________________
160
Shantilal M. Desai
realise that the attempt for union with the ultimate is not only an easier course but the right and natural course too. Such attempts on their part for the union with the Supreme Reality were termed as yoga. The attempts proved fruitful and yielded results and naturally the term Yoga became current and popular,
Thus the term 'yoga' gained supremacy among other terms like Tapas at least in the Vedic tradition of Yoga. Yoga came to be considered the best and shortest cut to the supreme reality. The usage of the term 'yoga' is seen in Rgvedic hymns but then it did not mean the same thing as it meant afterwards when yoga developed into a system. In the Upanişads too the word Yoga is used. In Mahābhārata this word 'yoga' is used very profusely but there it has been used in context of the Sankhya. Gītā has used 'yoga' very frequently and expanded its meaning utmost. In Buddha Pitakas the word 'yoga' is not so frequently used as the word 'samādhi'. In Jain scriptures 'yoga' is seen to be used generally in the sense of the activities of the mind, body and speech. This meaning is quite the reverse of what the term 'yoga' means.
Haribhadra alone in Jain tradition could see the beauty of the term 'yoga'. It was he who with all the zest and charm used the term 'Yoga' for the first time in Jainism. It is the word by which he desired to convey his meaning of synthesis. He could well see the possibility of using this term in integrating different philosophical and yogic concepts. He could see too the pregnant integrative capacity of this word 'Yoga'. This was no make-believe on his part but he realised by intution the vast capacity of this word and traditions and he was tempted to write four books on the subject of Yoga. Hemacandrācārya followed suit in the usage of the terin yoga' in his yoga works.
Parallel growth of Yoga Systems
The three main yoga systems of Yoga and their growth is to be reviewed before taking up the yoga works of Haribhadra. That would provide a suitable background to understand and assess his works and his contribution to the field of Yoga. Any system of Yoga can be well discussed though arbitrarily into eight main topics or features : (1) The goal of yoga (2) The kinds of citta or the levels of mind (3) The obstacles coming in the way of concentration and purification of the mind (4) The process and remedies to get rid of the obstacles (5) The stages of growth and development of the mind as well as the personality of the Sadhaka (6) The stages of dhyāna or the meditational stages (7) The siddhis or the special divine powers accuring during Sadhana and lastly (8) The realiza. tion of the goal.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
