Unknown Pilgrims

SR No.: 007014
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N Shanta
Publisher: Sri Satguru Publications Delhi
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 820
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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The Unknown Pilgrims
to those given in the Tattvānuśāsana, but they are given different designations. 66 This point must be emphasised: while the Tattvānuśāsana expatiates at length on niscaya-dhyāna - dhyāna in its mystical aspect - the Yogaśāstra concentrates more particularly on the practical utilisation of mantras and the mental image accompanying each type of dhyāna.
The following is a brief account of pindastha-dhyāna according to the Yogaśāstra. This type of dhyāna involves five successive dhāraņās. The word dhāraṇā is used to describe the thrust or beam, so to speak, of concentration directed towards a given object, that attention which grasps hold of the dhyeya and takes possession of it, while dhyāna denotes rather the state of concentrated attention and thus concentration itself. The dhāraṇās in this instance are the four cosmic elements: earth, fire, wind (air), water, the fifth is the atman.67
i) Pärthiv.-dhāraṇā: dhāraņa of the earth
The ascetic imagines an ocean of milk, very calm, on which there is an immense lotus of a thousand petals, as vast as Jambūdvipa, the island of the Jambū. The pericarp of this lotus is as tall as Mount Meru; at the centre of the pericarp is a luminous throne upon which the ascetic is seated, bent on the eradication of his karmas. 68
66 Thus we have here a similar classification of dhyāna, but one using different terms: nāma-dhyeya corresponds to padastha-dhyāna (Taltvanu 101-108; YSas VIII); sthāpana-dhyeya to rūpastha-dhyāna (Tattvanu 109; YSas IX); niscaya-dhyeya to rūpātita-dhyāna (Tattvanu 141-187; YSas X). We may note that YSas X proposes to deal with rūpātita-dhyāna, i.e. dhyāna which is formless and niralamba, without support, but although it defines it and stresses its importance (YSas X, 1-6), it scarcely developes its various aspects at all.
67 Cf. YSas VII, 9.
68 lbid., VII, 10; cf. TS 111, 7-39; pindastha-dhyāna takes its inspiration from Jaina cosmography, Mt. Meru being at the centre of Jambūdvipa, lit. its