A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1Dasgupta, Surendranath
Religion
A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1
Dasgupta, Surendranath
Hindu philosophy; India -- Religion
The conception of Yoga as we meet it in the Maitrâya@na
Upani@sad consisted of six a@ngas or accessories, namely prâ@nâyâma,
pratyâhâra, dhyâna, dhara@nâ, tarka and samâdhi [Footnote ref 1].
Comparing this list with that of the list in the _Yoga sûtras_ we find
that two new elements have been added, and tarka has been
replaced by âsana. Now from the account of the sixty-two
heresies given in the _Brahmajâla sutta_ we know that there were
people who either from meditation of three degrees or through
logic and reasoning had come to believe that both the external
world as a whole and individual souls were eternal. From the
association of this last mentioned logical school with the Samâdhi
or Dhyâna school as belonging to one class of thinkers called
s'âs'vatavâda, and from the inclusion of tarka as an a@nga in
samâdhi, we can fairly assume that the last of the a@ngas given in
Maitrâya@nî Upani@sad represents the oldest list of the Yoga doctrine,
when the Sâ@mkhya and the Yoga were in a process of being
grafted on each other, and when the Sa@mkhya method of discussion
did not stand as a method independent of the Yoga. The
substitution of âsana for tarka in the list of Patañjali shows that
the Yoga had developed a method separate from the Sa@mkhya.
The introduction of ahi@msâ (non-injury), satya (truthfulness),
asteya (want of stealing), brahmacaryya (sex-control), aparigraha
(want of greed) as yama and s'auca (purity), santo@sa (contentment)
as niyama, as a system of morality without which Yoga is
deemed impossible (for the first time in the sûtras), probably
marks the period when the disputes between the Hindus and the
Buddhists had not become so keen. The introduction of maitrî,
karu@nâ, muditâ, upek@sâ is also equally significant, as we do not
find them mentioned in such a prominent form in any other
literature of the Hindus dealing with the subject of emancipation.
Beginning from the _Âcârâ@ngasûtra, Uttarâdhyayanasûtra_,
____________________________________________________________________
[Footnote 1: _prâ@nâyâmah pratyâhârah dhyânam dhara@nâ tarkah samâdhih
sa@da@nga ityucyate yoga_ (Maitr. 6 8).]
237
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