Haribhadras Yoga Works and Psychosynthesis

SR No.: 001262
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S A Desai
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1983
Total Pages: 106
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Yoga
File Size: 7 MB

Page 29

Haribhadra and Psychosynthesis
the first genius who attempted to do justice to this very important task of
hesis of yoga in various systems. From this point of view Haribhadra's works on yoga stand unrivalled and posit a unique synthesis. His yoga works are considered the best of all his works. That may be due to bis mature treatment of the subject in his later age. By such a synthesis of Yoga he has rendered service not only to yoga but to all systems of Yoga. Integral approach is not a complete novelty in India because it is inborn in the philosophical spirit but Haribhadra's synthesis of Yoga is a novel attempt because it has dealt with the synthesizing system of yoga itself. Yoga in general has its basic task to synthesize the human psyche. But when yoga becomes a part of a philosophic tradition or when it becomes a tradition itself, it loses its very spirit of integration and becomes a narrow sectarian reductionism. Haribhadra saw this sorrowful plight of yoga in different systems and he must have thought it necessary to draw it out from such a Darrow plight, by an attempt of synthesis on the broadest possible basis at the time. Suffice it to say here that Haribhadra provides a model for the synthesis of yoga and that would be useful to us today in our similar attempt. What is the secret of his successful synthesis ? Like all seekers of knowledge and all researchers he made it his principle to adopt what he deemed to be the truth by an objective reasoning and stuck to it at all costs. It is the propriety, the truthfulness of a principle that mattered to him. He gave importance to reasoned statement (yuktimat ) and thereby found out the right basis for synthesis. Added to this very basic principle of integration, his five-fold virtuer made his integral approach complete. These virtues though spoken of before are worth mentioning here without the fear of repetition. They are (i) balanced judgement (2) comparative study (3) respect for the opponents (4) objective assessment of even one's own faith and lastly (5) right use of language. He tried to see the meaning of the words and tried to fill in the gaps by the right use of words.
The motive behind his works was pure service. His spirit of service, his equanimity and his sublimated self contributed no less to the synthesis of yoga.
After these preliminary remarks, we have come now to his works. proper. He wrote four works on yoga (1) Yoga-Vimśikā (2) Yoga-Sataka (3) Yoga-bindu and (4) Yogadřsti-samuccaya. All these works are in verse but the former two are in Prakrit prose and the other two are written in Sanskrit. The former two are for the laymen and that is why they were written in Prakrit. They are mostly after the Jain tradition but there too the mark of the spirit of Haribhadra can well be seen. The other two are written in Sanskrit, i.e. Yogabindu and Yogadşştisamuccaya are for the