NTA-NET (UGC-NET) Philosophy (03) Video Course Lecture: Yoga: Ashtang Yoga (3 Limbs) and Concept of God (40 mins) | Lecture 75 of 355

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Topics Covered

  • Classical Indian Philosophy » Yoga
  • Classical Indian Philosophy » Yoga

Details

Ashtang-yoga՚s last three disciplines and the concept of God

  • The first 5 are called the Bahiranga sadhana. External aids to Yoga
  • The last three are called Antaranga Sadhana; it comprises of Dharana, Dhayana and Samadhi. They are the internal aids to Yoga
  • Understanding Dharana: mental discipline of fixation of the mind on the object of mediation.
  • Understanding Dhyanana: meditation. It means meditating without any break, hindrances, wandering of the mind.
  • In other words, an undisturbed flow of thoughts of the mind.
  • Samadhi is the last limb, it means concentration. Here, the mind is completely engrossed in the object of meditation.
  • Samadhi is of two types; Samprajnata and Asamprajnata Samadhi. Understanding these two.

Samprajnata Samadhi is further divided into 4 types;

  • Savitarka
  • Savicara
  • Sananda
  • Sasmita

The concept of God;

  • God according to Patanjali is a special kind of Purusha.
  • It is a saguna God = full of positive attributes.
  • Discussing some proofs of God given by Patanjali.
  • Understanding the place of God in the philosophy of Patanjali

References: A critical Survey of Indian Philosophy by CD Sharma, An Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Chatterjee & Datta

Question: if god can not give liberation, is not creator, destroyer, preserver and also the end of human life is not the union with god then why yoga school belives in god they can prove their teaching without god

Answer: God is defined as a distinct self (purusha) , untouched by sufferings, actions, and their effects; his existence is proved on the ground that the degrees of knowledge found in finite beings.

So, God is a special Purusha, a supreme soul, which was not, is not, and will never be affected by afflictions, vehicles of afflictions, karma, and the fruits of karma.

To make it easy, think of God here in this philosophy like a spiritual spectator.

Question: Please explain this point “god is responsible for association and dissociation for purusha and prakriti”

Answer: Purusha and Prakriti constitute the duality of the universe, energy and matter. Prakriti here refers to the basic cosmic material that is the root of all beings, and Purusha to the spirit or conscious energy that governs life and reality. So, presence of a divine agent explains Universe՚s formation.

Please remember this is how new sankhya philosophy sees it. There is no place of God in the old philosophy

Question: I am confused about these philosophical terms having same meaning but somewhere its is written savitarka somewhere vitarka somewhere vitarka samadhi which term I should memorise?

Answer: No two philosophical terms have the same meaning.

Savitarka samadhi means initial stage of dhyana that leads to samadhi

Vitarka means gross thought or reasoning.

See, concentration is reached with the help of vitarka, vichar, ananda and asmita.

vichar means subtle thoughts

ananda is bliss

asmita is individuality