Yogshatakam

SR No.: 002645
Original Sutra Author: Haribhadrasuri
Author: Punyavijay
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Total Pages: 144
Language: Sanskrit
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Yoga
File Size: 5 MB

Page 127

Yoga-śataka
declared ( by the Tirtbankaras etc.) to be proper, for a correct course of action follows in case this order is followed; on the other hand, to follow a different order will involve improprieties of various types and will thus result in a topsy-turvy course of action.
81. as a matter of general rule, the yoga-seeker sbould live on a pure diet (i. e. on a diet that is pure in itself, has been acquired through pure means and yields pure results). Such a diet is * sarvasampatkari bhikṣā' (lit. alms acquired through begging that is beneficial to all concerned ) in a literal sense of the phrase
82. The appropriateness of the diet taken must be ensured without fail, just like the appropriateness of the ointment applied on a wound; for otherwise this diet (just like a mis-applied ointment) is unsuitable for the task at hand and leads to a defective result.
83. As a result of the possession of the yogic powers there is usually no dearth of things pure (i. e. of pure diet); this must be the case because the doctrinal tradition tells us that one in possession of such powers comes to acquire even supra-natural capacities (which are certainly a much higher achievement than mere pure diet).
84. Thus numerous types of supra-natural capacities -- like that for procuring precious stones, or that for adopting an extremely minute bodily size, or that for healing patients by sheer touch – are a result of this or that type of increment in yogic powers.
85. Possessed of these ever-increasing yogic powers one invariably and properly annihilates the evil karmas and accumulates the good ones; in this way it becomes easy for one to gradually move towards mokșa.
86. Defilements annihilated through bodily performances are like a frog cut into pieces ( which pieces again become frogs when rain-water falls on them) while the same annihilated through spiritual enlightenment are like a frog burnt to ashes (which ashes never again become frogs ).
87. Similarly, others too bave proclaimed - and this proclamation of theirs differs only in words from what we are maintaining - that in this yoga-path the meritorious acts are of two types, viz. those like an earthen jar (which ceases to be of any value when broken into pieces) and those like a golden jar (which retains its value even when broken into pieces ).
88. Again, for Bodhisattvas (i, e. for the beings who are in possession of a spiritually enlightened understanding) it is possible to commit a wrong bodily but it is never possible for them to do so mentally, and that is so because the minds of these beings become pure as a result of the spiritual enlightenment of the type described above.