History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.207.1

v7.c94.207.1

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.