The Yogasastra of Hemacandra by Nathmal Tatia

Summary

The Yogasastra of Hemacandra (Nathmal Tatia):- Aim and method. Indian philosophical systems are practical paths to emancipation, not mere speculation. Because sense- and intellect-based knowledge is limited and conflicting, self-meditation becomes the dependable organ for realizing truth; “yoga” names the set of processes that lead from initial faith to final realization. Jaina pathway. Liberation rests on the three jewels—right attitude (samyag-darśana), right knowledge (samyag-jñāna), and right conduct (samyag-cāritra)—through graded guṇasthānas (stages of spiritual development). Contrary to a common belief, Jainism does not neglect meditation: physical austerity is an index of detachment, while classical authors (e.g., Kundakunda, Pujyapada, Jinabhadra) give detailed guidance on meditation; Haribhadra surveys and evaluates yoga doctrines; Subhacandra’s Jñānārṇava and Hemacandra’s Yogasastra are key texts; Upādhyāya Yaśovijaya later revived Haribhadra’s yoga studies. What Hemacandra calls “yoga.” For Hemacandra, yoga is both the cause of emancipation and identical in content with the three jewels. Ultimately, right knowledge/attitude/conduct are the self’s direct self-comprehension achieved when delusion ceases. Emancipation = conquest of passions and senses; conquering the senses requires purifying the mind by overcoming attachment and aversion through equanimity (samatva). To uproot “mine-ness,” one cultivates the twelve contemplations (bhāvanās) (e.g., impermanence, the suffering-laden nature of worldly existence, the self’s distinctness from the body, karmic influx/stoppage/dissociation, and the constituents of the path). Meditation (dhyāna) follows equanimity; it yields self-knowledge, destroying karmas and culminating in liberation. Hemacandra distinguishes dharmya and śukla dhyāna and names four sustaining virtues of dharmya dhyāna: friendship (maitrī), appreciation (pramoda), compassion (karuṇā), and detachment/equidistance (mādhyasthya). Practice & phenomenology. Guidance covers place, postures, breath regulation (prāṇāyāma), withdrawal (pratyāhāra), and fixing the mind (dhāraṇā) on specified loci (following Subhacandra). Hemacandra accepts pinda/pāda/rūpa/rūpātīta dhyāna (he terms pinda śarīrastha). He outlines four mental states—scattered (vikṣipta), scattered-cum-collected (yatayata), collected, merged (sūkṣma)—and three selves—exterior, interior, transcendental—enjoining rejection of the exterior and concentration on the transcendental (via the interior). He stresses reliance on a competent guru, cultivation of detachment/indifference, and discourages forcible suppression of mind/senses; as the soul stops impelling mind and senses, objects lose charm, the mind subsides, and truth reveals itself. Trisastisalakapurusacarita (Hemacandra):- A ten-parva work of about 34,000 ślokas narrating the sixty-three śalākāpuruṣas of the current avasarpiṇī—24 Tīrthaṅkaras, 12 Cakravartins, 9 Vāsudevas, 9 Baladevas, 9 Prativāsudevas—with biographies ranging from brief statistical sketches to rich narratives combining folklore, fiction, and doctrinal exposition. It is among Hemacandra’s latest works, as the praśasti to the tenth parva lists compositions written for King Kumārapāla, for himself, and for the public. Style: easy anuṣṭubh, modeled on the Purāṇas, Rāmāyaṇa, and Mahābhārata, with fine descriptions.