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On the Quadruple Division of the Yogaśāstra
301
the reasons of this metaphysical ailment, the means of overcoming it and the state of final liberation? Thus it is, perhaps, even equally possible that S. was here influenced by a general religious tradition or a more specific one to which he himself belonged.
The probative force of the other two passages to which Hacker has drawn attention, viz. USP 19.1. and the introduction of the Māndükyabhāsya, turns out to be weaker still if examined on the basis of the methodological considerations which have been outlined above.
The metaphor contained in the expression jñānavirāgabhesajam and the characterization of this medicine as trsnājvaranāśakāranam cikitsitam in the USP do not by themselves warrant the conclusion that what S. is actually doing here is to resume concepts developed by him when still an adherent of Yoga. This holds equally good for the passage in the Māndükyabhāsya Hacker must have had in mind; there the question as to the prayojana of the teaching expounded in this Upanişad is answered by the following statement:
rogārtasyeva roganivrttau svasthatā / tathā duḥkhātmakasyātmano dvaitaprapañcopaśame 30 svasthatā / advaitabhāvah prayojanam / dvaitaprapancasyāvidyākrtatvād vidyayā tadupaśaman syād iti brah
mavidyāprakāśanāya asyarambhaḥ kriyate 7. Since the problem from which s. starts here is the same as that discussed by the Vivaranakāra, one could, of course, take here, too, the view that $. is but resuming older ideas of his, but again it is by no means self-evident that other possibilities of accounting for this comparison, possibilities which suggest themselves most easily, can be excluded with any degree of certainty. On the contrary, one cannot but wonder if, before the publication of the Vivarana expressly attributing it to Sankara, Hacker himself or anybody working in the same field would have thought of suspecting these passages of showing an (external) influence.
2.4. What remains to be followed up now is Hacker's suggestion of a « certain similarity between the quadruple division of the YogaŠāstra and the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha. Unfortunately, it is not quite clear whether what he had in mind was only a structural similarity or an historical connection: the manner in which he formulates his view, though probably with the aim of revealing yet another instance of Hinduism being indebted to Buddhism, does not by itself preclude the first interpretation. Be that as it may, in order to examine critically his standpoint it is advisable to summarize the results of our foregoing study of Yoga texts, and this is best done by a synoptical chart:
30. The term prapancopaśama is met with also in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamikakārikā, viz. 25.4.
