The Philosophical Basis of Yama in Yoga

The understanding of sankhya metaphysics and yoga psychology is a prerequisite for Astanga Yoga. According to the sankhya the cosmos has two eternal entities. The Purusa, infinite in number is full of peace and bliss, perfect and complete. It has no afflictions, no pain no pleasure, no distress, no agitation, no worry, no anxiety no hunger, no thirst, no sleep, no fatigue. This Purusa resides in each one of us. Therefore our experience too must be the same. If this is the fact then now come our entire life experience day in and day out contradicts this experience? Even if a lunch is missed we become very distressed and irritable. The same is with thirst, sleep, fatigue and with so many life processes. Again it is people and events that act upon us and thrust us in endless oscillations of pleasure and pain. Our ever-lasting peace and happiness is at the mercy of the demands of the body of our interaction with

Prakriti is a cosmic force which has created this universe. She has also created this physical body and the sense organs the inner prana the mind and the intellect, the memory and the ego. The inner prakriti of each individual associates with the cosmic prakriti outside. This association affects the way in which the mind expresses itself, in thinking, willing and feeling. Freedom is given to each one of us on how to associate. All the paraphernalia that the prakriti has set up has two motives: Pleasure and libertion of the Purusa. This idea has been beautifully put up in the episode of Naciketa and Yama in the Katha Upanishad. Naciketa is filled with the longing to know what becomes of man after death? Yama asks him to cease from this inquiry and offers in return all the sensual joys and pleasures of the world, but Naciketa spurns them all. Yama commending on his decision says, “The good pleasant misses the end.”[1] The good and the pleasant both approach the man. The wise prefer the good to the pleasant but the ignorant chooses the pleasant thinking it to be the good. That which is pleasurable gives instant gratification and this can be easily achieved by our sense organs. As one poet writes how creatures belonging to different species come to grief by the activity of just one sense. The moth is killed by its sense of sight. The elephant gets into captivity by giving in to the sense of touch. The fish gets hooked by succumbing to the sense of taste. The bee is entrapped in the lotus by the sense of smell and the deer gets caught by yielding to the sense of hearing. And here is the human individual, an animal in which all the five senses are present. His fate can well be imagined. We with our five sense organs make contact with the worldly objects (all evolutes of Prakriti) as being endowed with attributes (pleasurable) that they do not really possess. We have superimposed those qualities on the object creating an eternal psychological confusion which having taken root from time immemorial is necessarily and naturally repeated again and again. Thus it is through this ignorance that this changeful order of the universe is regarded by us as existing permanently and eternally. The body which is impure is considered as pure and beautiful as is seen in the fascination, charm and passion that women generate in us and so on. This is what is called Avidya which confuses a thing with such characteristics as it really does not possess. From such an ignorance comes egoism (asmita) which is but the immediately succeeding moment of the confusion. This egoism possesses the characteristic of identification and an identification center is created. (it is psychological in nature) Whatever images arise in the mind as a result of its interaction with the world are understood, processed and interpreted from this centre. From this egoism comes the tendency by which one begins to think of all things as his own. Thus the statements My wife, My Children, My business. I am so and so, I have done that and that. Going back to the original confusion where pleasure was superimposed on all external modifications of Prakriti and combined and with egoism naturally flows desire. I must acquire more and more pleasurable things (Raga) and refrain from all painful things (Dvesa). This tendency to maximize pleasure and minimize pain must continue eternally. Thus arises Abhinevesa i.e. the clinging to life which man shares in common with all animals. S.N. Dasgupta summaries it very eloquently “ It is thus ignorance which readily expresses itself as egoism works on the three fold way, namely the desire for happiness, antipathy to pains and desire for life. All other vices are but separate forms of manifestation of any one of these. The egoism acting through ignorance is the root of all evil.”[2] The real nature of man has been lost. The psychological makeup is now the real nature of man. With false perception he interacts with the world suffering to others in order to maximize his pleasure and minimize his pain. In philosophical language it is a common feature of animal state of existence. Like an animal he too leads a life of body bound existence confined to hunger, thirst, sex and sleep. Yoga does not deny the fulfilment of these propensities. Even a yogi eats, drinks, needs rest and obeys the biological instinct to reproduce. So far it is all right. Its presence is no dire calamity or disaster. Only when it becomes a dominant part of life style then it becomes a dangerous predicament since man has reached the peak of biological evolution, a point from where spiritual evolution is about to start. As long as the brute nature of man is dominant it will never begin. Man evolved to realize his Real nature but the animal in him has completely taken over. Ethics in yoga is based on this philosophic- psychological background. Every thought, word and action that takes him towards realizing his nature is ethical. All that pushes him to supplement the animal in him is unethical. Ethics in yoga is normative and subjective. Objective ethics, norms of social behaviour are accepted since they are conducive to harmonious social relationship and general wellbeing of individual so that each one can wholly devote oneself to realize his real nature. Today‟s modern human highly educated, engaged in a high profile job, taking good care of one‟s family and confirming to social norms can at best be called a sophisticated brute. Subjective Idealism is ethics for yoga. Thus the philosophy and psychology of yoga serve as a paradigm from which the Astanga yoga is to be understood in general and the ethical practices in particular. Swami Chidananda says “The yamas are framed for eliminating the brute in man and the Niyamas are effective weapons to destroy the citadel of the senses. Yama and Niyama the ethical edifice of yoga has been assigned specific roles i.e. stopping the downward plunge and helping the upward ascent.[3] When this is borne in mind then the rationale behind the norms, denials and laws are understood. The practice itself becomes more effective and its acts as a cross check to know whether the practice is sterile, stagnant, progressive or fruitful. Based on this background we shall now begin the understanding of yoga ethics. Sutras 30-45 in Sadhana Pada contain the essence of yoga ethics. The moral code is defined, the degree to which it has to be followed is enumerated and the fruits that one will gain are elaborated in a systematic manner. Sutra 30 mentions the five great vows classified under one title yama.

Ahimsa: It is the first of the yamas and is the vow to abstain from injuring any living creature. The person who takes this vow declares “from me there shall come no injury, no pain, no suffering or destruction

Ahimsa denotes an attitude and mode of behaviour towards all living creatures based on the recognition of the underlying unity of life. Though it initially seems like a negative virtue, the practice of Ahimsa slowly transforms itself in a positive and dynamic life of love both in its aspect of tender compassion towards all living creatures and its practical form: selfless service.

Ahimsa when developed fills the heart with overflowing and unending selfless love for mankind. One who is imbibed with such love is inwardly attuned to all living beings and automatically inspires confidence and love in them. Hateful vibrations extend to fall off and one experiences peace and happiness near the person. Stories of olden times are abundant with examples of tiger and deer sitting together at the feat of the Rishi. The most recent one being that of Swami Rama of the Himalayas who was photographed mediating in the middle of a lake surrounded by crocodiles. Swami Vivekananda says, „The test of Ahimsa is absence of jealousy. So long as jealousy exists in the heart it is far away from the perfection of Ahimsa. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to anyone, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy – that man is a bhakta, a yogi, the Guru of all.‟[5]

Satya: The second injunction can better be understood of what not to speak. It means strict avoidance of all exaggerations, equivocation, pretence, trying to reveal something partially, keeping something back and similar facts which are involved in saying or doing things which are not in strict accordance with what we know as true. Practically too we know that a lie is easily spoken but keeping to the lie requires a lot of support, causes a peculiar strain on the sub-conscious and provides a congenial ground for all kinds of emotional disturbances. If one takes the vow of Satya one cannot do anything wrong. If one did anything wrong it would deserve punishment then one would have an instinctive impulse to speak a lie which would go against the vow of satya. Therefore Satya acts as a shield as it protects one from anything that is wrong, impure unethical and against ones principles. Positively it is the practice of Truth that aids in the flowering of Intuitive knowledge. Gandhi considered Ahimsa and Truth as two cardinal virtues which was aptly seeing in India‟s freedom struggle and in his personal life. A person who is firmly established in satya is cleaned of all the dirt of his intellect. It becomes as it were a shining mirror reflecting the universal Intellect. Naturally whatever the person says is necessarily true. Asteya: Asteya is not only abstaining from stealing but abstaining of misappriation of all kinds. One should not take anything that does not belong to him be it money, goods, credit for things he has not done or privileges. As one practices Asteya one‟s tranquil. Vivekananda says, “The more you fly from Nature the more she follows you and if you do not care for her at all she becomes your slave”.[6] This is very much true in the case of Asteya. When Asteya has been mastered to a high degree, intuitive knowledge of gems, precious stones buried in the bowels of each is revealed. A person becomes saintly and people often their wealth at his feet. We usually see in society that it is only by falsehood and cheating and stealing that a person grows rich. Yoga on the other hand maintains that by practicing virtues to a high degree or perfection will yield similar results. One must have the patience and perseverance to adhere to the virtue right till the end. Brahmacharya: The vow of Brahmacharya has to be understood in the two ways: General and specific. In the general sense it means initially the control and finally the abstinence of all kinds of sensual enjoyment. What is the harm one may ask in eating tasty food or hearing beautiful music? The sense enjoyments though they seem innocent affect us in two ways. Firstly they slowly but surely draw us to a life of comfort i.e a life of a Bhogi from that of a yogi and secondly it aids in the built up of desire and feeds the samskaras of sensual enjoyments which are already latent in man. In the general sense the meaning of Brahmacharya is austerity. In the specific sense Brahmacharya is abstinence of the sexual desire in thought, word and action. Prabhupadji the head of ISKCON was asked by his disciples “How many times should one have sex?” He replied once a month.” The disciples said “Then better give it up” Prabhupadji replied “ That‟s the idea.” Accomplishments in any given field demand this. It is a well-known fact among all sport persons. If materialistic achievements demand it, need one say anything more for spiritual attainments! Food that is digested gets converted into different forms of energy. All these energies i.e. the electric, bioplasmic, muscular etc are working to become Ojas. The yogis say that sexual energy when checked and controlled easily becomes changed into Ojas and it is the Mooladhara that stores it. The purpose is to raise the Ojas and store in the brain. Ojas when conserved in the brain is transformed into a dynamic reservoir of energy and will power that makes spiritual progress and attainments possible. A little close examination will show that both the general and the specific meanings of Brahmacharya are connected. It is impossible to abstain from only one form of specific urge if one gives free play to all the sense organs. If one lets the eye watch lust, the ears hear exiting music and the tongue taste heavy rich food then how can the sexual urge be controlled? Therefore Gandhiji says “Brahmacharya means complete self-control. It is changing our entire life and orienting it in such a way that the overall life pattern will be helpful and one eats the surroundings in which one keeps oneself and so on.”7 Vivekananda warns “There must be perfect chastity in thought, word and deed without it the practice of Raja yoga is dangerous and may lead to insanity.”8 The Ashram system in India gave immense importance to Brahmacharya. It was practiced in the three ashramas i.e. Brahmachcarya, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa. Sexual indulgence was allowed in moderation only in the Grihastashrama. Over indulgence of sex leads to weakness, laxity and underachievement. Aparigraha: The tendency to accumulate worldly goods is so strong that it may be considered almost and basic instinct of life. As long as we live in the physical world, we have to have a few things which are essential for the maintenance of the body. These are the necessities of life. But man is not satisfied with necessities. We must have things that increase our comforts and enjoyments and there is no end to it. These extra things do not serve any purpose except that of satisfying our childish vanity and a desire to appear superior to our fellowmen. A commonsensical analysis will show the amount of time and energy spent in accumulating maintaining and protecting it is colossal. The fear, worries and anxieties that come along with it, the pain and anguish of actually losing some things and the regret of leaving everything behind when we ultimately die is an additional mental stress. So it is better to remain satisfied with what comes in the natural course of working of law of karma. Diogenes of Greece and king Janaka of India are epitomes of Aprigraha. It does not matter how much one has but if the attitude towards things is that of non-possessiveness then one remains untouched and unaffected by them. The development of non-possessiveness frees one to a great extent from this habit of identifying ourselves with our bodies and the things with which we are surrounded and thus loosens the bonds of our personality. After this ascent into the higher realms of consciousness is possible.

1) Swami Vivekananda (August 1962) The Complete works of Swami Vivekanand, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Himalayas 11th Edition. (Pg. 47) 2) Dasgupta S. N. (2005). Yoga Philosophy – In relation to other systems of Indian thought, Motilal Banarasidas Publishers Private Limited, Delhi. Reprint 2005. ISBN 81-208-0909-2(pg 296) 3) Swami Chidananda (1991). The Philosophy, psychology and practice of yoga, published by The Divine Life Society, P.O. 4) Taimini I.K. (reprint 1993). The Science of Yoga, The Theosophical publishing House, Adyar Madras India ISBN81-7059-212-7. (pg 206) 5) Swami Nikhilananda (1971). The yoga and other works – Swami Vivekananda, New York Ramkrishna Vivekananda Centre 6) Swami Vivekananda (August 1962). The Complete works of Swami Vivekanand, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Himalayas 11th Edition. Vol.- I,( Pg. 263) 7) Swami Chidananda (1991). The Philosophy, psychology and practice of yoga, published by The Divine Life Society, P.O. Shivanandanagar 249192 Dist Tehri Garhwal, U.P. Himalayas India (Pg. 115) 8) Swami Vivekananda (August 1962). The Complete works of Swami Vivekanand, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Himalayas 11th Edition. Vol-1 (Pg. 170)

Head, Department of Philosophy, Mithibai College of Arts, Vile Parle West, Mumbai – 56