Sambodhi

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Shantilal M. Desai
mind is the greatest asset for man's spiritual progress but it is the greatest creator of illusions too. Unless the mind is made pure concentrated, and prone to spirituality, it would do more harm than good. That is why Haribhadra prescribes these primary yoga-steps and describes yoga-concepts as Adhyatma as is mentioned above. Adhyatma ineans the progress towards spirituality and should be prone to it alone and then alone can he said to be firmly set on Adhyatma. It requires a constant aspiration for spiritual upliftment. Haribhadra's linking together of self-assessment, self-introspection and religious performance under the general term of Adhyatma is significant as these practices are interlinked by their very nature. One cannot be performed without recourse to the other. This sort of Adhyatma is for the beginner as it provides proper and first means for the spiritual end says Haribhadra in Karikas 68, 69, 70 of Yogabindu. It is of such great importance by its very function that it is useful to the very end i.e. the achievement of Mokṣa. And this is very apparent because self-assessment, introspection as well as religious performance are useful at all stages of spiritual growth.
It
Modern Psychology rejected introspection as a psychological tool. has no clear concept of introspection as yoga-systems in India had. Introspection can be useful only after primary steps of purification and others. Humanistic psychology again sees great potentialities in introspective methods. It is a good augury if it is adopted on yogic lines.
The three-fold first steps of Adhyatma convey the importance of human efforts. The performance of religious duties is nothing but human efforts towards achieving the goal. Nothing can be achieved in yoga without human efforts. Yoga is the science based on the right human efforts in the field of spirituality. Haribhadra has discussed the subject of fate and human efforts and their inter-relations. Treading the traditional path in Indian Philosophy, in general he asserts that human effort is the seed and fate is its outcome or the result.11 Efforts is human in hands and not the fate. To control fate one has to control one's actions and efforts. It is the law of nature that good efforts lead to good results and bad works to a bad end. This is a universal law and that works in the yogic field too. Yoga is the science of life and its dynamics lies in the intensity and purity of human efforts. The efforts here are mainly on the mental and spiritual planes and so yoga is rightly called psycho-dynamics too. Life is nothing but activity as seen on material and mental plane. Right activity and efforts lead to the right goal. In short, efforts alone has been given an important central place in yoga and fate is given a secondary place and that too for its alteration and transformation into a spiritual concept of grace.