Paper short abstract:

This presentation will focus on three aspects of the Vaiśeṣika notion of yoga. It will summarize previous scholarly discussions on Vaiśeṣika Yoga, present the Vaiśeṣika definition of yoga and discuss a specific result of yogic practice leading to liberation: yogic perception.

Paper long abstract:

The first part of the presentation will cover up-to-date scholarly discussion on Vaiśeṣika yoga. Albrecht Wezler theorized that yoga is not the original teaching of Vaiśeṣika but was introduced into the system in the time of Praśastapāda (Wezler 1982). However, later reexaminations of this theory by Harunaga Isaacson and Masanobu Nozawa argued that it is indeed part of the early layers of Vaiśeṣika thought, thus is important in the original system (Isaacson 1993; Nozawa 1996).

The second part of the presentation will focus on the Vaiśeṣika interpretation of yoga and its psychological correlates. In the Vaiśeṣika-Sūtra, yoga is described in sūtras nos. 5.2.16-17. Sūtra no. 5.2.16, describes: “From the contact of the self, mind, sense organs and object, pleasure and pain [result].“ The next sūtra 5.2.17, has the definition of yoga: “Yoga is the absence of pleasure and pain in the one having a body when the mind resting in the self does not support [contact of the four].” Yoga is defined as a state in which pleasure and pain do not arise.

In the third and final part, I will look at how yoga practice results in yogic perception, a particular kind of cognition, and how it relates to liberation. The leading commentators on the chief Vaiśeṣika text, Padārthadharmasamgraha, allude to the fact that yogic perception plays an important role in the process of liberation. However, because of the ambiguous references to the precise working mechanism of yogic perception, one must attempt to comprehend it in the context of other Vaiśeṣika theories.

Isaacson, Harunaga. 1993. “Yogic Perception in Early Vaiśeṣika.” In Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik. 18: 139–160.

Nozawa, Masanobu. 1996. “Concept of Yoga in the Vaiśeṣika-sūtra”. In Indian Thoughts and Buddhist Culture, Essays in honor of Prof. J. Imanishi on his Sixtieth Birthday: 17-30.

Wezler, Albrecht. 1982. “Remarks on the definition of “Yoga” in the Vaiśeṣikasūtras.” In: Indological and Buddhist Studies. Ed. by L. A. Hercus et al.. Canberra: Faculty of East Asian Studies: 643-686.