Power and Meaning in the Yogasūtra of Patañjali Stuart

power and meaning in the yogasūtra of patañjali 195

Chapter seven

Power and Meaning in the Yogasūtra of PatAÑJALI

Stuart Ray Sarbacker

Introduction

The history of the range of ideas and practices that fall under the cat- egory of ‘yoga’ encompasses a wide spectrum, spanning over two mil- lennia and traversing the globe. Yoga has become a touchstone for our contemporary cosmopolitan and globalized civilization, a symbol of cultural universality in the multicultural social reality we live in. Contemporary representations of yoga have intriguing genealogical relationships with their historical precursors, demonstrating continu- ity and discontinuity, and the tension between conservative tradition and innovative adaptation. Broadly speaking, contemporary forms of yoga reflect many of the dynamics of modernity itself, and suggest ways in which living traditions manage to remain coherent in the face of rapid change. This in turn provides insights into how yoga has his- torically been adapted to fit different worldviews and modes of reli- gious expression through practice. In this essay, we will introduce the concept of ‘yoga’ as it is formulated in the tradition of Pātañjala yoga or ‘classical’ yoga, as codified in Patañjali’s Yogasūtra (3-5c ce), in order to demonstrate how the practice of yoga can be understood as a means of obtaining occult power and other ‘worldly’ goods as much as it serves spiritual purposes. In particular, we will examine the nature of the eight-limbed yoga (aṣṭāṅgayoga) and the relationship between the goals of liberation (kaivalya) and of worldly power or accomplish- ment (vibhūti, siddhi) that result from its practice. We will examine key passages from the Yogasūtra (YS) in order to develop a nuanced understanding of how yoga powers are conceptualized by Patañjali, with reference to the interpretations of these passages in the discourse (śāstra) on yoga found in commentarial literature. Having established a foundational understanding of the nature and meaning of the powers within the yogaśāstra, we will then turn to a range of theories of 196 stuart ray sarbacker interpretation that converge with and diverge from traditional accounts and interpretations, with the goal of illuminating a broad range of options. What will ultimately be argued is that an approach that acknowledges and integrates a plurality of possible interpretations of such powers is by far the most satisfactory option for understanding the role, meaning, and purpose of these powers. It will be shown how this multifaceted approach is eminently useful for understanding the range of yoga powers represented in the Yogasūtra and for gaining perspective on modern and contemporary yoga practices and the representations of power that are found within them.

What is Yoga?

‘Yoga’ is a term derived from the Sanskrit root √yuj, which means ‘to yoke’. By extension, this ‘yoking’, and thus ‘yoga’, refers in a primary sense to the ‘yoking’ of mental and physical faculties in the ascetic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The term ‘yoga’ also is given a more technical meaning by some of the Indian commentators, specifically the notion of yoga as a form of, or identical to, a medita- tive form of concentration.1 The broader sense of yoga is, for our purposes, more satisfactory, in that it is an inclusive definition that is consistent with a wider spectrum of native definitions and a broader range of historical and literary data. Many of the earliest references to yoga in the Indian literature postulate a generic interpretation that suggests that yoga is a type of spiritual ‘discipline’, often tied to the ‘yoking’ of the senses or other mental or physical capacities.2 Yoga is also referred to as ‘union’—i.e. yoking as unifying—in various con- texts, referring in this respect to the goal of union with a deity, supreme self, or being.3 One of the most formative paradigms that expresses the nature of yoga is the conception of the aṣṭāṅgayoga or ‘eight limbed yoga’ system that is articulated in the Yogasūtra of Patañjali, a text

1 Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, Yoga: India’s Philosophy of Meditation, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume XII (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008), 28-29. 2 see, for example, Kaṭha Upaniṣad 4.11. 3 The concept of ‘yoking’ as rooted in Indian literature has been explored at length by David Gordon White in his Sinister Yogis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), especially 83-166. Multiple definitions of yoga are also examined in Somadeva Vasudeva, Yoga of the Mālinīvijayottaratantra (Pondicherry: Institut Francais de Pondicherry, 2004), 235ff.