The Shiva Sanhita or the Hathayoga Pradipika, Wisdom Ancient
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THE
ESOTERIC PHILOSOPHY
OF
THE TANTRAS
SHIVA SANHITA,
TRANSLATED BY
SRISCHANDRA BASU, B. A., F. T. S.,
VAKIL, HIGH COURT, N. W. P.
CALCUTTA
HEERALAL DHOLE,
127, M U S J I D B A R I S T R E E T
____
1887.
All rights reserved.]
[Price Rs. 2-12.
Dedication
____
TO
MAHARSI H.S. OLCOTT,
President-Founder, Theosophical Society
THIS VOLUME
IS
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
IN RECOGNITION OF HIS SERVICES
FOR THE
REVIVAL OF ARYAN RELIGION
AND
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
BY THE
TRANSLATOR
INTRODUCTION
_________
PRELIMINARY
YOGA has been defined by Patanjali as the suspension of all the functions (
Vrittis
) of the mind. Any
discussion of this subject, therefore, necessarily branches itself into three parts, viz., (1)
Mind
, (2) its
Vritttis
, (3) and the
mode
of suspending them. No treatise of yoga, we think, can be complete, which does
not enter into these questions. The nature of mind is the first thing which aught to be explained. It would
embrace an enquiry into all those hypotheses which philosophers have formed about this entity. Is it
immaterial and self-existent, or is it material and perishing, subject to dissolution with the body? Is it the
same as spirit or is it apart from it? Is it merely a dream, a shadow, a reflection of the Supreme; or is it a
separate and entire entity by itself? Such and many other questions of this nature must be answered before
one has done away with the subject of Chitta (Mind). The second part consists of the enumeration,
classification and definitions of the various faculties of the mind. This part is generally free from
controversy, as the faculties are facts more widely known and comprehended. This branch is what is
known by the name of psychology. So far all the enquiry may be said to be preliminary: —but a
preliminary absolutely necessary for the right understanding of the third part—viz.,
Nirodh
. That division
contains all those various methods adopted by the ancients as well as the moderns for the concentration of
mind, which is the essence of yoga. All the questions of diet, sleep, exercise, posture, &c., facilitating
concentration naturally fall in that subdivision. A comparative view may also be taken in that as to the
various means adopted by yogis, saints, owliyas, &c., for this purpose, as well as the contrivances used by
the modern mystics to bring about this state of mind. In conclusion we shall try to show what are the good
results of yoga, what are the spiritual faculties which it develops, what new channels for the acquisition of
knowledge it opens, what new powers of work it creates and what a source of innocent but sublime
happiness it forms for its votaries.
In this introduction we shall treat of two things:—
First
, the importance of the study of this Science,
and
Second
, the various objections which are generally raised against this subject.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF THIS SCIENCE AND OBJECTIONS
The usefulness of this science as a means of mental culture has been often questioned. There are to be
found many who even deny it the title of
science
. To their minds, the art and philosophy of yoga have no
better claims to be recognised as a branch of science, than alchemy or astrology. To them it is a dream of
the poets, a hallucination of the enthusiasts. By what process of reasoning they have come to this
conclusion, a conclusion contradicting almost all the religious as well as the philosophical convictions of
the ancient and the modern times—is not very easy to decide. But so far as we can find, much of this
disbelief and scepticism is to be attributed to the ignorance of the real truths of yoga. In India, many
understand the word yogi, those hideous specimens of humanity who parade through our streets bedaubed
with dirt and ash,—frightening the children, and extorting money from timid and good-natured folk by
threats, abuse or pertinacity of demand. Of course all true yogis renounce any fraternity with these. If
these painted dolls by any stretch of language can be called yogis, surely their yoga (communion) is with
ash and dirt, with mud and money.
There is another class of persons who have assumed this honored and sacred title, and who by their
bigotry and ignorance have proved a great stumbling-block to the progress of this science. I mean the
Hatha yogis, those strange ascetics who by inflicting tortures and exquisite pains to their flesh, hope to
liberate their spirits. Through a mistaken idea that mind and matter must necessarily be opposed to each
other, they have evolved a philosophy of torture, whose fundamental doctrine seems to be:—the greater the
power of spirit, the less you are pained by tortures. Some of these persons are seen sitting in the same
posture for years together, their legs half paralised by unuse; some are seen with their hands upraised,
which they never bring down, and which wither away and become a dead stalk; while others, in their
supreme contempt of nature and every thing natural, prefer to pass severe winter among snows, and the
burning days of summer surrounded by fire. These persons by their misdirected energy and enthusiasm
have already done a good deal of mischief. They have engendered a belief among ordinary minds that yoga
is perfectly unattainable without austerities, that persons not prepared to fight with their physical nature
such severe struggles as these Hatha yogis, should never expect to make any spiritual progress.
Another but far more gentle and rational class of yogis are those who might be called recluses. These
persons are often very intelligent, and sometimes well-educated. But to us, these persons also seem to
labor under a great error. By some false physical analogy they think that it is impossible to practise yoga in
grihastha
ashrum
, that to attain psychic powers one must leave father and mother, wife and children, and
fly to deserts or high mountains. According to such, the
magnetic and mental atmosphere
(?) of cities and
inhabited places is not favorable for spiritual culture, and only the deep solitudes of a cave or a desert are
the best helps for yoga. This belief that no
grihastha
can be a yogi, is one tacitly believed in by our
spiritual-minded Hindu brothers, who would no more think practising yoga feasible without turning an
ascetic than travelling to the moon. Nay this belief is carried to an absurd extent by some sentimental yogis
of recluse type, who seriously maintain that the sacred and divine tie of marriage is an insuperable barrier
in the path of a neophite.
Looking on the disgusting spectacle of the ash-besmeared and lazy beggar, the horrible self-inflictions
of the Hatha yogi, and inhuman apathy of the recluse, no wonder that many should think that yoga is after
all a great humbug, not worth the consideration of any sane man.
There is another class of objectors, who cannot bring their minds to believe the strange and weird
powers which the practise of yoga gives to its votary. Such are the scientists of our day—men of eminent
learning and clear understanding, persons fitted by their education and pursuits for the proper investigation
of such a complicated subject as Yoga. It is a pity that they should look with sublime disdain on the claims
of Yoga to be recognised as a science. Powers such as those possessed by Sankaracharya and Guru
Nanak—fore-sight transference of their
souls
into other bodies, projecting their Kama-Rupa to distant
places, healing the sick &c., are so many stumbling-blocks to the modern scientist. Brought up in a school
of severe reasoning, and strict and accurate observation and experiment, the scientist is unwilling to give
his credence to the high pretensions of the Yogi without convincing proofs. Nor do we think that the
demand is unnatural. But we had hoped, that his own good sense would have shown the scientist the
futility of his objection. He ought to have known, that while his science deals with things which can be
perceived by our senses, and therefore can be demonstrated to the greatest ignoramus even, the very
alphabets of Yoga are Jivatma and Paramatma—things essentially immaterial. In fact, there can be no
analogy between physical sciences and Yoga in this respect. The study of both physical and mental
sciences must, no doubt, be conducted through experiment and observation, but the objects of one are all
tangible and outside of us, while the other has its materials in inward ideas and thoughts. Mathematics is
perhaps the only science which can afford any slight analogy to Yoga. As it would be impossible for a
common boor to understand the calculations by which an astronomer predicts an eclipse, unless he goes
through years of mental training in Mathematics, so it is much more impossible to make ordinary scientific
minds to grasp the conclusions of Yoga unless they are regularly initiated. As to the question why Yogis
do not show
phenomena
, it might be answered in two ways. All Yogis have not the
power
of producing the
visible manifestation of invisible forces. By far the great majority of Hindu Yogis practice it for the sake of
spiritual development, and serenity and calmness of mind.
Siddhis
(psychic powers) are no ambition of
their souls, they do not court them, nor are they elated if the produce some phenomena now and then.
Their eyes bent upon mokhsha, these students of Yoga do not tarry in their course to pick up these baubles
of
siddhis
. Such persons though never showing a single phenomenon in the course of their whole lives,
intuitively produce conviction to our hearts by the purity, nay, almost the divinity of their lives. You can
distinguish a real Yogi out of thousands, by that inexpressible serenity of his countenance, that nameless
something about his look, voice, and every movement of his limb, which are the invariable results of
Shama and Dama. Wherever a Yogi goes, he carries happiness and purity with him. It is impossible to see
a Yogi, and not to be pleasantly influenced by him. He is the natural leader of humanity; his intense self-
communion and concentration make him honored and respected without courting on his part. In short, a
Yogi carries his credentials on his face. Such are the Yogis with whom , some of our readers might have
had the pleasure of passing the happiest periods of their life; and if we are convinced of anything it is this
that, be Yoga a delusion or hallucination, it
certainly
makes one
happy
.
That class of Yogis, who are called
Siddhas
, and who can produce phenomena extremely rare; or at
least they do not mingle much with mankind. But they are not so rare as diligent search may not reveal
them to the enquirer. It is these
Siddhas
only who can satisfy the experimental spirit of the scientist. It is
they who at will can produce those spiritual phenomena which cannot but convince the most confirmed
sceptic. But for reasons, best known to them,
Siddhas
are always much more reserved in displaying their
powers to strangers. Long acquaintance and great intimacy can only break their reserve. Our scientific
reader my very justly wonder at this and think it rather inexplicable that persons knowing such a strange
science should hesitate to establish its truth to the satisfaction of the outside world.
But this conduct of the Siddhas is not at all so inexplicable and mysterious. Now, if we mistake not, a
majority of the Siddhas are Aryas or belong to races nearly allied to the Aryas. The Aryas. As is well-
known, are the most jealous people on earth as regard their sciences. It is very hard to gain their
confidence. Oppressed by successive races of invaders, the people of India have learned that the only
means of preserving their sciences and sacred scriptures is in keeping them in strict secrecy. And it was no
doubt a very safe means of preservation in old times. And we cannot but approve the policies of our
ancestors in this respect. Certainly the world would not have appreciated the merits of our Shastras and
Vedas had they been made public earlier. We are certain that many of our scientific works would not have
been understood by the world two centuries before, even if made known to it. Even now with all the
advances which the sciences of language and grammar have made, we find how great injustice is done to
our literature by occasional misinterpretation. It is only of late that our Panini’s grammar has been
acknowledged as the best treatise on the subject, nay we may go even so far as to assert, that it is to the
discovery of this book that we see all the attempts of modern Europe for the construction of a Universal
Grammar. Well, when even Indian Pandits, who are anything but Yogis, were so very jealous with regard
to those secular sciences, shall we blame the
Siddhas
that they are not more explicit and open. Surely they
must have very good grounds for keeping their powers concealed from the gaze of the uninitiated profane.
Surely we have no right to call them imposters and their science a moonshine, if they do not comply with
our idle importunities. To sincere seekers after knowledge, to those who pant for spiritual regeneration,
they are always accessible. They are ready to teach their science; they but seek persons who deserve that
high gift. Where is the
adhikari
? Where is he who has fitted himself by mental training to pursue and
understand the process of the processes by which a Yogi acquires these mental powers? Where is the
person who has the firmness of will, earnestness of purpose, doggedness of perseverance, by which alone
success in any undertaking can be ensured? We know how few are the men who make any marked success
in the ordinary human sciences. We do not see Newtons, Franklins, Tyndalls and Darwins everywhere, and
must we expect to see Yogis and Siddhas made out of ordinary men—men whose spirituality is altogether
dormant or dead.
CHAPTER I.
DEFINITIONS.
For ready reference and elucidation of the terms in constant use in the course of the present work, we
shall give the definitions of all the important words. These definitions, as far as possible, are in the words
of the great
Yogi
Patanjali.
1. YOGA is the restraining of the modification of the thinking principle.
2. SAMADHI (Meditation) is the intentness on a single point; or that state of knowledge in which the
mind, having avoided the obstacles, is well fixed on, or confined to, one object only. It is a continual
concentration of thought, by means of which all external objects, and even one’s own individuality, are
forgotten, and the mind fixed completely and immovably on the One Being.
3. SAMPRAJNATA-SAMADHI (Meditation
with
distinct recognition) is that form of meditation which
arises from the attendance of argumentation (
vitarka
), deliberation (
vichara
), beatitude (
ananda
), and
egotism (
asmita
).
4. ASAMPRAJNATA-SAMADHI (Meditation
without
distinct recognition) is independent of any fresh
antecedent, being in the shape of the self-reproduction of thought, after the departure of all objects.
5. ABHYASA (Practice) is the repeated effort that the internal organ—Chitta—shall remain in its
unmodified state, and in a firm position observed out of regard for the end in view, and perseveringly
adhered to for a long time unintermittingly.
6. VAIRAGYA (Indifference) is the consciousness of having overcome one’s desires; this consciousness is
of one who neither thirsts after the objects that are seen on earth no those that are heard of in the Scriptures.
7. VRITTI (Modification of the internal organ) is the modification produced from either of the following
five causes:—
a.Pramana
(Evidence or right notion) that which arises from perception, inference and testimony.
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