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JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XLVII, NO. 1-IV JULY.-JUNE 12-13
dominating.
Impact of other systems on Jaina yoga in this period :
In the first plase i.e. in the pre-canonical age it is very difficult to trace the impact of other systems of yoga on Jaina yoga, because in this period we do not find any information about any of the organized schools of yogic and meditational practices, except that of the Ramaputta, form whom Lord Budha had learned some methods of meditation. It is interesting to know that he was also mentioned in some Jaina canonical texts, such as Sūtrakṛtānga, Antakṛtadasānga and Ṛsibhāsita'. I believe that vipassana and prekṣā meditation of that period may be basically belongs to Ramaputta in their original forms.
2. Canonical age:
Though traditionally it is believed that Jaina Yoga and meditative practices are originated from Rṣabhadeva, the first tirthankara, But so far as the historical evidences are concerned, the earliest mention of yogic practices and meditation was found in early Jaina canonical works such as Acārānga and Ṛṣibhāsita, In Upadhānasnūrta, the nineth chapter of Acārānga, we have the records of those yogic and the meditative practices, which were followed by Lord Mahāvira himself, in which we find the trataka-method of meditation. In Sutrakṛtānga's sixth chapter Prekṣā meditation was also mentioned. In it, the Lord Mahavira was presented as the best meditator or seer, who knows the real nature of religious practices, steadiness of mind and the prekṣā-(self-awareness)." In eighth chapter of Sutrakṛtānga it is also mentioned that for the emancipation the ultimate means are the dhyana, yoga and titikṣā (tolerance)."
The yogic and meditational practices at their end can be completed by giving up the attachment towards one's own body (8/ 26), which is known in Jainism as kāyotsarga.
In this second phase, which is known as cononical age, some common features can be seen between Patanjali's system and Jaina
