________________ 12 advocating the doctrine of bhakti-yoga as the direct means to moksa and also incorporating all the details furnished in the Gita about yoga as sadhana along with whatever material is available in the Vedanta-sutra. Though yoga as a darsana or philosophical system is rejected by Badarayana and also by the commentators on the Vedanta-sutra in so far as its philosophical doctrines are concerned, the religio-spiritual discipline under the name of Astanga-yoga is accepted by him with some modification. Thus the Vedantagutras, while discussing the nature and components of vidya or upasana, which according to Badarayana is the direct means to the Parama-purusartha, mention dhyana, the sixth limb of yogangas, asana or steady posture, dharana or concentration of the mind on the object of contemplation, yama or cultivation of ethical values and niyama or scrupulous observance of prescribed rituals. The Bhagavad-gita in the sixth adhyaya, which deals with jnana-yoga according to Ramanuja, for realizing the jivatman (atmavalokana), also refers specifically to a few important limbs of the yoga. Ramanuja therefore acknowledges the need of the yogangas laid down by Patanjali in formulating the theory of bhakti-yoga as the direct sadhana to moksa. While commenting on the Vedanta-sutra which define the nature of dhyana he quotes the following verse from the Visnu-purana: 'tadrupa.pratyaye ca eka santatisca and nispra; tad-dhyanam prathamaih angaih sadbhih nispadyate nrpa?'. It means that the continuous unbroken series of meditation on Brahman is called dhyana and that is to be accomplished by the first six yogangas viz. yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara and dharana. anya Though Ramanuja acknowledges the need of Astanga-yoga of Patanjali as referred to in the Vedanta-Sutra and also Bhagavad-gita, the nature of bhakti-yoga as the direct sadhana to the attainment of Paramatman is much more than what is enunciated in the Patanjala-yoga system. The bhakti-yoga advocated in the Bhagavad-gita which is accepted by Ramanuja as the direct sadhana, unlike Samkara, includes many other features. The first and most important point of difference is that the goal of Patanjalayoga is kaivalya or the attainment of a state of existence by the individual self as totally free from the association of citta and its vrttis or functions. The very second sutra of Patanjali which defines the term yoga as cittavrtti-nirodhah is followed by the sutra reading as: 'tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam', implying that the goal of yoga practice is 2! V.P.V1 - 7-91
