History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.244

v7.c94.244

Some regulations are prescribed about the food to be taken or avoided by a seeker after Yoga and about the places where he is to practise. The Śāntiparva²³⁵⁰ of the Mahābhārata provides that the yogin should subsist on cooked small particles of grains, or oilcakes and should avoid oily substances and even when subsisting on yāvaka (i. e. kulmāṣa or cooked barley grains) for long, he would still be strong; he should drink water and milk mixed together and should resort to caves. The Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa (q by Kṛtyakalpataru on Mokṣa pp. 167-177) states 'The yogin should begin meditation in unoccupied spots, in forests, caves and should avoid practising Yoga in noisy places, near fire and water, in old cowsheds, where four roads meet, near a heap of dried leaves, on a river bank, in a cemetery or in a place where creeping creatures exist, in a dangerous place, near a well, near a caitya (funeral ground) or an anthill'. The same purāṇa says that he should not practise when his stomach is windy, or he is hungry or tired or when disturbed in mind, nor when it is very cold or hot or windy. The Devala Dharmasūtra²³⁵¹ prescribes that a yogin should practise meditation in a shrine, empty house, mountain cave, on the sands of a river, in caves, or in a forest, in a pure spot free from danger. H. Y. P. I 61 and 64 prescribe what foods to avoid and what foods may be eaten. The Gorakṣaśataka²³⁵² prescribes that the yogin should give up pungent, sour and salted food and should subsist on milk diet. The Gītā (VI. 16-17) says 'one cannot succeed in Yoga who eats too much nor one who observes total fast and Yoga removes pain for him who takes proper food and exercise. The Chān. Up. (VII. 26. 2) where Sanatkumāra gives instruction to Nārada about the Reality remarks 'Purity of the mind follows on purity of food &c. (āhāraśuddhau sattvaśuddhiḥ' &c.). Aparārka on Yāj. I. 154 quotes a long prose passage (on p. 221) from Hārīta "one should be pure and should subsist on a limited quantity of food that would be enough or useful for his purpose as the ācāryas say 'purity of mind ...food". It is clear that Hārīta takes the words 'āhāraśuddhau &c.' literally, while Śaṅkarācārya in his bhāṣya on Chān takes āhāra to mean 'experience of objects of sense such as Śabda'.