Yoga in the Great Epics

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Yoga-Technique in the Great Epic

E. Washburn Hopkins

Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 22. (1901), pp. 333-379.

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Yoga-technique i n the @Peat 3pic.-By E. WASHBURNOP-KINS, Professor in Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

THE elements of Yoga, even of Tantric Yoga, are indefinitely

antique. Their combination into a formal system represents a

late stage of Hindu thought. Asceticism, devout meditation,

speculation, magical power, hallucinations, as means of salvation,

are factors of Yoga to which i t would be idle to assign a starting-

point in the history of thought within or without India ; but these

ancient strands were not a t first twisted together into the savingrope which, in epic metaphor, pulls up the Yogin's sunken boat.

Ttre great epic speaks of Yoga-CBstras and Yoga-teachers, that

is, it recognizes systematic Yoga, which, indeed, is discussed as a

philosophical system in many passages scattered through the later

parts of the poem. Eut Yoga in this sense is not only quite

unknown befbre the secondary Upanishads, but even the word

itself is scarcely recognized in the older Upanishads, a fact

which, considering the subject-matter of these treatises, is strong

negative evidence against any very primitive technical use of theword. I t is not till the K%thakaUpanishad, ii. 12, adhycitmayoga,

that we find any approach to the common philosophical sense of

later times, and even in this Upanishad the formal equivalence of

yoga and restraint (not of mind but of sense.organs, so that yoga

is merely a "firm grip on the senses," sthird indriyadI~cirap3, i.

11) shows only the earlier conception of yoga-discipline, as

corporal, though the passage as a whole with its parallel

"irnmovability of the i~~tel lect ,"zdcldhi~ca na vices;ate, may beillustrated from the epic itself, when it describes the one who is

yuktah, prd kgt i~ndpannuh, xii. 307. 14 ff. :

sthirzkytye 'ndriyag~dnzunznzanasd

(v. 1. 195. 5, picz@krtye 't~clriyagrdrnamdsinah kdsthaua)~munib)

mano buddhy8 s t h i r a ~ i ~rtud . . . n a savi~lcalpayatemaua?

na c& bhimalayate kirizcin. nu ca budl~yati dsthccuat.

A later Upanishad, the Miiitri, vi. 25, explains yoga as the unifi-

cation of the manifold, with a consequent cessation of all formsof consciousness.'

The unique upayoga, ib. vi. 36, has, l ike yoga in the same passage,

the meaning of joining.

I



--- -

Also the co mp arat ively la te character of t he Cvet t igvatara i s

i l lus tra ted not only b y i t s recogni tion of Sgmkhya-Yoga b u t evenb y i t s use of yo ga in ii. 12 an d in vi. 3, t a t tvasy a t a t tuena sam -

e tya yogam. T he Tt i i t ti r iya AraV yaka re fe rs to yo ga only in i t s

la te r chapters , wi thal only in t he sense of rest ra int , yo ga dt m d

an d sahny cisayog a, vii i. 4 and x. 10 (Mu nd. iii. 2 . 6 ) . W h e n t he

wri ters of th is t ime wish to express the i r nearest approach to t h e

la te r yoga , they employ n~ c in asa Mahfin . xxvi . 1 , expla ined by

th e com men tator in this sense), whi le d u m a and nycisa express t h e

yo ga of rest ra int and renunciat ion respectively. T h u s in th e

Up anishad (Ti i it t , i. 9 ) as means of enl ightenment, always svd-dhyc iyapruvaca~be ,wi th r t a , t ru th , aus te r i ty , dama, and ganza

(quietness) . T h e union-idea of th e aut ho r O F the Mundaka i s

expressed not by yo ga b u t b y sc imya , i. 3.

I t i s ce r t a in ly s ignif icant th a t in th e o ldes t Up ani sh ads th e

wo rd yoga i s a lmost nnknown a nd th a t i t appears in the s implest

of i t s af ter-mean ings as a phi losophical word only in second ary

compositions, while th e word Yog in is not fou nd t i l l M ti it r i, vi . lo .

T h e words used in th e oldest Upanishads, expressing, one a t at ime, different fun ction s of ( later) Y o ga , are non-technicbl ,

dh yd na, medhd, rnanisci, on th e one hand, da m a, y am a, e tc ., on

th e o ther . No r can i t be sa id th a t the autl lors o t' t hese Upani -

shads were indif fe rent to method, for they t a ke pa ins to expla in

th e means of .emancipa t ion . On ly the i r method i s not one of

counted breathings an d postures bnt of men tal act ivi ty a lone,

m an as d i 've ' dam c ip tavyam, even i n t he E i t h a k a ; o r t he B t m an

is apprehended by " t ru th , aus te r ity , and r igbt know ledge ;" " b y

me ditat in g, one sees H im, by mean8 of clearness of kn ow ledg e ;"

or by medi ta t ion an d th e " res t ra in t of renunc ia t ion , " as i t i s sa id

in the Mundaka ; while, st i l l earl ier , inste ad of th e Y og in with

his system we hear only of discussions of scholars, Ch. Up. v.; of

the Mnni wi th his " Veda-study , sacrif ice, gif ts, a us ter i ty , an d

fas t in g" (express ly g iven as th e means of "kno win g Him ") ,

B A U . i v . 4.2 2 ; or "pnr i t y and memorg" and "s il en t med i t a -

t io n" (mciuna f ro m mnnute) , Ch. U p , v ii. 25 ; viii. 4. a n d 5. I n

a word, th e la te r Yo gin rel ies o n c i s a ~ ~ a ,he 'older M uni o nupcisana. Th is and the doct r ine of s leep-union wi t h Brahm an,

t he b reat hs , and t he concomi tan t ve i n -t heory be long t o t h a t back-

ground of Yo ga a f t e rw ards worked out in to a sys tem.'

This does no t, of course, preclu de the possibility th at , besidesknowledge of Atman and of Karman, the "secret doctrines," guhyci

c i d e ~ d b ,of the Munis contained much th at was wro ught into the subse-



335ol. xxii.] Yoya- tec i~v~ ipue .

But , as in con t ras t to th e ear ly Upan ishads the ep ic t re a t s of

th e fo rmal sys tem cal led Yo ga , so i t i s conversan t wi th t echn ica lte rm s a f te rw ards e labora ted in to the scheme of Pa ta i i ja l i bu t fo r -e ign to ear ly Upan ishads. I t i s scarce ly possible tha t when these

works were composed the re wa s none of th e r igo rous d iscip l ine

which we associate wi th th e name of th at sys tem, b ut i t i s ev i -de nt th a t th e technical nomenclature was s t il l undeveloped. T h e

cou nted suppressions of br ea th, the various form s of posture, the

~ re l i m in a ry tages l ead ing th roug h an o rder ly success ion of p ra c-

t ices to the final consummation , were not yet become sys tema t ic

eno ugh to produc e ternzin i technici of th e Yoga-(Xist ram. I f onem ight hazard a guess , i t would a lmost seem as i f th e Y oga idea

had been engra f ted upon Upan ishad l i t e ra tu re f rom the " ro ya lknowledge" which i s demarca ted f ro m the B rahmanic wisdom of

r ites, ceremonies , aus teri t ies , an d s imple m edi ta t ion . I t i s a t

l eas t cu r ious th a t Yo ga i s f ir s t found expressly named an d

emphasized in th e Upan ishads be long ing to th e Ya ju r -V eda ,

wh ich i s p reg m in en t lg t h e " ro y al Ved a, " an d t h a t t h e Y o g a ep ic

draw s par t i cu la r ly f ro m th e Upan ishads of th i s schoo l ( G re a tEpic, p. 368). I n MBitri, vi. 18, a late passage , is fo un d t h e first

ment ion of pr&?zciy&nza, and here "s ix-fo ld Y og a" suddenly

appears complete (as ill Amrtabindu, 91. 6):

ta thci tu tpruyogakalpa$ prd?zciyci17~a(~pratycihcirolhycina?;~

dhcira?z d ta rk a h sccn&cid/~i(hada i iga i t y ucyclte yoyah.

He re, too , are f i rs t fou nd t he o the r technical words (co ntras t

th e simp ler Y og a of l iii th ak s vi. 6-13; Cve t. ii. 8-15 be ing later) ,

pratycihcira, dhcira!t&, an d sa ~n cid hi. Of these comm onplaces ofth e epic, th e Gitfi ha s prcFndyFima, iv. 29; sanzdclhi, ii. 54; while

th e r e s t a r e fo u n d e ls ewh ere. O tll y d h y d n u an d t u rk a a re an t i q u ean d thei r general sense in o lder passages is fa r f rom connot ing , as

in this passage, technical exercises (ib. 20, a t i ~ c inyutrd 'py zcktunz

a ta h purci ' sya dhdrapc i , tdlt~rasaizcigi.anipiduncicl vcifimarzah-

prci?zanirod hancid brnhrnu tu~lce:?ap ag y a t i ) . Th i s Up an i s had

quent system of th e later Upanishads and Siltra. For example, theYoga-teaching in regard to the limited sphere of the breaths, oneprc i-deqa from the mouth, is given i n Lit. Bran. i , 2. 4. 21 (prddfqam&tra) ,et&vatdvciiprci?zd& am mit& [~the bdhyavisaya is twelve fingers in thesystem). So there is a salizyan~ana onuected with breathing in KQug.ii. 5, but it is m erely a restraint of speech, and breath in speech is asymbol, a simple " inne r sacrifice."



recognizes a "six-fold Yoga," in contra-distinction to th e "e igh t-

fo ld Yog a" of t he ep ic an d Pa t . ii. 29 , as I have previously

( G r e a t E p i c , p. 44) pointed out, an indication, not of course, con-

clusive bu t suficie ntly signif icant, of th e historical progression,

secon dary Upa nishad s,' epic, Pataiija li 's system.

Pr ob ab ly no com petent scholar will quest ion (a) th e improba-

bi l i ty of a perfec ted system of Y og a exerc ises be in g known to

th e fi rst teachers of U panishads, who ignore them a l together , the

au tho rs of Chgnd., BA U., Ait ., K &us., possibly T&itt . , an d prob-

ab ly Kena , in which tnpo da nz a h ka r m a a nd the V e das , r espe c-

t ive ly th e foundat ion an d th e (c l im bs " (33), s t il l reflec t th eolde r poin t of view withou t hi nt of special sub-divisions; (b) the

gra dua l grow th of th e Yo ga idea ref lec ted in secondary Upani-

shads, Kiithaka, Miiitri, Cvetiigvatara; (c) the fur the r deve lop-

m ent in t he epic and th e recognized system.

T h e second for m of Y og a was s imply du m a, control of sense

and thought , in tense concentra t ion of menta l ac t ivi ty acquired

b y qu ie t ism. I t is th i s which i s conimon t o the prac t ice of

Buddhism an d Brahmanism a like . Th e sys tem is a r e finement ,

du e to physiological a s well as psychological stnd y, and as such

i t bea rs about the same h isto rical r e la t ion to the o lde r Yog a as

th e modern s tu dy of knee-kicks bears to Ham il ton ' s metaphysics.

T he place of th e epir: in th is development is midw ay between

the secondary Upanishads and the comple ted sys tem. It has

m an y of th e system's ter m ini technici, but, desp ite lon g elucida-

tions, it shows no trace of others. It l acks the comple t ion , b u t i t

s tands near to the comple ted system.

The exerc ise of Yoga impar ts magica l powers . This , as anat t r ib ute of the &lahi itman, is recognized in ear ly Buddhis t ic

t rac ts , bu t th e a t ta in m ent of such powers was l ight ly se t as ide by

B u d d h a Iiimself as n ot conducive to perfection, a nd th e extra or-

din ary fulness of de ta iled Yoga - technique in la ter Budd his t ic

works may be counted as a contempora ry phenomenon wi th th a tin la ter Brahm anic l i te ra ture . N o r ar e such powers th e objec t ive

of ea r lie r Upanishad teach ing . Th ey be long ra the r to th e vu lg a r

' Their posteriority is based not only on content but on diction andstyle. Though the age of the different Upanishads is usually madegreater, I fail to see any reason for believing that even our oldestUpanishads go hack of tbe sixth cen tury, or tha t the secondary Upani-shads may not be as late as the fou rth century. The later Yoga

Upanishads may be as late as our era, for augh t we know.



Vol. xxii.] Yogu-technique. 33 t

cul t of magic , and as such a re subord ina ted to th e ch ie f ob je c t

of Y og a in th e system i tse lf. T h e epic on this point is expl ic i te nough . I t te a che s tha t t he a t t a inme n t of supe r na tu r a l pow e rs

is a Rtage of pio gre ss ; bu t t h i s s t a ge m us t be l e f t be h ind l i ke

o the r s tages in the onward course of th e sa in t . T o l inge r in th i s

s tage i s damnable .

He re the popula r Yoga pa r t s f rom philosophica l Y oga . T h e

ord in a ry sa in t o r a sce t ic of the ep ic is acqua in ted on ly wi th Y og a

as a means to th e a t ta i nm en t of magica l powers. All he cares

fo r is to become a w izard of th is so r t in l i fe an d to co nt inue a f te r

de a th a s a super ior god-com pe l l ing wiseacre, a s d readed in

heaven as he is on ear th . E v e ry harmlesr exerc ise of m agic is a

Yogin's perquisite . H i s p r a b l ~ d v a , r m a gi ca l p o we r, i t is t h a t

makes i t possible for h im to fly th rou gh th e sky , fo r exam ple in

xii. 326 . 8 (na prabhcivena gccntavyanz antariksacare!za vdi) .

T he technica l te rm fo r th is , v ibha t i , occurs f i r s t ' in an Ath a rva n

U pa n i sha d , t he P r a gna , v . 4 , soma loke v ibha t im a nubha ya , bu t

i t may lack the technica l me aning here . I t is unknown in ear l ie r

U pa n i sha ds , t hough f a mi l ia r t o t he G i td a nd o the r pa r t s of t heep ic , a s i t s synonym , d ipvaryc i, i s a lso unknow n to ea r ly Up an i -

shads in this technical sense.

In the comple ted system, Yoga i s o f ten synonym ous wi th sa m -

ciclhi. H ere i t i s to be not iced, however , th a t a l l th ese technica l

terms, recognized as such in th e epic, ar e st i l l used in their o rd i-

na ry m eaning as we ll. F o r instance, yo ga may be on ly a

"means ," and a lmos t the same meaning a t taches to sanzddhi ,

"ar rang em ent" leading to some resul t. or , in effec t, a means to i t ,

as in xiii. 96. I d , a pa n i t a syu sa mddh ih c i t z t a yc c ( ya thd sukha -

gn~,zcthpa n t h d bhave t) , " e xc og i t a te some a r r a nge m e n t of t h i s

evil." So in th e epic Si imkhya scheme, a h a ~ iz k d ra as i ts specia l

sense, egoism ; elsew here it con note s " v a n it y " (ahccrizkcirariz

s c ~ ~ n i l u i g a t ,f Nahusa, xiii. 99 . 10) ; budc lh i a nd m a n a s a r e e qu iv -

a le nt te rm s ( I L ~ " h e h a d n o m i nd t o flee,"s idpdldyane b~bdcZl~i&,

xvi . 3. 43 ; ya t te m a n a s i va r ta t e , x iii. 114 . 176); ' svlnbhcivcc is

n a tu r e, p ts ak rt i, o r c h a ra c te r , a s is p r a k ~ t itself (na pulcyase sua-

bhdvcit, "it is not in your character," xviii. 3. 3 2 ); v y a k t a i s b o t hdevelop ed a n d clear (asarhskrtanz ccpi v ya kt am bhdti , i ii . 69 . 8) ;

Formal vibhutis are enum erated in Kit . Kran. i i . 1 (p. 181), but theyare not those of the system.

Wornpare xii. 238. 18,j: tvayi tne hydayam deva tvayi burldhir m a n a st i~ayi.

I



ra ja s and tam as a re dus t and darkness, a s well a s gu?zas ( ra jas ic

ta m as d cd i 'va yocZh6h sa~ izch ann nca ksu sah , vii .1 4 6 . 85),

g u n ais a str ing, saguyza, or ~h i lo so ph ic al haracter ist ic, or common

attr ib ute , rdjfio gu?zdh, " a king 's a t t r ib ut es " ( to he a fa th er , a

mo ther, Y am a, etc.; xii. 139. 103, vdipesik d gu!zd?~, "ex cel len t

attributes," vii. 5 . 15 ; xii. 4'7. '70).

T h e most im por tan t of these words i s yoga i tse lf . I t ma y be

( like pra yo ga ) a m ere means " or "appliance " t o m ake a ho r se

run, iii. 67. 6. I t s r ad ica l meaning of fas ten ing ( to a th i ng ) g ives

th is notion of "appliance " as of "applicatio n," which still lin ge rs

in th e epic words dam bh a-yo ga, tr icky appliances,'' xii . 105. 25 ;

krsi-y oga , "application to agrictll ture," xiii. 83. 18, an d inhe res in

the verba l form. Hence i t may b e t rans lated by "dev oted to ,"

as in this sentence, which conta ins tw o of these technical expres-

sions sti l l used in a n on-technical sense : s a vedddhyt iyane y~ ck lah

tapas tape ta t0 veddn n iyunzdd vaga ln dna ynt , " H e was devo ted

to the perusa l of th e Veda and mas te red them by aus ter i ty an d

s tr ic t discipline," iii. 116. 1. T h e r a the r unusua l abh iyoga ,

instead of yoga, preserves th is meaning, a s in th e me tap ho ralluded to above, xii. 299. 33 :

ya thd bhdvd 'vctsan)zd h i n d u r m ahdm bhas i ta tztund

t a th d m a n o ' bh iy o gd d vrii p a r i ~ a m racikKrsati .

B u t th e eventual mea ning of yog a (bhaktiyoga, e tc .) in a phi lo-

sophical sense is no t even devo tion b u t union as disunion.' T h i s

is, indeed, th e definition given in th e preface t o Patafijali 's work,

91. 3, apro pos of th e Siitra, p u m p ra k rt y o r viyog o 'pi y o g a i t y

ud ito yayci , ' raooording to which, yog a is declared to be separa-tion of Spirit and Prakyti ," or , in the verba ipsissinza of the

author , i. 2, yo ga is c i t tau r t t in irod ha, L 'suppression of menta l

activity," ' (comp are Te jab . Up . viii. ).

T he f ir s t h in t of th is pa radox tha t yo ga i s v iyoga i s g iven in

th e Gita, i i. 48, wh ere y og a is defined as sanzatva, equa nim ity, and

in vi. 2 3 , of t he s ta te (20) where thou gh t is suppressed,

' In xii. 200. 11, samyogavidhi is interpreted by N ilakagtha asVedanta, "the rule for union," of soul and Brahman.

Th at is, of those whose m enta l activ ity has been g iven up in favo rof spi ritu al ins igh t, jfi&.natyptd nirvcinagatantcinasdh, as the epic callsthem w ho are freed from the fau lts of samscira, xii. 195.2. The Siitra'scit ta is synonym ous with ,manas in the epic, e. g, loc, cit. 12,and 13 :evam evd 'sya cittam ca bhava ti dhy li~zava rtrnani, amdhitaliz kgapnritkilizcit . . . pu nar vciyupathant bhrcnta m mano bhavati vdyuvat.



339ol. xxii.] Yoga-techpzdpue.

yatro 'paramate ci tt ah niruddham yogasevayd,

ta m vidydd d~c~khasamyogaviyogalitogasahjiiitam,

but it appears in full in iii. 213. 33 :

tam vidydd brahmayzo yogah viyo gah yogasahjfiitanz.

After the aphorism just cited, Yatafijali i. 7 , gives perception,

inference, and tradition, pratyaksa-anumdna-agarnu,as the pra-

mdnas or accepted authorities. On pp. .51, 906 . of my Great

Epic, I have indicated the passages where the same proofs are

given in the epic, but I have omitted one important passage, xii.

56. 41, where the Ny&ya four are alluded to as authoritative:prutyaksena 'numdnena tathdtc 'panzyd 'ganzciir api, though Ihave given another like i t (p. 93).

In the same work (p. 181) I have also noticed the fact that the

"five faults" of the Yogin we kdmn, krodha, bhaya, nidrd,

pvdsa, and (or) rciga, nzoha, snehu, kdmu, kroclha, and (or) kdnza,

krodhu, lobha, bhaya, svcpna, according to different passages of

this heterogeneous work, and compared the five klegas of Pat. ii.

3 (the "obstacle" gvcisa is in the list of i. 31). The epic alsooccasionally uses klega in this sense : yadi v6 dhdrmiko yajvd

yadi vd klepadhdritah, xii. 237. 6-7.'

There remains, to fulfill the promise given 01.7. cit., note to p.

182, an account of those Yoga principles with which begins the

third book of Patafijali, and of which the first is dhdrancl, defined

as "confining thought to one place" (such as the tip of the nose);

the second is dhydna, etc.

Fixing the mind by looking only at the nose and gradually

withdrawing the breath is alluded to in the (+it%,v. 27; vi. 13 ;

viii. 10. The pseudo-epic knows of more than one dhcirancl,

however, as it knows other esoteric secrets of the later schoolmen.

But instead of following the course of the Satras in tllis sketch,

1 shall rather describe the Yogin and his practice as i t is here

and there elucidated in the epic.

Af te r declaring that the Yoga system is identical with the

Siimkhya,

ekaliz sdfikhyam ca yogam cu ya h pupyati sa tattvavit,

The original order may have been kdma, krodha, lobha, and thesethree as a group may have preceded the five. I n xiii. 141. 66. we readof "one who has overcome the three," as i f i t were a recognized group(triparikrdnta, so explained by the commentator). Cf. v. 33. 66.



Yiijiiavalkya, in xii. 317. 5 , proceeds as follows :

rudrapradhdnd?~,pardn v id dh i yogdn ar imdamatendi 'v a cd 'th a dehena vicar an ti digo dagaydaad dh i pralayas tdt a silksmend 'stagu<zelza ayogena lokdn vicaran sztkham sa&nyasya cd 'naghavedesu cd 's tag un ina m yogam dhui. ma nisipahst iksmanz as~agu~artzrdhur ne ' tar am nrpasattamadv igu nam yogakr tyum tu yogdndm prdhur uttamanzsagu nam nirgzina m cdi ' v a yathd $x%stra?zidarpanam

dh cira na h cdi 'v a rnanasah prd?z&ycinzapca Pdrth ivaekdgratd ca rnanasahprdndy dmas tathdi 'v a caprd ndy cim o h i sagu?zo nirgunariz dhcirayen mwna hya dy adygyati nzufican vcii pr dn dn M dithilasattamavcitddhikyam bhavaty eva tasmdt t a h na samcicaretnigdycihprctthame ycime codand d v d d a ~ a mytdhmadhye svapndt pare ydme dvcidagdi 'va tu codand$tad evam upagdntena ddnte ndi 'kdntapilindcitmdrdmena buddhetza yoktav yo ' tm d na sa hg ny ah

p a f i c d ~ ~ d n zndriydncim tu dosdn dksipya paf icadhd~abdaariz ihp ah tathd sparpam rasaril ga n d h a h ta thd i ' v a caprat ibhdm apavargariz ca p ~ a t i s a h h ~ t y a c iith ila

eto., eto.

"Learn now the special Yoga-practices depending on the

breaths."

I t is possible that rudrapradhdndn does not mean "having

breaths as the chief thing," but "having breaths and elements,"pradhcina. The commentator takes the latter word as equivalent

to i n d r i y d n i ("breaths and senses are the chief means for prac-

ticing Yoga"), and cites zi tk ra m a~ ak dle ehinarjz rodaya nt i for

the meaning of rudra as breath [cf. BAU. iii. 9. 4 ; Ch. Up. iii.

16. 31. He also cites Sfitra [i. 341 for theprcina exercises,pra-

cchardanavidhdrandbhydliz vdprc inasya , defining the former as

recaka and the latter as pilrakapilrvakah kumbhakah, that is

"stoppage of breath preceded by filling" (Am~tab.Up. 9-12).'

"With such a (Yoga) body (Yogins) wander wherever

they will."

1 This is the s a m d h i of the two breaths, Ch. Up. i. 3. 3.



341ol. xxii.] Yoga-technigue.

That is, they obtain the power of wandering through the air as

the result of restraining breath. Compare Pat. Sfitra, iii.42.

" A t the moment of dissolution, with the subtile Yoga

(body) of eight characteristics, wandering through the worlds

and renouncing (bodily) pleasure."

Or perhaps "obtnining happiness ;" vicalun, is used as if it were

an absolute form, but this is probably a half-stanza out of its

proper connection, as the passage is related to others (see below).

This is added, according to the commentator, merely to encour-

age faith with the hope of rewards.

"The wise declare in the Vedas that the Yoga has eight

characteristics; none other they declare than the subtile one

having eight characteristics."

The eight characteristic powers beginning with animic are meant

by yoga astugunin and by as taguna is meant astdEga or the six

practices referred to in Mgitri Up. [vi. 181 with yama and

niyama added, according to the commentator (the Sfitra, ii. 29,

also substitutes cisana for tarka). I t is quite possible, however,

that both the adjectives refer to yoga interpreted in the same

way, namely eight-fold Yoga-science.

"According to the explanations in the QBstra, they declare

that the highest Yoga-practice of Pogins has a double char-

acteristic: (is two-fold), being either with or without charac-

teristics."

The second of the two characteristics implied in the first clauseis negative. There is a double Yoga-practice. One kind has

and one kind has not certain characteristics. The epic not infre-

quently employs this yogakytya for Yoga-practice.

"Jus t steadiness of the mind and restraint of prcina, and

concentration of the mind and restraint of prdna. The form

with characteristics is breath-restraint : the one without is

mental concentration."

The two have in common prcinciydnzu, but the first is merelyfixing the mind and the second concentrating it. Compare the

common epic expression ekdgramanas. Steadiness is induced

by regarding certain objects; concentration goes far ther and

produces a merging of the objective in the subjective ("Absence

of distinction regarding thinker, thought, and thinking "). The



34 2 E. W. Hopkins, [1901.

common prdpciydma is interpreted differently, however, accord-

ing as it is united with dh dr ana or with ek dg ~a td , n the

former case being physical, in the latter being mental (reetraint

of senses). Compare Sfitra i. 36-41. The ddhdrus or objects of

contemplation, sayR Nilakantha, are sixteen as named in the Civa-

Yoga, beginning with the great toe and the heel. The last clause

of the text literally carries ni rguna over to the mind: "mind he

should fix without characteristics," that is without activity, nir-

vy tt ikah dhdrayet, sthi ram kurycit (comm.). The stanza else-

where appears in other form (below).

"If one expels the breaths when no visible object is a t

hand there results merely an excess of wind; hence one

should not begin the practice in this way."

The commentator says ac@,cyati is equivalent to ad~, cyam&ne

rnocanasthdn,e. He cites (.Pavanayogasamgraha):prRpdydmena

yuktena sar var og ak sa~ o havet ayuktcibhydsayogena mahdroga-

samudbhavah, a verse which occurs in slightly different form

in the ~ a t h a d i ~ i k ~ .his is the principle of the cittaprasdda-

nam, as explained in Satra i. 33 and 34. The tarn, I suppose,

refers to prcindydmnm understood. The "visible object " seems

to refer to place on which the attention is fixed rather than time

measured by prayer.

" In the first watch of the night twelve compulsions, coda-

ncih, are traditional; likewise twelve compulsions in the

middle watch after sleeping."

Urgings is the literal meaning of codandh (probably from theuse of the verb in the Giiyatri), but the commentator rightly

takes the word to mean "restraiiltu of breath." The parallel pas-

sage has sarizcodanah (below).

"The spirit should without doubt be exerci~edn Yoga in

this way by one at peace, controlled, devoted to one thing,

delighted with spirit only, and fully enlightened. In five

ways expelling the five senses' faults, sound, form, touch,

taete and smell, removing distraction and inertness"'

[thetext continues] "placing the whole group of senses in the

mind, establishing mind in consciousness, consciousness in

On pratibhci and apavarga as equivalent to vik~epa nd laya, seebelow.



343ol. xxii.1 Yoga-technique.

intellect, and intellect in Praksti,-by thus proceeding in

regular order, parisalizkhyciya, yo gin^) meditate the sole,passionless, spotless, eternal, endless, pure, undeficient, firmSpirit, tasthlqampurusam . . the Eternal Lord, Brahman."

Then follow the "signs of the Yogins," yuktasya lalcsandni;

"the sign of peace,"prasdda, as when one sleeps well ; <as lampfilled with oil in a windless place would burn, so is the yukta,"etc., as given in full in my Great Epic , p. 109, etc.

I t is scarcely possible that one acquainted with the Satra's useof apava rga and pratibhd in ii. 18 and iii. 33 could have writtenthis passage. The commentator explains the former as layu and

the latter as viksepa, having evidently in mind the passage inMriitri vi. 34 , where it is said that the mind must be freed from

these two. Such, too, is the regular meaning of prat ibhd in theepic, phantasy, distraction of mind. On the other hand, the pas-sage as a whole, upon which I have animadverted op. cit., p. 108,shows a recognition of Yoga practices and Yoga-technique, espe-cially interesting in the warning against vdtddhhikyo, as proving

that Yoga was already regarded, as in Hatha treatises, as ameans of health. On the union of heat and breath, comparexii. 187. 7 : prd!zcin clhdrayate hy agn ih sa j i v t r : upadhdryatcinz,vdyusa?fidhdra?zo hy agnir nagyaty ucchvdsanighrahdt, etc.The Sa tra meaning of apavarga as emancipation appears inanother passage, xii. 27 1. 3 1 , opauargamati r nityo yatidharmah

sandtanah. This is preceded by sa?htosamthlas tydgdtnzdjfi&rzd-dhi${hcinam ucyate (compare Satra ii. 32, ~duc a-samtosatc.) andfollowed by sdclhdrcc?zafikevalo vci, perhaps for sadhdrapah (see

below).In xii. 241, the author gives a cccompleteyogakytya," which

has much in common with this passage. I t is the "highest

knowledge" to unite intellect and mind and senses with thedtman vydpin (compare Cvet. vi. 11). Instead of ekdntapilinthe same verse as that above has 'clhydtmapilin and it ends withboddhavyam gzccilcarnzand, 91. 4, while the next ~ l o k a as yoga-dosdn samucchidyapafica ydn kccvayo viduh kbmum, etc., giving

the five faults (as above). Further, in the sense of Siltra i.3'7 (vitardgavisayam vd cittam) : "One that is wise subdueswrath by quietness, desire by avoiding purpose, sahkalpa, andone may cut off apathy, nidrci, by the cultivation of the good(sattvasauizseva?zcFt), etc. One shoul4 also (91. 8) honor fires andpriests and bow before divinities ; avoid lascivious talk and that



which is joined with harm, hi&ci. . . one should seek Brahman;

having concentrated (thought) and uniting, krtvdi 'kdgryam,

mind and senses in the fore-night and after-night, ptirvarcitrcipar-

cirdhe ca, one should fix mind on self (spirit)," dhdrayen maua

citmani, 14. Af te r this comes the subjugation of the senses,

which one should constrain, samyamya, and "establish in mind,"

17, and then follows the rule fo r observing these practices fo r

''a limited time," to gain likeness with the imperishable ; ending

with parallels to Kiithaka iv. 13 ; Cvet. vi. 19-21; Gitii, v. 26, etc.

(the other points are discussed in my Great Epic, loc. cit. and

elsewhere), and with th e following verses, which give a numberof Satra technicalities ( 23 -24 ) :

pranzoho bhrama dvarto yhrdnam gr av a~ ad ar ga ne

aclbhzctdni rasasparpe Gi to s~ emdrutd 'kytih

pratibhdm zcpasccryci.lip cci $y upusamgrhya yogata$

tdlis tattuavid anddrty a dtmany evu niuartayet.

In this l i ~ t , e~ideshe technical words with which the stanza

begins, upccsargas is the "obstacles " of Satra iii, 37 (referring

back to prdtibhaprdvnnccvedunddur~dsuciduvartdin 36), the

faults of sn~izyamu,,includingvdrtu, smell as a celestial phenom-

enon (compare Cvet. ii. 11-12). The added warning, andd~iycc,

may be compared with xii. 197. 7, where it is said that a Yogin

who is set on "practicing mastery," di~v aryuprav rt tu ,with a view

to worldly results, goes to everlasting h e l l . 9 h i s passage also

emphasizes (in 196. 18, arcigccnzoha+, eto.) the vitarciyavi?aya,

and gradual giving up even of samddhi; as in 196. 20 : dhydne

samddhim utpddycc, t ad ccpi tyajccti kramdt, and here, too, manah-samddhi is paired with indriyujayu (9), though malzasy evu

mano dadhat (16) shows a general rather than a particular dis-

cipline. Th e student should sit on kugn grass and renounce

objects, visaycih; and jupu or muttering prayer is the means of

fixing attention.

Six months, as stated afterwards (Great Epic, p. 45). The times of

practicing are here three, trciikrilye (241. 25). The exercises may bepracticed on a mountain, in a deserted place, a temple, cciitya, cave,etc. The goal i u akfrarasdmyatci(22).

This , by the way, is not a common penalty, as hell is no more thanpurgatory to the Hindu. But in this case sa eva nirayas tasya nci 'sciu

tasmcitpramucyate, Hell is his, and from it he is not freed."





348 B. W. Hopkins, [1901.

The "embodied one going like sound," ~nbdava t ,n xii. 217.

21-22, is brought through puri ty into a subtile form vciircigydt

prakyld?c sthitab, b y a practice described in several places besides

Gita vi. 13. In xii. 200. 16-22, it is called vi!ayapratisamhdra

(ib. 237.33, expressed as vi!aydt pmtisahhdrah, the "sign of the

rule" in Sgmkhya). One engaged in this "withdrawing from

objects" fixes the five breaths on mind, mind on the two (chief)

breaths, and holds the two breaths under control, upasthitakytciu.

Then, looking a t the end of the nose, by mental effort one brings the

two breaths gradually between the brows. If it were not for the

commentator, who supplies pccgyantah, i t would be more naturalto interpret: ('By wrinkling the brows and by mental effort br ing

the breaths below the nose gradually to the nostril." This is amere description and not a precept, and we are told that the next

step was to put the spirit in the head by overcoming the spirit

with a moveless body and fixed gaze. The culmination of the

exercise is in a light breaking through the crown of the head and

going to heaven. This was the " span-long spirit," prcidegamci-

trcch ptcrusuh. On an example of Yoga j iva and videhnmukti in

the epic, I have spoken, op. c i t . p. 111. In regard t o the theory

tha t the fat e of the soul depends on the part of the body it

burs ts through, compare op. cit. p. 188, on xii. 318.

Another account says: "I f a man is one whose actions are

done merely to sustain life, he becomes emancipated when, a t the

hour of death, he equalizes the three guFns and then by tnental

effort forces the breaths toward the heart-canal," guncincim scim-

yctna cigamyrL nzctnasrti 'vu naanovccharn (sic), dehukarmci ~ z z t d a g z

pyd~zdn xtakc2k vinzucynte, xii. 214. 25.In ib. 17-19, the veins are thousands (ten chief) dhamanya!~,

and the principal is manovahci (Great Epic , p. 35), like citta-

vah6 ndd?.(comm. to Siitra iii. 38). Precise is the account of the

Yogin's soul path " in xii. 185, where a re described the fire in the

head, protecting the body, and the accompanying breath, prd nu ,

which here is the sljirit itself. Th e breaths I have discussed,

(above) as sixteen, and here it is evidently part of an artificial interpre-tation, the true meaning being " ten or twelve," not "t~velve lus ten."

In regard to the loss of the ending, besides catur for the accusative(p. El),of. Roth, Ueber gewfsse Kiirzungen, etc., and Pischel-Cieldner,VS. i. pp. 42, 116, all Vedic. But the late text and expressed vd give

this example a peculiar interest (saptdSta alone means " seven or

eight," v. 160. 40). The Kgurik5 Up., 91. 3-4, has twelve mora-appli-

cations and uses salhcdrayet (for codayet, above).



Vol. xxii.]

.Great Epic, pp. 36 and 1'72, and referred to this chapter with i ts

"ten breaths" ("seven breaths," ib. p. 3'7, may be referred to instill another passage, saptcc rndrgd vdyoh, xii. 51. 6 ) , of which theuuual live are described (e. g. vahan nt.ictrah puri sa m cii 'py

cpiinah parivar tate). It touches on the Yogin's path, as well.The single prd?za, bearing heat, descends to the anus andreturns upward again, all the prciyzas, however, being collected (?)

in the navel, ncibhimadhye ~a r i r a s y a artjeprdncip ccc sahsth it dh

(185. 14). Urged by the te np rdn as , the veins bear food-essencesall over the body, star ting from the breast (hydccya, 15). Then

follows, 16:

esa rndrgo 'tha yogcind?iz yena gacchar~ ti atpadamjitaklamdfi samli dhird mardhany citmdnam ddadhun.

The corresponding passage, iii. 213. 17, has yogindln and ddadhhuhin the last stanza and pratisthi tdh in 14 (significant of the relationbetween the pseudo-epic and earlier epic, even in philosophy). Thesection thus recognizes the main duct of the Yogin's soul-path, the

su!um?t.d, which is first known by that name in M&itri vi. 21,.iirdhvagd niidi su.).umncikhyd (Kiithaka vi. 16; Pragna iii. 6 ;Tiiitt. i. 6). Ordinarily, the simple rule is: ~ n a ) ~ n hrd?ze nig?*h-y~iydt rdnanz brahmc~ni hdrccyet, nirveddd eva nirucinam n a ca

kirizcid vicintuyet, xii. 189. 16-17 (compare also the note below,p. 362, on prdnus).

A more general description, in vii: 143. 34-35, says that one"offered his vital breath in breaths, sunk his eye in the sun ; his

mind in water; and became yoguyukta. In a corresponding pas-

sage, ib. 192. 52, a man sQm/chyum cisthitah as well as yogamdsthdya, 49, takes a fixed posture, bending his head up' and hisstomach out. The Yoga posturee, cisana, Satra ii. 46, are

alluded to again in xiii. 14.2. 8-10, described as vi rdsana, vir a-guyyci, mayz$akayoga, between two fires. 13ut in this case ofpopular yogacaryii, the Yogin is born again in the Niiga-worldor as a king as the result of his piety (38-43), although he is sup-

posed to have "put dhcirana in his heart." I do not know what

the ma~$fhkayoga (gayana) is, but the commentator says it is

So Vishnu stands (in xii. 344.60) ekapddasthitalq firdhvabdhur udafi-mukhalq. The ntahdniyama austerity recognized as "Vedic" consistsin standing on one leg, "up-looking" and "holding up arms," withdevoted mind for a thousand years of the gods (iirdhvudgti, -bdhu,ekcigram manas, ekapcida), xii. 341. 46-48.



explained in the Hathagiist1.a.' These yogas, however, are in part

only austerities of the older type, on a par with and grouped with

~'itutoydggniyoguand sthayzdile gayana, 91. 10,whichis also called

a yoga in 141. 1 11, sthandilegayane yoga& gd ka pu rn an i~ ev a-

nccm (such as are described also in iii. 200. 105 and-often). The

confusion shows clearly that the term yoga, applied inferentially

to the cisccna or posture of the regular Yoga practice, had also

absorbed the meaning of tapas, so tha t any austerity, whether

in prdndy& ma exercises or not, was called yoga. Austerity is

thus caused by yoga, xii. 153. 36. Both are the sign of nivrtti,

or renunciation for the sake of the soul of him who is yuktoyogam pr a t i $add p r a t i salizkhydnum eva ca (xiii. 141. 83),

whether he be an ascetic, now at the foot of a tree, now lying on

the ground, now wandering about, or engaged on the technical

virugayyci, etc. So far as I know, the term dsa r~as not an early

technicality. I t is not found in the first Upanishads, but is

recognized (apparently) by the Gitii, where it seems to have the

senRe it has in the Keurikii and other late Upanishads and in

Buddhistic language (e. g. Buddhacarita, xii. 117). The mean-

ing of dharmardk~isamcisana n xiii. 141. 9 is unknown to me.'

Those recognized in the Anupiisana as Yogins thus include

ascetics of every sort, though they have formal divisions. "Beg-

gars" of this class, rni~kt*, and yuktdh, are grouped in four

species ; the Kuticaka and Bahadaka are Tridandins, the former

living alone in a hut and the latter visiting Tir thas; the Halisa

and Paramahalisa are Ekadaqains, the former living in a hermit-

age, the latter being "freed from the three gzcpas," according

to Nilakantha's explanation of xiii. 141. 89, where the namesalone of the four classes are given with the statement that their

superiority is in the order of their names.'

I t is mentioned again in the list at xii. 304. 9 ff. , where appear vird-sana, virasthdna, and the man@fikagdyin,ogether with a long list ofascetic observances. Compare also virayoga xiii. 142.5.7. In vi. 120.

36. etc., vira~ayyd,s merely a "hero's bed."It is the second of the five first mentioned duties called (as a group)

rpidhamna (a Gauds v. 1. is dharmacakram sandtanam). N. says sam-yagdsana.

The following discourse treats of the Froth-drinkers, Phenapas(cf. v. 102. 6), VBlakhilyas (Munis, perfect in austerity, living in thesun's disc, the size of a thumb-joint, a~igu.g?haparvamdtrd~),akracaras(divinities living in the moon), SamprakgBlas, Asmakuttas, Dantol3-khalikas (141. 04; 142. ll),saints who husk rice with their teeth, etc.;cf. ix. 37. 48. The " thumb-long seers" adorn a tale in i. 31. 8.



Val. xxii .] Yoga-technique, 349

T h e Ya t i , a t e rm eq n iv a len t t o Yo g in , an d ex p re s s in g t h e s ens e

s o me times g iv en b y t h e d es id e ra t iv e y u y u k s a t, " o n e d es i ri n g t oco nc en tra te his mind,"'jijficisamcincc, "d es irin g know ledge," m us t

b e n o t o n ly n i rm an y u ( a s a ls o n ird van dv cc an d n i rv ed a ) b u t a l so

nirvci?zcc, st ud yi ng no t Ciistras b u t O m . I t is a d d e d h e re t h a t if

a B rah m an will no t be a Y at i , he should t ravel , prcrvcis in , fo r a

hom e-s tayin g pr ies t gets no g lory , x ii i. 36 . 14-16; so ii. 55 . 14 .

T h e dhcirancc, refe rred to above , is th e cause of Y oga-po we r.

F i r s t the f ive fau l t s mus t be cu t o ff , an d then , accord ing to x ii.

237. 3 (chinncicZoso nzzcnir yogcin v ~ ~ u k t o ~Zucidcigct),onet~fiijitc~,

shoulcl consider th e twe lve points of Y oga , na m ely :

degakarmcinurcigdrthcin upciydpciyanigcnyu+

cak sur dhc iras ahh cird ir mccnasci d ur gn ne na cct,

th a t is , in a f ree vers ion of th e tex t 's f r ee syntax , he should see

to the p lace (being pure) , the acts (proper) , h is incl inat ion (being

res t ra ine d) , th e object8 (of h is thoug ht or senses be ing prop i t ious

to Yoga-d i sc ip line), the means ( tha t is, the pos tu re as a m eans

of Yog a, bein g cor rect ) h i8 (mind) ren ounc ing (pass ion) , h is

determ inat ion ( in fa i t h) , h is sense-organs (being contro l led) , h is

food (pure), his nature (subdued), his wil l (perfected), his system

correct . T he n comes t h e dhcivnpcis. Th ese are here t r ia ls of

me n ta l concen t ra t ion of a severe so r t. T h e fau l t s a re a ne t ,

vilg.urci, ou t of which he mu st escape by c ut t in g i t , as in the pas-

sage above, and Dh. P. 870, and elsewhere, xi i . 301 . 15-17 . S o

in xii. 2 9 9 . 3 - 4 : asufigah greyaso mQlcrm . . chidvci 'clharmnlna-

ycrm pcignn?, "Th e root of fe l ic ity i s f reed om fr om t ies ; on cu t-

t i n g th e bond of wrong," e tc . T h e cu t t ing is done, of course ,wi th the " s w or d" of Yog a equan imi ty , x ii . 2 5 5 . 'i. I t m a y b e

remarked , paren the t ica l ly , tha t the Yog in , bes ides l abor ing fo r

the abs t ract ion des i red , a lso (natural ly but inconsequent ly) prays

fo r i t : manasctg c a samciclhir me var dh etd 'h a r cchtrh, xii . 199 . 13 .

B u t o rd inar i ly th e s ta te i s induced b y res t ra in t of b rea th , as in

xii. 192 . 13-14 (cf . xv . 9 0 . 5 9 ) : p~.ci~adhcira?zamci tra~izu kesd?h

c i d z~ pap ady a te , ra tn ena nzahn tc i kec it kurvantiprci!~rzdhcira?aarrc,

F o r s u m d d h i i s r ea ll y g a in ed o n ly b y i n t en s e e ffor t an d f in e

work . T h e ter m s are indiffere nt ly sanz ddhi or sctnzcidhdnca

' Also metaphorical : ath a sa~it lvaramcipasya a tham (=yogam) e myuyuksatah, akaararit gantumanaso vidhirit vakpycimi ~ighragam,xii.237. 13.



( t h o u g h t h e l a t t e r is u n i ted w i th m ancca o r c itm an ), d h d r a ~ c i r

d hcira tz am , e. g . citm a na g c a s a m d d h d n e d h d r a n d m p r a t i n i d a r p

an dn i , " t he ind ica t ions of the sp ir i t' s conce n t ra t ion as regard s

fix ing t h e mind," xii. 301. 30 ; d t m a s um r i d h d na m y u k t v d y o g e n a

Cattvavit, ib. 35; yo gi dhcira?zcisu sam cihita ?, ib. 37.

T h e genera l pre liminary p rocess i s the p lac ing 01 t h e s p i r i t in

different par ts of t he bod y :

ncibhydm kalz the c a p ir se ca h r d i vaksa s ipc i rp vay oh

d a rp a ne p a v n F e cd 'pi g h rd ce cci 'm i t av ik ram a

sthcinesv e t e p yo yoga muhcivrcztasumcihi ta~

dtnzanci sfiksmam citrncinmk yztiikte sclmyug vipdmpate

s u p i g h r a m u c a l a p r u k h y u h k a r m a d a g d h v d gu bh ripub hun z

ut tamariz yogu m ds thd ya y a d i 'cchat i uimzccyute ,

"A Yog in who , devo ted to the g r ea t observance ,' p roper ly fixes

his su bt i le s p i r i t on these p laces , the navel , neck, head , hear t ,

s tomach , s ides, eye, ea r , an d nose , ha v ing qu ick ly burned aw ay

al l good and bad ac t ions , though they be l ike a mounta in ( in

size), by app!ying himself to th e h igh est Y og a is released , if h e

wishes."

I n this passage , xii . 301. 39 ff., th e clhrirctpcis m ay b e a ct s con-

duciv e to f ixedness of m iud, th at is , besides th is f ix ing of th e

mind, abs temiousness an d su bd uin g the pass ions. A passage to

be c i ted p resen t ly g ives ano ther mean ing to th i s t e r m w hich per -

hap s app l ies here as well. Accord ing t o the p resen t expos it ion ,th e whole d iscip l ine of Y ogin l ies f i rst in f ix ing th e sp i r i t on d i f-

fe ren t par t s of the body and then in d ie t ing , in cha s t i ty , an d in

re no un cin g sensual pleasures of all kinds. ' 'The Y o g i n e a t s b u tonce daily , ekcihcircrh, of d r y ba rle y o r ride- gra ins an d sesame,

a v o i d i n g o i l , s n e h d n d ~ hvarjcrne yukiqh, and dr inking less 2nd

less milk and water , which af te r a lon g t ime " i m p a r t s Y o g a -

power, hu la . O r he may avo id m eat a l toge ther (as an a l t e rn a t ive

m ean s of ac qu ir in g po w er ), cckhcc!zdam (u nu su al word , also xiii .'75. 8) mcilisam uposya. T h e te xt continue s : " B y o v e r c o m i n g

'The nzahdvrata ma y be the one described, or th at called in the Siitra(sdrvabhduma-) ma hdv rata, i. e. yamd$, ii. 31 (30).The logical order is not closely kept. Su hju gat ion of th e senses is,

of course, th e "p rio r path," as it is called in xii. 195.10, tho ug h herealso ek dg rah dhdrayen m an ab (pil;lgEikytye 'nd riy ag rdm an ~)precedesin the description. I n xiii. 141.8, it it8 said that " those w ho have sub-dued their senses must learn th e &m an, and then afterwards, ta ta bpagcdt, desire an d wr ath must be overcome."



Vol. xxii.] Y oga-te chniq ue. 351

des i re , wra th , co ld and hea t , and ra in , fear , care , b rea th ing ,

pvicsa, ' an d hum an sense-objects , pic uru s& n visnyRn ( "so und s

p leasan t to men," says the com menta to r ) , sensua li ty , th i rs t ,

(de l igh ts o f ) touch , sleep , n id ~ ic , nd s loth h ard t o overcome,

t a n d r i ~ i zdurjaydm, the wise and great Yogins , mahictmicncrh ,

vo id of pass ion , ~ i tccr icg ich ,~ ake g lo r ious the sp i r i t th roug h th e

spir i t (self) , b y means of m edi tat ion an d s tudy, dhydr~&drCy ayantc-

s a m n p a d c i , . V a r d i s t h e g r e a t p a th , m a h ci ,p an th d ( li ke w a n d er in g

th ro u g h a fo res t o n a wa y b eset w i th ro b b e r s ) , an d f ew h o ld i t t o

the end , bu t he i s ca l led a g re a t s inner , bahudosa , who en ter ing

th e way , yogamicrgam &sicdyn, g ive s up . Ea sy i s i t (in compar i-son) to s ta nd upon the sharpe ned edg es o f razors , ksuradhdrdszc

[compare Ki i thaka , i ii. 14, and K su r ik l Cp .] , bu t ha rd fo r th e

uncon tro lled t o s tand by the T o g a d i sc ip l ine of f ix ing the mind ,"

clh&ranci,sz~z ~y o g a sy a cZu!~stheyanz ak rt dt rn u6 hi h7 xii. 301. 54.

On the clhdrc/!zds occur the following stanzas, xii. 231. 14-16 :

scp tcc yd dhc i rand h k r t s nd v&gycctc~hprn tipadyrc te

prsfhatuhpcirpvatcrp cd 'nyds tdvcttyas tdhprccdh&rcc?~ic!~

k r u m a p a h p c iT th iv c ~ u c cu vdynvycl?iz khccm tctthd paycr!~jyo t i so y a t t a d dipvc tryn?n nhu~izk~rcrsyc twcldhitah

uvyctktasyct tn th d i 'pnc/~ycwhkrccmc/pa!~pratipctdyctte

vikrccmds cd 'p i ytrsydi 'te tathci, yuktesti yogatah

tathic yogctsyri yrt ktas ya s id dh im citman i papyc~tcr&

As th i s descr ip t ion of the would-be Yog in i s p refaced by the

image of h im "e ag er t o h i tch h i s (m enta l ) car ," rn thurh yuyzrk-

sa tah , the goa d of which i s " all the l 'ar~tras," scrrvntccn~rciprrs-

todu , i t ma y be suspec ted th a t we have a b i t of rea l Ta n t r ic l i t e r -

at u re before us,-only suspected , s ince tuntrc6 in th e ep ic i s

sy n o n y mo u s wi th an y man u al of i l~ s t ru c t io n , o r ex amp le , d h w -

m u ta n tr u is dhctr.rnnpcistra, bu t rea sor~ ably o, since, on th e otl ler

h an d , Y o g a - T a n t r a s a r e s pe cific ally m e r ~ t i o ~ ~ e dn the pseudo-ep ic

The word used in Pat. Siltra, ii. 49, for in-breathing, as opposed topragvtisa, out-breathing, in prci~~ciycirnaaf te r correct posture-has been

taken ). On th e five, seven, and ten epic "breaths," cf. op. cit. p. 171 ff.

Compare Pat. Siitra, i. 37, vitarciga vi~aya riz & cittam .Patafijali's definition of niyamci(z also inc ludes study , gtiucasalittojra-

tupahsvcidhyclyegvarapru~idhcln6ni, This may be mere mutter-i. 32.

ing of texts. The epic ha s a whole section on the rew ard s of th ejtipaka, xii. 197 (also 196 and 198). Compare Pat . Siitra, ii. 44.



besides Yoga-QLstras.' T h e gen eral sense of th e verses is clea r

enough. The au tho r g ives t h e " speedy ru le " of th e Yo gin's

progress, unti l he "steps out , released, af te r passing beyo nd th e

Yoga-mas t ery ," y o g d i~ u a r y a m t i k rdn to yo n isk rdnzat i mtccyate ,

91. 40. T he account th us natu ral ly begins wi th the f ixation of

m ental ac t ivi ty on one objec t , as does th a t of Patai i jal i , i ii. 1,

an d as Pa tai i ja l i reckons prnljfid as sevenfold," sa pt ad ha , a t i i.L

2'7, so th e au tho r first reckons th e fixations of mind as seven

(scptndhd may be th e or iginal here also) , to which he ad ds seven

more, then gives eight "ma ateries" or "lordships," proce eds

w ith th e Yogin's "(victorious) progre ssions" (me ntal s tages, asthe Commentator say,s , vikmmd anubh(~vakrccnzdh),and ends

wi th the i r " f ru i t " and the Yogin 's perfect ion , s iddh i , "accord-

in g to the (reg ular) Yoga-discipline." A s appears f rom w ha t

follows (see below), th e "progre ssions" or 'L s t ages " a re t he ha l -

lucinations, w hich arise before perfection bu t a fte r th e at ta in -

ment of "mastery ." Th e la t te r i u e x e r c i ~ e d ,according to the

tex t , over t he five elements, egoism, intellect, an d P ra k rt i ( th e

regular ta t tvns of th e sys tem in thei r order) , not according to th eregu lar " eightfold mastery," of miraculous powers. B u t to w ha t

are the dh dr an ds app l ied? T he comm enta tor i s inc lined to om i t

P r a k ~ t i , vyaktcc, and refer them to the o ther seven mentioned

(th at is, five ele m ents, ahccrizkdrcc an d budclhi), w hile th e prc ldh d-

r a ? zd s ( p r a a s in p r n p i s y a , p r a p d u t r a , m e a n in g c o nn e ct ed b u t

remote) app ly to the " in tercepted " applicat ions, vyavahitdh,

which a re in fa ct one of th e three divisions of kno wled ge in P a t .

Siitra, iii. 25, s~k~rnauyavahitavipraky~;ajrtci~zam.he dist inc-

t ion between prs ;hutdh and pdrpvataf i , i s explained as " far the ran d nearer," namely, f ixing the at ten tion on the nznn&alcc of th e

moon, su n, or pole s ta r (as in P a t. Siitra, i ii . 26-28), or (" nearer ")

on th e end of th e nose, th e brows, the thro at-w ell, kan;hcckGpa,

(as in P a t . Si it ra , i ii . 30, kanthakfipe ksutpipdsdnivyt tih , tha t is ,

"surndclhi in reference to the throat-w ell results in ave rt ing hun-

ge r and t h i rs t ").

Th e use of dh dr ay d m ds a, the c onstant express ion of Yoga -

practice, natu ral ly led to th e companion-noun being em ployed as

The simplest meaning, however, is perhaps the best, and tuntrawould then be identical with th e discipline alluded to in xii. 215. 21 :ath a vci na pr av ar tet a (v.1, p ra k& ~e ta )ogatantrciir upalcranzet; yenatant ra ya ta s tantrarit vr ttih sycit ta t tad cicaret.



3 5 3ol. xxii.] Yo ga- echn ique .

object of concentra t ion. A s su ch , t h o u g l ~w i t h do ub t fu l a pp l i c a-

t ion i n r e ga r d t o t he num be r s , i t i s c o r r e c t l y e xp l a ine d he re , a ndth i s use i s rendered s ti l l more ce r ta in b y the fo l lowing desc r ip-

t ion of Bhiama's de at h , xiii . 169. 2 : (tzls?irn bubhava),

clhdraydn z dscc cci ' tnzdnctm dh cir an ds u yn th dk ram an z,

" in regu la r success ion he con cent ra ted h i s sou l upon the ob jec t s

of concentra t ion " (cidhdrcidisu, N.), w h e n " h i s b r e a th s , f o r c e d

tog eth er , sccmnivuddhdh, ascended, an d his soul b ein g for ced

toge ther in a l l the res t ing p laces, a f t e r c leav ing h i s head w en t

l ike a meteor , maholke ' u a , to the sky ," as i s add ed in 7, w he resciriznirud dhas t u te)rci 'tnzii srtrvesv ciyutcrnesu sh ow s citm an a s

prci?lns . T h e dhcira!ads, the n, are ob jec ts of con tem plat io n.

T h e earl ier descript ion, b y t h e way, ha s her e on ly tQs!zirn ciszt . . .yojyic ' tmcina~izvedancirh san'~niycr?nya, i. 1 2 1 . 56.

A " seven-fold prov ince" of the " fo ur -fo ld sccnzcidhi" is rec og-

n ized b y th e c o m m e n t at o r t o S i ~ t r aii , 51, a nd ve ry p roba b l y t he

f ir s t d iv is ion made was medi ta t ion on the senses an d tw o h igh er

tnttunu, egoism and inte llec t. ' Seve n m ay be used in th e sense

of "many," bu t tc ivcttyus i s ra th er aga ins t th is up position.^ I n

an y case, th e passage ind ica tes a num bered a r ran gem ent of sub-

jec t s of contempla t ion an d seems to imp ly a fu l l sys temat iza t ion .

T h e p r a d h c i r c t ? ~ i i sm i gh t be " i n te ns e r, " bu t if t a ke n a s r e mot e r

c onc e r~ t r a t ions he y w ould a ns w e r t o t h e ge ne ra l t e rm s of P a t .

S n t r a , i. 39, y a th a 'bhinzcrtadhycinad v d ("objects wi tho ut , such

a s t he moon" ) . I bel ieve , however , tha t the appl ica t ion of

p~ s t hc l tn h c irgvntc tp c o ha s be en mi s unde rs t ood b y t he c omme n-

t a t o r ( a nd by th e En gl is h trans lator) ,' in conseyueuce of hi s

On the Yogin's " subtile seven," compare Great Epic, p. 173.

The epic's bhuvand ni sap ta m ay be the " seven spheres " named in thesystem, xii. 187. 26. Seven over-worlds, lokdh, an d seven under-worldsar e traditional, iii. 3. 45 : v. 102. 1 (rasdtaln).

Curiously enou gh, Pat. Siitra, iii. 16 to 29, gives seven and fourteen" near and remote" forms of knowledge resulting from a combinationof dhd rac d, dhy dna , snmddhi. They a re not enum erated, however,but possibly the y were in the mind of the n-riter who gives the seven

pradhdrands ."e is not tha t esteemed gentleman whose name appears on the t i tle

page and who did not understand English at all , but Mr. K. MohanGanguli. Il is translation (very usefu l in m any ways) gives not onlythe substance of th e te xt but sometimes the gist of the com m entarya s well, an d even (as part of the Mhb.) Siitras cited by the com me nta-tor, as in this instance, where Pa t. Sfitra, i ii . 1, degabandhag cittasyad h d r a ~ d cited by N.) app ears as a verse of the ep ic!



ignoring here the metaphor of which this verse still forms a part.

For, as I have said, we have to do in this passage with an alle-

gorical war-car, yoga, with which the would-be Yogin, when once

equipped, hastens on to victory (compare the opcning of the

Amrtabindu Up.). Hence the strange use of vikra~ncih or stagesin his progress, and hence also the use of py ft ha tah pc ir pa ta g cay

to understand which, in connection with the metaphor, we must

remember the position of the chariot-guards, pyfthagopas andpd7.p-

vagopas, or, as they are called in a similar description of another

allegorical war-car, viii. 34. 45, pystharnksccs and paripcirgva-

cccras. Fo r the van and rear and flank are technically known(adverbially) as pura tah , pysthe, atid pc irpayoh, vi. 90. 37,

while yoga, in camp-parlancc, is hitching up or harnessing up.

The preliminary description of this Yogin's chariot explains tha t

upciya and apciycc are its pole, the apdna-breath its axle, the

prclna-breath its yoke, all the Tarltras its goad, knowledge its

charioteer, faith and restraint, dama, the fore-guard, purahsciru,

renunciation its more distant protector behind, anuga, medita-

tion, dhycina, it s field of action, gocccra (with other parts hereomitted). Next follows the phrase cited above of the ratlrltlii

yuyukfatah, whose rule, vidhi, will be described, and then come

the dharayzci verses ; so that the whole passage should be trans-

lated : "The silent Yogin (in this mental chariot) acquires all the

seven intentnesses and as many different fore-intentnesses (as his

immediate guard), in the rear and on the flanks (respectively);

(guarded by these) step by step he acquires what (is called) the

mastery of earth and air, space and fluid (mastery), and that of

light, of egoism, and mastery in respect of intellect ; and also byanother step (that) of Prakyti; and so he beholds in himself suc-

cess (victory) when thus equipped with Yoga-practice; and there

comes ~iext,n consequence of his equipment, yogut@, the fol-

lowing viotorious advances " (stages).These " victorious advances" are preliminary hallucinatio~ls

(compare Qvet. Up. ii. l I ) , which show the spirit first as havinga smoky appearance. Then appears a ritpudargana of the spirit,

"like water in space." Then this passes away and a fire-form

become visible. After this the spirit appears in a wind-for~n,attaining wind-like (air-like) subtility and whiteness, ~u e t i c r h

yutirh gutvic s~ksmc~rnpy ritn.The powers attained are then described. They have the fol-



Vol. xxi i . ] ITogr~technique. 3,55

lowing effects : ' Ear th -mas t e ry g ives one s r s t i , t he ab i l i t y t o

crea te th ing s " l ike Pra j f ipa t i;"

a i r-mas te ry , to m ake ear th sh akewi th one 's f inger, toe , hand , or foot , th i s be ing the a t t r ib ut e ,

g u n a , of w ind (a ir -e lement ) ; m as te ry of space (or e ther ) , th e

power to app ear of th e same color wi th space (e ther) an d conceal

one sel f. Th en one a t wi ll can dr in k up a l l dg ay dh (of w ater ,

such as t anks, e tc .) ; an d become too g lor ious to be seen an d hav e

th i s g lo ry d iminish (as one will, b y app ly in g th e mas te ry of th e

wate r -e lem ent a nd the f ire-element, respec t ive ly , a s i s to be

in fe rr ed ) . Thes e five ( e lemen ts ) a r e t hus b roug h t i n to t he power

(of th e Yo gin) , vccpdnugdh, as h e sub du es egoism (com pare P at .Siitra , i. 40, parornd?ztpccro~~zar~~ahc~ttvdl.ltosycc vagikdrah); and

when he has subdu ed these six and in te l lec t , buddhi, w hich i s th e

soul of these s ix, then a t las t th e v y ak ta self becomes a aya lc ta

and there appears in h im " com plete faul t less i llumination," n i r -

dosapratibhci k?*tsn,ci . Such is the s iddhi-process of the Yogin

(ib. 16. 21-26) . Th i s p rc~ t i bh i l s t he ob j ec t i ve of t h e Yog in , t i l l

he surpasses mastery (as c i ted above); compare a t ikrci?ztagupa-

k f a y a , ci te d op, cit ., p. 16?.'T h e ha l luc ina t ions a r e re fe r red to aga in , fo r example , in x ii i.

'13. 4, ;here i t i s sa id, "T he y who ar e f irm in the i r observance,

wi th th e i r unpol lu ted mind even here on ear th hav e v i s ions of

(heav enly) wo rlds a pp ea rin g l ike dreams," svctpnubh.ictcifipca tilril

lokc in p up ya nt i ,123 'pisu v ra ta h , i. e ., in th e snmcid1hi or Y og a-

concent ra t ion of the i r l as t hour. Th is i s in t roduce d as an a rg u-

m ent to pro ve the ex is tence of such wor lds . Com pare P a t .

Siitra, i . 38, svc~pncrn idrcijtlcinci uctlrc m ban ah uci. By Y o g a -

power t he Grea t V i sion of t he D ead i s p roduced a t t he end of t h e

epic s tory , where a l l the heroes ap pea r " l ik e v is ions in th e

night,' ' n ig i stlptotthitic iv tc , xv. 31. 1.

Ano the r pa s s age s ays in r ega rd t o t he hour of dea th t ha t t h e

Yog in , as he f rees h in iseif f rom th e objec t ive wor ld , a t t a in s th e

or ig ina l , cidyd, Pr ak r t i , jus t as r ivers a t t a in th e ocean ; bu t if no t

No notice is take n here of th e Yoga-power which is most named i n

Brahm anic and Bud dhistic lite rat ur e, mem ory of previous births. Theepic elsewhere indicates its u niversality in havin g several forms of t h enam es for it, jF&tismarapa, citismaratd, jtitisnraratva (xiii. 309. 15).

The rest of this passage re lating to th e tw enty-five ta ttv as of th eSB hk hy a and Yoga h as been discussed in my G reat Epic, pp. 113, 117.

On p, ib . 165, I have cited the 'impediments;' cf. Siitra, iii. 37.



freed, he sinks down like a house built of sand in water, xii. 299.

34-35 :

yathci sam udram abhi tah sah pi tc ih sar itopardhtathci 'dyci pra kr tir yogcid abhisarizgriyute sadd

snehapcigdir bahuvidhciir cisaktanzanaso nard$prakrtisthci vis ida nti jale sdikatav egm auat.

There is here, apparently, no recognition of Prakrtilaya as a

stage preliminary to perfected emancipation, as taught in Pat.

Sfitra, i. 17 and 19 (the latter, bhuuapra t yayo v idehapraky ti l ayd -

n d m ) . This verse has the Vedanta image of absorption, likea

river in the ocean, and is preceded by the Mahayana image of the

one who is perfect being unwilling to return to the further shoreof the river he has crossed, ib. 31 :

n n h y an yat t i ram ciscidya punns tar turn vya uas yat idurlnbho drgYate h y a sy a vinipci to ma hdrn ave .

The same section contains a passage on the vitarciga, 91. 10,

which has several Siitra terms, though it is doubtful whether they

are technical; but I cite it, as i t givea at least parallels to theimage of the house (which is here one's own), of bhrama , as used

above, notes the importance of abhydscc (Satra, i. 32 has this term

as applied to one principle to oppose the obstacles of s a m d d h i ) ,or constant practice, and mentions again the klegas, which is the

Satra term for the usual epic 'faults.' The twentieth stanza,according to the commentator, whom (with Rijhtlingk) I do not

follow, employs vistarcih and sarizksepcih as i f they were recog-

nized equivalents of ceren~onial and spiritual exercises ; 299.18-22 (20=37, repeated) :

1 8 , yathci 'n dh ah suagyhe yukto h y abhycisdd eva gacchati

tathci ytcktena m ana sd prcijfio gacchat i t d m ga t im

(Comm. yogcibhycisah k d r y a i t y ciha) 19, marapark jan m an i pro ktam jannla v d i mara?zcigr itam

avidvcin moksadharmesu baddho bhram at i cakravat

20a, buddhinzdrgaprccycitasya s tckham tu i h a par a tra ca

b, vistarcih klegasalizyuktcih samksepd s t u sukhdv ahcifi c, p a rd rt h a h vis tardh surue tycigam ci t m uh i tah wid?@

21, ya thd rnyndld ' nu ga tam dpu mu f i ca t i ka rda m am

tathci 'tmci purusasye 'h a ma nasd parimucyate 22, m an ah pra?zuyate ' tnzc inah sa enam abhiyu i i ja t i

yuk to yad& sa bhauat i t add t a m pagya te param ,



357ol. xxii.] Yoga-technique.

"As a blind man in his own house goes by being intent and only

by practice, so the wise man goes the right way by having anintent mind. Death and birth are interdependent ; one ignorant

of the rules for emancipation revolves about, bound like a wheel;

but eternal happiness is his who has advanced upon the path of

knowledge. Vast riches bring sorrow ; res angusta, happiness.

All wealth is for another's sake, but renunciation (of worldly

things) they say is one's own happiness. As the lotus-stalk leaves

the mud attached (to it), so a man's spirit is freed from thought.

One controls thought and so makes his self (spirit) intent.

When he gets intent he sees him(se1f) the highest" (himself asAtman). The words in 20b, sahksepds tu sukhdvahdfi, embody

the idea in Pat. ii. 42, sarhtosdd uttanzah sukhaldbhah. The

thought is common, iii. 2. 41-46 (ills of wealth).

The Yoga of meditation is fourfold, dhydnoyogo caturvidhafi,

but just what divisions are meant are not apparent from the dis-

cussion. The commentator, referring to several Sfitras, e. g. i. 34,

and 38-39, attempts to solve the problem ; but the only fourfold

division that can be got from the text is that of dhydna itselfwith three accessories. The Yogin, i t is said, should be free of

ktegae and nirvecla, anirvedo gataklepah, and then, xii. 195. 15:

vicdrup ca vivekap ca vitarkap co 'pajdyate

muneh samddadhdnasya pruthamam dhydnanz ddi tah

One is reminded of Pa t. Siitra, ii. 26, where complete viueka

is said to be a mean6 toward the rejection of the visible ; while

in ii. 33, vitarku, preceded (as is this passage by klega) by lobha,

krodha, moha, is questionable practices open to argumentation,which may be here implied (as power to avoid these questionable

practices). At any rate this group of "consideration, discrimina-

tion, and argumentation, (which) are subsequent in the case of one

engaged ill samddhi," may be compared with the group in Siitra

i. 17, where samdclhi is "conscious" because accompanied with

vitarka and vicdra (as well as joy and egoism, vitarkavicdrd-

nandcismitdnugamdt samprajiidtah). The gradual growth of

intentness, tathd yogo pravartate, is likened to the focussing ofsunlight with a burning-glass, yathd hhdnugatam tejo ?na?zih

guddhah sanzddhind ddatte, xii. 299. 12.

One passage cited above in regard to the eight gupas mightbe an allusion to the eight mahdsiddhis (or siddhis) called a?zil,zd,

laghimd, garimd, p rd pt i (=mahim&), prdkdmya, igitva, vagitua,



358 E. W: Ho p k in s , [lWl.

k~ m civa sciy itva , ndic ate d by P a t. Siitra, i ii . 45, tat o 'pimcidiprci-

dur bhcivah (cf. i. 40). These Yoga-powers are of ten a l luded toas astagttnam ciipvaryanz, e. g. xii. 340. 55, an d ar e called, ingeneral, bhzitis, vibhat is, ciipvarya, or y oge pva ratv a, pow ers o r

ma steries, an d a re group ed in th e epic au a?inzcilaghimciprcipti$

at xii. 503. 16. Th ey a re a t t r ibu te s of God. In th e in v o ca tio na t xiii. 14. 420, the form is ar~inzcF n?ahim dpr6pti+, ut in T antr ie 'l is ts th e two last (as indicated above) are synony mo us an d 0.

1015 has for mahimci the v . 1. lag him e. T he vap itva of the T an -t r ic l is t is in the ep icp rabh av is? z~ tv a (G rea t Ep i c , p. 108). T h e

for m pra bh av isn u i s appl ied to the (d iv ine) lo rd of the t reasury ;prabhavisnup ca kopasya jccgatccg ca ta the prabhuh, x i i . 290. 8.

I n o rd inary language, the & ipvar am ba lam of a p r ies t in Brahm an ,"unthinkab le, undual," i. 78. 38. F ur th er , inst ead of Yog a-practice, austerities alone are said, in xii. 161. 5, t o g i v e " m a s -

te ry " ( th e o ld v iew), d i gv ar ya m ??aya h prcip tas tapascii 'va.

Examples of these powers are g iven in the epic, one o r tw o atleng th a nd of co nsiderable interest.'

Th rou gh Y oga one becomes the s ize of an a tom, d ipvaryayo-gi ld ayzzcmcitro bhfitvci, an d en te rs , a lot us- sta lk, xii. 343. 42.

T he power of th e Yogin can be projected in to th e body of

ano ther and the la t te r be dowered perpe tual ly w i th it . T hu swhen V idu ra d ies, h is body rests agains t a t ree , bu t he h imselfby Y oga en te rs the body of the k ing , who thu s becomes s t rongerand is f il led w ith V idura's ma ny virtues, while th e sage, leav ing

the re his power, "obta ined the Sgntgnik a worlds," xv . 26. 26-29.

Another term for Yoga-power is mccnisci. B y means of this,

Cyavana, at xiii . 55. 19, hypnotizes his subject and makes appeara g rov e, mansions, jewels, etc., " a s in a vision," ib. 53. 68 an d54. 15.A ver y clear case of th e exercise of h ypn otic pow er (citta sya

parapa r ir i lvepah , P at . Satra , iii. 38) exploi ted as Y oga-power istl lat narra ted in xiii. 40ff . T h e sag e here projects himself into

th e bod y of th e sub ject by means of the sub tile spirit , which isdescribed as of the size of th e thu m b, xii. 285. 175 an d 290. 1 2 .

.-

I W hat a Yogin can do, in epic theory, has been told in my GreatEpic, p, 108, etc. The present cases give examples in epic narrative.I have no exam ple of some of the powers. But "making oneself manythousands," which is alluded to in th e epic, op, cit., and is recognizeda s kdyawyCha in the co m m en ta rj to Sfitra, iv. 4, is in iii. 82. 23 a powerof Q iv a; who in iii. 83. 163 s a Yoga-lord.



359ol. xxii.] Yoga-techszipue.

T h e l a t t e r pas sa ge descr ibe s how Uga n a s be ing yogus iddha , t ha t

is, possessed of th e nzahdsiddhis , projec ted himself in to K ub er aa n d so go t powe r ove r h im ( by Yog a ) to t a ke a w a y h is we a lth

a n d s lip a w a y , yogd tmdke nu r uddhu& . . . y o g e n d ' t r n a g a t a h

by ta & n i h s y t a ~ a . Th i s a nge re d the MahByog in ( Civa), who

t r ie d t o t h r o w a w e ap o n a t U g a na s, b u t t h e l a t t e r th r o u g h Y o g a -

power , yogas id dhd tm d, appeared on th e en d of the weapon, p i iln ,

direc ted agains! him, be in g able to d o this in th e form of knowl-

edge, v$f idtar f ipa&. . . a p a h s i d d h a h (16 a n d 17 ) .

T o r e tu r n t o th e hypno t i c t r a nc e na r r a t e d in AnugBsana. T h e

pupil of a sage , be i ng lef t in charg e of his Gu ru 's wife and f ind-in g he r inc lined t o be too fami l ia r toward a v is ito r, p ro jec ts h im-

sel f in t o he r by Yoga-pow er , yoga-ba la , an d res t ra ins he r f rom

fol lowing he r own inc l ina tions, m aking h e r change t he w ords she

intended to speak. H e ab ides in he r " l im b by l imb," l ike a

shadow, l ike a pe rson s topp ing in an em pty house which he f inds

on his way, soi l ing her as l i t t le as a drop of water soils a lotus-

leaf , standing in her l ike a ref lection in a mirror , xii i . 40. 46, 47,

50-51, 58 ; 41. 13, 18.Tho ugh th e ta le i s superna tura l , of the t r icky deceiver Indra ,

rnd yav in, 40. 43, i t i l lus tra tes c learly enou gh th e concept ion of

Yoga-power . T h e sub ject is unconscious of t h e influence, uv ds a

r n k s a p e yzckto n a c a s d t a m a b u d h y a t n , 40. 59. B u t t h e o p e r a -

tor's eye i s " fixed ," fo r h i s sp i r i t i s awa y f ro m it . H is bod yis "moveless, like a picture ," d a d a rg a . . . kale va ram , nipcestam

s ta bdha na ya ~ z a r i z a th d l e kh ya g a ta m t a thd . T he sub jec t w i she dto r is e a t t he e n t r a nc e o f t h e gue s t a nd po li te ly s a y "w ho a r t

thou ?," but "be ing s t i f f ened and res t ra ined " b y t h e o p e r a t o r"sh e was unab le to move." T h e gueut Rays, "Co nstra ined b yAnai iga , Love, I c om e f o r t h y s ak e, 0 tho u dulce r idens," bu t she

was s t il l "una ble t o ri se an d speak ," fo r the v i r tuous pupi l

( ' res t ra ined her senses b y t h e bonds of Yoga," rz i jagrdha m ah d -

te jd yogena balavnt , babandha yo,qctbandhdip ga tasydh sarven-

ch iyd?z iso!&, so th a t she wa s n ir u ik d ra , una lterable, 41.3-12. T h eprocess of acquir ing influence is described with some detail .

T h e opera tor sa t beside the fa i r sub jec t , be fore th e expec tedgn est a r r ived, and caused her to have v ir tuous desires , sarncsi-?za?l . . . u p d s i n d m a n i n d y d E g i h y a t h d rt h e s n m a lo b h ay a t. " U ni t-

ing, sam yojya , the beam of h is own eyes with the beams of he r

eyes, he ente red h er body, as wind does space," 40. 56-57. H e rrestra ined s ta t e is descr ibed as due to confusion of m ind induced



360 E. W. Hopkins, [1901.

by Yoga-power, yogabalamohitci, 41. 13. The subject is uncon-scious of the power but not otherwise unconscious; for when

Indra addressed her again, saying " come," she " wished to reply,"

but the operator "turned aside this word," and the word tha t

actually escaped her (instead of being a welcome) was " Sir, what

business have you to come here ?" And since these words wereprompted by the learned saint, they were spoken in excellent

Sanskrit, vcipi snmskcirabhfksapci (instead of the patois she would

naturally have used, ib. 15). But though speaking thus "under

another's will," paravagci' "she felt ashamed " (of her rudeness).

After this the operator, "releasing the woman and entering intohis own body addressed Indra," ib. 1 9 .

The later pseudo-epic of the Anugiisana and Anugitii (with the

last part of CBnti) introduces us to some new words and ideas in

connection with Yoga. Thus we have the remarkable phrase

niryoga, reminding one of the Miiitri and epic term (Great

Epic, p. 41) mircitmal~, but used in a different sense. Per-

sonified Intellect, who had Yoga-power, aigvaryayogasthci,came to Hari and he, yogena cai 'lzcim lziryogah s v a y a h

niyuyuje tadci, xii. 350. 23, where niryoga means superior

to yoga. In a preceding section, the equivalent of the yoga

d i ~ v a r a f Gits xi. 8, is found in the words, a i ~ v a r y e n a ra-

yogena dvitiycim tauurn tisthitah (where the god, as in theGitii, changes his form by Yoga-power), xii. 348. 47 (in 63,

nidrciyogam upcigatah, sleep-yoga). Among the powers or mas-

teries is tha t of knowing another's thoughts by Yoga. I t may be

merely a divine power to be able to do this by simple meditation,

but apparently dhyanam pravipya in xii. 343.48, which gives this

power, is the equivalent of yoganx pmvipya , for i t can scarcely be

the other's thought that is entered here. Compare dhyananz a f p -

mat, ii. 1'7. 27. Something quite new, again, is the wind called

parcivaha (paroo vdyufi), which, in the after-time, alzukcile, fol-

lowed by Death and Yama, "takes away the breaths of all animate

creatures and in the case of those that have made proper investi-

gat ion of the subject and are pleased with dhydndbhycisa (i. e.Yogins) tits for immortality, 0 ye metaphysicians."' This is th e

wind "because of which, when one is overcome, he comes back

no more," xii. 329. 49-52, one of the seven Vahn winds unknown

The inconsequent vocative of rd careless text.





- -

New, too, is the division of samcidhi into seven, with a new

meaning, found in connection with the "seven dikscis," that is,seven concentrations as exhibited in regard to the usual group of

seven, vie., the five senses, mind,' and intellect. This occurs in

the t ad va na m allegory of xiv. 27. 2 ff., which, by the bye, seems

to me to be the most probable explanation of the esoteric tad-

vana m found in Rena Up. 31, t ad dh a tadvannriz ndma. Her e

the one who tells the allegory of the g reat forest of life says,

"after passing through the rnahcidurga I entered a mahad

vanam," and is asked kva t ad vanam, when he explains i t as

Brahman, which some look on as a great tree of life and some asa great forest, 48. 1 (compare 51, 9, brahmavanariz nityam).

Likely as not, the Upanishad name was originally indicative of

just such an allegory of t ad uanam brahma.

I t is, perhaps, unprofitable to diacuss the still later development

of theprciyza theory in connection witb Yoga, and I will merely

refer to what has already been said above on this point, calling

attention to the theory (also held by Max MZiller) that speech

precede8 thought, in xiv. 21, where word comes into beingbefore thought, since mental activity depends on breath (speech)

because of the priority of one breath over another (apcina makes

prcina into apcina); together with the ~aderdotalcharacter of

breaths (as five priests); the peace-making character of vycina

alone, gcintyarthnlh vycinam ekam (as often in late passages,

neuter form2); the quarrel of breaths as to their relative sape-

riority (imitation of older matter) and the judgment :

sarve svavi!aye gre!thcih sclrve cci 'nyonyadharminah ,as given in xiv. 21. lob., ib. 23. 22, and 24. 1'7. The whole dis-

cussion is the finale of a Yoga discourse in regard to the ciyatana

or resting-places of soul, where Brahman dwells with Soma, Agni

and dhhTra as veins (Ch. Up. viii. 6. I), ib. 20. 9. Her e the breaths

are enclosed in pairs, thus : udcina is between apcinaprciyzciu (it

I Sometimes mind and sometimes egoism. The five senses, manas, andbuddhi are also the seven tongues of agni vdi~vdnara,which is within

all the breaths, xiv. SO. 19. But Yoga diparya, mastery, is sometimesover the "six," senses and mind alone. This is a simpler phase, as isindicated by the companion-piece, indriyadhcirapam, in iii. 211. 20 and21 (the whole passage is from the K54haka Up.), the latter phrase hereembodying "the whole Yoga-rule."

Wompare idam dhydnam idah yogam, xiii. 17, 19, and other formscited passim in Great Epic.



363o l . xx ii.] 170gn-techgziqzle.

i s ca lled udcina because of i t s dy ut ut va of th e bre ath s) ; prdyza-

pA n du a r e bet w e e n s umdnuvyc i ndu , a nd t he l a t t e r a r e e a c h us e du p o r a b so r b ed , l i n a o r p r u l i n a , w he n t h a t ( p r d n u , p r es u m a b ly )

i s in the sam e condit ion . '

Th i s pa ss a ge con t a in s t w o Y oga dogma s, f i rs t t ha t , be c a us e he

t h a t h a s o b ta in e d ' m a s t e r y ' c a n h a v e no m a s te r ( h e i s l o r d , p r a b h u ,

hence no one i s b i s m as te r , ipva ra ) , the re f ore a Yo gin can t a ke

a n y for m he wil l, anyc inycip ccii ' va t an av o ya t he ' s t am pr a t ip ad -

yute, xiv. 19. 24-25 ; a n d t h a t t h e m i n d s h o u l d b e k e p t w i t h i n

(and not wi thout , bdhya tah) on the fo l lowing c ivasa thas or

re t rea ts , the t ee th , pa late , tong ue , th roa t , neck , b reas t , an d th e(veins ) hyda yab and hun a , ib . 3 '7 ' (co mp are above , p . 350).

T o t he f ir st of t he se m a y be a dd e d t he c on jo ine d ' mas te r ies '

implied in xiv. 16. 22-23 : k r a m a m c i n a p c a s a r v a p a h a n t a r d h c i -

nuga t ij f ia g c a , go i ng a t w ill a nd d i s appe a ranc e f rom s i gh t , Y og i n

powers l ike those of the gods , for , as i s sa id e lsewhere , " the

gods , too, have th e m as te ry " (Yo ga-m astery) , devcip ccii 'pv ary a-

va n to vcii, xv. 30. 21 (here divis ion of self is refe rred to, dv id h d

krtvci ' tm ci n ah cleham, 30. 10 an d 31. 14). A ga in , in xi ii . 75 . 12,i t is s ai d of t he f ru i t of r e s t r a i n t ( va r ious n i y a m a s , a nd da m a ) :

ya trecchc igc imino d dn tdh sa rua pa t run i~ . i cda nc ih

p d r t h a y a n t i c a y a d dcintci l ab h a n te t a n n u s m i ig a y ah ,

"Y og i ns c a n g o a s t he y w ill, k i ll a l l t he i r foes , a nd g e t w ha t t he y

wish," pow ers especial ly at t r ib ut ed to th em i11 th e Sfi tra ( th e las t

b e in g k d m d v a s d y i tv a , ' d o i n g a s o n e w i ll y ) . A n o t h e r f o r m of

s ta te m ent is fou nd in xiii . 29. 11:

b r d h m a n a h k u r ut e t a d d h i ycrth d y a d y a c c a v d f ic ha ti ,

! I n a previous chap ter there is en unciated a theory of disease whichhas some interesting points. According to this, the pr d? as all over thebody are restrained by wind which causes bodily heat. This heat th enpierces the jivasthdn a, the place of th e spirit, an d to escape from th isaffliction the spiri t leaves the body. The wind , vciyu, wh ich is in t he

prdqdpdnciu breaths, goes up and abandon s the body, leaving the m an

with ou t bre ath, his senses no longer being sensible, xiv.17.

15ff. Hereth e word for senses (indriy dqi in th e phraseology elsewhere employedin the epic) is sr ot as , sroto bh ir yciir vijcinciti indr iydr thdn , 24 ; the samewo rd for senses as in Qvet. Up. i. 5, an d indicative of late autho rship inboth cases. I n i . 3. 152, srotas is a pe rtur e (apcina, anus) ; in xii. 185.11, both ca nals an d apertu re.

Ib. 22 repeats th e igikd-mufija phrase, KEithaka vi. 17; and 66 givesagain six months as the time for learning Yoga.





Vol. xxii.] Y og a- echnique. 365

la te r ca ll ed R oy a l Yoga) in th e account a t x iv . 30 (where Ni la -

kan tha in fac t , po in t s du t th e d is tinc tion). He re a p ious foo lwho wishes to shoot his min d and org an s of sense ("cas t arrow s

on th e seven," 26) f inal ly becomes sage and exclaims (30):

a h o 7castcnpiz y a d us m db hi h scwvum bcihyum an.zcsthitunz,

a the fol ly of m y a t t end ing to a ll the ex te~~na l s , " he re appears

the same a l lt ithesi s a s th a t no t iced above (bdhya tah) .

T h e expression nzahdyogu seems to be a ( logical) der iv at ive of

m al~icyo gin, he la t te r being analogous to mahdtc tpcih. Vishn u

au d even sain ts hav e th e title, mrchicyogirz. I n v. 68, a d&. ,Vishnu , h i s d tm uy oga and n ldydyogcc a re ment ioned toge ther ;

V yI sa i s a mahd yogin , x ii . 334 . 40. The sense i s ev ident ly no t

one who has mahc iyogu bu t a < 'g r ea t Yogin ." One who i s a

"g rea t Yogin," how ever, m us t hav e "g rea t Yoga," and th i s

seems to be a l l th e m eaning of mu hdy oga. In xvi. 4. 21, i t is th e

f ir st s t age of I< ~ y, ~ a ' semise, ~ n u h d y o g a m pe tya , who in Gi t ii ii.

9 i s m a hd yo ge ~ va l ' a , nd i n xvi. 4. 26, yogcicciryci

T he compounds of yoga , o the r th an those a l ready ment ioned ,

vary between th e sense of ( loose) a t ta ch m en t an d (close) union.

T h e l a t t e r i s th e mean ing in d tmccyogu, which i s eqnivalen t to

brc~hn~c~bhz i tasyu i i i . 2 1 1 . 15, union with th e absolute.u?i.~yogcrh,

B ut sn~icyogci ma y be a " sign of ill," i f t h e ' union ' i s w i th t h e

ob ject iv e world. ' T h e w ord ctnuyo,gct I have discussed in a pre-

vious volume of th e Jot tmct l , xx. p . 24. I t means ' fas t en ing on, '

nl:d so in one place ' question, ' in ano ther , annoyarlce.' B u t no

rad ica l m eaning i s l e f t in some compounds . T h u s nzokscryogu is

th e equivalen t of t he l a te r Ri i j ay oga : " T h e Yoga-Sfist1 .a saysth at one should res t ra in th e senses , con centra te th e mind on th e

soul, mu nu c i tmuni dhhdrayet, and, ha vin g passed thr ou gh aus ter-

i ti es , s hou ld c u l ti va te m o k ~ a y o g a t he Y og a of e ma nci pa ti on ) .

Su ch an one, devo ted to one th in g, ekd~ztctpilcrh (as above), sees

soul in soul (self in se lf) i f h e can join soul to soul , yo ktu m atrn d-

nr tm c itmani, behold ing l ~ i s oul as a fo rm , ra pu rn , as if in sleep,"

Thus, samyogci viprayogcintci& life ends in de ath ), xii. 331. 20 ; yah

sa jja ti sa n ~ u h y a ti ci 'lam sa dubkhanaokpciya, sa7ibyogo du & khal ak ~ a-nam, xii. 330. 8. So the ' rope' already referred to may be a 'tie 'instead of a m eans of salvation, witha l in the sam e nautica l image ; foron the one hand i t is a n ibar~d hani aau b, or tie tha t binds, and , on theother, a n essential pa rt of the ship that brings one safely across theri re r of life, dharmasthdiryavatcirakci (nciub),xii. 330. 37 and 39.



xiv. 19. 17-21. Here yoga has the same technical meaning as it

has in karrna?yoga and jficinayoga, not literally, application to

work or knowledge, but the kind of Yoga-science characterized

by neoessary external actions as compared with that character-

ized by discarding this in favor of psychical perfection, or in

modern parlance Hatha and Raja Yoga, the latter occurring first

in GitB ix. 2, as rcijauidyd rdjaguhyccm, while Hatha comes as

near to being differer~tiated n xiii. 14. 22 as anywhere: jfi6nasid-

dhi-kriyciyogdih (sevyamdficcg ca yogibhih), where the Siit1.a'~

kriyciyogcc, ii. 1 (comm. to ii. 2)) or practical Yoga is uniquely

contrasted with higher wisdom, as in the next verse with karmcc-yqVficc -kriyc2yogdih sevyamdnah), the god worshipped with RBja

and Hatha Yoga or with ceremonial sacrifices and Hatha Yoga,

as the words may, perhaps, be divided and understood. The

expression prccdhcinaviclhi.yogasthcc in xiii. 14. 423 appears to me

to be equivalent to brahmayoga, but this and the preceding corn-

pounds (above) can be interpreted differently.

Other points of the Yoga system and discipline, such as susupti,which are explained in the later epic, have been more or less fully

treated in my Great Epic. The epic, for example, gives the

complete SBmkhya scheme of Tattvas (with the addition of the

Twenty-sixth Principle) as belonging equally to Samkhya and

Yoga. On the subtile bodies, the colors of the soul, etc., see oy.

cit . , pp. 173, 179, etc. Especially interesting is the insistence on

the physical (sensual) delights experienced hereafter by a Yogin,

whose aim, according to other .passages, should be renunciation

of all of them. The whole section, xiii. 107 (with the pre-ceding) should be read, to get an idea of the practical reward of

asceticism, 91. 130 emphasizing the fact that it is not an ordinary

priest but a Yogin who is blessed with carnal felicity, sukhe?u

(here described) ccbhirnto yoga. He rides around attended by

self-luminous women, etc., and enjoys in heaven all the delights

intensified which he renounced on earth. This teaching of asceti-

cism is equivalent to saying, Be virtuous now, that you may bin

hereafter. It is the resultof

blending two ideals.One appears

from the time of the oldest Upanishads, Ch. Up. viii. 12 .3 ; KBth-

aka, i. 25 ; and the older epic, where one is chaste on earth in

order to enjoy a body in heaven, i. 46. 5; naturally enough there,

but out of place in the perfected view of the philosopher, whose

ideal (isolation or unity with Brahman) is incompatible with it.



Vol. xxii.] Yoga-techlzipue. 36'7

For to the true Yogin of the epic such practices as are here held

upa8

desirable are not only foolish but hellish (niraya is thefruit).

The technicalities of philosophical Yoga have ~er fo rce eendrawn from the later epic. The earlier epic shows scarcely a

trace of technical terms. Yet it cannot be maintained that the

earlier epic does not offer abundant opportunity to divulge thescience of Yoga or that the writers of th is time were prone tohide their wisdom as a secret.

In Bdi, in the many tales of saints and ascetics, we are practi-cally in a world not of Yogins but of Munis, who endure corporalpains and thereby attain power over the elements, get " divinesight," etc. The terms are largely formulaic, tapas tepe, tapusyeva mano dadhe, first of Vasi~tha, . 99. 7 and 34, and then ofVigvamitra, i. 1'75. 47, the former having divine sight and thelatter get ting (csuccess," siddhi. I t is not yoga but tapas, auster-ities, that sends Yaygti to heaven, i. 90. 21 , and the "doors of

heaven," seven in number, include tapas, peace and self-restraint,but no Yoga is mentioned even when the grhastho 'panisat, thetrue teaching of one order, is expanded into a description of allthe orders, as in i. 91. 3ff., where the Muni is exhorted to be nir-dvandvct$, tcrpasci knr~ituh. Even the word yoga, except in thestereotyped yogaksemcr, e. g. 92. 1'7, which has nothing to do with

Yoga, is conspicuously absent from this and most of the descrip-tions contained in the old tales of saints, and i t is not till we reachthe tale of the "world-renowned impaled one," who was impaled

(Hindu equivalent of crucified) between two thieves, tha t we findanyone of these devotees recognized as a Yogin. The last mea-tioned one, however, though a Mahiiyogin is still merely an "up-

arm silent" ascetic, i. 107. 3. The discipline is purely physical,restraint of tongue, mdupza, excessive torment, atkatopas, and"drying up the body " by various means, both in the case ofsaints and ascetic kings, i. 115. 24; 119. 7 and 34 (ekdnta~ilin).To propitiate the gods is a common reason for such discipline.

Mental intentness occasionally plays a part. Devoted to severeausterities, Piindu stood on one foot all day with the most extremeconcentration, samciclhi; but all this was merely in order t o propi-tiate Indra, cirir&clhayisurdeuam, i. 185, 2 6 . I-Ie is credited, how-ever, with the possession of tctpoyognbala (cf. tnpoyctktn, i. 209. 8)

in i. 121. 37 (like tcbpovirycc in i. 7 5 . 45, etc.). The MahBtap&s,



o r gre a t a sce t ic , Drona , p rac t ices on ly aus te r it ie s , . t apas , in A di

( 1 30. 40) ; hou gh when he d ies, in the l a te r expanded ep ic, i t i s

a s a pe r fec ted Yogin . S o s t r i k i n g i s t he a bse nce of t he Y og a

express ion, t h a t w hen VySlsa te l l s his m oth er to l ive in t h e woo'd ,

p r ac ti ci n g y o g a , y o g a m d s t h d y a y u k t d v a s a t a p o v an e , w e a r e

s u rp ri s ed on l y a t t he fo rmul a , yoga m ds t hdya (pa ss im in t he l a t e r

e p i c ) , a nd no t s u rp r i s e d t ha t t he a dv i c e t o t r y yoga , a s he re

expressed , was ca r r i ed ou t b y ho r r ib le aus te r it ie s , su gh ora m tupas ,

i. 128 . 13 , or in o the r words th a t yo ga he re i s no t ph i losophica l

Yo ga a t a ll , bu t on ly Vedic asce ti c ism. ' G i f t s of th e go ds a re

somet imes f ree , a s in Na la 's case, bu t genera l ly the y a re w run g ou tby aus tere disc ipl ine . Bes ides special favors , such as ha v in g a

son or accompl i sh ing some en d tha t would no t o rd inar i ly necess i-

ta te a miracle ,' these gi f t s are , ill shor t , contro l of th e e lements

(th e po we r of g o in g a t wil l, implied ill kdmagccma; disa pp earin g;

t a k i n g an y form, kdnzar iip in ; s ee ing wh a t one wi ll , e t c . ); a s , fo r

exam ple, th e f irs t thre e in i . 31. 1 3 ; 100. 21 ; 89. 19 ; an d the " see-

in g wisdom," cciksttsi 97cin2a vidyci, besto we d b y th e G an d ha rv a

upon A r juna , w h i c h i s go t b y h is t a pa s un i te d w i t h d iv i ne k i nd -ness.= B u t o rd in ar ily , ~ i x onths' s t an ding on one fo o t was the

vrct tu , "ob servan ce ": ekapciden a sa?zmcisdn s thi to vidycim lab he d

imdnz, i. 170. 41-46. So in i . 86. 15, d6 nta h . . . niyntuvdfimancih,

ea t in g air, between fires , s ix mo nths, on on e foo t , of Yayli t i . T h e

wo nders of th e hIun i are th e resul t (in these ta les ) no t of yo ga -ba la ,

which is so conspicuous elsewhere in th e epic, b u t of iapo -ba la.

T h u s in i. 13, th e M uni l ives on air and has tnpo.bala; in 40 . 25,

he is Rlah5tapis and , 41. 4 , ha s tapa so ba lam ( in 43. 8, h i s v i dyd-

bnla revives a de a d t re e ). Th rou gh t h i s t a p a s c ome s t he "know l -

edg e d iv ine ," which p resages d ea th and sees the pas t a s we ll a s

the fu ture , 43 . 8 ; $3. 25. Vigvlimitra, Iiere, as in th e passa ge

above , has t a p as on ly , wherewith he " b u rn s h i s fau lt s, " 71. 37 ;

A girl, in v. 120. 5 ff., on being brought o ut to elect a husband a t herElection-ceremony, "chooses as husband the forest," an d becomes anascetic, with fasts, dikgcis, an d re straints, n iya m as; all as t ap as (tepe).

In iii. 126. 19 ff., ascetic power, tapovirya (as bmhman) impregnateswater, after the priest has "en dure d hard asceticism," ta p a dsthdyad d r f ~ g a m ,o make the water effective, in getting a son for a king.

a So Safijaya sees an d hears by yoga -bala, vi. 15. 6 ff. Simple " llu-sio n" is w ha t the Yogin's tricks are called when practiced by less holyexperts (vayam a p i . . kham gacchema mdyayci . . darpayema ca rCpd gis v a ~ a r i r e ahcny api : "we , too, can fly to the sky and appear invarious sha pes (not really bu t) by illusion," v. 160. 55-67.



369ol. xxii.] Y o g a - t e c h ~ ~ i q u e .

a n d a l l 7 2 . T h e t echn ica l t e rm s of ph ilosoph ica l Yo ga , w hen

used a t a ll, a re wi thou t t he i r l a t e r conno ta t ion , as in the case o fsamcidhi , above, and in i . 75 . 54: samcldhdya mano btcddhyd,

ucom pos ing h i s t hou gh t s by us ing h i s r eason ;" c a ra n dzkscim (as

tapas, 45. 1, etc.').

T h e g r ea t s a in t V y g sa i s a co nsp icu ou s ex cep ti o n t o w h a t h as

been sa id of t he powers th us a t t a ined . T h e ab i l i t y he possessed

co ul d n o t b e g o t b y s t u d y o r l ap as , i.60. 4 ; b u t V y g s a ' ~ a se m a y

fa i r ly be r egarded as excep t iona l . I n oth er cases , a ll tha t a

Yog in can do i s done in the ear ly epic b y a n ascetic ,' and up to

a ce r ta i n p o i nt t h e t w o a r e o ne . C o n seq u en t ly t h e l a t e r t ech -n ique car ri es on bo th the o ld d i sc ipl ine and i t s ph rase o logy ; b u t

the earl ie r fo rm know s on ly the asce ti c s ide , and no t even th a t i n

i t s H ath a refinements . "P o st ur e" i s a chief conce rn of the

Yo gin , bu t t o the Mnni th i s t echn ica li ty is u .nknown. T hr ou gh

th e whole of th e ear l ier epic I bel ieve there i s but one case even

sugge s t ing th e Y ogin "posture ," whereas the t a l es a re ma ny

w h ich sh o w t h a t t h e M u n i s e i th e r s to o d , o r h u n g t h emse lv es

ups ide down, tho ug h th e a im in do ing so wa s a t t a inm ent no t on'ly

of po we r b u t of high est bliss. 'l'he conc lasion seems to b e ine vit-

ab le tha t t he whole tone , t h e p rac t ice and ideal , of t hese anc ien t

ta les of sain ts d i ffers ent i r e ly f ro m th at of the pseudo-epic . T h e

pract ice of Yo ga in these ta les of &di i s qui te unknown , and th e

word in i t s p re gn an t sense is a lmos t l ack ing ,' exce p t wh en H ar i i s

in t roduc ed as " lo rd o f Yog ins" and c u k r a as YogBcBrya, i . 34.

1 4 ; 66. 43, an d i n vedR y o g ah i n i. 1. 48 . T h e t e rm M a h l yo g in

is used, I t h ink , on ly as ind ica ted a bove (and then imply ing t ap as

only); but in i i . 68. 43 we find, in the miracle-scene, that Krsniica lls ou t, Kys!za, K ys n u, 17mhQyogi11, i. 68. 43 ; a n d S a n a t k u -

r11Sra is YogBcBrya, ?~tahdtapA?~,n ii. 1 1 . 33; as in the l a t e T i r t l i a

ta le of the b i r th of the war-go d Skand a, Kumii ra i s " l or d of

T o g i n s " a n d h as m n h d y o g a , ix . 44. 3:3; 46 . 96.

So in iii. 165. 13, good co nd uct, @ la , and sam cidhi; iii. 177. 22 , tapo-damdccirasamcidhiyuktds, t y~odapd t r&vnra7zc i~mnku t t&&.

? I n one point the teaching is contradictory. Great ascetics acquirethe Veda without study, like BlBmdhBtar, iii. 126. 33, dhycinamdtra;bu t tap as of th e hardest sort cannot teach it, ib. 135. 16ff.

It is comm on enough, how ever, in th e sense of m eans, w ay , applica-tion, energy, and other untechnical meanings, as in compounds,throughout the epic, such as kdlayoga, svciduyogin (b yt Kglayog in in

th e pseudo-epic, epithet, of CJva), kru may oga, etc . Com pare iii. 106.23, anena kramnyogena, " in this order; " 107.70 ; tapa&siddhisamciyogcit. . kcilayoge?za, "by means of t ap as in course of tim e."



I

In so fa r as the Vana has taIes of this sort, the same thing is

true there. Th u s in the ancient Flood-story, th e venerable Manu

stands on one leg and hangs upside down1 for ten thousand years,

like other old Muniu, iii. 187 . 4 ff . ; but this book, also a mix tur e

of old and new, shows as well th e fea tures of tlie pseudo-epic.

am n ot entering here a ny vicious circle ; fo r I suppose, for exam-

ple, th at no good historian would deny th at the chapter of Va na

where the sun is adored under i ts "one hun dre d and eigh t"-(twelve) names, one of which is Mihira, is a late chap ter, as has

been ma intained b y eve ry com petent scholar since Lassen. Here,

fo r the first time in th e epic, we come upon (yogccm cisth8yo)prdndycirnena tasthiudn, and th e Yogin sings in his Stotra to the

sun, tvariz gat ih saruascimkhy6ficiri~ oginci9i~' tuanz parciyanarn.

Th is passage, iii. 3. 34-37, 61, is led np to by the first allusion to

' Thus: .iirdhOabdhuh . . . ekapddasthitas tivrah cakdra sumnhat

tapa&,avcikgirds tathd cd 'pi netrdir animigdir drdham; so 'tapyatn

tap0 ghoralh vargd@m ayutam tadd. The upside-down form of asceti-

cism is gradually fading out in India. A few years ago there was a

colony of the AvBkqiras sort in the grove by the lake in Ajmere. They

numbered nearly an hundred and hung like bats from the trees, by the

knees or by the anlrles, in a position sure to destroy their brains if they

had any. But in '96 only one or two were to be seen. So, too, the iron

spiked-bed, a later form of asceticism, is now out of fashion. In tlie

village beside the lake a t Kurukgetra, I saw one ascetic who showed his

spiked bed, but his body did not look as if he had used it except fo r

exhibition. There was also such a bed near Brahman's lone temple a t

Pushkara ; but the owner did not pretend to use it , and only kept it as

a relic or for show. Ordinarily, mutilation, ashes, gQnabandhann, and

posing the arm s are the modern methods, but they are sometimes more

elaborate (keeping one leg behind the neck, etc.), not as Yoga, however,

but as tapas, though, of course, the creatures call themselves Yogins.

So far as I could discover, they have absolutely no notion of higher

Yoga, and, indeed, most of them are nearly idiotic. They live on the

chari ty of the poor, and are still dreaded by the powerful. Ohe of these

Yogins, in a capital city of North India, refused to budge when the

RBja wanted to enlarge his wall to cover the Yogin's stand, and the

king was afraid to remove him, but built the wall all round him so th at

he sat in a sort of a brick well till he got tired of s tarving and came out

of his own accord. The first adhomukhas were the Villakhilyas. whohang thus from a tree, i. 30. 2.

"ompare iii. 149.17 (brahmu) sd gatir yogilzdm pard . . . guklo Ndrci-

yaqab. The later Puranic form Yogi, for Yogin, is found, by the way,

only in this case a t C. xiii. 916, where B. 14. 323 has Sanatkumdro yogd-

ndm (C . yogindm) Sdiizkhycincim KapiZo h y asi.



the yogdigvarya of the gods, iii. 2.80-81, and yoyasiddhi, 88, to

be gained by tapas, and here, too, we 6nd mentioned asfciGgd

buddhib, iii. 2. 18 (which Nilakantha refers to the eight parts of

Yoga),' and kriyliyogadvaya, which may, but does not neces-

sarily, imply Yoga. In the same way, we find that the saints,

though in the same circumstances as those old saints who enjoy

taPoba2a, are now furnished in the later tales with yogabaza, as

in the case of Kuvalstgva who gets Vishnu's own power and as

"a Yogin by Yoga" extinguished a fire, iii. 201. 34 ; 204. 31.

Of course, one may say, How can one prove that the Kuval-

Bgva story is not as antique as that of Mann? But i t surely

implies less acuteness than unreasonableness to ignore the apriori

improbability of this assumption. In ~ ho r t ,here is a difference,

and that difference hangs together with the other factors, mark-

ing the steps between asceticism pure and simple and the technique

of philosophical Yoga. Each age absorbs the preceding, and we

have tapas and yoga used as one as soon as the latter has become

vulgarized. Thus the two are interchangeable in the Arjuna

tales. After his brother teaches Arjuna the mystery, upani:ad,of arms and the science of memory, vidyd pratismytih, iii. 36. 30

and 37. 10-12, he says tapas& yqjayci 'tmcinamYugre?za (the same

phrase in 91. 19), and in consequence (59): tasthdu yogasamanu-

itcth, which is repeated as tapasy ugre va rt amcin a~, 8. 22, and

this yoga=tapas is as follows (23 f f . ) : Clad in grass, deer-skin,

and supported on a staff, he ate, samupnyuktavdn, old leaves that

had fallen on the ground; for one month eating frui t every three

days, then every ~ i x ,hen every fifteen ; then living on air and

holding his arms up, without any support, and tand ding on his

toes, pcidci~Tglis;hdgracIhis~hitahh o tha t the gods, ib. 34, did not

know what he expected to gain, heaven, long life, or "mastery,"

d i ~ v a ry a . This hero was (( in the greatest hurry " to be devout,,

Bohtlingk compares the " eight characteristics " of medhd in thedescription at iii. 45. 8-10: sdAgopani$adLin veddn catur dkhyclnapafi-camcln yo 'dhite guru~u~rzigdrnedhdm cLi '~tagu~dpraydm . . sthzila-lakgya&.

Wompare i. 89. 6, tapasd yojya deham.The same phrase in v. 186. 22, of a female ascetic, who indulges for

twelve years in the same discipline, eating air for six months, and

soaking herself in the Jumna, uduvdsa; all to become a man ! In thesilly exaggeration of the later epic, the girl Death soaks herself eightthousand years and stands on one leg and one toe for hundreds ofbillions of years, vii. 54, 17-85, to avoid her duty.



tv ar ay d pa ra yc i yu k ta s t apase dh? .tan ipcayah , 38. 14. So in theT i r t h a t a l e s , wh ich , co n s id e r in g t h e a t t i t u d e t ak en t o ward s t h e

T i r t h as b y M an u an d o th e r ea r ly p r i e s tl y wr it er s, m ay b e r ea so n -

ab ly assumed to be long to a ra ther l a te s ta ge o f deve lopment ,

Vishnu g ives th e "eight-fo ld mastery ," as!agu?zdipuarya to th e

seers a t th e Sap tacarn Ti r th a , when he was p ra ised wi th th e sevenrcas, ii i. 82. 97 ; th a t i s, the " m as te r y" i s here a pa r t of th e para -

phern al ia of bhakti ; an d here a lso, b u t wi tho ut an y sugges t ion

of it s re al significance, in iii . 83. 63 : gvduillonzdpanclyanepr&n&-

y d m d i r n i r h a r a n t i s v a l o m d n i du i jo t ta m d h , p ii& Z tn td na p c a p r a -

y cinti p a ra m d ? h g a t im , " t h e B rah m an s pu ll o u t t h e ir h a i r w i thsu pp res ~ io n f b rea th and pur if ied g o th e h ighes t way," a passage

h a ll -m ark ed b y t h e l a t e r fo rm ad h ig a tv c i ( t h e an t a rd h d n a m ,

pow er of "d i sappearance " i s "ob ta ine d b y tapas ," a t Kap ila' s,

or Kapiathala 's , Kediira, 72-74).' H er e V ishn u is a Mahiiyogin,

iii. 90. 31. In o n e of t h e s e t a le s i t i s fo rm a l ly t au g h t t h a t t h e

exercise of "m as te ry " d iminishes th e s tore of tap as . Th us ,

Lopamudr i i wan ts luxuries an d te ll s her asce t ic husband th a t he

i s " ab l e b y h is t ap as , i p ah t ap as d , t o g e t a ll t h e wea l t h i n t h eworld ," but Agastya repl ies , " Th a t ' s a s y o u s ay , b u t i t wo uldcause a d im inut ion of th e tapas ," evam eta$ ya th d ' t tha tvariz ,

t apovyaycckaram tu t a t , i ii. 97. 2 1-22.

M ost of th e ta les here use yo ga indiscriminately w i th tap as ,

" g re a t t ap as an d yo ga ," iii. 1 06 . 1 1 ; Pd r th d s t ap o y o g ap a rd h ,

iii. 164, 1 2 ; p a r e n a t a p a s d y u k t d h . . yogasiddhdh, iii . 163. 24.

T h e ascetic wand ers abou t w ith Yoga-powera, yogciih, i ii . 129. 7 ;

" they tha t a re y oga yuk tdh an d tap as i prasak tdh ," i ii . 182 . 90.'

T h e l a s t i s i n t h e h l a rk ap j ey a Pn r i in a of t h e ep ic , wh ich h asseveral s triking novelt ies , e. g. t h e " god -create d or ig inal body,"

a d i p a r i r a , w h i ch is " f o r t h e m o r e p a r t d e s t r o y e d " w hen , a t

once, one is born wi th out in term ediate non-exis tence in a no the r

womb, iii. 183. 7 8 f f . T h e passage x ii . 298. 18 , Great E bi c , p .

39, a l lows "some t im e" between b i r ths . An other passage of th e

1 So in iii,84, 58, a pure m an obtains jcitismaratva, a t the Kokiimukha

Tirtha.% Th is assage explains tha t above (p. 356) in regard to the res ang usta :

"Those th a t have vast w ealth, dhancini vipulcini, and a re pleased withbodily com forts win ea rth b ut lose heaven ; Yogins a nd devotees afflictthe body and win heaven but lose earth ; those who are pious and richopportunely win both worlds ; but those who are neither w isely devoutnor rich lose both worlds."





Muni's "heroic stand" has really nothing in common with the

Yoga ('posture," vircisana.There is one passage in the Sanatsujiitiya to which the com-

mentator ascribes a recognition of cisana, postures, under th e

head of afigdni, which are made to include suppressions of breath

and postures. I doubt, however, whether the word refers toYoga at all, and certainly yoga as used in the passage does not

mean Yoga. The writer describes how the good "extract the

Atman, citmcinam nirharanti, from the body, like the isikd from

the mufija," and then the four pcidas of brahmacarya are given,

with the addition (v. 44. 7 ff., 16-17) :

kcilena pcidam labhate tathci 'rtham

tatap ca pcidariz gurzhyogatag ca

utscihayogena ca pcidam rcchec

chcistreva pcidah ca tat0 'bhiyati;

dharmcidayo dvcidapa yasya rapark

unycini cci 'fi-qcini tathci balariz ca

cicciryayoge phalati 'ti cci 'hur

brahmcirthayogena ca brahnzacaryam.

Telang very properly takes no notice of the interpretation of

afigcini as implying cisanas.

The Tripiras legend, which, when told in the pseudo-epic, xii.

348.38-42, introduces, within the compass of a few sentences, not

only the ciipvaryayoga ignored in the Udyoga parallel referred

to below, but also Dadhica as a Mahiiyogin, is told in Udyoga

without either of these words being used, and the whole account,

offering every opportunity for yoga, speaks only of tapas and

dama (while the corresponding narration in regard to Dadhica in

iii. 100. 21 is also without ascription of yogitva, not to speak of

nlahciyogitva, to that bony saint). I t is not till the extension of

the tale that yoga appears at all, and here Nahusa's claim, in the

Bombay text, that he possesses mcihcitmyayoga (16. 21, papya

,mcihdtmyayogam me) and greatness, not only does not imply

Yoga, but is undoubtedly a later reading for the simple Calcutta

version, 467, papya mcih&tmyam asmcikanz rddhim ca. Theclaim that Nahusa exhibits yoga' could apply only to what he

The ascetic cat, in the Buddhistic tale of v. 160. 14 ff., has all theMuni's characteristics, but yoga occurs here only in the remark, dvayoryogarh nu papycimi tapaso raksanasya ca, GI. 27 , where yoga is com-bination (compatibility).



Vol. xxii.] Yoga-technique. 375

proceeds to do, virndne yojccyitvd cu in. He is tapasvin, not

yogin, even in his own estimation, as is expressly stated both byhimself and in Brhaspati's following account.

Apart from the Sanatsujltiya, 45. 18, and the late refrain of

ch. 46, yoginas tam prapagyant i (ch. 45 being, in all probability,

an addition to the original, as Telang has shown, and the refrain

being simply inserted between old Upanishad citations), Udyoga

has few references to Yoga. There is a long collection of

proverbs where something of the sort might be expected, but

here there is only 33. 61, purivrcid yogayuktah, "a wandering

devotee," showing that no Yoga, in the system's sense, can beintended. Even in the warning against "cul tivating one's

virya," or ascetic power, "Like dogs they consume their own

vomit" (who cultivate the 'power') , 42. 33, only the Muni is

mentioned, not the Yogin. The Buddhistic admonition, naduniin

n a sa rnunir bhauati, "Not through silence (alone) does one

become a mute (ascetic)," ib. 60, is merely ethical. In v. 14.12ff.)

there is a scene where, in like circumstances, as already shown,

the later epic stresses Yoga-power as the means by which onecan creep into a lotus-stalk. But here the same thing is done

without anysuch reference to yoga-bala. In one or two passages,

however, yoga is mentioned by name : GgarnBdhiqarndd y o g a

vtrgi tcrbtveprccsidati, "By scripture-study and by Yoga he that

has his senses under control becomes serene in truth,"' v. 69. 21

(dste sukhari~v a p , GitB, v. 13). So in v. 70. 4, nzdzozdd dhydndc

ccc yogcic cu, Krishna (derived from and pa = nirvrsti) is

called MBdhava (!) "because of his silence, contemplation, and

Yoga."

But it is in the later proclamations of the supreme divinity of

this Krishna, whom the ignorant are accustomed to despise as a

"mere man," that, beginning with the Gitl , we find Yoga and

Yogin employed with the greatest frequency and predilection.

I t may, perhaps, seem to some that these terms were held in

reserve for just this employment; that the one and only author

of the epic deliberately refused to speak of Yogins and Yoga-

bulu in the tales of the Munis of the first book ; that he graduallyintroduced the substitution of yoga as an expression equivalent

Or " in real being," though the simple meaning of truth is alsocommon. Viehnu's power is expressed by this word and its negative,to indicate mdgd, in v. 70. 14 : atattvafiz kurute tattvam, "He makesthe unreal (objective world) real."



t o t ap as i n t h e h y m n s an d Pu ran ic ma te r i al of t h e t h i rd b oo k,

an d th en a t l a st r eve ll ed i n t h e wo rd s y o g a an d y o g in wh en

app lied t o h i s new-m ade God ' as revea led f i r st in th e Gits a n d

then in th e hym n g iven by Bhisma v i. 65, where p i led toge ther

we find, 47 f f . : vig ue pv aro vcisudevo 'si tasnzcid yogcitmcina?it

dciivatnm tvcirn upciirni . . a y a y o g i p a r a v ib ho j a y a y ogaparci-

u a r a ..j a y a l ok e pv ar ep ua ra .. sarvayogci tmart . .%ab a l a m y o g a -

yog ipa jcinimns te . . y o g am p rc ip sy as i t a t t v a t ah . . (tvcim) ancidi-

mad h y c in t am ap c i ray o g am . .pr av ad af i t i v ip rc ih ( the fo l lowing

sec tions keep ing up the s t ra in wi th yogcid v id ita rn , y og in , yoga -

bha ta , dhycinayoga , yogav i t ) .

If we compare, o r ra the r con t ras t , th e p ra i se o f K r i s hn a

ascr ibed a t ii. 38 to th e same admirer , we sha ll f ind tha t , th ou gh

t h e m a n- go d i s h er e a ls o t h e A l l -g o d , K p n a e v a h i lo kc in dm

octpatt ir a p i cci 'vyayah, 23, eta., y et yo ga an d yo gin a re as co n-

sp icuous ly a bsen t f rom the ear l ie r l audat ion as th ey ar e favor i te s

in , the la te r .

If we examine th e use of one of th ese e pi thets , in th e l is t of

vi. 65, we shal l f i r~ d h a t yogci tman is a ppl ied t o th e stin , wh ent h a t g od , t o b e ge t K a rn n, co mes t o e a rt h a n d i m p r e g na t es P r t h ~

by t o u ch in g h e r n av el w i th Yo g a-p o wer , n o t i n t h e ea r l ie r

accoants of th is marvel a t i . 67 a n d 1 1 1 (compare also v. 145),

b u t only in th e secondary account n arrated a t i ii . 307. 2.3 an d 28

(ib. 306. 8, yogcit krtvci dvidhci 'tmcinam ), w he re t h e sun -god ,

"by Yoga" d iv id ing h i s personal i tyYPemains in heaven wi th one

vi. 66. 187-20:

nci 'vajfieyo Vcisudevo mdnugo 'yam i t i p rab h ub ;yap ca mcinugamiitro 'yam i t i brziycit sa m and adh ib, hygikegam a m -jficincit tam dhuF, purugcidhamam ;yoginah tam mahdtmcinam pravig-tam m dn ug ih tan um , av am any ed Vcisudevalh tam cihus tcimasariz jandF,(cf. GitB, ix.11).

T h e division of personality as an attr ibu te of Yoga may perhapshave begun with th e su n, identilled with the year, dividing himself intotwelv e parts. As a genera l thing , epic usage recognizes only t h edoubling or qua dru plin g of a god, or mu ltiplication into ma ny parts,each pa rt, however, being th e same an d like t he whole. I n v. 186. 41,

however, the poet makes a girl ascetic divide into two distinct entities.One half of her becomes a crooked river, because she practiced crooked(wrong) austerities, and the other half continued as a girl, wh ich halfafte rw ard s became a man . Of th e mu ltiplication of gods I hav e giv ena case above (p. 358). Skan da th us quadru ples himself, ix. 44. 37,

yogam cisthciya, and again multiplies himself, 46. 92. But heroes pos-sessed of magical "illusion" play the same trick without Yoga :



377ol. xxii.] Yogu-technique.

pa r t and descends t o ea r t h wi t h t he o t he r , when , be i ng "a l l

Yoga,' ' h e enters Pr th l i an d controls her , wi tho ut depr iving he rof he r virg ini ty , yogenci 'vigyci ' t rnasumsthcih ca kd ra. T h e

sty le here, especial ly in th e fol lo wi ng P rth s's Lam ent, ' is a suffi-

c ient indication tha t this version i s a la te product , even w i tho ut

th e parallels, which show tha t , according t o th e ear lier ta le, th e

sun-god on be ing summoned b y m an t ra s ful fi ll ed h is mission

wi thout recourse t o hypnoti sm. T h e same yo ga rna r t i charac-

ter izes th e la te accou nt of Pr thii 's second concept ion (b y Dha rm a)

a t i . 123. 6.

You ng he roes dy i ng i n ba t t l e g o t o Yama 's w orl d o r Indra 'sworld, accordin g to ear ly batt le-accounts , bu t when we get t o

the late ( inflated) book of Drona we a r e t augh t t ha t a boy-he ro

of only s ixteen n ot only goes t o t h e worlds l ie deserves b y his

bravery and mora l charac te r , but , wi th a sudden addi t ion of

ver se s i n ano t her me t r e, t h a t "he has gone t he way pur sued b y

Y og ins whose insight has been clari fied b y med i ta t ion ; a n d h e

has assumed a lun ar body," vi i. 71. 12-17. Here i n Drona t he re

is a case of hypn ot ism exercised b y th e so-called Suprem e God,who i s ac t ing as the se rv ant (" a char ioteer i s only a servant " )t o t he he ro Ar j una . Bo t h go t o bed in sepa ra t e t en t s and t hen

Kris hna , "a pp ly in g Yoga," yo ga m asth l iya yulctdtnzci, vii . 7 9 .9 ff.,

causes a vision of himself to app ear to A rju na and hold a l ong

conve rsat ion w i th him. In this , seventh, book, Krishn a makes

darkness in dayl ig ht by his Yoga-pow er , yogi yogefza sa h y u k to

yogindnz igva ro h ar ih , vii . 146. 68 (in 202 . 15, yogo yogegvarah

i s C a m b h u ).

Th e next book, apar t f rom a re fe rence t o Drona 's dea th when

eng aged in Yoga , v iii. 9. 38, has, I believe, no reference t o y o g a.

This i s or iginal ly an older book, showing, for example, both

views in regard to the t ime of exile, an indication t h at i t i s com-

posed of pieces of various date s. D ro na recognizes only thir te en

'' deceived by his glory him one they saw many," vii. 113 .13 , of SLtyaki ;

also in 141. 7 (cases of "illus ion" are fo und passim i n acco un ts of de-

mons and half-gods).A

case of th e su n, dvcidapcitman, appearin g inth e twelve months a s ' ' div idin g himself into twelve," kytvci dvcidapadhci'tmcinanz, is found at iii. 3. 26 and 59.

P~t hL ' sLament is a close literary parallel to Simonides Frg. 22.

The expression used i n invok ing t he god, prcincin upaspTgya, iii. 306.10,does not imply prcinciycin~a, s Mr. Gangu li trans lates , but w etting th em ou th, adbhih being supplied, as in Manu iv. 143.

VOL. XXII. 26



years of exile, implying Virlta, but Kapa , while it recognizes

this view in other passages, holds also the older view tha t the

exile was only twelve years long, a view dating from the time

before the intrueion of Virlta . Compare viii. 11. 27, " the arrow(of grief) would be removed, which has been mine for twelve

years," (later on, "the grief of thirteen years," 68. 9 ; 74. 47 ;

91. 4). Calya also reserves Yoga allusions for the late Tirtha

tales. Here Vyiisa and Asita Devala ge t their "greatest Yoga"

(mahGyoga not being enough, it is now pa rama and pa ra ) simply

by visiting a bathing-place, ix. 49. 23-24, as does a saint a t 50. 7,

yoyanityah. Here (a saint's) "supernatural power belongs toausterities but is born of Yoga," d@va prabhdvarit tapaso

yogajam. The prabhicva or mastery here extolled is to dis-

appear and to go and come with supernatural speed, to ascend t o

Brahman, and descend again, at will, 50. 23ff. The union of t he

Yoga and bhakti idea is conspicuous here. Thus in the tale of the

jujube-girl, another of the many ascetic women whose tales adorn

the epic and probably reflect the influence of Buddhism, the

divinity is pleased "with her faith, austerities, and ascetic rule,"

bhakti, tapas, and niyama, ix. 48. 30, and so grants her desires.

Another, "a chaste Brahman woman," went to heaven on being

yogayuktd, 54. 6. These stories are merely t o advertise bathing-

resorts, each one of which must have a miracle. This book con-

tains a clear reference to Yoga regulations and CZlstra in the

Tir tha tale of ch. 50, already referred to. One saint, seeing that.

another's magic power was much greater than his own, took

lessons of him, "learned the regulations, vidhi, of Yoga, accord-

ing tp the CBstra, and, by performing all the practices, kriyds,according to rule, got the highest, para, Yoga, and attained

emancipation," 50. 53-64 (~racticalYoga has the technical name

of LriyiFyoga).

In the next two books I have noticed nothing of interest for

this subject except the inversion in xi. 7. 23 of the image of thesteeds and the chariot. In this figure, instead of the untamed

senses being steeds to be held in check, the saint's chariot is

dragged to victory by the steeds called Restraint, Renunciation,and Carefulness, controlled by the reins of good conduct, @a.

A comparison of the passages cited above, before the remarks

on the la ter battle-books, will show that there are several distinct

cases where the same scene is without Yoga in the earlier epic, bu tfull of Yoga ideas and expression in the later epic. What is the

bearing of this and of the other facts adduced in this paper ?



Vol. xxii.] Yoga-technique. 3'19

If th e epic, as one whole, was composed a t a da te earl ier th an

th at to which we can possibly ass ign the thi rd-class Upanishads,

which first reveal acqu aintance with Yoga-technique, how hap-

pens i t t ha t th e pseudo-epic shows so int imate an acquaintance

wi th th a t t ech niqu e? O r if , i r respective of da te , the work was

original ly one whole, why is i t t ha t some tales show th e au tho r

to be wel l up in this technique, whi le others , a l though the scenic

environ me nt is th e same, lack al l application of th e idea and eve n

lack the word ? And even if this difference between the early

an d late tales be bel i t tled as much a s possible, the re s t i l l remains

to be expla ined the a lmos t complete a b ~ e n c e f Yoga- techniqueprior to the B ook of Peace, where i t i s ful ly recognized. One

m ay say, th at i s the place to explain i t , and so i t i s explained the re

and n ot elsewhere. B ut there are m any pa rts of th e early epic

where didact ic cha pters have been placed, and moral an d techni-

cal allusions of al l sorts are sca ttered throu gh th e poem, but Y og a

prd?zdyd?na ,Yo ga dsana , Yoga- technique , in shor t , is scarcely

recognized. A pa r t f rom the pseudo-epic , Yog a i s e i ther no t

recognized a t all, i t s place being taken b y auster i ty , tapas , or i ti s considered as synonymous with tapas . I n th e pseudo-epic,

t apa s i s on ly a prepara t ion fov Yoga. Ro ug hly speaking , ther e

are thre e epic groups, old ta pa s tales and teaohing, void of Yoga ;

t a les and teaohing in which ta pa s and yo ga a re synonymous , and

both are merely a means of magic ; ales and didactic masses in

u-hich is found an elaborated systemat ic Y oga philosophy.

B ut to most scholars , th e pseudo-epic 's fam il iar i ty wi th Yoga -

QBstra, Yo ga-teac hers, and Yoga-tec hnique will of i tself pro ba bly

be sufficient t o sett le th e question wh eth er th e da te of th e Bookof Peace is nearer 500 A.D. or 500 B.C. T h e examples of tech-

nique g iven in this pape r (especially the use of dhcira?ail)place

th e technical par t of th e pseudo-epic on a par chronologically

with the late Ksuriki i rath er than w ith th e older Upanishads.

Documents

Yoga in the Great Epics