Thank you. Much appreciated. > On Aug 29, 2024, at 5:51 AM, Edwin Bryant <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Sanyama which underpins the manifestation of the siddhis, is the ultimate > expression of tapas, and is featured in pada III, vibhuti (siddhi) pada, > where it occurs a dozen or more times. If you read the sutras and > commentaries of that pada (which I attempted to distill) you will encounter > everything the classical yoga shastra had to say about the connections you > seek . > From: Howard Resnick <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2024 1:00 PM > To: Edwin Bryant <[email protected]> > Cc: Indology List <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] tapasya > > 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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