History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.207
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.207
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The Vyāsabhāṣya explains 'svādhyāya' as the *japa* (inaudible repetition) of *om* and other holy texts or study of the śāstras treating of liberation ²³²⁴. The Śat. Br. XI. 5. 7 contains a eulogy of svādhyāya and the words 'svādhyāyosdhyetavyaḥ' (one should study the Veda) occur frequently therein. *Om* is the most prominent among the symbols (*pratīkas*) under which the upāsanā of the supra-sensible brahma was to be carried out. Vide Chān. Up. I. 1. 1 (om-ityetad-akṣaram-udgītham-upāsīta), Tai. Up. I. 8 (om-iti brahma, om-itīdam sarvam), Muṇḍaka Up. II. 2. 4 (praṇavo dhanuḥ śaro hyātmā brahma tal-lakṣyam-ucyate, 'om is the bow, the soul is the arrow, brahma is the target &c ), Praśna Up. V. 5 (Yaḥ punar-etam trimātrenomity-etenaivākṣareṇa param puruṣam-abhidhyāyīta). The Y. S. borrows this importance of Om from the Upaniṣads. The five *kleśas* are defined in Y. S. II. 5-9. Avidyā (ignorance)²³²⁵ consists in regarding the non-eternal as eternal, the impure as pure, pain as pleasure, the non-self as the self. Asmitā (sense of personality) consists in the seer (the self) being held as if identical with the instruments of seeing (such as mind and sense organs). Abhiniveśa (clinging to life) means the craving ('May I not cease to live, may I live') which sweeps on by its own force and is established in this form even among the learned. Īśvarapraṇidhāna has been explained above (p. 1412 note 2319). The Y. S. (II. 11 and 12) says that the kleśas have subtile conditions (viz.
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avidyā and asmitā) and coarse effects in the form of vṛttis (the fluctuations of the mind, rāga, dveṣa and abhiniveśa); escape from the former is secured by resolving them by means of real knowledge while the coarse ones are controlled by contemplation (dhyāna). The accumulated deposits of *Karma* arise from the five *kleśas*, are fit to be experienced in the seen birth (that is in the present birth) and in an unseen (i. e. future) birth. So long as the root (viz the kleśas) exists the accumulated karma leads to fruition in three forms viz. birth, life (long or short) and experience, which three result in giving joy or anguish according as the accumulation is due to meritorious or evil acts. The Yogasūtra says that the Yoga system has, just like the system of medicine,2325a four divisions or aspects, viz. *saṁsāra* (the round of births or transmigration), the cause of *saṁsāra*, the release from *saṁsāra*, the means of release (viz. *samyak-darśana*, insight into reality or discriminating discernment between the puruṣa and sattva, unassailed by false knowledge); sūtras 16-27 of the 2nd pāda set out these four and explain some of the terms used in defining them. Sūtra 28 provides that when impurities are washed away by practising the angas of Yoga, the knowledge shines forth (more and more) till discriminatory discernment becomes perfect. Then sūtra²³²⁶ 29 enumerates the eight *aṅgas* (aids, or auxiliaries) of Yoga, viz.
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*yama* (abstinences), *niyama* (observances), *āsana* (bodily posture), *prāṇāyāma* (control or regulation of breath), *pratyāhāra* (withdrawal or suppression of the organs of sense), *dhāraṇā* (fixed attention), *dhyāna* (meditation or contemplation), *samādhi* (concentration or absorption into the object of meditation). The Vaikhânasasmārtasūtra enumerates the same eight angas of Yoga. The remaining sūtras of *pāda* two (from 30 to 55) deal with the enumeration and definitions of yamas and niyamas, their explanations and the treatment of āsana, prāṇāyāma and pratyāhāra. The Śāntiparva (304.7 = 316.7 of Ch. ed.) speaks of Yoga as 'aṣṭaguṇita' or aṣṭaguṇin). Out of the eight aṅgas the first five are indirectly useful for samādhi, because they eradicate what are opposed to samādhi (such as hiṁsā, asatya &c), and are therefore called *bahiṟaṅga* (external, indirect) sādhanas (means) of Yoga, while dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi are said to be *antaraṅga* to Yoga (Y. S. III. 7, 'trayam-antaraṅgaṁ pūrvebhyaḥ'. The last three are dealt with in the 3rd *pāda*. It is these sūtras in the 2nd *pāda* that are emphasized and elaborated in Dharmaśāstra works. Therefore some detailed treatment of these matters is needed here.