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Philosophy of the Jayakhya and other Samhitās 31
nişkala and Vişņu, or sabda, vyoma and sa-vigraha. In the sakala or the sa-vigraha type of yoga the yogin concentrates his mind on the gross idol of the deity; and then gradually, as he becomes habituated, he concentrates his mind on the notion of a glowing circular disc; then on the dimension of a pea; then on the dimension of a horse-hair; then on a human hair of the head; then on the human hair of the body; and as a consequence of the perfection of this practice the path of the brahma-randhra opens up for him. In the nişkala type of yoga the yogin meditates upon the ultimate reality, with the result that his own essence as Brahman is revealed to him. The third form consists in the meditation on the mantras, by which course also the ultimate reality is revealed to the yogin. Through the process of the yoga the yogin ultimately passes out by the channel of his brahma-randhra and leaves his body, after which he attains unity with the ultimate reality, Vasudeva1.
In the fourth chapter of the Visnu-Samhitā (Manuscript) the three guṇas are supposed to belong to Prakṛti, which, with its evolutes, is called Kṣetra, God being called Kṣetrajña2. The prakṛti and God exist together as it were in union3. The prakṛti produces all existences and withdraws them within it in accordance with the direction or the superintendence of the Puruşa1, though it seems to behave as an independent agent. Puruşa is described as an allpervading conscious principle.
The Visnu-samhitā, after describing the three kinds of egoism as sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa, speaks of the rājasa ahamkāra not only as evolving the conative senses but also as being the active principle directing all our cognitive and conative energies. As the cognitive energy, it behaves both as attention directed to senseperception and also to reflection involving synthetic and analytic activities. The Visnu-samhita speaks further of the five powers of God, by which the Lord, though absolutely qualityless in Himself, reveals Himself through all the sensible qualities. It is probably in this way that all the powers of prakṛti exist in God, and it is in this
1 Jayakhya-samhita, Ch. 33. In Ch. 34 the process of yoga by which the yogin gradually approaches the stage of the final destruction of his body is described.
2 kşetrākhyā prakṛtir jñeya tad-vit kşetra-jña isvaraḥ.
3
4
ubhayam cedam atyantam abhinnam iva tiştḥati. tan-niyogat svatantreva sute bhavan haraty api.
Vişnu-samhita, IV.
Ibid.
Ibid.
