Chapter 3.4 - The Threefold Yoga

Haribhadrasūri declares that on the occasion of dealing with the subject of eight yogadṛṣṭis viz. mitrā etc. it is relevant to describe the three-fold Yoga.^[1] They are:

1. Icchāyoga [icchā-yoga] = Yoga by intention.

icchāyogaḥ =icchāpradhānoyogaḥ, śāstrāderatropasarjanabhāvenaivasattvāt | ^[2]

2. Śāstrayoga [śāstra-yoga] = Yoga by scripture.

śāstrayoga =śāstramukhyoyogaḥātmasāmarthyasyātrā'pradhānatayaivavidyamānatvāt | ^[3]

3. Sāmarthyayoga [sāmarthya-yoga] = Yoga by self-exertion.

sāmarthyayogaḥ =sāmathyarpra curoyogaḥ, śāstrāderatradigdarśanamātreṇaivopayogāt | ^[4]

Haribhadrasūri says that the three-fold yoga is described with an intention to impart knowledge to yogins namely kulayogin as well as gotrayogin regarding the essence of Yoga. That is the explanation of three fold yoga is like the heart of the Yoga.^[5] Haribhadrasūri further states that the eightfold classification of yogadṛṣṭis is an expanded presentation of the above mentioned three fold yoga. In other words we may say that the eight yogadṛṣṭis are born out of in the three-fold Yoga.^[6]

Moreover, we would like to refer the two verses from the treatise Brahmasiddhāntasamuccaya^[7] composed by Haribhadrasūri.

The verses are:

prakṛtyecchādiyogānāṃ yatkāryamanuvartate|
kṣayopaśamasāmarthyāditi tattvavido viduḥ || 187 || 
namaskārādiko yogaḥ sarvo'pi trividho mataḥ|
sadicchā-śāstra–sāmarthyayogabhedena tattvataḥ || 188 ||

1) Icchāyoga — Yoga by intention:

The Yoga by Intention The yoga by intention, being the first among the three-fold yoga, is the first step to the spirituality. An aspirant, who undertakes religious observances with intense and pure desire,^[8] is called a practitioner of the yoga by intention. He practices a religious activity with a desire to get rid of the transmigration of life and death. Such a desire is an outcome of his strong liking for spiritual practices. His religious observance is not undertaken with an intention to gain materialistic prosperity in the present as well as next birth. A mere desire to perform a religious activity without its actual performance is not known as the yoga by intention. Haribhdrasūri further describes the practitioner of the yoga by intention as follows.^[9] He says that the practitioner is the one who listens to the scriptures from preceptors.^[10] Moreover, he has the capacity to grasp the actual sense of the spiritual activities. He knows that a particular religious activity would help him to acquire purification of his soul. Besides that he also has the right understanding regarding “how a particular religious activity should be performed,” what are the injunctions and prohibitions prescribed for that particular activity.” Such knowledge is possessed by the subject in question.^[11] The practitioner of the yoga by intention performs a religious activity with intense desire, listens to various scriptures, knows rightly how to do his own spiritual welfare, then also his religious performances are deficient. It is so because he is non-vigilant. Due to non-vigilance he is incapable of practicing the religious activities in proper accordance to the prescribed time, posture etc.^[12] For example, he undertakes the self-study (svādhyāya) with pure inner desire. He listens to the importance of the selfstudy from scriptures and also grasps its actual meaning. However, he is unable to practice self-study during the prescribed time for it. Therefore, his practice becomes deficient.

The practitioner of the yoga by intention performs a religious activity with intense desire (kartumicchaoḥ) due to destruction-cum-subsidence of the conduct deluding karman (cāritramohanīyakarman) with anantānubandhī type passion. The subject in question listens to scriptures (śrutārthasya) because of destruction–cum-subsidence of knowledge deluding karman (jñānāvaraṇīyakarman). He is knowledgeable (jñānina) because he has obtained the destruction-cum-subsidence of vision deluding karman (darśanamohanīyakarman). Since he has not destroyed completely the conduct deluding karman, his religious performances, are deficient in nature (vikalodharmayoga).

The third verse of the treatise Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya defines the yoga by intention. One of the features of a practitioner of the yoga by intention is kartumicchoḥ. It is explained as “kasyacinnirvyājameva tathāvidhakṣayopaśamabhāvena” in the auto-commentary by Haribhadrasūri. The same feature of a practitioner of the yoga by intention is explained differently by UpādhyāyaYaśovijaya in his auto-commentary on second verse of the nineteenth dvātriṃśikā.

He says that,

“cikīrṣoḥ = tathāvidhakṣayopaśamā'bhāve'pi nirvyājameva kartumicchoḥ ”.^[13]

2) Śāstrayoga — Yoga by Scripture:

The performance of religious activities, which is complete due to vigilance as well as firm conviction with profound scriptural knowledge possessed by a practitioner, is called the yoga by scripture.^[14] The practitioner owns a deep knowledge, which is endowed with firm conviction, pertaining to prohibitions, transgressions as well as injunctions prescribed for religious activities in scriptures.

He has very clear understanding regarding how any particular religious activity should be performed, which are the prescribed postures for it, when should it be performed and so on. He has a sharp understanding of even the smallest possible transgression in performance of that particular religious activity. Hence he would always perform every religious activity with keeping in mind the exact posture and by performing it on the right time. Thus his performance of religious activities becomes flawless. Therefore, Haribhadrasūri says that the performance of religious activities in the yoga by scripture is complete and perfect.

The profound understanding of scriptures and vigilance on the part of the subject in question make the performance of religious activities complete. Haribhadrasūri specifies that a practitioner of yoga by scripture is vigilant to the best of his own capacities. He is fully cautious about avoiding non-vigilance in his religious practices. However due to some external disturbances or physical incapabilities he may become non-vigilant unintentionally.^[15] For example a practitioner who assumes the posture for meditation (kāyotsarga) for a longer period of time may get exhausted physically. His exhausted body compels him to sleep. At this time to resist sleeping, which is a nonvigilant activity, is out of his capacity. Therefore, Haribhadrasūri states that a practitioner of yoga by scripture is vigilant to the best of his capacity.^[16]

The religious practices performed by a practitioner of the yoga by intention are deficient and imperfect. In the yoga by intention the driving force behind every religious activity is a strong desire to attain spiritual heights. Gradually, the deficient religious practices driven by strong desire turn into the vigilantly practiced complete and perfect religious performances of yoga by scripture.

3) Sāmarthyayoga — Yoga by Self-exertion:

The yoga by self-exertion is to go beyond the general details pertaining to means of liberation, which are mentioned in the scriptural texts, with the help of a soul’s superabundant energy.^[17] The yoga by self-exertion is coupled with the intuitive understanding (prātibhajñāna) and beyond the verbal-description. The yoga by selfexertion is the direct and immediate cause of the attainment of omniscience. The liberation is achieved in no time by a practitioner of the yoga by self-exertion.^[18] Therefore Haribhadrasūri says that the yoga by self-exertion is the best among all the three yogas.^[19]

The superabundant energy of a soul plays a vital role in the obtaining the third type of yoga, namely yoga by self-exertion. It is possessed by a practitioner who has started climbing the kṣapakaśreṇi. Therefore, we may say that the practitioner of the yoga by self-exertion starts from the eighth stage of spiritual development (guṇasthāna) and reaches the twelfth stage of spiritual development. The obtainment of the omniscience is the result of the yoga by self-exertion, which is coupled with the intuitive knowledge. The state of yoga by self-exertion is a matter of self-experience. One may have gained knowledge from scriptures regarding means of achieving liberation, the details of climbing the kṣapakaśreṇi. One may also know about the state of omniscience and total freedom. However, to gain knowledge of kṣapakaśreṇi and the state of omniscience is different from to have their self-experience. The sacred texts, which are confined to verbal expression, explain above-mentioned subjects. The sacred texts show the spiritual path towards liberation to an aspirant. However, the sacred texts are incapable of generating the actual obtainment of omniscience as well as liberation. To attain liberation, an aspirant has to exert himself diligently on the path prescribed in the sacred texts. Hence, Haribhadrasūri proposes the difference between the scope of scriptures and yoga by self-exertion. The scope of scriptures is confined to words, whereas the yoga by self-exertion is beyond the range of verbal expressions. Haribhadrasūri explains this difference elaborately in his treatise Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya. He says that the means to the attainment of liberation, namely right faith, right knowledge and right conduct, are never comprehended, in their totality, by an aspirant via the scriptural texts alone.^[20] If he can comprehend them completely through the scriptural texts alone, then he would have immediately attained liberation merely being exposed to the means of liberation in their totality.^[21] But such is not the case in reality. By merely listening or knowing the means of attaining liberation, nobody actually obtains the liberation. It is so that the scriptural texts provide basic information and general explanation of the means to attain liberation. The knower or listener of the scriptural texts is incapable of grasping the subtle varieties of the means of liberation.^[22] Hence Haribhadrasūri emphatically states that the knower or listener of the scriptural texts does not comprehend the means of achieving liberation in totality. In order to comprehend them in totality, he has to go through them, which means experience them. If it were possible to comprehend completely the means of liberation with their minute details through the scriptural texts alone then the listener or knower would have become omniscient at the time of hearing or knowing only.

As soon as a listener or knower goes through the scriptural texts, he attains liberation then and there itself. In order to achieve omniscience firstly and then liberation an aspirant has to exert himself in destroying the eight karmans with his superabundant energy.

[Prātibhajñāna –The intuitive knowledge]

The yoga by self-exertion is of two types. Haribhadrasūri divides it as follows^[23] :

1. The renunciation of attributes (Dharmasannyāsa);
2. The renunciation of activity (Yogasannyāsa).

When a practitioner of yoga by self-exertion starts climbing the kṣapakaśreṅi by entering in the eighth stage of spiritual development (guṇasthāna), he practices the second unprecedented degree of purity (apūrvakaraṇa). At this time he renounces attributes viz. kṣānti, ārjava etc. which are of the nature of destruction-cum-subsidence^[24] of karmans. A practitioner possesses the renunciation of attributes type of yoga by selfexertion, at the afore-mentioned stage in real sense.^[25] The second type of yoga by selfexertion namely renunciation of activity takes place after the performance of āyojyakaraṇa. The renunciation of activity (the meditative trance where one ceases his all bodily, mental and vocal activities) results into the attainment śaileśīkaraṇa and ultimately the liberation.^[26]

Haribhadrasūri concludes the description of the three-fold yoga as follows. The lines are:This is why the freedom from all bodily, mental and vocal activity is freedom that is in the form of the renunciation of everything whatsoever, which is treated as the highest Yoga among the Yogas and thusis in conjunction with liberation.^[27]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

ihaivecchādiyogānāṃ, svarūpamabhidhīyate|
......................., vyaktaṃ yogaprasaṅgataḥ || 2 || 
.................–yogaprasaṅgata iti mitrādiyogaprasaṅgena, prasaṅgākhyatantrayuktyā''kṣiptamityarthaḥ || 2 || 
   –Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya and its auto-commentary. (2010)

[2]:

See line: 11, Pg: 1267, Part: 5, Nayalatā commentary on dvātriṃśikā.

[3]:

See, line: 12, Ibid.

[4]:

See, line: 13, Ibid.

[5]:

kimata āha -svarūpamabhidhīyate itisvalakṣaṇamucyate| kimarthametadityāha __________–yogināmupakārāya iti| yogino'tra ku layogi-pravṛttacakrā gṛhayante vakṣyamāṇa lakṣaṇāḥ, na niṣpannayogā vakṣyamāṇalakṣaṇā eva, teṣāmata upakārābhāvā, taditareṣāmevopakārārthama ्| upakāraścā'to yogahṛdayāvabodhaḥ|... || 2 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[6]:

etattrayamanāśritya, viśeṣeṇaitadadbhu vāḥ|
yogadṛṣṭayaḥ ucyante, aṣṭau sāmānyatastu tāḥ || 12 || 
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[7]:

Muni Punyavijaya edited this text and published it with the text logaśataka edited by him only. This text contains exposition of certain topics which are also discussed in Ṣoḍaśaka and Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya by Haribhadrasūri.

[8]:

kartumicchoḥ kasyacinnirvyājameva tathāvidhakṣayopaśamabhāvena| ayameva viśeṣyate -............ || 3 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[9]:

kartumicchoḥ śrutārthasya, jñānino'pi pramādataḥ|
vikalo dharmayogo yaḥ, sa icchāyoga ucyate || 3 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[10]:

? śrutārthasya-śrutāgamasya, arthaśabda āgamavacanaḥ, arthyate'nena tattvaṃ itikṛtvā|ayamapi kadācidajñānyeva bhavati, kṣayopaśamavaicitryādata āha -............. || 3 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[11]:

–jñānino'pi–avagatānuṣṭheya–tattvārthasyā'pīti yo'rthaḥ|evaṃbhūtasyā'pi sataḥ........... || 3 ||
   –Ibid.

[12]:

pramādataḥ–pramādena vikathādinā, vikalaḥ–asampūrṇa kālādivaikalyamāśritya,................ || 3 ||
   –Ibid.

[13]:

See, line: 3, Pg: 1268, Part: 5, Dvātriṃśad -dvātriṃśikā.

[14]:

śāstrayogastviha jñeyo, yathāśaktyapramādinaḥ|
śrāddhasya tīvrabodhena, vacasā'vikalastathā || 3 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[15]:

–yathāśakti-śaktyanurūpama,् apramādinaḥ–vikathādipramādarahitasya......... || 4 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[16]:

–yathāśakti-śaktyanurūpam ............................................ || 4 ||
   –Ibid.

[17]:

śāstrasandarśitopāya-stadatikrāntagocaraḥ|
śaktyudrakādviśeṣeṇa, sāmarthyākhyo'yamuttamaḥ || 5 ||
   –Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[18]:

, prātibhajñānasaṅgataḥ|
sāmarthyayogo'vācyo'sti, savarjñatvādisādhanam || 8 ||
   –Ibid.

[19]:

sāmarthyākhyo'yamiti sāmarthyayogābhidhāno'yaṃ yogaḥ, uttamaḥ-savarpra dhānaḥ tadbhāvabhāvitvāt, akṣepeṇa pradhānaphala - kāraṇatvāditi || 5 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[20]:

siddhākhyapadasamprāpti-hetubhedā na tattvataḥ|
śāstrādevā'vagamyante, sarvathaiva yogibhiḥ || 6 ||
   –Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[21]:

savarthā tatparicchedāta,् sākṣātkāritvayogataḥ|
tatsarvajñatvasaṃsiddhe-stadā siddhipadāptitaḥ || 7 ||
   –Ibid.

[22]:

–sarvathaiveha yogibhiriti sarvaireva prakārairiha-loke sādhubhiḥ, anantabhedatvātteṣāmiti || 6 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[23]:

dvidhā'yaṃ dharmasaṃnyāsa-yogasaṃnyāsasaṃjñitaḥ|
kṣāyopaśamikā dharmā, yogāḥ kāyādikarma tu || 9 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[24]:

–kṣāyopaśamikā dharmāḥ–kṣayopaśamanivartृ tāḥ kṣāntyādayaḥ, yogāḥ............ || 9 ||
   –Auto-commentary on Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.

[25]:

- prathamastāttviko bhavet iti, prathamo-dhamarsaṃnyāsasaṃjñitaḥ sāmarthyayogaḥ tāttvikaḥ - pāramārthiko bhavet, kṣapakaśreṇiyoginaḥ kṣāyopaśamikakṣāntyādidharmanivṛtteḥ, ato'yamitthamupanyāsa iti|atāttvikastu pravrajyākāle'pi bhavati, pravṛttilakṣaṇa-dhamarsaṃnyāsāyāḥ pravrajyāyā jñānayogapratipattirūpatvāt|... || 10 ||
   –Ibid.

[26]:

āyojyakaraṇādadhू rvamiti | [ ā -] ke valābhogenā'cintyavīyarta yā, yojya-ṃ tathātathā tatkālakṣapaṇīyatvena bhavopagrāhikamarṇasta-thāvasthānabhāvena (karaṇa-ṃ) kṛ tirāyojyakaraṇa,ṃ śaileśyavasthāphalametat| ata evā''ha -dvitīya iti tadvidaḥ yogasaṃnyāsasaṃjñitaḥ sāmarthyayoga iti tadvido'bhiddhati, śaileśyavasthāyāmasya bhāvāt|... || 10 ||
   –Ibid.

[27]:

atastvayogo yogānāṃ, yogaḥ para udāhṛtaḥ|
mokṣayojanabhāvena, sarvasaṃnyāsa lakṣaṇaḥ || 11 ||
   –Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya.