Reconciling Yogas: Haribhadra's Collection of Views on Yoga With a New Translation of Haribhadra's Yogadrstisamuccaya by Christopher Key Chapple and John Thomas Casey

CHAPTER FIVE: Purity in Pata

65 CHAPTER FIVE Purity in Patañjali and Haribhadra Jainism emphasizes the purification of one’s karma through rigorous abstention from tainted, violent behavior as the only path of liberation. Buddhists and Vedåntins alike have characterized Jainas as holding extreme views, and they have developed different theologies and styles of liberative practice. Patañjali attempted to enfold Jaina asceticism within his explication of Yoga, and he gives great emphasis to the importance of purification. However, Patañjali remains simultaneously committed to upholding the Så¤khya definition of kaivalyam, or consciousness distinct from identity, as the culmination of Yoga practice. Consequently, Patañjali does not emphasize the dispersal of karma as thoroughly as do Jainism’s Åcårån •ga S™tra, Umåsvåti, and Haribhadra. As we will see in this chapter, Haribhadra emphasizes the dispersal of karma and the practice of purity over and above the more metaphysical approach of Patañjali. In the process, he acknowledges the lure of the tantric tradition, which recently had gained in popularity, criticizes its practices (though not its intent ), and attempts to demonstrate the superiority of the Jaina spiritual path. Patañjali, I have argued elsewhere, consistently defends the Så¤khya philosophical position that maintains the centrality of discerning the distinction between seer and seen as the key to one’s liberation.1 Haribhadra asserts that purity is the central practice of Yoga, in both his philosophical and sociological explications found in the Yogad®ÿ÷isamuccaya. In this chapter, purity is 66 RECONCILING YOGAS examined from the perspective of Patañjali’s Yoga S™tra and then as found in Haribhadra’s Yogad®ÿ÷isamuccaya. PURITY IN PATAÑJALI In Patañjali, the concept of purity or clarity can be found in the terms prasåda (clarity, YS I:33, 47), §uci (pure, YS II:5), §uddha (pure, YS II:20), §uddhi (purity, YS II:28, II:41, III:35), and §auca (YS II:32, II:40). The means of attaining clarity can be found in the descriptions of how to pacify and clarify the mind in the first section, or påda. In the second påda, this purity lies in the observance of the yamas and niyamas, the central, ethical practices for overcoming the effects of negative sa¤skåras. In the third påda, the highest of the siddhis entails the purity of perfect sattva, leading to the knowledge of puruÿa (YS III:35, 55). In the fourth påda, dharma megha samådhi brings about the cessation of afflicted action, a state of purity that can be linked to higher awareness (citi-§akti). In the first, third, and fourth pådas, the discussion of purification hinges on the perception of the distinction between seer and seen, emphasizing dispassion (vairågyam). In contrast, the second påda emphasizes the active restructuring of one’s moral and affective behavior, which is seen as being foundational to overcoming the difficulties inherent in afflicted action (kliÿ÷a-karma). PURIFICATION AS THE PATH TO LIBERATION The yamas, or restraints, are listed by Patañjali as nonviolence, truthfulness, nonstealing, sexual restraint, and nonpossession: ahi¤så, satya, asteya, brahmacarya, and aparigraha. These are defined as the great vows when “not limited by birth, place, time, or circumstance” [jåti-de§a-kåla-samaya-anavacchinåh • sarvabhaum åh • mahåvratam, YS II:31]. By controlling one’s impulses as influenced by the kle§as, or afflictions, defined by Patañjali as ignorance, egoism, attraction, aversion, and desire for continuity, one develops new habits (sa¤skåras) that mitigate against negativity , leading one to a greater state of purity. This process directly correlates to the Jaina practice of the vows (vrata) and the theory of karmic expurgation. 67 PURITY IN PUTAÑJALI AND HARIBHADRA Purity can be defined as the opposite of the impurities or afflictions. Wisdom would be the antidote for ignorance, and egolessness for ego. Equanimity toward attractive or repulsive things would be the opposite of attraction and aversion. The last of the five, the desire to continue living (abhinive§a), is said to exist even among the wise, and it would be countered with an attitude of surrender. The application of these antidotes to the poisons of afflictions involves a process that directly correlates to the Jaina practice of vows to facilitiate the expurgation (nirjarå) of karma. Patañjali describes this process of reversing negative karmic influences as the “cultivation...