Thank you for your interesting comments, and your very interesting paper on Yoga-sūtra ontology.
Can you say more on the specific way that tapasya connects the puruṣa to unlimited power or being, within the Sāṅkhya system? Gratefully, Howard > On Aug 28, 2024, at 3:50 AM, Edwin Bryant <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Yoga Sutras IV.1 indicates that siddhis can be attained though 5 different > methods, one of which is tapas (even as Patanjali is clear that these are of > no interest to those seeking samadhi, but only to those whose minds are > flowing "outward," [III.37], viz, towards bhoga). As you note, claims > pertaining to the attainment of siddhis are accepted without question by > almost all traditions, Buddhist, Jain and Vaidica, in both folk (e.g. > Puranic literature and its offshoots) and rationalist expressions (e.g.Nyaya > and Vedanta). These are very serious thinkers whose accomplishments continue > to impress us today: you do well to engage such claims seriously rather than > in a facile ,reflexive manner. > > For an extended discussion on the metaphysics underpinning the siddhis as > logical and coherent extensions of Samkhya philosophical presuppositions, see: > > https://sites.rutgers.edu/edwin-bryant/wp-content/uploads/sites/169/2023/12/s42240-020-00073-z.pdf > > EB. > > > > From: INDOLOGY <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Howard Resnick via > INDOLOGY <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2024 3:29 PM > To: Indology List <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: [INDOLOGY] tapasya > > Dear Scholars, > > Within various genres of Sanskrit literature, perhaps especially > itihāsa-purāṇa, we find a pervasive belief that tapasya — serious austerity > -- bestows power on the performer, either directly or through the agency of a > Deva, Ṛṣi, or other superior being. The examples are almost innumerable. > > I’m trying to explore this claim about the power of tapasya. On the empirical > side, one can speak of the power of mental discipline and detachment from the > body, etc. But of course empirically, there is nothing like the supernatural > results obtained by serious ascetics in the ancient literature. > > One common apologetic is to attribute or assign such powers to the previous > three yugas, with the claim that those powers fail in Kali-yuga. > > I bring this up because I am working on a reconstruction of the famous > Mahābhārata story of Ambā who performed unimaginable tapasya, and then, as a > result, took birth as Śikhaṇḍī and enabled the killing of Bhīṣma at > Kurukṣetra. > > The facile explanation of course is to invoke the notion of pre-scientific > mythology. I am trying to take a more cautious approach. Of course tapasya as > a source of power intersects the notion of attaining yoga-siddhis, a process > in which tapasya is also heavily involved. > > I bring this up in a heuristic, exploratory way and would be grateful for any > observations, insights, or theories about this, especially the link between > severe self-abnegation and power. > > Thanks in advance! > > Howard > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flist.indology.info%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Findology&data=05%7C02%7Cedbryant%40connect.rutgers.edu%7C567be55856e446d8b07208dcc711b8f3%7Cb92d2b234d35447093ff69aca6632ffe%7C1%7C0%7C638604126169375529%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BOF%2FgY%2BjuqYR1mDnhOJM33Q6B1PL%2B4eG%2FIqURheWgK8%3D&reserved=0 > <https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology>
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