NCC / Yoga in 6 a;ngas

[somadeva vasudeva]

Groenbold's short survey (which is interested primarily in the
Kaalacakratantra's system of .sa.da"ngayoga) can be supplemented by reference to the early "saivasiddhaanta's systems of .sa.da"ngayoga. Many early "Saiva Tantras explicitly state that they teach .sa.da"ngayoga:


Rauravasuutrasa"ngraha  7.5, Wrihaspatitattva (Skt./old Javanese)  53:

pratyaahaaras tathaa  dhyaana.m praa.naayaamo .atha dhaara.naa /
tarka"s caiva samaadhi"s ca .sa.da"ngo yoga ucyate /;

Mata"ngapaarame"svara  yp 1.6, = B.rhatkaalottara  yp 1c-- 2b, =
"Sriika.n.thiiyasa.mhitaa 39--40 cited in Tak.sakavarta's
Nityaadisa.mgrahapaddhati fol.  7verso:

pratyaahaaras tathaa dhyaana.m praa.naayaama"s ca dhaara.naa /
tarka"s caiva samaadhi"s ca .sa.da"ngo yoga ucyate /;

Paraakhyatantra (ed. Goodall forthcoming)   14.10:

pratyaah.rtir   atha dhyaana.m praa.naayaama"s ca  dhaara.naa / tarka.h
samaadhir yogo .aya.m .sa.da"ngo .a"ngii svaya.m sthita.h /;

Ga.napatitattva (Skt./Old Javanese)  3:

pratyaahaaras tathaa  dhyaana.m praa.naayaamo .atha dhaara.nam /
tarkka"s caiva samaadhis tu .sa.da"ngam iti kathyate /;

Kira.natantra   58.2c-- 3b:

.sa.da"nga.h sa ca boddhavyas tasyaa"ngaani "s.r.nu.sva tat /
pratyaahaaras tathaa dhyaana.m praa.naayaamo .atha dhaara.naa (N;
dhaara.na.m S) / tarkka"s caiva (N; aasana.m ca S)  samaadhi"s ca
yogaa"ngaani tu .sa.d vidu.h (conj.  Sanderson;   #vidha.h N,   eva tu
S)

Other "Saiva Tantras teach .sa.da"ngayoga but do not tell us explicitly
that they do, e.g. Maaliniivijayottara 17, or
Svaayambhuvasuutrasa"ngraha 20.


Secondary literature  on "Saiva .sa.da"ngayoga is not  very reliable.
Patently wrong is Rastogi's claim (1979:58--63) that Jayaratha  has
adapted .sa.da"ngayoga from the Buddhist  Guhyasamaajatantra  which he
amazingly dates to the fourth century  ce. Reading a few early "Saiva
Tantras could have quickly dispelled the confusion. Perhaps based on
this is Dyczkowski's    (1992:396 note  147) assertion that: `Jayaratha
would have us believe that the limbs of Yoga  are, according to Kashmiri
"Saivism, only six (T.A.v., III, p. 102--3) namely,' ... [list of six
ancillaries]... `Abhinava himself, however, never talks of any such
scheme, nor do any other Kashmiri "Saiva authors (see Rastogi p.
58--60).  It seems, in fact that Jayaratha is here simply mistaken...'
etc. etc.


I doubt that the Maitraaya.niiya gives a very early or even original
account of .sa.da"ngayoga, rather it might be dericed form the
Paa~ncaraatra's early Jayaakhyasa.mhitaa  33.6--16b (early Paa~ncaraatra
too, taught .sa.da"ngayoga rather than a.s.taa"ngayoga). Van Buitenen
says of the Maitraaya.niiya  (1962:13): `... the sixth and seventh
prapaa.thakas appear to be full of inconsistencies and desultory
portions, which have been described as appendices, accretions, and, in
part at least, interpolations', and,   van Buitenen (1962:84--87).


Somadeva Vasudeva
Wolfson College
Oxford