]

31. "The first two" refers to viśva and taijasa.33 The "misperception" of the non-dual

reality is its appearance as dual. When this is present in both viśva and taijasa, it is

called "dream." "Sleep" is not knowing the truth, and this exists in viśva, taijasa, and

prājña. The "mistake" in dream and sleep in their essential nature is false knowledge.

There is a "mistake," which is false knowledge. When it "has been destroyed"

through knowledge, the "Fourth state," i.e., the non-dual, "is attained."

32. [Objection] Let us grant that there is such a great distinction between enstasis-

without-conceptualization and deep sleep. In the case of someone who is still striving

to see reality, there is a need for enstasis as the means of vision (darśana).

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Nevertheless, for someone who has seen it, that (enstasis) is not needed for the

purpose (of attaining) liberation-in-life, because even in deep sleep there is the

removal of bondage to afflictions such as the attachment and aversion.

33. [Reply] This is not so. Is it the everyday sleep one gets automatically for

some time that removes the bondage, or is it that which is continuous through

practice? In the first case, is it the removal of the bondage to afflictions during deep

sleep, or that existing at the other times? It is not the first, because it is not applicable

(to one liberated-in-life). For even ignorant persons have no bondage to afflictions

during deep sleep. It is not the second, because it is impossible. For the afflictions

existing at one point in time cannot be destroyed by deep sleep existing at another

(future) time; otherwise it would follow that even ignorant persons destroy afflictions

even during waking or dreaming states. Nor is continual practice of deep sleep even

possible, because deep sleep results from the cessation of activity. Therefore even a

knower of reality undoubtedly needs enstasis-without-conceptualization in order to

destroy afflictions.

34. In this enstasis the first stage is the control of speech as found in cows,

horses, and so on. The second is mindlessness as found in children, fools, and so on.

The third stage is the freedom from the ego as in fatigue. The fourth is freedom from

the Great Principle as in deep sleep. 35. It is with reference to these four stages that it

was said: "He should gently and gradually become quiet." [3.6.28; BhG 6.25]

36. And in this passage, the "resolute intellect" [3.6.28; BhG 6.25] is the means

in (effecting this) quieting. Great resolve is required for the suppression of the Great

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Principle, the ego, the mind, speech, and so on, which naturally are flowing out at a

fast speed like a river washing away its banks. "Intellect" refers to discernment.

37. From time to time one should discern in this manner: After examining

whether the previous stage has been mastered or not, he should, when he has

mastered it, undertake the next stage. But when he has not mastered it, he must

practice the same stage again. The Smrti declares the practice of the fourth stage in the

verse and a half beginning with: "(Making the mind) abide in the Self, (he should not

think of anything else)." [3.6.28; BhG 6.25] 38. Gaudapādācarya says:

One should hold the mind that is distracted by desire and enjoyment with (the proper, prescribed) means, and even (the mind) that is very contented in dissolution (laya) should be held. Just as desire (is bad), so is dissolution. [GK 3.42]

39. One should turn (the mind) away from desires and enjoyment, remembering that all is suffering. One does not even see the born remembering that all is the unborn. [GK 3.43]

40. One should arouse the mind in dissolution; when distracted, calm it again. One should notice the mind tainted, and when it has attained equilibrium, one should not move it. [GK 3.44]

41. One should not relish happiness (sukha) there (in enstasis); one should be unattached by means of wisdom (prajna), and with effort one should unify the steady mind that moves out. [GK 3.45]

42. When the mind does not dissolve and does not become distracted again, when it is unwavering and without a reflection of worldly objects, then that is made perfect as Brahman. [GK 3.46]

43. "Dissolution," "distraction," "taint," and the "attainment of equilibrium" are

the four states of the mind. Among these, (a) when the mind is being controlled and

turned away from objects, if it tends to be dissolved, i.e., tends to fall asleep owing to

the force of previous habit, at that moment, one should properly awaken the mind by

an effort to rise up or by warding off the causes of dissolution. The causes of

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dissolution are lack of sleep, indigestion, overeating, and making oneself tired. 44.

Because of this it is said:

After completing sleep (one should eat) a small amount of easily digestible food, avoid tiring exercise, and in an isolated place free of disturbances, always sit effortlessly free of longing, or control the breathing in the way he has become adept. [SauU 2.2]

45. (b) If the mind roused from dissolution as a result of the daily practice of

awakening becomes distracted by "desire and enjoyment," then one should again and

again quiet the mind that has been distracted by recalling all the suffering found in

objects of enjoyment, which is well known to people of discernment, and by seeing

the real nature of objects of enjoyment preceded by the recalling of the reality of

Brahman that is non-dual, free from rebirth, and so on, as is well known in Sāstra.

46. (c) "Taint" is a defect of the mind that is the latent tendencies such as sharp

attachment and aversion. A mind that is as if in a state of enstasis, sometimes seized

by those (latent tendencies), remains in a state of one-pointed suffering free from

dissolution and distraction. One should "notice" [3.10.40; GK 3.44] that mind in that

condition, that is, one should understand by discerning it from a mind in enstasis.

After understanding that this (mind) is not in enstasis, one should counteract the taint

in the same way as dissolution and distraction.

47. (d) The word "equal" refers to Brahman because of the Smrti:

The Supreme Lord situated in all beings in equal measure. [BhG 13.27ab]

48. When the mind avoids dissolution, distraction, and taint, it attains the state of

equilibrium, which is Brahman, because this is what remains. And then "when it has

attained equilibrium, one should not move it" [3.10.40; GK 3.44] by mistaking it with

taint and dissolution. Knowing distinctly the conditions of dissolution and taint with

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a penetrating intellect, one should establish the mind in that condition of equilibrium

with great effort. [3.10.41; GK 3.45] When it (the mind) has been established in it,

the supreme happiness that is the essential nature of Brahman becomes fully manifest.

49. Similarly, it has been described in this way:

When one feels the ultimate happiness (in meditation), which is grasped by the intellect beyond the senses. [BhG 6.21]

50. And there is also the Sruti:

The happiness of a mind whose impurities have been shaken off by enstasis, and which has entered into the Self, cannot then be described with words. That is grasped with one's own inner organ. [MtrāU 4.9]

51. [Objection] The Sruti and Smrti have declared [MtrāU 4.9; BhG 6.21, 25]

that the intellect can grasp the bliss of Brahman that becomes manifest in enstasis. But

the teacher (Gaudapāda) prohibits its grasping of the intellect in the statement "One

should not relish happiness there." [3.10.41; GK 3.45]

52. [Reply] This is not a problem. This passage does not prohibit the grasping

by the intellect of that happiness arising from suppression. Rather, what is prohibited

is the recollection (of this happiness) taking place in the state of coming out (from

enstasis), a recollection that is an obstacle to enstasis. It is just like the pleasure of

coolness, which, although a person enjoys it when jumping into the depths of

Jāhanavī (Gāngā) at midday during the summer heat and cannot express it at that time,

one describes it afterward when emerging from the water. Or it is like the happiness

of one's own form (svarūpa), which a person enjoys through very subtle mental

activities of ignorance during deep sleep. Although one cannot perceive it at the time

through the cognition with distinctions brought by the mental activities, one recalls it

clearly through memory when one wakes up. It is in this way that the Śrutis and

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Smrtis imply the experience of happiness in enstasis by a mind that is free of mental

activities or is subtle because it has a remnant of a mere residual impression

(samskāra).

53. The "relish" in this passage is the recollection with distinctions of a person

who has come out (of enstasis) thinking: "I have experienced this great happiness of

enstasis"-this is what the teacher (Gaudapāda) prohibited. 54. To make plain his

intention, he said: "One should be unattached by means of wisdom (prajña)."

[3.10.41; GK 3.45] 55. "Wisdom" (pra-jña) is heightened (pra-krstam) cognition

(jñāna) that has distinctions. One should abandon attachment to this. Alternatively,

wisdom is the resolute intellect mentioned above. [3.6.28; BhG 6.25] By means of

that (intellect), one should avoid the attachment constituted by such things as relishing

happiness and describing it.

56. If the mind that is immersed during the enstasis in bliss of Brahman should

"move out" [3.10.41; GK 3.45] at some time, (a) either in order to relish happiness, or

(b) because of a disturbance such as cold, wind, or mosquitoes. Then he should

reunite the mind that moves out with the Brahman again and again so as to make it

motionless. The only means to accomplish this is the effort of suppression.

57. Unification itself is further explained by the verse "When the mind does not

dissolve." [3.10.42; GK 3.46] 58. The two pāda-s of the verse "when it is

unwavering and without a reflection of worldly objects," [3.10.42; GK 3.46] prohibit

both taint and relishing in bliss. A mind free from dissolution, distraction, and taint

becomes established in Brahman uninterruptedly. 59. With reference to this same

thing, it is said in Kathavallī:

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When the five senses are settled, together with the mind, and the intellect shall not stir, that they say is the highest state. [KU 6.10]

60. The wise regard that, which is the steady control of the senses, as yoga. Then one becomes alert, for yoga is both creation and dissolution. [KU 6.11]

3.11 The Practice of Yoga

1. Yoga neglected makes the operations of the senses become powerful. But properly

performed, it is the cause of their dissolution (laya). 2. It is for this reason that

Patañjali gives a sūtra about the nature of yoga as:

Yoga is the suppression of mental activity. [YS 1.2]

3. In order to counter the doubt that it is impossible to suppress these mental

activities because they are endless, Patañjali gives a sūtra on their extent:

There are five types of activities, and they are afflicted or unafflicted. [YS 1.5]

4. The "afflicted" are the Demonic activities which consist in afflictions such as

attachment and aversion. The "unafflicted" are Divine activities, which are free from

attachment and the like. Although the afflicted and unafflicted are included in the five

types, nevertheless the unafflicted are also mentioned along with these in order to

avoid the foolish idea that only the afflicted should be suppressed.

5. Patañjali gives six sūtras to make the activities clear by their names and

definitions:

They are valid means of knowledge, misapprehension, making distinctions, sleep, and memory. [YS 1.6]

6. The valid means of knowledge are direct perception, inference, and authoritative testimony. [YS 1.7]

1.8] 7. Misapprehension is false cognition based on an unreal form of that. [YS

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8. Making distinctions results from verbal knowledge and is without any real substance. [YS 1.9]

[YS 1.10] 9. Sleep is the mental activity that rests on the basis (pratyaya)34 of absence.

10. Memory is not losing an object that has been experienced. [YS 1.11]

11. When in the presence of the covering power of darkness, one perceives the

absence of an object, that darkness is "the basis of absence." The mental activity that

has the quality of darkness as its object is called "sleep." "Not losing an object that

has been experienced" refers to recollection produced by an experience of it. 12.

Patañjali gives a sūtra on the means of suppressing the five types of activities:

Suppression of these is by means of practice and detachment. [YS 1.12]

13. Just as after controlling the flow of a river with a swift current by building a

dam, another flow is created branching off toward a field by digging a canal, so also

controlling the flow that consists of objects in the river of the mind by means of

detachment (the dam), a calm flow is brought about by means of the practice of

enstasis (the canal).

14. [Objection] "Practice" defined as repetition is possible in the case of repeating

mantras and meditating on God, because these consist of activity. What sort of

practice of enstasis consists of the ceasing of all actions?

15. [Reply] In order to remove this doubt, Patañjali gives the sūtra:

Practice is the effort to be steady in that (state of suppression). [YS 1.13]

16. "Steady" refers to motionlessness, i.e., suppression. "Effort" refers to mental

exertion. "I will control by all means the mind naturally habituated to flow out," such

an exertion when repeated is called "practice."

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17. [Objection] How can this practice that has operated only now (in this life),

which is unconfirmed in itself, overpower the latent tendencies of coming out (of

enstasis) that have operated without beginning?

18. [Reply] To answer this doubt, Patañjali gives the sūtra:

But this is firmly established when attended to for a long time, uninterruptedly, and with care. [YS 1.14]

19. For people repeat the saying of the fool: "There are only four extant Vedas. Five

days have gone by since the youngster went to study them. Even today he has not

returned." The yogin would be just like this, if he would want to perfect yoga in a

matter of days or months. Therefore, yoga should be attended to for a long time

through years or lifetimes. 20. Similarly, the Smrti declares:

Perfected through many births, he reaches the highest goal. [BhG 6.45]

21. Even being attended to for a long time, if (yoga) is attended to intermittently,

then, when the residual impressions of yoga that are being created are overpowered by

the residual impressions of coming out (after meditation) that follow immediately at

the intermittent times, what is spoken by the Khandana author (Sri Harsa) in this

maxim would come to pass:

22. Running ahead, being robbed from behind like the learning of a man in the habit of forgetting, what would support him? [Khan 1.9.32]

Therefore, (yoga) should be attended to without break.

23. "Care" means to take pains. Attending to (yoga) without taking pains, what

is spoken by Vasistha in this maxim would come to pass:

Even if this mind with latent tendencies destroyed is acting, it is not the actor, like the mind of an absent-minded man listening to a story. [LYV 5.7.13]

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24. Not taking pains means not avoiding dissolution, distraction, taint, and relishing

happiness. Therefore, one should painstakingly attend (to yoga). To be "firmly

established" in enstasis, attended to through the threefold means such as a "long time"

and so on, means that it is immovable by either latent tendencies toward objects of

pleasure or latent tendencies of suffering. 25. And the Lord has described this:

This is the highest attainment, on attaining which he thinks there is nothing higher, and established in which he is unmoved even by severe suffering. [BhG 6.22]

26. Vasistha illustrates that there is nothing higher than the highest attainment

by means of the story of Kaca:3

Once, when waking up from enstasis in solitude with a delighted mind, Kaca said this one thing with a voice choked with emotion: [LYV 4.5.37]

27. "What do I do? Where do I go? What do I take? What do I discard? Everything is filled by the Self as with floodwaters during the great deluge. [LYV 4.5.38]

28. "For, outside and inside the body, below and above, and in all directions, here, there, there is the Self; there is no world made of the non-Self. [LYV 4.5.39]

29. "There is no place I am not present, and nothing not in me; what else can I long for? All is pervaded with and made of consciousness. [LYV 4.5.40]

30. "All the great mountain ranges are foam on the sparkling ocean of the great Brahman. The riches of the world are mirages formed in the great luster of the sun of consciousness." [LYV 4.5.35]

31. Vasistha illustrates that he is "unmoved even by severe suffering" in the

story of the three-year enstasis of Sikhidhvaja:

She (Cudala) saw the king there fixed in enstasis-without-distinctions and

6.9.447] (she) thought: "I shall awaken the king from this supreme state." [LYV

32. So thinking, Cudala made the roar of a lion over and over in front of the king, terrifying the forest-dwellers. [LYV 6.9.448]

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33. Then, O Räma, when he did not move even from the roar she made over and over, she shook him. [LYV 6.9.449]

34. Though shaken and fallen over, this wise one still did not awaken. [LYV 6.9.450]

35. Vasistha also illustrated this in the story of Prahlāda:

Thinking in this way, Prahläda, killer of enemy heroes, attained the enstasis of bliss that is without distinctions. [LYV 5.4.92]

36. He appeared as if a painted in a picture, fixed in enstasis-without- distinctions for five thousand years; he remained with a fat body, focused on one point. [LYV 5.4.93]

37. Then Visnu addressed him thus: "Awaken, O Great Soul," and blew his conch Pañcajanyam filling the many quarters. [LYV 5.4.106]

38. The king of the Danavas was gently, gradually awakened by the great sound produced by the breath of Visnu. [LYV 5.4.107]

39. The enstasis of Vītahavya [LYV 5.9] and others should also be mentioned in this

same vein.

40. Detachment is twofold: lower and higher.36 The lower type is further divided

into four: striving (yatamāna), analysis assessment (vyatireka),37 sensory unification

(ekendriya), and mastery (vaśīkāra). 41. Among these, Patañjali, commenting on

the first three by implication, comments directly on the fourth:

Detachment is the sign of mastery attained by one who is free of craving for objects directly seen or known from tradition. [YS 1.15]

Garlands, sandal paste, women, sons, friends, lands, wealth, and so on are "objects

directly seen." Heaven and so on spoken of in the Vedas are "known from tradition."

42. Even when there is craving for both types of objects, there exist the three

types of detachment, beginning with striving, on the basis of the gradation of

discernment. (a) Striving is the endeavor "I shall learn from teachers and Sāstras what

is substantial in this world and what is not." (b) When by the exercise of discernment

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one distinguishes that among the faults that were previously present in one's mind,

this much has ripened and this much is still left over, that is analysis assessment. (c)

When one abandons the inclination to objects directly seen or known from tradition by

realizing the nature of suffering of that activity, and is made to remain free from

craving with merely a longing in his mind, that is sensory unification. (d) Mastery is

absence of craving. This lower type of detachment is the limb to enstasis-with-

conceptualization, insofar as it promotes the eightfold limbs of yoga. However, it is

the external limb of enstasis-without-conceptualization. 43. Of these, Patañjali gives

a sūtra on the higher detachment, which is an internal limb (to enstasis-without-

conceptualization):

The higher form of detachment is the freedom from craving for qualities, owing to the knowledge of Spirit (purusa). [YS 1.16]

44. Through the proficiency in enstasis-with-conceptualization there arises

knowledge, i.e., direct realization of the Spirit that is detached from the Ultimate Cause

of the material universe (pradhana)38 consisting in the three qualities. The "freedom

from craving" toward the operation of all the three qualities, as a result of that direct

realization, is the "higher form of detachment."

45. Patañjali gives a sūtra on the gradations of rapidity of enstasis based on the

gradations of this detachment:

(Attainment of enstasis) is close for those with intense urgency. [YS 1.21]

"Urgency" is detachment. Depending on the divisions of that (detachment), yogins

are threefold: those with mild urgency, moderate urgency, and sharp urgency.

"Close" means enstasis is attained in a very short time. 46. Patañjali gives a sūtra on

the different degrees of enstasis among only those with intense urgency:

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[YS 1.22] There is even a further distinction because it is mild, moderate, and excessive.

47. That is, (a yogin) is mildly intense, moderately intense, or excessively intense.

Even among these, one should understand that the subsequent ones bring mastery

quicker. The highest are those who are excessively urgent, such as Janaka, Prahlāda,

and others, because they achieve firm enstasis after thinking only for a while. The

lowest are those who have mild urgency such as Uddālaka and others, because they

achieve enstasis after long efforts. Others should also be likewise ascertained as is

proper.

48. In this way, then, when one with excessive urgency has reached enstasis-

without-conceptualization that is firmly established, the mind, being unable to be

awakened (vyutthātum aśaktam) again, is eliminated. And when the eradication of

latent tendencies has been safeguarded through the elimination of the mind, liberation-

in-life becomes firmly established.

3.12 Elimination of the Mind with Form

1. One should not suppose that elimination of the mind brings bodiless-liberation and

not liberation-in-life because this was settled by the dialogue (between Vasistha and

Rāma):

Do tell, O Muni, when the nature of the mind disappears because of the rise of Śrī Rāma:

discernment, where do the qualities of yogins such as friendliness arise? [LYV 5.10.15]

The elimination of the mind is twofold: that with form and the formless. That 2. Vasistha:

with form is found in liberation-in-life; the formless is found in bodiless- liberation. [LYV 5.10.16]

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3. Many think: "I have all the natural qualities." They (the wise) know the mind is placed to be resting on pleasure, suffering, and so on.39 [LYV 5.10.18ab, 19ab]

4. I have described the existence of the mind, O descendent of the Raghus; now, best of the questioners, hear of its elimination. [LYV 5.10.20]

5. That intelligent man, whom the states of pleasure and suffering do not carry away from balance, like exhalation (does not carry away) the Lord of mountains (the Himalaya), the wise know his mind is dead. [LYV 5.10.21]

6. One whom misfortune, misery, exertion, excitement, dullness, and rejoicing do not lead to change, the wise know his mind is dead. [LYV 5.10.22]

7. For when the mind, a store of expectations, is destroyed, O Raghava, then goodness arises filled with the qualities such as friendliness. That is the mind

24ab-cd] of the one liberated-in-life who is freed from further births. [LYV 5.10.23ab,

8. This extinguishing of mind with form pertains in one liberated-in-life. [LYV 5.10.25ab]

9. But the formless extinguished mind that I mentioned, O descendent of Raghus, consisting without any parts, this exists only in bodiless-liberation. [LYV 5.10.26]

10. Though it supports all the best qualities, goodness is dissolved in the pure, most purifying state of bodiless-liberation. [LYV 5.10.27]

11. That (state) in which suffering has become still, which consists in consciousness, uniform, with deep bliss, in which the qualities of energy and darkness have disappeared; the great ones whose bodies are all-pervasive like the sky and incorporeal, with all traces of the mind drained away, stay in this state. [LYV 5.10.32]

12. Therefore, the means to liberation-in-life is the elimination of the mind with

the residue of form.

13. So ends the chapter defining the elimination of the mind as the means to

liberation-in-life.

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Notes

1 Cf. KU 6.1 and BhG 15.1 ff. on the Aśvattha tree.

2 Cf. YS 1.32. "To prevent them (the obstacles) one should practice the single truth" (tat pratişedhārtham ekatattvābhyāsaḥ). ekatattvā can also be taken as "a single object," an object on which the yogin chooses to meditate in order to focus the mind in one-pointedness.

3 See above, 2.3.6-7; Chapter 2, n. 13; and LYV 3.2.110.

4 These verses do not appear in the LYV text, and they may be Vidyaranya's own interpolation following the verse form. See above, Introduction 2.4, p. 55.

5 Breath-control is part of the methods Vidyaranya contrasts to the forceful hatha-yoga, yet it amounts to a radical intervention to force the mind away from sense objects and latent tendencies when the other means are not adequate. See above, Introduction 2.4, p. 56.

6 See above, Chapter 2, n. 15.

7 Cf. YS 1.41-46 and 3.42. "Meditative identification with" translates a term in Patañjali's sūtra (samāpatti) that refers to the technical process of the state of enstasis-with-conceptualization (samprajñātasamādhi). It is the merging of the knowing mind (citta) with the object known, which in the sūtra is the god Ananta also known as the serpent Sesa who holds up the world. By meditatively identifying with Sesa, the meditator/yogin can support the posture with stability. YS 1.41 describes the three components of enstasis-with-conceptualization as grasper, thing to be grasped, and grasping (grahītr, grāhya, grahana), where the mind, like a crystal, takes on the color of an object near it. The technical process involves all the three components flowing as one, yet still held conceptually distinct. In the state of "enstasis-without-conceptualization" (asamprajñātasamādhi) or "enstasis-without- distinctions" (nirvikalpasamādhi) the three components of cognitive experience do not arise. For a full analysis of YS 1.41 ff., see Ian Whicher The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998) pp. 216-257.

8 For Patāñjali āsana is only a sitting posture. The other postures that are part of hatha-yoga are not treated in the YS. Cf. Also SvU 2.8.

9 adrsta: unseen subtlety. This notion seems very close to apūrva, discussed above, Chapter 2, n. 23.

10 See above, Introduction 2.4, p. 56, and Introduction 2, n.24.

11 The seven vyährti, "sounds, exclamations," are bhūh, bhuvah, svaḥ, mahaḥ, janah, tapah, and satyam. The gāyatrī is: tat sarvitrvareņyam bhargo devasya dhīmati | dhiyo yo nah pracodayāt // [RV 3.62.10] The śiras, "head of gāyatrī," is a prose formula: āpo jyotī raso 'mrtam brahma bhūr bhuvah svarom. The oldest textual version of this may be TA 10.27.1. The mantras are recited together three times beginning with the vyahrti, then gayatri, and then siras: once during an inhalation through the left nostril, once silently during a retention, and once during an exhalation through the right nostril. The entire recitation is: om bhuh, om bhuvah, om svah, om mahah, om janah, om tapah, om satyam, om tat savatr varenyam bhargo devasya dhīmati, dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt, om āpo jyotī raso 'mrtam brahma bhūr bhuvaḥ svar om. Recitation of this one formula is thought to bring the merit of reciting the entire Veda, and with breath-control creates ascetic heat. Cf. MDh 2.76; MDh 6.81.

12 "Methods" here again translates yukti; however, it refers to specific yogic techniques other than the methods discussed above in 3.2.3-4. It is unclear to me what "moving Mount Meru in the form of the head" is. "Moving the uvula" may refer to the khecarīmudrā or the nabhomudra. Each of these practices is process where the frenum joining the tongue to the lower jaw is cut, the tongue is lengthened in order

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to enable this long tongue to reach up into the upper palate, and the gaze is then fixed upward to the space between the eyebrows. It is believed this stops various diseases by containing the life-breath and aids the yogin's further perfecting. Only the AnSS edition does not have "in the heart" (hrdaye), but I have retained it, for it is in my best mss. It is unclear what this adds to "meditating on the light in the navel plexus." It is also not clear to which of the psychoactive drugs available in ancient and medieval India Vidyāranya refers, or his attitude about them, other than that they "give forgetfulness."

13 See above, Chapter 3, n. 7.

14 pratyaya: cognition. Although in YS 1.18 [3.6.26] I have translated pratyaya as "basis," here it is "cognition." Cognition of a "stilled" object might also mean it is in the past, and an "arisen" object is in the present. For a yogin in concentration the object of cognition is continuous without reference to past and present, and thus the two types of cognition are "alike." The object of such concentration can be anything. YS 1.39, yathavhimatadhyanad vā, recommends choosing an object the meditator likes. Once the mind becomes capable of being steady on a certain object, it can be steady on other objects also, so it is best for one to start with an object one likes in order to get accustomed to concentration. In the state of "one-pointedness," the mind is aware of what it thought at the beginning as at the end of the meditation and, for the mind in this state, time has stopped. Therefore, if the present cognition seizes the same object that the past cognition does, then we can say that both of these cognitions are alike.

15 See above, Chapter 2, n. 47. According to the Nyaya view, the mind can grasp only one object at a time, sequentially, not simultaneously. The mind quickly shifts from one aspect of the senses to another at a time, then gradually constructs a full picture.

16 vilāpya vikrtim krtsnām sambhavavyatyakramāt -: After causing the dissolution of the entire complex of effects gradually in the reverse order of its creation. This refers to the overturning of the superimposition of the unreal on the real. The method differs from subject to subject, but the basic model in earliest literature may be ādeśa in such passages as ChU 6.1; ChU 3.18.1, and BāU 2.3.6. Olivelle (1996) has translated this term as the "rule of substitution" drawing on the grammatical notion. See his BaU 2.3.6n. In ChU 6.1, Aruni first gives his son Svetaketu the analogy of the pot (effect) and clay (material cause). Looking at a pot, one is seeing it as a name, while the reality is that one is looking at clay. In this way insight moves from gross to subtle and subtler by seeing through the names and concepts that have been superimposed when perceiving a thing. The later standard Advaita terms for this process are apavāda or adhyāsa, sometimes translated as "de-superimposition." This term apavāda derives from the grammatical rule of exceptions to the general rule. See above, Chapter 2, n. 44.

17 Cf. ChU 7.23.1.

18 See above, Introduction 2.4, pp. 58-59

19 See above, 2.2.4-5.

20 samkalpa: imagination. The term samkalpa may also be translated as "thought," "intention," or "conceptualization" in the following discussion. The basic understanding is that temptation for objects of pleasure has its roots in thinking they are good. Once convinced they are bad, one tends to give them up

21 The eight superhuman powers are animan, ability to become as small as an atom; laghiman, lightness; mahiman, to become big; prāpti, to go anywhere at will or get whatever is desired; prākāniya, omnipresences; īśitva, the power to control everything; vaśitva, self-control; kāmāvasāvitva, to stay wherever one pleases. Some lists add garima, to become heavy. Other additional powers are sarvajña, omniscience; duraśravanam, tele-hearing; parakayapraveśanam, entering any body; vaksiddhi, whatever one says becomes reality; kaplavrksatvam, whatever one wishes becomes true; srastum samhartum īśatā, power to create and destroy; and amaratvam savangam, immortality all over the body. Cf. YSBh 3.45.

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22 Cf. Pañcatantra Mitrabheda, Kathā 8, and Hitopadeśa, Suhrdabheda, Kathā 9.

23 The Indian time increment here is the muhūrta, which is 48 minutes, and the ghatikā, which is 24 minutes. For the sake of convention in English, I translate them as hour and half hour.

24 See above, Introduction 2.4, p. 60, and Introduction 2, n.31.

25 See above, Chapter 1, n. 38.

26 Patañjali, the author to the YS, is traditionally considered to be an incarnation of Lord Sesa. Lord Sesa also was incarnated as Caraka, the author of Carakasamhita, which deals with therapy for the body, and Patañjali, the author of the grammatical text Mahābhāsya, which is therapy for speech.

27 That is, consciousness reflected appears to be dirty because the mind, analogous to a mirror, is dirty. Yoga is thus analogous to cleaning a mirror, blocking in the mind-mirror the process of generation of the impure mental activities consisting in rajas and tamas. Ian Whicher (1998) p. 169, terms this 'sattvification."

28 My collated JMV mss. and the Adyar and AnSS editions omit the final two compounds in the received text of the sūtra 3.35: svārthasamyamāt purușajñānam, "conscious identification (samyama) on that which exists for itself leads to knowledge of Spirit." It is not clear to me if this omission was Vidyaranya's intention, but the ms. evidence demands that the omission remain.

29 This process of discernment perhaps refers to the Sankhya path of knowledge. See also my discussion in the Introduction 2, n.32.

30 "They" refers to concentration, meditation, and enstasis, also known by the collective term samyama. I translated this term above in n. 28 as "conscious identification." Samyama seems to be a state in which the yogin proficient at concentration, meditation, and enstasis can consciously reenter existence in the body-mind complex without the constraints of ordinary existence, and experience vastly heightened knowledge and powers.

31 For the different forms of krccha (painful vow) and cāndrayāna (lunar fast), see MDh 11.212-220. See also Olivelle (1986) p. 130, n. 42.

32 See above, Introduction 2.1, p. 33. See also Fort (1990).

33 Ibid.

34 pratyaya: basis. Here basis means "cause," as above in YS 1.18 [3.6.26]. It is unclear to me whether Vidyāranya may take the term both ways. See also above, Chapter 3, n. 14.

35 The following is a commentary on BhG 6.22.

36 Detachment was earlier defined as "sharp" and "sharper," in 1.0.4.

37 vyatireka: analysis assessment. This term might also be translated as "taking stock." The root vy-ati Vric literally means "remaining beyond" or "excess," and therefore its derivative here is "assessing what is left over." See above, 2.2, where I translate it in its logical discursive usage as "negative statement" of the converse.

38 pradhana: Ultimate Cause of the material universe. It is literally the "Principle." This term from Samkhya is synonymous with prakrti.

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39 Unclear. 3.12.3 ab corresponds to YV 5.90.7ab and LYV 5.10.18ab. But 3.12.3cd is a combination of words in YV 5.90.6ab, 8ab, 9ab, and LYV 5.10.19ab, 19cd, and 22cd.

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Chapter Four

The Purpose in Attaining One's True Nature

4.1 Safeguarding of Knowledge

1. We have discussed the answers to these three questions: What is liberation-in-life?

What authority is there for it? How is it attained? Now we shall set forth the answer

to a fourth question: What is the purpose in attaining it? There are five purposes: the

safeguarding of knowledge, austerity, the absence of opposition, the elimination of

suffering, and the manifestation of bliss.

2. [Objection] In the case of the knowledge of reality arisen through the

authoritative means, what obstacle could possibly be there to require its safeguarding?

3. [Reply] When the mind is not still, doubt and misapprehension may follow.

For instance, Viśvāmitra described the doubt of Raghava, who was a knower of

truth prior to his achieving the stillness of mind:

O Raghava, best of the knowers, there is nothing else for you to know. You know everything with your own subtle intellect. [LYV 1.3.17]

4. Although your mind, which is like that of Suka, son of Lord Vyasa, has known what is to be known, it needs here only stillness. [LYV 1.3.18]

5. Suka, on the other hand, first having realized the truth by himself, entertained

doubts. So he asked his father. When his father also taught the very same, he

entertained doubts even about that. So he went to Janaka. When Janaka also taught

the very same, Suka said to him:

6. I realized this myself earlier through discernment. My father when asked taught just the same thing. [LYV 1.3.43]

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7. You have also described the meaning of the same thing, O best of knowers of the Word. And just this is the meaning of the statements we learn in the Sāstras. [LYV 1.3.44]

8. The certainty is that as this miserable, worthless world arises from one's

[LYV 1.3.45] own imagination, it is destroyed by the destruction of one's own imagination.

9. Therefore, what is this, Great Arm? Tell me the unchanging truth. Because of you the world put in error by the mind attains stillness. [LYV 1.3.46]

10. Janaka replied:

O sage, there is no other certainty whatsoever beyond what you yourself have realized, and again heard from your teacher. [LYV 1.3.47]

11. In this world there is one Person (pumān), who is unbroken pure consciousness, and no other. Bondage is from the compulsion of one's own mental fabrication. Without fabrication, one is freed. [LYV 1.3.48]

12. O sage, you have clearly realized what is to be known. The indifference to enjoyments or to the visible totality has been born here in your great Self. [LYV 1.3.49]

13. With a mind that is fulfilled you have attained all that is to be attained. O Brahman, you are not striving after the seen; you are freed! Let go of confusion! [LYV 1.3.50]

14. Thus he was taught by the great soul Janaka. Suka let go silently into the highest reality abiding in itself. [LYV 1.3.51]

15. With his sorrow, fear, and weariness gone, without desire, and his doubts cut off, he climbed to the summit of Meru, favorable for the purpose of enstasis. [LYV 1.3.52]

16. After remaining there for ten thousand years in enstasis without concepts, he came to an end in the Self like a lamp without oil. [LYV 1.3.53]

17. Therefore even when the truth has been realized, doubt arises for one who

lacks stillness, as it did for Suka and Raghava. It is an obstacle to liberation just like

not knowing. 18. For this reason the Lord said:

One given to ignorance and unbelief, who has a doubting nature, perishes. Neither this world, the world beyond, nor bliss is for one who has a doubting nature. [BhG 4.40]

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19. "Unbelief" is misapprehension; this will be explained later on. Ignorance and

misapprehension oppose only liberation. But doubt opposes both enjoyment and

liberation because it swings between two mutually opposed extremes. When there is

action for the sake of pleasure in samsāric existence, the intellect on the path to

liberation opposes it. When there is activity on the path to liberation, the intellect in

samsāric existence obstructs it. Therefore since there is no happiness whatsoever for

one who has a doubting nature, one desirous of liberation should completely cut off

doubt. 20. For this reason the Sruti declares:

(The knot of the heart is split,) all doubts are cut off, (and his actions perish when that, with reference to which the highest is the lower, is seen.) [MuņU 2.2.81

21. The story of Nidagha is also an illustration of misapprehension. Rbhu went

to Nidägha's house out of deepest compassion and left after awakening him in various

ways. Even when awakened, Nidägha lacked belief in the reality of what had been

taught. Arriving at the misapprehension that ritual actions alone are the means to the

highest aim of human existence, he continued as before to perform ritual actions. And

out of pity the teacher went back, fearing that the student would lose the cause of the

highest aim, and awakened him. Even then he did not abandon his misapprehension.

But by the third awakening he got rid of the misapprehension and attained stillness.

[ViP 2.15-16] Doubt and misapprehension, which consist in not understanding

(asambhāvanā) and in erroneous understanding (viparītabhāvanā), obstruct the fruit of

the knowledge of truth. 22. This has been declared by Parāśara:

As a fire, though burning brightly, would be unable to burn fuel if obstructed by jewels, mantras, or herbs,

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23. Likewise, the fire of knowledge, though kindled and burning brightly, would be unable to burn sin if obstructed. [PāU 14.4]

24. Erroneous understanding as well as not understanding, O Suka, make an obstruction to only the knowledge of truth and no other. [PāU 14.5]

25. Therefore, for one whose mind is not still, because doubt and misapprehension are

possible, safeguarding the knowledge of truth from the obstacle characterized by the

obstruction of the fruit becomes necessary. But for one whose mind has been stilled

when by elimination of the mind even the world itself has been dissolved, what

possibility is there for doubt or misapprehension?

26. Even the bodily functions of a knower of Brahman who is free of the

phenomenal appearance of the world take place without any effort on his own part by

means of the life-breath inspired by the Great Lord. 27. Because of this, the Vedic

tradition of the Chandogya gives:

Not remembering this body that is near people, as a draught animal yoked to a cart, just so is the life-breath yoked to this body. [ChU 8.12.3]

28. The knower of Brahman functions not remembering this body "near people," i.e.,

existing in the presence of people. Only the people standing nearby see the body of

the knower of truth. But he himself does not remember "This is my body," because

his mind has been eliminated. "Draught animal" refers to a horse, bullock, and the

like, trained and fit to be harnessed to a vehicle such as a chariot or cart. Just as the

animal, set on the course of the road by the charioteer, leads the cart or chariot and the

like to the village up ahead all by itself with no need for the charioteer's repeated

effort, so also this life-breath yoked to this body by the Great Lord performs its

function with or without of the effort of the individual self (jīva). 29. Also in the

Bhagavata Purāņa it is declared:

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The accomplished person does not see the perishable body, whether it stays in place or moves about, because he has mastered his nature, just as one blind with drunkenness, possessed by chance, then taken by the force of fate, does not see whether his clothes are properly held up. [BhP 11.13.36]

30. Vasistha also says:

Good people, awakened by those around them, follow the proper conduct derived in due course from previous behavior unaffected, like someone awakened from sleep. [LYV 1.3.127]

31. [Objection] The two statements that "the accomplished person does not see"

and "(good people) follow the proper conduct" are mutually contradictory.

32. [Reply] Not so, because it is possible that they refer to two different

situations based on the relative degree of stillness. 33. Just this relative degree is

referred to in the Sruti:

One who plays in the Self, who delights in the Self, one who is active, this one is the best of the knowers of Brahman. [MuņU 3.1.4]

34. In this passage, four types appear. The first is the knower of Brahman, the

second is the higher knower of Brahman, the third is the next higher knower of

Brahman, and the fourth is the highest knower of Brahman. This is how we should

understand them: beginning with the fourth of the seven stages of yoga, they occupy

in due order the final four (stages of yoga). 35. Vasistha has described these

(seven) stages:

The first stage of knowledge is called desire for the good, the second is reflection, the third is mental refinement. [LYV 3.9.113]

36. The fourth is attaining goodness (sattva), and the next is called nonattachment. The sixth stage is nonawareness of objects; the seventh is known as abiding in the Fourth state (turya). [LYV 3.9.114]

37. "Why do I remain so stupid? I shall think with help of Sastra and wise men" is the desire with detachment that the wise call "desire for the good." [LYV 3.9.116]

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38. The activity of investigation of the good preceded by (studying) śāstras, association with good people, and detachment-this is called reflection. [LYV 3.9.117]

39. When the nonattachment to sense objects by means of desire for the good and investigation becomes refined, it is called mental refinement. [LYV 3.9.118]

40. When the mind by force of desisting from (perception of) objects through the practice of these three stages is established in the essence of pure goodness, it is described as attaining goodness. [LYV 3.9.119]

41. But that which has as its fruit the disconnection because of the practice of these four stages and which has the wonder of increasing goodness, that is called by the name nonattachment. [LYV 3.9.120]

42. By practicing the five stages, because he is unaware of internal or external objects as a result of the intense delight in the Self, [LYV 3.9.121]

43. He is awakened only through the persistent efforts of others. This is the sixth and named nonawareness of objects. [LYV 3.9.122]

44. Total absorption in his own being resulting from the long practice of the six stages and the nonperception of separateness, is to be known as the state of attaining the Fourth (turya). [LYV 3.9.123]

45. In this passage, the (first) triad of stages [4.1.35; LYV 3.9.113] is only a

means for the knowledge of Brahman but is not included in the highest kind of

knowledge. This is because in the three stages the perception that the distinctions are

real is not removed. For this reason they are designated "waking." 46. This has been

stated:

But this triad of stages, O Rama, is the state called "waking." In waking this world is seen as it is through the perception of distinctions. [LYV 6.15.62]

47. In the fourth stage, after determining the truly nondual nature of Brahman, which

is the material cause of the entire world, the yogin understands in this the falsehood of

the name and form (namarupa)1 that are expressed by the word "world" and are

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superimposed on Brahman. For the one desirous of liberation, it is this that is the

state of dreaming relative to the waking mentioned earlier. 48. This has been stated:

When the nondual has attained stability and the dual has become calm, those

6.15.70] who have attained the fourth see the world as if it were a dream. [LYV

49. He vanishes like a bit of cloud in autumn that has dispersed. The one who

6.15.71] abides as only the remnant of the pure existent has attained the fourth. [LYV

It is this yogin who has achieved the fourth stage who is called the "knower of

Brahman."

50. The three stages beginning with the fifth are the subdivisions of liberation-in-

life. And these stages are brought about by relative degrees of stillness produced by

the practice of enstasis-without-distinctions (nirvikalpasamādhi). In the fifth stage

(the yogin) comes out on his own from enstasis-without-distinctions. It is this yogin

who is the higher knower of Brahman. In the sixth stage he comes out (from

enstasis) when aroused by people around him. It is he who is called the next higher

knower of Brahman. These two stages, then, are referred to as deep sleep and very

deep sleep. 51. This has been declared thus:

Having attained the fifth stage named the deep sleeping state, he stays only in the nondual, with all his various components completely at rest. [LYV 6.15.73]

52. By always facing inward, even when occupied in outward activity, by always being completely still, he seems as if he is sleepy. [LYV 6.15.75]

53. Practicing in this stage, one without latent tendencies gradually falls into the sixth stage known as very deep sleep, [LYV 6.15.76]

54. Wherein there is no existent nor nonexistent, no egoism nor even nonegoism, free of unity and duality, he remains in alone with mentation eliminated. [LYV 6.15.77]

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55. Empty inside and empty outside, like the empty pot in space. Full inside and full outside, like the full pot in the ocean. [LYV 6.15.79]

56. The mind that has achieved the deep enstasis-without-distinctions, and which

has only remnants of residual impressions, is empty inside and outside like a pot

standing in space, because it is incapable of either fantasizing or perceiving external

objects. It is immersed in Brahman, which is the unified essence of self-luminous

existence, consciousness, and bliss, and because it sees Brahman outside everywhere,

it is full inside and outside like a pot full of water set in the middle of the ocean.

57. For the yogin who has achieved the seventh stage called the Fourth state

(turya), no coming out (from enstasis) is possible at all, (prompted) either by oneself

or by another. Statements in the Bhagavata Purāna such as "the perishable body,

whether it stays in place or moves about," [4.1.29; BhP 11.13.36] have been used

with reference to just such a person. The statements of the Yogaśāstras explaining

enstasis-without-conceptualization amount to (paryavasitāni) just this. It is such a

yogin who is described in Sruti mentioned earlier as "the highest knower of

Brahman."2 Therefore in this way there is no contradiction, because the two

statements "awakened by those around them" [4.1.30; LYV 1.3.127] and "the

accomplished person does not see" [4.1.29; BhP 11.13.36] refer to these two stages,

respectively.

58. When liberation-in-life consisting in the three stages starting with the fifth is

being brought about, the knowledge of truth that has arisen is safeguarded from

hindrance because there is no occasion for doubt and misapprehension since there is

no appearance of duality. This safeguarding of knowledge is the first purpose of

liberation-in-life.

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4.2 Austerity

1. The second purpose is austerity. We should consider the stages of yoga to be

austerity insofar as they are the means of the attainment of the state of godliness and

the like. We can gather that it is the means of that godliness from the dialogues

between Arjuna and the Lord, and between Śrī Rāma and Vasiștha.

2. Arjuna said: What path, O Krishna, does a man take who is not an ascetic, possessing faith, whose mind has wandered away from yoga without achieving perfection in yoga? [BhG 6.37]

3. Would he not fall in both, perish like a dispersed cloud without support, O Great Arm, bewildered about the path of Brahman? [BhG 6.38]

4. The Lord said: Having reached the worlds of those who do good, and dwelt there infinitely long, the man fallen from yoga is born in the home of a pure and fortunate people. [BhG 6.41]

5. Or else, he is born in the very family of wise yogins. Such a birth is indeed most difficult to obtain in this world. [BhG 6.42]

6. There he obtains the connection with the intellect of the previous body and strives again then for perfection, O son of Kurus. [BhG 6.43]

7. Śrī Rāma said: What sort of condition, O Lord, is there for one who ascends to the first, second, or third stage of yoga and then dies? [LYV 6.15.53]

8. Vasistha said: For one embodied whose life expires during a stage of yoga, the previous sins are destroyed according to the particular stage. [LYV 6.15.57]

9. Then he delights in celestial cars and in cities of the world-protectors and in the breezy arbors of Meru with lovely mistresses. [LYV 6.15.58]

10. Then when the collection of good and bad previous deeds is completely exhausted by experience, the yogins are born in the world [LYV 6.15.59] in a safe house of pure, distinguished, virtuous, and good people. [LYV 6.15.60]

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11. Then after he has touched the three stages of yoga that he had practiced in his previous meditations (prāgbhāvanā), the higher stages sequentially fall upon the wise man in abundance. [LYV 6.15.61]

12. [Objection] Let us grant that the stages of yoga are thus the means of attaining

the world of the gods. Yet how do they constitute the means of attaining austerity?

13. [Reply] We say because it is so stated in the Sruti. 14. Thus the Vedic

tradition of the Taittirīya gives the statement:

In the beginning the gods attained divinity through austerity; the rsis discovered heaven by austerity. [TB 3.12.3]

14. While the three stages preceding the knowledge of truth have the nature of

austerity, all the more in the three stages beginning with the fifth subsequent to

knowledge of truth, stages that consist in enstasis-without-distinctions, have the

nature of austerity. 15. For this reason the Smrti declares:

The highest austerity is the one-pointedness of the mind and senses. That is

12.242.4] superior to all virtues (dharma-s); it is called the highest virtue. [MBh

16. Even if there is no other birth attained through austerity according to this doctrine,

nevertheless this is called austerity for the "benefit of the world." 17. For this reason

the Lord said:

You also must act considering only the benefit of the world. [BhG 3.20]

18. The people who are to be benefited are threefold: pupils, devotees, and

outsiders. Among these, when the pupil through the intensity of his belief in the

authority of the inward-facing yogin teacher has attained the highest confidence in the

truth taught by him, he quickly becomes mentally still. 19. For this reason the śruti

declares:

In someone who has the highest faith in God, has faith in his teacher as in God, these points taught by the noble shine forth. [ŚvU 6.23]

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20. And the Śmrti declares:

With senses controlled, being devoted, a faithful one obtains knowledge. Having obtained knowledge, he soon reaches the highest stillness. [BhG 4.39]

21. The devotee attending on the yogin through such things as giving food and

building a place to live acquires that person's austerity for himself. 22. Similarly the

Śruti declares:

His sons take possession of the inheritance, his friends take his good deeds, and his enemies his sins. [Cf. BSBh 3.3.26 and 4.1.16]

23. The outsider (tatastha) is of two kinds: the believer (āstika) and the

nonbeliever (nāstika). Among these, the believer, seeing the yogin walking on the

good path, also proceeds along the good path himself. 24. Similarly the Smrti

declares:

Whatever the best person does, just that the other people do. The standard that he sets, the world follows it. [BhG 3.21]

Even the nonbeliever, seen by the yogin, is released from sins. 25. This has been

stated:

When a man's intellect is pervaded by experience and established in reality, everyone seen by him is released from all sins. [SūS 2.20.44]

26. Because of wishing to state in this way that a yogin is beneficial to all beings, he

continues:

When a man's mind has dissolved into this highest Brahman, which is the boundless ocean of consciousness and bliss, his family becomes purified, his mother attains her purpose, and the earth becomes sanctified. [SūS 2.20.45]

27. Not only do the yogin's practices prescribed by the Sastra constitute austerity,

but also all his ordinary activities. Similarly a tradition is given among the members

of the Taittiriya branch of the Veda. They give a tradition on the greatness of the

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knower in a chapter of the Veda. 28. In the early section of this chapter, the

components of the yogin are equated with materials of the components of the sacrifice.

In the case of the sacrifice of the man who knows thus, his self is the sacrificer, his faith is the wife, his body is the sacred fuel, his chest is the sacrificial altar, his hairs are the bed of kuśa grass, the broom is his tuft of hair, his heart is the sacrificial post, his desire is the ghee, his anger is the sacrificial animal, his austerity is the fire, his control of the mind is the priest who slays the animal, (alms-giving is) the sacrificial fee, his speech is the Hotr priest, his breath is the Udgatr priest, his eyesight is the Advaryu priest, his mind is the Brahma priest, his hearing is the Agnīdh priest. [MNU 80]

29. Here one should supply a word: "(alms-giving is) the sacrificial fee," because it is

mentioned by the Chandogya:

Austerity, alms-giving, integrity, nonviolence, and truthfulness, these are his sacrificial fee. [ChU 3.17.4]

30. In the middle of the mentioned chapter the practice of the yogin and the time

periods of his life are equated with the component parts of the Jyotistoma sacrifice;

and in the later section with the component activities of all sacrifices:

As long as he continues to live, that is the religious consecration (dīksā);3 what he eats that is the oblation; what he drinks, that is his drinking soma; what he delights in, that is the upasada-homa;4 when he moves about, sits, or stands, that is the pravargya-homa;5 his mouth is the āhavanīya fire;6 what he says, that is the oblation; when he knows, that is his performance of sacrifice; whatever he eats in the evening and morning, that is the sacrificial fuel sticks; when he takes his morning, midday, and evening meals, those are the three pressings of soma; his days and nights, they are full and new moon sacrifices; his fortnights and months are the four-month sacrifices; his seasons are the animal sacrifices; his full years (samvatsara) and yearly cycles (parivatsara) are the series of sacrificial days; indeed this is a sacrificial session (satram) at which all his property is given away. His death is the final bath after the sacrifice. [MNU 80]

31. "At which all his property is given away" means "at which all he owns is

given as a sacrificial fee." The word "this" in the passage refers to the yogin's life

beginning with "days and nights" and ending with "yearly cycles" under discussion,

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indicating in one word the totality of time. The meaning is that his life is a sacrificial

session, at which all he owns is given as a sacrificial fee.

32. In the final section the mentioned chapter declares that one who honors a

yogin as the personification of all sacrifices receives the fruit that is characterized by

identity with sun and moon, that is, Brahman as cause and effect,8 and which fruit

consists in gradual liberation.

33. This (life) is indeed the agnihotra9 sacrificial session, ending in old age. When a man who knows this dies during the sun's northward course (toward summer solstice), having attained in the greatness that belongs to the gods alone, he then becomes unified with the sun. One who dies during the southward course, on the other hand, having attained the greatness that belongs to the ancestors alone, attains communion with and residence in the same world as the moon. A Brähmana who is a knower wins the greatness of both the sun and the moon. Therefore he attains the greatness of Brahman, indeed the greatness of Brahman. Thus ends the Upanisad. [MNU 80]

34. "The activities of a yogin who lasts until old age and death have the nature of

rites prescribed in the Veda from the daily fire sacrifice to the year-long sacrificial

session"-one who meditates thus, by means of the intensity of reflection, attains

communion, i.e., identity, with the sun and the moon. Such a man, by means of weak

concentration attains the same world (of the sun and the moon) and having

experienced their power, attains thereafter the greatness of the four-faced Brahma in

the world of truth. There having attained knowledge of truth, he attains thereafter the

greatness of the highest Brahman consisting in truth, knowledge, and bliss. The

words "thus ends the Upanisad" form the conclusion of the book teaching that

knowledge as discussed. In this way, then, is established austerity as the second

purpose of liberation-in-life.

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4.3 Absence of Opposition

1. A common person or person of another faith does not oppose a master-yogin who

is faced inward and does not see outward activities. The absence of opposition is the

third purpose. Opposition is of two kinds: quarreling or censure. Among these, how

can a common person quarrel with a yogin who is free of anger and so on? 2. The

freedom from this (anger) is stated in the Smrti:

One should not return anger for anger, reviled, one should give good wishes. One should patiently endure abuse and show contempt to no one. [MDh 6.48ab.47ab]

3. [Objection] The renunciation-of-the-knower comes before liberation-in-life,

knowledge of truth comes even earlier than that, and renunciation-for-knowledge even

earlier than that. How is it that with reference to the latter, (and) with reference to the

former, the Smrti speaks of virtues (dharma-s) such as freedom from anger and so

on?

4. [Reply] Quite so. For this very reason it is not possible to presume that a

person liberated-in-life would possess anger and the like. When (they do not exist)

even in the lower state of renunciation-for-knowledge, how can they exist in the state

of the knowledge of truth, which is higher than that? And how much the less in the

renunciation-of-the-knower? And how much less in liberation-in-life? Therefore it is

not possible for a common person to have a quarrel with a yogin. One should not

even presume the existence of opposition in the form of censure, because it is not

possible to ascertain that he is worthy of blame. 5. Similarly the Smrti declares:

When no one knows whether he is is good or bad, learned or ignorant, virtuous or vile, he is the true ascetic. [VDh 6.44; NpU p.161]

"Good or bad" refers to high or low birth.

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6. Is the opposition of a person of another faith directed at the doctrine of his

Śastra or the yogin's conduct? With regard to the first, a yogin does not find fault

with doctrines of other Sastras because he complies with Srutis such as:

7. You must know that alone is the Self; discard all other talk. [MunU 2.2.5]

8. (By knowing that very one, a wise Brähmana should create wisdom for himself.) He should not think too much of words, for that tires the voice. [BāU 4.4.21]

9. Nor does he defend the doctrines of his own Sastra before an opponent,

because he is committed to what Srutis such as these say:

One should abandon books completely, as a man wanting grain discards the straw. [AmbU 18]

10. Having known the highest Brahman, he should then throw them (his books) away like a torch (used to light the way). [AmnU 1]

11. When a yogin regards even an opponent as identical with his own Self, then

what question can there be of desiring victory? Persons of all faiths (tairthika-s),

except for the materialists, accept liberation. So they would never oppose the conduct

of the yogin, because even though the teachings in the treatises of liberation of the

Jainas, the Bauddhas, of Vaiśeşika, of Nyāya, the Saivas, the Vaișnavas, the Śaktas,

of Sankhya, of Yoga, and so on are different, they are nevertheless in agreement as to

the eightfold yoga of restraint, discipline, etc.,10 which is the means to liberation.

Therefore the master yogin is approved by all without opposition. 12. With reference

to just this, Vasistha said:

For one for whom this birth is the last, O Best Mind, pure knowledge enters him very quickly, like the bamboo-pearls in the best bamboo.11 [LYV 5.1.9]

13. Nobility, cordiality, friendliness, gentleness, emancipation, and intelligence always seek refuge together in him, like women seek refuge in the women's chambers. [LYV 5.1.10]

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14. All people seek after him who is sweet with charming conduct, like the

5.1.11] wild deer in the forest seek out the sweet sound of the bamboo flute. [LYV

15. The one who, because the mind's activities are calm as in sleep, is always steadily awake, who is always attended to by the wise like the full moon is sought out (by the digits)-he the Smrtis say is liberated in this world. [LYV 5.2.36]

16. All beings wild or tame become faithful in the presence of one full of stillness, like they become still in the presence of their mother. [LYV 2.1.62]

17. Among ascetics, the learned, and men offering sacrifices, kings, powerful men, and men rich with virtues, the man with stillness alone shines forth. [LYV 2.1.66]

18. In this way then is established the third purpose of liberation-in-life, namely, the

absence of opposition.

4.4 Elimination of Suffering and the Manifestation of Bliss

1. The fourth and fifth purposes, namely, the elimination of suffering and the

manifestation of bliss, have been described in the fourth chapter, the Brahmānanda

[PD 14], which deals with knowledge and bliss. 2. Both of these are stated in brief

here:

If a person were to realize the Self as "I am him," desiring what, for love of what would he worry about the body? [BāU 4.4.12; PD 14.5]

This Sruti states the elimination of suffering with regard to this world.

3. Srutis such as this state the elimination of suffering caused by anxiety with

regard to merit and sin, which determine the next world:

He is not tormented, thinking, "Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is bad?" [TU 2.9]

4. The manifestation of bliss is threefold: attaining all desires, having done all

there is to do, and achieving all there is to achieve. Attaining all desires is threefold:

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being witness of everything, being free of desires under all circumstances, and being

the enjoyer of everything. "I am just that Brahman which consists in the

consciousness that is the witness present in all bodies from the Hiranyagarbha to

inanimate objects"-when a man knows this, he becomes witness to every desire in

the bodies of others as in his own body. 5. With reference to this the Sruti states:

He attains all desires, together with the wise Brahman. [TU 2.1]

6. In the world the freedom from desires resulting from the enjoyment of

pleasures is said to be the attainment of desires. In the same way the attainment of

desires can be ascribed to a knower of the truth who sees the fault of all pleasures,

because he is free of desires under all circumstances. For this reason when speaking

of bliss multiplied a hundred times higher at each stage beginning with the universal

emperor all the way up to the Hiranyagarbha, the Sruti repeats: "of the man versed in

the Vedas and free from desires." [TU 2.8] When a man reflects on his own Self as

subsisting in everything in the form of being, in the form of consciousness, in the

form of bliss, he is an enjoyer of everything. 7. With this in mind the Sruti states:

I am food, I am food, I am food. I am the eater of food, I am the eater of food, I am the eater of food. [TU 3.10]

8. With regard to having done all there is to do, the Smrti states:

There is nothing for a Yogin who has done all there is to do and is contented with the nectar of knowledge; and if there is anything to do, he is not a knower of truth. [JdU 1.23]

9. But for a man who delights in the Self, who is contented in the Self, and is fulfilled only in the Self, there is nothing that must be done. [BhG 3.17]

10. Also the Sruti declares achieving all there is to achieve:

Truly, Janaka, you have achieved freedom from fear. [BāU 4.2.4]

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11. Therefore he became the whole. [BāU 1.4.10]

12. And also:

He who knows that highest Brahman, indeed becomes Brahman. [MuņU 3.2.9]

13. [Objection] These two the elimination of suffering and the manifestation of

bliss, are established merely through the knowledge of truth. Therefore they cannot

be the purpose of liberation-in-life.

14. [Reply] This is not so, because what is meant here is these two insofar as

they are well protected. Just as the knowledge of truth, though arisen earlier, becomes

well protected by liberation-in-life, so also do these two become well protected.

4.5 The Master Yogin and the Knower of Truth

1. [Objection] Given these five purposes of liberation-in-life, it must be admitted that

the master yogin is superior even to the knower of truth who is still performing

worldly activities. 2. But this is contradicted by the dialogue:

Śrī Rāma: Lord of what has been and will be, one for whom enstasis has arisen, who, even when engaged in activity, is calm as if he has come (out of enstasis), [LYV 5.7.5]

3. Or one who is firmly dedicated to the control of enstasis, resorting to some secluded place. O Lord, tell me, which of the two is superior. [LYV 5.7.6]

Enstasis described as that state of inward coolness of a person who sees this 4. Vasistha:

world as a combination of the qualities that are the non-Self. [LYV 5.7.7]

5. Having ascertained that: "There is no connection for me with the visible world" and remaining cool, some remain engaged in activity, some are intent on meditation. [LYV 5.7.8]

6. Both these two, O Räma, are quite equal if they are fully cool within. Such a state of inward coolness would be the fruit of endless austerity. [LYV 5.7.9]

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7. Reply: This not a difficulty. This passage teaches only that one should

necessarily bring about the inward coolness that consists in the eradication of latent

tendencies. However, it is not refuting the superiority of the elimination of the mind

with what comes immediately after that. 8. Vasistha himself clarifies the intended

meaning by saying that coolness is the pacification of craving:

But when inward coolness has been attained, the world is cool. For those burning from inner craving, this world is a forest fire. [LYV 5.7.24]

9. [Objection] But in this passage we hear the censure of enstasis and the praise

of worldly activities:

If the mind of one fixed in the position of enstasis is turbulent with mental activities, then his enstasis is the same as a mad dance. [LYV 5.7.10]

10. If the mind of one caught up in a mad dance has the latent tendencies

5.7.11] destroyed, then his mad dance is the same as the enstasis of Brahman. [LYV

11. [Reply] This is not so, for in this passage, having upheld only the praise of

enstasis, it censures the latent tendencies. This is the specific meaning of this passage:

Even if enstasis is better than worldly activities, nevertheless, if that is accompanied

by latent tendencies, then it is surely lower than worldly activities that are without

latent tendencies. When both the man in enstasis and the man engaged in worldly

activities are still not knowers of truth and have latent tendencies, then enstasis is more

praiseworthy, because enstasis produces merit that is the cause of the attainment of the

highest world. But when both are focused on knowledge and are without latent

tendencies, even then this enstasis consisting of elimination of the mind is definitely

superior as protective of liberation-in-life, which consists in the eradication of latent

tendencies. Therefore, because the master yogin is superior (to the man of knowledge

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engaged in worldly activity), it is established that there is no impediment to liberation-

in-life, which is endowed with the five purposes.

12. Thus we have explained liberation-in-life by examining its nature,

authoritative basis, means, and purpose. Next we will explain the renunciation-of-the-

knower, which supports it.

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Notes

1 See above, Chapter 3, n. 16.

2 See above 4.1.35-36; 4.1.47-49.

3 dīkșā: religious consecration. An initiation ceremony preliminary to conducting the soma sacrifice.

4 upasada-homa. Offerings that occur for three days after the religious consecration and before the soma sacrifice.

5 pravargya-homa. A rite within the soma sacrifice where a pot of ghee is heated and a combination of cow and goat milk is poured into it, creating a pillar of fire as the butter and milk overflow. Offerings from the pot are made to Indra and the Aśvins.

6 āhavanīya fire (east fire). The fire into which most offerings to the gods are made in any Vedic rite.

7 The seasonal rites at the beginning of spring, the rainy season, and the cool season. A fourth rite representing the thirteenth month may be attached to this.

8 That is, the saguna Brahman and the nirguna Brahman: the Brahman with qualities, and the Brahman without qualities.

9 agnihotra. The daily sacrificial rite to agni, the god of fire, that the householder makes in the morning and evening for his entire life.

10 Cf. above 3.2-6.

11 bamboo-pearls. Apparently the belief is that pearls can grow in the best bamboo as they grow in oysters.

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