Dharmamegha samaadhi: Comments on Yogasuutra IV, 29

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Dharmamegha samaadhi: Comments on Yogasuutra IV, 29

Klaus Klostermaier

Philosophy East and West

Vol. 36 No. 3 (1986.07) pp. 253-262

Copyright By University of Hawaii Press

Klaus Klostermaier is Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba, Canada.

p.253

The text under discussion [1] is part of the very last section of the Yogasuutra: within the Kaivalya Pada it describes a condition immediately preceding kaivalya itself. It certainly is of crucial importance for the understanding of the practice and theory of Yoga. It describes the condition of the yogin at this advanced stage as dharmamegha samaadhi. While the literal translation of this term does not pose any problem, it has puzzled commentators and has led to a great number of mutually incompatible interpretations.

I

The classical commentaries of Vyaasa (Yogabhaa.sya) [2] and of Vaacaspati Mi`sra (Tattvavai`saaradii) [3] treat the dharmamegha samaadhi as a technical term, describing a condition where vivekakhyaati has become permanent. Bhoja (Yogabhaa.syav.rtti) gives a one-sentence explanation of the term itself: [4]

prak.r.s.tam a`suklak.r.s.na^m [5] dharma^m paramapuru`saarthasaadhaka^m mehati si~ncati iti dharmamegha.h.

For him the term dharmamegha signifies the outpouring or effusion of the highest dharma, which is "neither white nor black," [6] accomplishing the highest aim of human life. Through these highest dharmas he obtains insight into the foundation of all knowledge (j~naanahetutvam).

In the Yogasuutra commentary ascribed to `Sa^nkara (Yogasuutrabhaa.syavivara.na), [7] the suutra is left without any comment whatsoever. Vij~naanabhik.su, the last of the classical comment~ators (Yogavaarttika), offers a very brief explanation of the terrm:

kle`sakarmaadiinaa^m ni.h`se.seniin muulaka^m dharma^m mehati var.satiiti dharmamegha.h [8]

Dharmamegha, he says, is so called because it pours out or rains down the dharma which eradicates without a trace all afflicions and karmans. In his Yogasaarasa^mgraha, [9] he does not mention the term but goes into some detail describing the condition of vivekakhyaati.

The only reference to dharmamegha samaadhi in classical Hindu literature, outside the commentaries on the Yogasuutra, of which I am aware is a reference in Vidyaara.nya's Pa~ncada`sii [10] In I, 60 he mentions dharmamegha samaadhi as the highest stage to be reached in Yoga: In the context of his instructions on the realization of the highest truth he operates with the well-known triad: `srava.na-manana-nidhidyhaasana. [11] Samaadhi, not further qualified (as in the Yogasuutra), is described as "that condition in which the mind gradually abandons the notion of meditator and meditation (dhyaat.rdhyaane parityajya) and is merged in the object

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of meditation (dhyeyaikagocaram).'' In that condition the mind is likened to a steady flame of a lamp in a well-sheltered place (nivaatidiipavat cittam). By way of confirmation, a reference to Bhagavadgiitaa VI, 19 is inserted.

The effect of this samaadhi is the destruction of all karman accumulated over innumerable lives and the "growth of pure dharma" (`suddho dharmo vivardhate). "The experts in yoga call this samaadhi dharmamegha because it pours forth countless showers of the nectar of dharma (var.saty e.sa yato dharmaam.rtadhaaraas sahasra`sa.h)." Through this samaadhi the net of vaasaanaa [12] is destroyed and meritorious as well as nonmeritorious karman (pu.nyapaapaakhye karman) is rooted out.

At that point Vidyaaranya, the Advaitin, brings in an element of Vedaantic realization: the Word, [13] no longer bound (vaakyam apratibaddham), brings forth immediate enlightenment (bodham aparok.sa^m prasuuyate) concerning the truth which previously was known only by the medium of the teacher's instruction. The guru's instruction is likened to the fire which burns up sin; the direct realization of aatman is like "the scorching sun that dispels the very darkness of avidyaa, the cause of sa.msaara" [14].

Swaamii Vij~naanaa`srama, in his Hindii padaartha to Vyaa.sa Bhaa.sya IV, 29, [15] has some interesting observations which appear quite original. Vivekakhyaati, he says, is the dharma of buddhi: buddhi is under the sway of prak.rti and must also be given up. If the yogin renounces also vivekakhyaati, he realizes vivekakhyaati completely, and therefore this samaadhi is called dharmamegha. The meaning of dharma here is akin to brahmaananda, and it is in the II`sopani.sad that we get the explanation of it:

hira.nyayena paatre.na satyasyaapihita^m mukham
tat tva^m puu.sann apaav.r.nu satyadharmaaya d.r.s.taye. [16]

He translates this as: "O Paramaatman, destroy the veil which hides satyadharma or brahmadar`sana so that we may see his face which is satyadharmasvaruupa (of the nature of true reality)." He continues: Yaaska in his Nirukta also calls the word dharma one of the names of Paramaatman, and therefore the proper meaning of dharma is here brahmaananda. Dharma or brahmaananda is flooding the mind of the yogin--therefore it is called dharmamegha. When the yogin has attained this samaadhi, he has become perfect (k.rtak.rtya) and lives forever in the bliss of Brahman: he can then also be called a, jiivanmukta.

II

Western scholars of Indian literature, not restricted by traditional Indian orthodoxies, and not bound by the aastika-naastika exclusivism, quite early pointed out that the Yogasuutra and Buddhist texts on meditation had rather much in common. It became one of the major points of scholarly debate whether Buddhism borrowed from Yoga or Yoga from Buddhism. [17] Apart from that controversy, their study focused on verbal expressions common to Buddhist texts and the Yogasuutras.

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Thus Louis de la Vallee Poussin, summarizing and complementing such studies in his Le Boudhisme et le Yoga de Pata~njali, points to a parallelism between YS IV, 26 ff and the Buddhist systematization of bhuumis (stages) which the bodhisattva has to master. [18] He specifically quotes E. Senart on dharmamegha:

"On s'est etonne du nom si etrange de dharmamegha 'nuage de la Loi', dent le Yoga designe ce samaadhi ultime qui assure la destruction des kle`sas et du karman. Comment le separer de la phraseologie bouddhique et de cette 'ambroisie di la Loi' que I'enseignment du Buddha fait pleuvoir sur le monde (et la dixi^eme terre des bodhisattvas dharmameghaa bhuumi)? [19]

Modern interpreters, Indian as well as non-Indian, while recognizing the Buddhist flavor of an expression like dharmamegha, and being--on the whole--quite open to the mutuality of influences between early Buddhism and early forms of Yoga, have not--as far as I can see--actually tried to utilize Buddhist texts to throw some light on this strange term and the stage of development of the yogin it describes.

A brief survey of such modern comments will prove helpful, however. It forms part of the history of the interpretation of this crucial suutra, and may, in addition, convince us of the need to look elsewhere for additional light.

S. N. Dasgupta, whose studies Yoga Philosophy [20] and Yoga as Philosophy and Religion [21] are among the most enlightening and frequently referred to, makes extensive and sympathetic references to parallels between Yoga practice and Buddhism. In Yoga Philosophy, however, there is no reference to dharmamegha at all. In Yoga as Philosophy and Religion, we get a fairly extensive comment on YS IV, 29:

(The) final uprooting of the avidyaa with its vaasanaas directly follows the attainment of true knowledge called praj~naa in which state the seed of false knowledge is altogether burned and cannot be revived again.... When the state of buddhi becomes almost as pure as the puru.sa itself, all self-enquiry subsides, the vision of the real form of the puru.sa arises, and false knowledge, together with the kle`sas and the consequent fruition of actions, ceases once for all. This is that state of citta which, far from tending towards the objective world, tends towards the kaivalya of the puru.sa. . . . When the mind is in its natural, passive and objectless stream of flowing praj~naa, it is called the dharmamegha samaadhi. When nothing is desired even from dhyaana arises the true knowledge which distinguishes prak.rti from puru.sa and is called the dharmamegha samaadhi (YS IV, 29). The potency, however, of this state of consciousness lasts until the puru.sa is finally liberated from the wounds of prak.rti and is absolutely free (kevali). . . . [T]he puru.sa in this state may be called the emancipated being, jiivanmukta. [22]
Now with the rise of such dharmamegha the succession of the changes of the qualities is over, inasmuch as they have fulfilled their object, by having achieved experience and emancipation, and their succession having been ended, they cannot stay even for a moment. And now comes absolute freedom, when the gu.nas return back to the pradhaana, their primal cause.... [23]

J. W. Hauer, in his pioneering study Der Yoga als Heilsweg, [24] quite often approvingly referred to by G. Feuerstein in his own authoritative Yoga studies, [25] offers a translation of YS IV, 29:

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Wenn einer zur Tiefenschau gelangt, selbst da nicht geniessend verharrt, sondern zur unumschränkten Unterscheidungsschau fortschreitet, so ist das die 'Einfaltung' genannt 'Wolke der tragenden Urmacht'. [26]

In a note, he adds to 'Wolke der tragenden Urmacht' (his translation of dharmamegha):

Dieser Ausdruck stammt aus dem Buddhismus. Dharma ist zwar im allgemeinen 'Gesetz', kehrt aber im späteren Buddhismus häufig zu seiner Grundbedeutung 'tragende Macht' zuruck.... Der sich Versenkende ist in diesem Zustand wie eingehullt in die tragende Urmacht der Welt. [27]

Hauer thus assumes that the Yogasuutra makes use of a late Buddhist term in its Buddhist sense, which he takes to mean 'the sustaining primeval power of the universe'.

I. K. Taimni, in his The Science of Yoga, [28] does not make any reference to Buddhism at all when commenting on YS IV, 29. He offers a fairly detailed exposition of the meaning of dharmamegha samaadhi, which he takes to be a 'yogic technical term'. He describes it as "the highest kind of samaadhi which burns up the 'seeds' of sa^mskaaras and unlocks the gates of the World of Reality in which the Purusa lives eternally." Rejecting the usual interpretations of the word, he proposes his own:

The significance of the phrase Dharma-Megha will become clear if we assign to the word Dharma the meaning which it has in YS IV, 12 namely that of property, characteristic or function. Megha, of course, is a technical term used in Yogic literature for the cloudy or misty condition through which consciousness passes in the critical stage of Asampraj~naata Samaadhi when there is nothing in the field of consciousness.

He compares the condition of the yogin passing through dharmamegha samaadhi to that of a pilot "who comes out of a cloudbank and begins to see everything clearly." He states:

Dharmameghasamaadhi ... means the final Samaadhi in which the Yogi shakes himself free from the world of dharmas which obscure reality like a cloud.

It also means the final and irrevocable separation of puru.sa (spirit) and prak.rti (matter), the definite eradication of avidyaa (ignorance). "This process is irreversible and after reaching this stage it is not possible for the Puru.sa to fall again into the realm of Maayaa from which he has obtained liberation." In the comments on the following suutra he again asserts:

When the last veil of illusion is removed in Dharma-Megha Samaadhi the Enlightenment which comes is of an entirely new kind. [29]

G. Koelman, in his very detailed thematic exposition of Paata~njala Yoga, [30] devotes some discussion to dharmamegha samadhi, which he translates as 'concentration (called) the Raincloud of essences'.

Until he reaches the stage of the Raincloud of essences, the yogi has to initiate his concentration by starting from some objective prakritic reality. He remains, therefore, to some extent still dependent on the prakritic world. This tie with the

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outer world must be snapped, there should not be any external supporting object, otherwise the mind will continue in the emergent state of thinking. The passage from the state of Sublime Insight to the state of Restriction is called the state of the Raincloud of Essences (dharmameghasamaadhi). The Raincloud of Essences is the stage where there is absolutely uninterrupted discriminative intuition, at once apprehended and generously sacrificed, and uninterrupted experience of the fact that in our present state we do not square with our true Self, an intuition of our Self's "otherness", a yearning for release: cupio dissolvi ... et esse ipse solus! ... The Raincloud of Essences is meant to sublimate the intuition of Sublime Insight, by a total renunciation of it and an absolute abdication of all attachments, rejecting the very bliss of sublime insight. It is understood as that perfection of intuition which rains down, gratuitously and with the yogi's direct collaboration, that essence which is salvific.

Reflecting on the meaning of the passage just cited, he admits: "What is really meant by 'dharma' in this expression, I have not been able to ascertain." After summarizing what he understands to be the interpretations of the classical commentators, he continues:

We might venture another explanation, which, however, we have met nowhere. Since every supporting element is a determination (dharma) of the mind, since every activity and every subliminal impression are likewise determinations of the mind, that Yoga practice which induces the restriction of the mind's activity and suppresses all external objective support, while at the same time accumulating subliminal impressions of inhibition only, may that Yoga-practice not be compared to a cloud which veils, which screens off the mental complex from external influences?

While Koelman's proposal certainly deserves discussion together with the other proposals quoted by him, which clearly do not express the same idea, I find it difficult to accept his statement in the next passage:

Whatever be the exact meaning of dharmamegha, the general idea is quite clear. It is a state of concentration where only the experience of the difference between the sattvam of the function-of-consciousness and the Self stands out, without intrusion of any other ideas.... [31]

III

The lead provided by Senart, de la Vallee Poussin, Hauer, and others point to such obvious Buddhist parallels like the (Mahaayaana) Da`sabhuumikasuutra, [32] in which dharmamegha is explicitly mentioned as the last bhuumi, and other late texts, which extensively enumerate the stages of progress of the Bodhisattva. However, before examining these important sources, I would like to point to an earlier text in which the term occurs: whether it is the earliest mention of the term I am not able to decide.

The Milindapa~nha has among the similes in its latter portion an entry: megha (rain-cloud). [33] The text enumerates five qualities of the rain-cloud which the yogin is to possess.

1. As the rain-cloud settles the dust on the road, so the yogin, by means of his yoga practice, should settle the dust of afflictions (kilesarajojallam).

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2. As the rain-cloud allays the heat of summer, so the yogin, through his practice of friendliness (mettaabhaava), should reduce the heat of the whole world (nibbaapetabbo).

3. As the rain-cloud makes all kinds of plants grow, so the yogin should make faith (saddhaa) arise and grow.

4. As the rain-cloud affords protection in the hot season to vegetation, so the yogin, by virtue of mindfulness (manasikaara), should protect the sama.nadhamma.

5. As the rain-cloud, when it opens up, fills brooks and streams and wells and lakes, so the yogin, by virtue of his yoga life (yogaavacarena) well grounded in the scriptures (aagamapariyattiyaa), should open the "raincloud of dharma" (dharmamegha) and make it pour down fulfillment to the minds of those who are desirous of learning.

The Mahaayaana text Da`sabhuumikasuutra, which "occupies a position of paramount importance in the Mahaayaana system of thought," [34] lists as the last and highest of the stages which the bodhisattva has to traverse the dharmameghaa bhuumi. It is also called abhi`sekabhuumi, level of anointment of ordination/coronation. It represents the highest level and enables the bodhisattva to enter into innumerable samaadhis.

Finally, the samaadhi called sarvaj~naanavi`se.sabhi`seka becomes available to him. He is seen as occupying a luminous seat called mahaaratnaraajapadma, which emits rays illuminating the ten quarters of the world, performing a great many miracles. The Buddhas appear before him and consecrate him in supreme enlightenment.

He now understands the appearance of phenomenal plurality in its true nature and realizes the different types of magical creation. He exercises the ten powers (balas), which include: the power of discrimination between right and wrong, the knowledge of the law of karma, the knowledge of all the different stages of creation, the knowledge of the different forms of deliverance, the knowledge of all the different dispositions of all living beings, the knowledge of the final destination of all deeds, the knowledge of all the different practices of meditation, the knowledge of former existences, the unlimited power of divinization, and complete cessation of all evil desires.

He is in possession of the four certitudes (vai`saaradya), namely, of having attained the highest enlightenment, having destroyed all evil desires, having rightly identified the obstacles on the path to enlightenment, and having truthfully taught the way to deliverance.

He now possesses the eighteen ave.nikas (unique characteristics) of the Buddha: he commits no errors; he is faultless in his speech and in his mind; he remains constant in his mind; his mind is free from particularity; he is confirmed in equanimity; his desire to save beings is unlimited; his energy is inexhaustible; his remembrance (of Buddhas past) is unlimited; his wisdom is unlimited; his de-

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liverance is permanent; his knowledge of his deliverance is permanent; his skill in means is perfect in action and speech; he knows about the problems of all souls; and he knows all the past, all the present, and all the future.

He goes through the light of vision of the mahaadharmamegha and makes it his own (sahate, sviikaroti, sampratiicchati, sa^mdharaayati). Finally he puts out the flames of afflictions, produced by ignorance, by means of showering the rain of nectar of great merit. [35]

Neither the number of bhuumis nor their names are uniform in the various Mahaayaana texts which deal with the ascent of the bodhisattva.

The Mahaavaastu [36] also describes ten bhuumis. Its highest, the Tu.sita, is the place from which -- if he wishes -- the bodhisattva can enter again into a human existence as a bodhisattva "with the resolve that it will be his last existence." The lengthy chapter is filled with a description of "the wonderful and marvelous attributes of these supreme men, which are not shared by Pratyekabuddhas, nor by saints, nor by disciples, nor by average men." At this stage they are "endowed with the attributes of descent into the womb, of being born, of having parents, of taking up religious life, of being energetic, of attaining wisdom." [37] The term dharmamegha is not used or referred to.

Similarly, in Asa^nga's Yogaacaarabhuumi, in the section on Bodhisattvabhuumi, [38] we find a total of seven bhuumis: the highest is called Nisthaagamana and is compared by Nalinaksa Dutt, the editor of the text, with dharmamegha. [39]

D. Seyfort Ruegg [40] mentions a text in which dharmamegha is listed as the eleventh stage, just before the twelfth and final one (varamabhaavika vi`se.samaya).

T. R. V. Murti [41] refers to Candrakiirti's attempt in his Maadhyamakaavataara to fit the paaraamitaas in with the ten bhuumis: "the tenth bhuumi -- Dharmamegha -- is taken to be the Buddhabhuumi, though complete Buddhahood is still far off."

There is a verse in the Lalitavistara, [42] -- in the second chapter, which narrates how the gods persuade the Bodhisattva residing in the Tu.sita heaven to descend to earth again -- in which the motive of the rain-cloud and the cessation of afflictions is brought together with the coming of the Buddha:

kle`saagninaa pradiipte loke tvam viira meghavad vyaapya
abhivar.saamr.tavar.sa^m `samaya kle`saan naramaruu.naam [43].

The Mahaayaanasuutraaala^mkaara [44] in its description of bhuumis also speaks of the dharmameghaa as the highest level to be attained by those who are about to reach complete mukti. It briefly explains the term: dharmameghaa ayam karma^ny abhij~naa' karma.naam avyaaghaataat [45] -- characterizing it as a condition where the karmans are completely known after they have ceased to be an obstacle.

H. V. Guenther, referring to a Tibetan work of a similar character, which enumerates the ten bhuumis as does the Da`sabhuumikasuutram, describes the last in this fashion:

The tenth level, "Cloud of Dharma" (dharmamegha) contains innumerable Dharaa.nimukhas and Samaadhimukhas, and being knowledge, encompasses all

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that can be known, just as a cloud fills the sky. And just as rain quenches the thirsting earth, so this "cloud" pours down the rain of the Dharma and extinguishes the raging fire of all kinds of instability. [46]

IV

The use of the term dharmamegha samaadhi in YS IV, 29 does not appear to be arbitrary or purely technical in the sense that Patar~njali could have chosen another term, as a quark could well be known by any other name. The associations given to dharmamegha in the Buddhist texts -- which reappear in some of the classical (Hindu) commentaries on the Yogasuutras -- seem to be of the essence of this samaadhi.

These associations suggest in both instances a rather elevated and advanced state of the yogin, reached after many tests and trials, a state where the yogin is confirmed in his position and there is no longer any danger of sliding back to a lower state. The cessation of kle`sa and of karman is closely tied up with the dharmamegha, and the metaphor of the "rain" appears to be most appropriate since it extinguishes fire, washes away impurities, and provides a necessary condition for growth.

The borderline between the dharmamegha samaadhi and the kaivalya of Yoga, or between bodhisattvahood and Buddahood at the stage of dharmameghaa of Buddhism, is virtually imperceptible: it is only a question of fulfillment of a process, which from then on has only one direction. And here we may, possibly, discern a significant difference between the Yogic (Hindu) and the Buddhist dynamics: the Buddhist texts emphasize the altruistic aspects of this condition -- the possibility for the Bodhisattva/Yogin to assist the world in reaching the highest goal, the beneficial effects which "the rain of dharma" has with regard to the quenching of the firebrand of the kle`sa of those still under their sway. The Yogasuutra seems to be interested in the benefit of the dharmamegha samaadhi for the sake of the yogin only: his kle`sa and his karman are eradicted, his knowledge is infinitely enlarged, his kaivalya is secured, which means the attainment of his "being his true self," The Bodhisattva in his Tu.sita heaven forgoes, for the time being, the complete bliss and the ultimate perfection of Buddhahood, which is within his reach, and accedes to the pleas of the devas to incarnate and make himself present in a bodily form among humans for their benefit alone.

In an earlier study, [47] I suggested "to translate megha not as cloud but as 'field' in the sense of modern physics. Dharmamegha samaadhi would then be a condition in which the dharmas, which on a lower level of consciousness have been perceived as differentiated into a great number of specific dharmas, now are perceived in their (unified) dharma-character: as 'field' surrounding ultimate reality rather than as things." I also pointed to the crucial function of the k.sa.na dharma, as the most basic for the origination of all other dharmas and as the last connection between puru.sa and prak.rti. I tried to suggest dharmamegha samaadhi as zero-time-experience.

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The insight into the nature of everything as "dharmic" is irrevocable: the puru.sa will never be able to mistake any particular object as real after the unreality (in ultimate terms) of everything has been intuited.

NOTES:

1. prasa^mkhyaane 'py akusiidasya sarvathaa vivekakhyaater dharmamegha.h samaadhi.h. As translated by J. H. Woods, in The Yoga System of Pata~njali, Harvard Oriental Series, No. 17 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1914), p. 340: "For one who is not usurious even in respect of Elevation, there follows in every case, as a result of discriminative discernment, the concentration (called) Rain-cloud of (knowable) things." As translated by I. K. Taimni, in The Science of Yoga (Wheaten, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), p. 431: "In the case of one, who is able to maintain a constant state of Vairaagya even towards the most exalted state of enlightenment and to exercise the highest kind of discrimination, follows Dharma-Megha Samaadhi."

2. Edition used: `Srii Naaraaya.na Mi`sra, Paata~njalayogadarsaanam (with Vyaasabhaa.sya, Vaacaspati Mi`sra's Tattvavai`saaradii, and Vij~naanabhik.su's Yogavaarttika) (Varanasi, 1971).

3. Both use an almost identical expression: Vyaasa: tadaasya dharmamegho naama samaadhir bhaavati. Vaacaspati Mi`sra: tadaasya dharmamegha.h samaadhir bhaavati.

4. Edition used: Swaami Vij~naanaa`srama, Paata~njala Yogadar`sanam(with Vyaasabhaa.sya and Bhoja's V.rtti and a Hindii commentary by the editor) (Ajmer, 1961).

5. Could the text be amended to read prak.s.rtamsuklak.r.s.nam ? It would, I believe, make more sense in the context of quite routine distinctions of akli.s.ta karman into `sukla and k.r.s,na, mi`sra, and a`sukla-ak.r.s.na. See Gopinaath Kaviraaj, "Karma kaa `sreni vibhaaga aura kli.s.ta-akli.s.ta karma," in "Paraloka Aur Punarjanmaa^nka" (Kalyaa.na 43, no. 1 (Gorakhpur: Giitaapress, 1969): 237-242).

6. I admit to having philosophical as well as philological reservations to this translation, suggested by Swaami Vij~naanaa`srama.

7. Paatanjala Yogasuutra Bhaa.sya Vivara.nam, ed. by Polakam `Srii Raama `Sastrii and S. R. K.r.s.namuurti `Sastrii, Government Oriental Series, no. 94 (Madras, 1952).

8. Mi`sra, Paata~njalayogadar`sanam, p. 455 (cited in note 2).

9. Yogasaarasa^ngraha of Vij~naana-Bhik.su, with original text, Hindii translation and explanatory notes by Dr. Pavan Kumari (Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers, 1981).

10. Edition used: Swami Swahaananda, trans. The Pa~ncada`sii (Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1967), p. 28.

11. Swahaanandas Pa~ncada`sii I, 53-54: "The finding out of the true meaning of the great sayings is known as `srava.na, and its validation through logical reasoning is called manana. When by `srava.na and manana the mind develops a firm and undoubted conviction and dwells permanently on the oneness, it is called nididhyaasana."

12. Impressions (desires) left in the mind by previous actions.

13. Literally, vaakya means 'sentence'. What is meant are the 'Great Sayings' (Mahaavaakya), the (four) Upani.sadic (revealed) statements of identity of brahman and aatman.

14. Ibid., p. 29 (I, 64).

15. Vij~naanaa`srama, Paata~njala, pp. 500-501 (cited in note 4).

16. II`sopani.sad 15.

17. For some of the older opinions see Louis de la Vallee Poussin, "Le boudhisme et le Yoga de Pata~njali," in Melanges chinois et bouddhiques, vol. 5 (Bruxelles: Institute Belge des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 1937), pp. 223-242. For some of the more recent opinions: W. L. King, Theravaada Meditation: The Buddhist Transformation of Yoga (University Park, Pennsylvania, and London: Pennsylvania State University, 1980); Karel Werner, "Religious Practice and Yoga in the Time of the Vedas, Upani.sads and Early Buddhism," Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 56 (1975): 179-194; and M. Eliade, Yoga. Immortality and Freedom, Bollingen Series 56 (Princeton University Press, 1969), esp. pp. 162 ff:

18. de la Vallee Poussin, "Le boudhisme et le Yoga," p. 241 (cited in note 17).

19. Ibid. No reference is given to the specific source.

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20. S. N. Dasgupta, Yoga Philosophy in Relation to other systems of Indian Thought (originally published 1930; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1974).

21. S. N. Dasgupta, Yoga as Philosophy and Religion (originally published 1924; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1973).

22. Ibid., p. 116.

23. Ibid., p. 118.

24. J. W. Hauer, Der Yoga als Heilsweg: Nach den indischen Quellen dargestellt (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1932).

25. G. Feuerstein, The Philosophy of Classical Yoga (The University of Manchester Press, 1982).

26. Ibid., p. 123.

27. Ibid., p. 157.

28. Taimni, The Science of Yoga, pp. 432-433 (cited in note 1).

29. Ibid., p. 435.

30. G. M. Koelman, S. J., Paata~njala Yoga: From Related Ego to Absolute Self (Poona: Papal Athenaeum, 1970).

31. Ibid., p. 234.

32. Edition used: Da`sabhuumikasuutram, ed. by Dr. P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, no. 7 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1967). See also the introduction to J. Rahder, "Da`sabhuumika Suutram. Seventh Stage," Acta Orientalia 4 (1926): 214-256.

33. Edition used: Milindapa~nha Pali, ed. by Swami Dwarikadaasa Shastri, Bauddha Bhaarati Series 13 (Varanasi, 1979). The reference is to meghaa^ngapa~nho, p. 288 (no. 6). The English translation by T. W. Rhys Davids, in Sacred Books of the East (Oxford: 1894) vol. 36, pp. 356-357, translates megha as "Rain" and yogi as "strenuous Bhikshu."

34. Dr. P. L. Vaidya in the introduction to the text.

35. The Dharmameghaa bhuumi.h is dealt with in pp. 55-64 and pp. 102-108. See also D. T. Suzuki, Outlines of Mahaayaana Buddhism (New York: Schocken Books, 1963), pp. 326 ff.

36. Edition used: Mahaavastu Avaadana, vol. I, ed. by Dr. S. Bagchi, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, no. 14 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1970). The reference is to pp. 106-118. The translation here is by J. J. Jones (London: Luzac & Co., 1949); the description of the tenth bhuumi is found in vol. I, pp. 112- 124.

37. Ibid., p. 112.

38. Edition used: Bodhisattvabhuumi: Being the XVth section of Asa^ngapada's Yogaacaarabhuumi, ed. by Nalinaksha Dutt (Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1978).

39. Ibid., Introduction, p. 41.

40. D. Seyfort Ruegg, "The Gotra, Ekaayana and Tathaagathagarbha Theories of the Praj~naapaaramitaa According to Dharmamitra and Abhayakaragupta," in Praj~naapaaramitaa and Related Systems, Studies in Honour of Edward Conze, ed. by L. Lancaster (Berkeley; Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series I(1977), pp. 283-312).

41. T. R. V. Murti, The Central Philosophy of Buddhism (London: Alien and Unwin, 1960), p. 269.

42. Edition used: Lalitavistara.h, ed. by Dr. P. L. Vaidya, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, no. 1 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1958); the reference is to II, 13 (p. 9).

43. "Enveloping like a cloud the world which is scorched by the fire of afflictions, pour down, you hero, like a rain of nectar into the fever of men's afflictions."

44. Edition used: Mahaayaana-Suutraala^nkaara of Asa^nga, ed. by Dr. S. Bagchi, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, no. 13 (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1970).

45. The reference is to XI, 47.

46. H. V. Guenther, Philosophy and Psychology in the Abhidharma (Berkeley, California, and London: Shambhala, 1976), p. 245.

47. Klaus K. Klostermaier, "Time in Pata~njali's Yogasuutra," Philosophy East and West 34, no. 2 (April 1984): 205-210.