History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.303

v7.c94.303

*Samādhi* (concentration and absorption)—Dhyāna itself is Samādhi, when only the contemplated object shines forth and when dhyāna is as if emptied of its own form because there is no apprehension of dhyāna as distinct from *dhyeya*.²³⁸³ When meditation is carried to a stage where the object contemplated upon alone appears and the meditator is not conscious of the idea of contemplation, because the object meditated upon entirely engulfs the meditator. The yogin becomes so much identified with the object meditated upon that he is not conscious that he is contemplating upon an object. This is what is meant by ‘svarūpaśūnyam-iva’ (in Y. S. III. 3). In Samādhi the subject and object, the individual and Paramātman are completely blended into one, so that the consciousness of the subject as separate from object disappears. The word ‘Samādhi’ does not occur in any of the ancient Upaniṣads, though it is known to the Maitrāyaṇī Up. (vide n. 2327 above). The word Samādhi occurs in the Bhagavadgītā (II. 53–54) and in Vanaparva (3 11) and in Śāntiparva 195. 19–20, Ch. ed.). The Viṣṇupurāṇa²³⁸⁴ provides that it is called Samādhi when the mind grasps as a result of dhyāna the real nature of that (the Paramātman) in which there is absence of the separate apprehension (of the object to be meditated upon, the act of meditation and the meditator). The three (dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi) are direct aids in samprajñāta-samādhi but they are indirect aids in asaṃprajñātasamādhi, as this last may follow without these. The Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā ²³⁸⁵ states ‘that is called Samādhi where there is equality and oneness of the individual self and the Highest Self and where all desires cease to exist’. *Sabīja* and *nirbīja samādhis* would be equal to savikalpa and nirvikalpa samādhi defined by the Vedāntasāra. There are several grades or stages in samādhi. There are four grades ²³⁸⁶ of Samprajñāta samādhi, viz. savitarka, nirvitarka, savicāra, nirvicāra Vide p. 1411 note 2318 above. The word gauḥ, the object cow denoted by it and the concept or idea (jñāna) 'this is a cow' are all really three separate matters, but they are apprehended as mixed up. When a yogin concentrates upon a gross object and his intellect is conscious of that object as permeated by all the above three, then that samādhi is savitarka (Y. S. I 42). For the others vide note 2318 and below. In the asamprajñāta Samādhi, the ultimate reality dawns on the yogin, prakṛti does not affect him in any way, his soul which abides in itself and is not conscious of personality and even of joy is all *cit* or *citsakti* and nothing else. In this section about the influence of yoga on Dharmaśāstra it is not necessary to go deeply into the several stages of samādhi described in the yoga works. The Gorakṣaśataka²³⁸⁷ describes the final stage of samādhi as follows: 'A yogin in Samādhi does not apprehend smell, flavour, form, touch or sound nor does he apprehend himself or others (as distinct); knowers of brahma hold it to be pure, immovable, eternal, not engaged in activities, free from the guṇas, expansive like the sky, as intelligence and bliss; the knower of yoga reaches non-duality in the highest stage as milk poured in milk, ghee into ghee or fire into fire.'