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The Role of Prāṇa in Sāṃkhya Discipline for Freedom

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Abstract

Classical Sāṃkhya has usually been interpreted as an intellectualist school. Its presumed method for the attainment of liberation is essentially characterized by rational inquiry into reality, which involves the intellectual understanding of the distinction between two principles: the conscious and the material. Some have argued that this liberating process is not only theoretical, but that it entails yogic practice, or that it is the natural outcome of existential forces that tend toward freedom. However, recent studies in Sāṃkhya involving detailed analysis of an anonymous commentary of the Sāṃkhyakārikā, the Yuktidīpikā, suggest a more complex picture. The external functions of the five vital winds (prāṇas) in relation to the sources of action (karmayonis) and dispositions of being (bhāvas) seem to play an important role in the liberating path. In this paper, I review the relation between bhāvas, karmayonis, and the five prāṇas by considering the social, moral, and interpersonal aspects of the five vital winds as described in the Yuktidīpikā. It will be shown how the external functions of prāṇa are related to the moral cultivation of vitality, leading to the enactment and manifestation of dispositions of being (bhāvas) that bring about the realization of oneself as a knower in the ethical engagement with others. It is this unique way of understanding prāṇa in the Yuktidīpikā that makes the Sāṃkhya path for liberation something more than a theoretical cognitive method or a spontaneous and predetermined realization of one’s self.

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Notes

  1. For a thorough exposition of interpretations on Sāṃkhya inquiry as means of liberation see Shevchenko (2017). This part draws substantially from his extended discussion on the topic in that paper.

  2. The Yuktidīpikā is considered the most extensive and comprehensive philosophical commentary on the Sāṃkhyakārikā. It focuses on responding to objections against Sāṃkhya coming mainly from Buddhists, Vedāntins, and Naiyāyika opponents. The text has seen renewed interest by scholars since the second half of the twentieth century (See Honda 1977; Motegi 1978; Harzer 2006). In 1998 a critical edition was produced by Wezler and Motegi. My translation of the passages of the Yuktidīpikā referred to in this paper are based on this edition.

  3. The Suvarṇasaptati or the “Golden Seventy” is the Chinese translation attributed to Paramārtha in the 6th century of a commentary to the Sāṃkhyakārikā that closely resembles the Māṭharavṛtti.

  4. See the Suvarṇasaptati in Takakusu (1932, 1) and Larson (1987, pp. 169–170).

  5. sāmānyakaraṇavṛttiḥ prāṇādyā vāyavaḥ pañca (The translation of all SK verses quoted in this paper is my own.)

  6. The intellect (buddhi) determines reality (adhyavasāyo buddhiḥ…, SK 23). The sense of individuality is self-assertion (abhimāno’ahamkāraḥ…, SK 24). The operative mind (manas) has a sensori-motor nature (ubhayātmakamatra manas…, SK 27). The faculties of sensing (hearing, seeing, etc.) are bare awareness (śabdādiṣu pañcānāmālocanamātram…, SK 28). The faculties of action are speech, grasping, locomotion, excretion, and sexual enjoyment (vacanādānaviharanotsargānanda…, SK 28).

  7. atra ca sāmānyakaraṇavṛttigrahaṇasāmarthyāt prāṇādyāḥ pañca vāyavaḥ/ (YD 1998, p. 208, 25-5, on SK 29) “Thus, it is said that prāṇa, apāna, etc. are five vital winds due to their ability of grasping which is the activity common to the instruments of knowledge.” (All translations from the YD in this essay are my own.)

  8. See Pātañjalayogaśāstra (PYS) 3.39.

  9. tat preraṇāsiddher ayuktam iti cet | syād etat | katham etad avagamyate’rthāntarapreritasya vāyor iyaṃ kriyā bhavati na punaḥ svatantrasyeti / ucyate na svatas tadvyatiriktatvānupapatteḥ/ iheya aneka bhinnā kriyā vāyoḥ svato vā syāt karanavṛttivyatiriktād vā / kiṃ cātaḥ / tan na tāvat svata upapadyate / kasmāt / sarvatra prasaṅgāt / svābhāvike hi vāyor diksaṃcāre’bhyupagamyamāne sarvatra tatsambhavaḥ syāt / tataś ca tiryakpātādivṛttir hanyeta / na cānyataḥ / kasmāt / adarśanāt / na hi pṛthivyādīnāṃ vāyupreraṇasāmarthyaṃ kvacid upalabdham / bhastrādiṣu dṛṣṭam iti cen na anyanimittatvāt| atrāpi caitravyāpāra upalabhyata ity avaśyam anyan nimittam upalabhyata ity abhyupagantavyam / ātmeti cen na kriyāpratiṣedhāt / upapāditam etat pūrvamātmā niṣkriya iti / na ca niṣkriyasya preraṇam upapadyate / na ca nirnimittā svabhāvabhedānām anākasmikatvāt / tasmād yat tannimittam sā samastakaraṇavṛttiḥ / (YD, p. 206, 15–30, SK on 29).

  10. teṣāṃ prerikā sāmānyakaraṇavṛttiḥ/ eṣā ca tantrāntareṣu prayatna ity ucyate / sa ca dharmādisaṃskārabhāvanāvaśād anuparato jīvanam / (YD 1998, p. 208, 20, on SK 29). “Their setting in motion [of the five winds] is the common function of the instruments of knowledge. And this is referred to as “effort” in other philosophical texts. Life is manifested continuously due to the unceasing becoming, arising from the impressions [produced by] virtues, wisdom, etc.” In his commentary to the Yogasūtra (III.39), the Tattvavaiśāradī (TV), Vācaspatimiśra refers to two kinds of fluctuations (vṛtti) of the organs or sense faculties (indriyas): an inner (antarī) and an outer (bahyā). He associated such internal fluctuation with “life” (jīvanam). The outer fluctuation is characterized by the awareness of sensations coming from the external environment: color, odors, textures, sounds, etc. The internal one is characterized by a special effort (prayatnabhedaḥ), common to the instruments of knowledge and cause of the different functions of the vital winds that support the body.

  11. sa ca dharmādisaṃskārabhāvanāvaśād anuparato jīvanam / (YD 1998, p.208, 20-25, on SK 29).

  12. vṛttir antaḥ samastānāṃ karaṇānāṃ pradīpavat / aprakāśā kriyārūpā jīvanaṃ kāyadhārikā / / sā yāvad aniruddhā tu hanti vāyuṃ rajo'dhikā/ dharmādyanāvṛttivaśāt tāvaj jīvati mānavaḥ / (YD 1998, p.208, 20-25, on SK 29).

  13. atra ca sāmānyakaraṇavṛttigrahaṇasāmarthyāt prāṇādyāḥ pañca vāyavaḥ | buddhīndriyāṇi ṣaṣṭham | karmendriyāṇi saptamam | pūr aṣṭamam / pūr ity ahaṃkārāvasthāsaṃvidam adhikurute / (YD 1998, p.208-209, 25-5, on SK 29).

  14. Cursives are mine.

  15. āha: kutaḥ punar iyam prāṇādivṛttiḥ pravartata iti ?/ ucyate: sā karmayonibhyaḥ / mahataḥ pracyutaṃ hi rajo vikṛtam aṇḍasthānīyāḥ pañca karmayonayo bhavanti – dhṛtiḥ śraddhā sukhā vividiṣāvividiṣeti / (YD, p.209, 15-20, on SK 29).

  16. tatra yadāyaṃ jantuḥ śubhāśubheṣu kāryeṣu vṛttyanusārī jijñāsur ajijñāsur vā śarīraṃ parityajati tām eva karmayonim upapadyate / tasyām upapannas tām eva bhāvayati / etat tāval lakṣaṇasatattvam / (YD, p.209, 25-30, SK on 29).

  17. āha ca— bāhyāṃ prāṇavivṛttiṃ samyaṅmārge budhaḥ pratiṣṭhāpya / vinivṛttavikharakaluṣo dhruvam amṛtaṃ sthānam abhyeti / / pañcānāṃ yonīnāṃ dharmādinimittatāṃ ca saṃsthāpya/ paripakvam ity adhastān na punas tadbhāvito gacchet / / (YD, p.211, 5-10, SK on 29).

  18. etad dvayam adhigamya samyaṅmārgānugamanaṃ kuryāt | rajastamodharmādisādhanabhāvavinivṛttitas tu/ atra prāṇānām antarvṛttir anupādhikatvād anivartyā / bahirvṛttis tu mārgāmārgaviṣayatayā prayoktavyā / katham ity ucyate / prāṇaviṣayā tāvat praṇatir dharmādiviṣaya evāvaroddhavyā/ tato hy asya sattvavṛddhiḥ / sattvavṛddheś cottarottarabuddhirūpādhigamaḥ / apānaviṣayaṃ tv apakramaṇam adharmādiviṣaya evāvaroddhavyam/ evaṃ hy asya khyātiviṣayāvārakasya tamaso nirhrāsaḥ / tataś cottarottarabuddhirūpādhigamaḥ / tathā samānaviṣayaṃ sāhacaryaṃ sattvadharmānuguṇaṃ kuryāt / yasmācchāstram āha "sattvārāmaḥ sattvamithunaś ca sadā syāt" iti / ātmotkarṣaṃ tūdānaviṣayam avidyāparvaṇo’ntyaṃ rūpaṃ vivarjya tatpratipakṣair nivartayet/ atyantāvinābhāvaṃ ca vyānaviṣayam jñānaviṣaya eva bhāvayet/ yonīnāṃ catasṛṇāṃ dharmabījatām evādadyāt/ avividiṣām apy aniṣṭa phalahetuṣu bhāvayet / so ' yaṃ dharmādiṣu pravaṇas tatpratipakṣāpakrāntaḥ sattvārāmo vinivṛttābhimāno jñānaniṣṭhaḥ saviśuddhayonir acireṇa paraṃbrahmopapadyata iti / (YD, p.210-211, 20-5 , SK on 29).

  19. Cfr. with Shevchenko (2017, 879) who does not see in dāna any relation with developing discriminative knowledge.

  20. Some texts in the haṭhayoga tradition establish a relation between prāṇāyāma and morality when they state that through the breathing techniques the yogi can purify his sins. (See Vivekamārtaṇḍa 92; Śivasvarodaya 376cd-379ab). However, there does not seem to be further mention regarding a correlation between specific breathing techniques, the vital winds, and the types of sins those techniques purify. I thank Jason Birch for providing these references in his online workshop: “The Yogic Breath: Prāṇāyāma in Medieval Yoga”, November 2020, and for clarifying some of my doubts on these topic.

  21. tasmān na badhyate addhā na mucyate nā 'pi saṃsarati kaścit/ saṃsarati badhyate mucyate ca nānāśrayā prakṛtiḥ//

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Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Meenal Kulkarni and Amit Chaturvedi for reading with me the relevant passages of the Yuktidīpikā in Sanskrit, to Arindam Chakrabarti for encouraging me to write about this topic, and to the Sanskrit translation group at Loyola Marymount University directed by Chris Chapple for their motivation to continue with this project. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewer whose comments help improve this paper.

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Great part of the research done for this paper was possible thanks to the Eastern Connecticut State University, Faculty Research Grant.

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    Ana Laura Funes Maderey

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Maderey, A.L.F. The Role of Prāṇa in Sāṃkhya Discipline for Freedom. J Indian Philos 49, 81–103 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-021-09460-7

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