The Yoga Tradition

by Georg Feuerstein

  36. Perhaps the three kinds of creatures are those that show a preponderance of tamas, rajas, or sattva.

  37. The word harita is often taken to mean “yellow” or even “green.” It is here given as “golden.”

  38. The six twins are the twelve months, which come in pairs and which account for 360 days. The one “born singly” is the intercalary month composed of the remaining days of the solar year.

  39. The word akshara means literally “unmoving” or “imperishable.” It can refer to a syllable (such as the single-syllabled mantra om symbolizing the ultimate Reality) or to the Divine itself. Here it refers either to the solar rays or to the stars.

  40. Here the word agra or “First[-bom]” stands for the sun, the visible form of the invisible ultimate Light.

  41. The seven seers (sapta-rishi, written saptarshi) are probably Vishvâmitra, Jamadagni, Bharadvâja, Gotama, Atri, Vashishtha, and Kashyapa. They are first named as a set in the Shrauta-Sûtras belonging to the end of the Vedic era. In the later Sanskrit literature, they symbolize the cognitive faculties, namely the five senses, the lower mind (manas), and the higher wisdom mind (buddhi). The vessel opening to the side is both the experienced world, which is divided by the horizon into an upper and a lower half, as well as the human head.

  42. By means of their songs of praise (ric) accompanying the sacrificial rituals, the Vedic seers aspired to contact the Gods and the Divine itself, but only those who were able to focus (“yoke”) the mind properly were blessed with success.

  43. The term ketu has the primary meaning of “light.” It can refer to a meteor or comet, but also to visible evidence in general. To combine these two connotations, I have translated the term as “bright indication.”

  44. The Water Bearer—the Sanskrit phrase is bharantam udakam—is none other than the sun, which drinks up the ocean’s water only to disperse it again in the form of fertilizing rain.

  45. To know the sun with the mind means to know its inner secret, namely that it serves as a portal to the immortal Light.

  46. The Sanskrit text has madhye, which means “in the middle” (from madhya), here meaning neither the present moment nor the very earliest time but somewhere in between.

  47. The expression “threefold swan” (trivritam hamsam) is not clear. It could refer to the three aspects of light, namely the sun, fire, and lightning.

  48. Svar can also denote “sky.”

  49. This could be a reference to the fact that the Vedic seers symbolized the world in the form of a she-goat (aja) that mates with the Divine in its pure nature, represented as a billy-goat (aja). Out of their union, all things are created.

  50. The words bhogya (“edible,” “capable of eating”) and bhojana (“food”) can also be translated as “capable of enjoyment” and “enjoyment” respectively.

  51. The word ghnanti means literally “slay” but is here translated as “consume.”

  52. The word bala means “child,” and has been translated thus by some. However, it can also be an alternative spelling for vâla meaning “hair,” which makes more sense in the present context.

  53. The meaning of this verse is obscure.

  54. This verse is found verbatim in the Shvetâshvatara-Upanishad (4.3), which has incorporated many of the ideas found in this Vedic hymn.

  55. The Sanskrit original has the genitive plural ushâsah “of dawns.”

  56. The name Avi is derived from the root av meaning “to favor,” though the word avi stands for “sheep.”

  57. Some translators have “green,” but see footnote 37.

  58. The verb forms used in the first half of this verse make it impossible to determine the intended subject. The present translation understands the phrase “does not abandon” (na jahati) as “one cannot abandon,” and “does not see” (na pashyati) as “one does not see.”

  59. The phrase yathâyathâm, here rendered as “as it is,” appears to be an early form of yathâbhutam. The words of the Divine are sacred and truth-bearing, as are the words of those who know the Divine. This notion underlies the entire Vedic revelation.

  60. This is another difficult verse. The “Flower of the Waters” (apam pushpam) seems to refer to the hidden creative principle or essence of existence. Here the word mâyâ does not yet have the later meaning of “illusion,” as in Shankara’s school of Vedânta, rather it is creative magical power.

  61. Matarfshvan is India’s Prometheus. His name means literally “He who lies in the mother,” that is, in Nature—a reference to the fact that the sun rises out of the oceans, corresponding to fire lying hidden in wood until it is kindled through friction. In the Post-Vedic Era, Mâtarîshvan is another name for the God of Wind, and this also appears to be so in the Vedic period. Translated into esoteric terms, he is the breath, which works upon the body and mind so as to bring forth the inner light.

  62. The “purifier” is presumably the wind, which entered the golden flames, fanning them into a conflagration.

  63. The word aja (“unborn”) also can mean “goat.” One translator has characterized this verse as “utterly obscure,” but this is not really the case. It is through the Vedic chants that the worshipers attain the heavenly realm, the abode of the Gods. But beyond Heaven is the ultimate Reality, here described as unborn.

  64. This has been called the earliest clear mention of the âtman as the ultimate spiritual principle.

  65. The materials on the Vrâtyas consist of fragments written in archaic Sanskrit and of scattered references in the works of ancient writers who had a vested interest in being critical of these brotherhoods. Little wonder that most scholars have shied away from studying them. The only really comprehensive study is that by the German Yoga researcher Jakob Wilhelm Hauer. See J. W. Hauer, Der Vrâtya, vol. 1: Die Vrâtyas als nichtbrahmanische Kultgenossenschaften arischer Herkunft (Stuttgart, Germany: Kohlhammer Verlag, 1927). The announced second volume was never published. For a more recent illuminating discussion, see Jan Heesterman, “Vrâtya and Sacrifice,” Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 6 (1962), pp. 3-37, and David Gordon White, Myths of the Dog-Man (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1991). The latter explores the fascinating relationship between the Vrâtyas and dogs. “Symbolically, the dog is the animal pivot of the human universe, lurking at the threshold between wildness and domestication and all of the vâlances that these two ideal poles of experience hold. There is much of man in his dogs, much of the dog in us, and behind this, much of the wolf in both the dog and man. And, there is some of the Dog-Man in god” (White, p. 15). The Vrâtyas, who frequented the forests, were part of the Vedic counterculture and as such were figures of liminality.

  66. The Vrâtyas’ connection with the Sâma-Veda was shown by J. W. Hauer, and they also appear to have been connected with the recitation of epic sagas, the “Fifth Veda,” some of whose materials are to be found in the Puram literature.

  67. For a treatment of the magical teachings of the Atharva-Veda, see M. Stutley, Ancient Indian Magic and Folklore: An Introduction (Boulder, Colo.: Great Eastern Book Co., 1980).

  Chapter 5: The Whispered Wisdom of the Early Upanishads

  1. Written prânagnihotra. The notion of many scholars that this sacrifice was performed primarily by renouncers is not borne out by the available evidence, as was made clear by the Dutch indologist H. W. Bodewitz in his book Jaiminiya Brâhmana 1,1-65: Translation and Commentary, With a Study of Agnihotra and Pranagnihotra (Leiden, Holland: E. J. Brill, 1973).

  2. For the most comprehensive but in many ways antiquated English rendering of the Upanishads, see P. Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, translated from the German by V. M. Bedekar and G. B. Palsule (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980), 2 vols. The German original was first published in 1897. See also R. E. Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Oxford University Press, 1958), and S. Râdhâkrishnân, The Principal Upanisads (London: George Allen & Unwin/New York: Humanities Press, 1953), which includes the Sanskrit text of thirteen Upanishads. Conv
entional scholarship places the oldest Upanishads around 700-600 B.C.E., but this date is misleading in light of the recent chronological considerations, which oblige us to push the date of the earliest Brâhmanas back to well before 1500 B.C.E. Since the style and contents of the oldest Upanishads is reasonably continuous with the Brâhmanas, we ought not postulate too big a gap between these two literary genres. Moreover, some of the teachers mentioned in the Brâhmanas also figure in the Upanishads. Thus, the Brihad-ranyaka-Upanishad (e.g., 6.5.Iff.) lists fifty-two teachers by name, including the famous sage Yâjnavalkya. Since he was intimately linked with the teachings of the Shata-Patha-Brâhmana, which can be tentatively placed around 1500 B.C.E., we have a helpful chronological marker. Yâjnavalkya was thirty-eight generations removed from Pautimashya, the last teacher mentioned in the text. This translates into roughly 760 years. Thus, the last recorded transmission of the Brihad-ranyaka-Upanishad can be assigned to about 700 b. c.e., though its nucleus goes back to before the Bhârata war. In other words, the teachings of this Upanishad belong to the period between 1500 and 700 B.C.E. The age of the other early Upanishads cannot be significantly different.

  3. On Eco-Yoga, see Henryk Skolimowski, Dancing Shiva in the Ecological Age (New Delhi: Clarion Books, 1991) and The Participatory Mind: A New Theory of Knowledge and of the Universe (London: Arkana/Penguin Books, 1994), as well as G. Feuerstein, “Yoga and Ecology,” Quarterly Journal of the Indian Academy of Yoga, vol. 3, no. 4 (1983), pp. 161-172.

  4. The phrase shloka-krit (“shloka maker”) is ambiguous. Shloka can refer to a stanza, sound in general, or fame. It is derived from the verbal root shru (“to hear”). I chose to render it here as “poetry.” The underlying idea is that the sage, in the condition of ecstatic identification with the transcendental Self, acknowledges that Self or ultimate Being as the source of his poetic exuberance.

  5. Elsewhere brahma-loka can also stand for the “realm of Brahma,” the Creator.

  6. See J. W. Hauer, Der Yoga: Ein indischer Weg zum Selbst (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 1958), p. 144.

  7. The term adhyâtman means “relative to the self,” here translated as the “deep Self,” because it is the transcendental Self that is intended.

  Chapter 6: Jaina Yoga: The Teachings of the Victorious Ford-Makers

  1. Written cârangasutra, from âcâra (“conduct”), anga (“limb” or “constituent”), and sutra (“aphorism”).

  2. According to Jaina sources, Rishabha lived for no fewer than 8.4 million years. It is possible that he was a historical personage who, to be sure, enjoyed a more ordinary span of life, though nothing is known about him apart from the later legends. It is especially noteworthy that a Rishabha is mentioned in the Vrâtya book of the Atharva-Veda (book 15). The Rig-Vedic references to Rishabha are VI.16.47; VI.28.8; X.91.14; X.166.1.

  3. Jainism, however, still does not receive the scholarly attention it deserves, and also followers of this age-old tradition in Western countries lack adequate resources for studying their own scriptures. But see the excellent introductory work by P. Dundas, The Jains (London/New York: Routledge, 1992); and the works by A. K. Chatteijee, A Comprehensive History of Jainism, vol. 1 (Calcutta, 1978), vol. 2 (Calcutta, 1984); E. Fischer and J. Jain, Jaina Iconography (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1978), 2 vols.; and R. Williams, Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Medieval Shravakâcâras (London: Oxford University Press, 1963).

  4. Written Tattvarthddhigamasutra or Tattvarthasutra.

  5. Written Shatkhandagama.

  6. K. Jaspers, Way to Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy (New Haven, Conn./ London: Yale University Press, 1954), p. 96.

  7. This Haribhadra must be distinguished from the polymath Haribhadra Virahankha who lived in the fifth/sixth century and is credited with the authorship of more than one thousand texts.

  8. Written mahâtman.

  9. Written Jnânârnava.

  Chapter 7: Yoga in Buddhism

  1. V. A. Smith, The Oxford History of India (London: Oxford University Press, 1970), p. 76.

  2. C. Humphreys, Buddhism (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 195), p. 27.

  3. The honorific title siddhartha is composed of siddha (“accomplished”) and artha (“object”), thus denoting a person who has accomplished his or her goals. This name was made famous in Western circles through Herman Hesse’s novel Siddhârtha (1951).

  4. On the thirty-two marks of a Buddha, see A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography (New York: Dover Publications, 1988), p. 190.

  5. Bhikshu Sangharakshita, A Survey of Buddhism (Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala; London: Windhorse, 1980), p. 83.

  6. In Mahâyâna Buddhism, primal ignorance (avidyâ) rather than desire is considered to be the cause of suffering. Both psychological forces, however, work together to create the experience of duhkha.

  7. H.-W. Schumann, Buddhism: An Outline of Its Teachings and Schools. Translated by G. Feuerstein (London: Rider, 1973), p. 65.

  8. Written lokottaramagga; in Sanskrit lokottaramarga.

  9. The Sanskrit word samyak, meaning “right” or “perfect,” becomes samyag before a soft consonant or vowel.

  10. Written in Sanskrit dkdshdnantâyatana.

  11. Written in Sanskrit vijnânanantâyatana.

  12. Written in Sanskrit âkimcanyâyatana.

  13. Written in Sanskrit naivasamjnasamjnâyatana.

  14. L. Hixon, Mother of the Buddhas: Meditation on the Prajnapâramitâ Sûtra (Wheaton, 111.: Quest Books, 1993), p. 6.

  15. E. Conze, Buddhist Thought in India (London, Allen & Unwin, 1962), p. 200.

  16. E. Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies: Selected Essays (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1967), p. 148.

  17. The term tathagata means literally “thus gone” and refers to a fully awakened being, or buddha, who has realized “suchness” (tathatâ).

  18. Generally written Bodhicaryavatâra. For a good English rendering, see M. L. Matics, Entering the Path of Enlightenment: The Bodhicaryavatâra of the Buddhist Poet Santideva (London: Allen & Unwin, 1971), pp. 153-155.

  19. Some scholars think that there have been two Nâgârjunas. One is the philosopher-adept (c. 150 C.E.), the other is the alchemist-adept (assigned to c. 700 C.E.). The Tibetans believe that the philosopher-adept of the Mâdhyamika school also knew alchemy and was able to prolong his life indefinitely. The fact is, there have been a number of spiritual authorities in the common era bearing this name. See D. G. White, The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1996), pp. 66-77, for a summary of the scholarly debate on this issue and his own reasonable proposal, which involves three Nâgârjunas: the philosopher-adept, the alchemist-adept who was a disciple of the famous siddha Sâraha (early seventh century C.E.), and the medical adept who composed the Yoga-Shataka (ninth century C.E.).

  20. Written paramartha.

  21. The six gatis or forms of birth are deities, anti-deities (asura), humans, animals, ghosts (preta), and denizens of hell.

  22. There is a nice word play here: The awakened being is released from the bonds (bandhana) of imagination but continues to be a friend (band- hava) of the world.

  23. Written bhutartha.

  24. Written Ekaksharisutra.

  25. See A. Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism (London: Rider, 1969).

  26. See P. C. Bagchi, Dohakosha, part 1 (Calcutta: Calcutta Sanskrit Series, 1938).

  27. The Tibetan word for dakini is khandroma, meaning “sky dancer,” which is a reference to the illusory dance of awareness in the physical realm.

  28. C. Humphreys, op. cit., p. 179.

  29. E. Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies: Selected Essays (Oxford: Cassirer, 1967), p. 29.

  30. Translated from the Tibetan by H. V. Guenther, The Royal Song of Sâraha: A Study in the History of Buddhist Thought (Berkeley, Calif.: Shambhala, 1973), pp. 14-38.

  31. See A. Bharati, The Tantric Tradition (London: Rider, 1970), p. 20.
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br />   32. G. Tucci, The Theory and Practice of the Mandala (London: Rider, 1961), p. 25.

  33. J. Blofeld, The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet (New York: Dutton, 1970), p. 33.

  34. The Tibetan word ganden (also spelled gaden) corresponds to the Sanskrit term tushita (“delightful”), which is the name of Maitreya’s transcendental paradise.

  35. For Tsongkhapa’s masterful commentary on Nâropa’s six yogic methods, see the translation by G. H. Mullin, Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Nâropa (Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 1996); see also Mullin’s Readings on the Six Yogas ofNâropa (Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 1997), which contains his English renderings of short Tibetan texts on Nâropa’s six Yogas, including Nâropa’s “Vajra Verses of the Whispered Tradition.” This text actually mentions not six but ten methods.

  36. J. Blofeld, op. cit., p. 234.

  Chapter 8: The Flowering of Yoga

  1. The expression “deep Self’ for adhyâtman refers to the core of the human being, the ultimate essence that is pure consciousness and bliss.

  2. The two Upanishads dedicated to Râma may be assigned to circa 300 B.C.E., which also appears to be the date of the Jâbala-Upanishad belonging to the tradition of renunciation (samnyâsa). See J. F. Sprockhoff, Samnyâsa: Quellenstudien zur Askese im Hinduismus (Wiesbaden, Germany: Kommissionsverlag Franz Steiner, 1976).

  3. See P. Richman, “Introduction: The Diversity of the Râmâyana Tradition,” in P. Richman, ed., Many Râmâyanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1991), p. 3.

  4. The name Hanumat or Hanumat means “He who possesses [strong] jaws.”

  5. For a discussion of the symbolism of the number “18,” which plays a significant role in the Mahâbhârata, see G. Feuerstein, The Bhagavad- Gîtâ: Its Philosophy and Cultural Setting (Wheaton, 111.: Quest Books, 1983), p. 64.

  6. See R. Garbe, Introduction to the Bhagavadgîtâ, translated by D. Mackichan (Bombay: The University of Bombay, 1918), and R. Otto, The Original Gîtâ, translated by J. E. Turner (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1939).