Re: [INDOLOGY] Association between nāḍīs and dvāras within Jainism?

[Lubomír Ondračka]

Dear Jacob,

I cannot help you with Jaina yoga texts, but in haṭhayoga texts the association of nāḍīs with dvāras is quite common. Or, to be more precise, most of the HY texts only list the main nāḍīs (usually ten or fourteen), but some of them provide more details about their position. One of these systems (with 14 nāḍīs) is described in the Vasiṣṭhasaṃhitā 2.34–40, where the link of nāḍīs with dvāras is as follows:

1/ kuhūḥ: āmeḍhrāntaṃ
2/ piṅgalā: yāmye nāsāntaṃ
3/ pūṣā: yāmye netrāntraṃ
4/ payasvinī: yāmye karṇāntam
5/ sarasvatī: ājihvāyāḥ
6/ śaṅkhinī: āsavyakarṇād
7/ gāndhārī: savyanetrāntam
8/ iḍā: savyanāsāntaṃ
9/ alambuṣā: pāyumūlād
The same verses are in Yogayājñavalkya 4.39–45  (Divanji ed.) and similar system is e.g. in the compendium Haṭhatattvakaumudī 23.15–18.

More texts describe ten main nāḍīs, e.g. Śivasvarodaya (Lonavla ed.) 38–40:
iḍā vāme sthitā bhāge piṅgalā dakṣiṇe smṛtā |
suṣumnā madhyadeśe tu gāndhārī vāmacakṣuṣi ‖38‖
dakṣiṇe hastijihvā ca pūṣā karṇe ca dakṣiṇe |
yaśasvinī vāmakarṇe ānane cāpy alaṃbuṣā ‖39‖
kuhūś ca liṅgadeśe tu mūlasthāne tu śaṅkhinī |
evaṃ dvāraṃ samāśritya tiṣṭhanti daśa nāḍikāḥ ‖40‖
= Gorakṣaśataka 29–31 (Nowotny ed.) etc.; slightly different system is in Śarṅgadharapaddhati 4309–4312.

Many of these verses are used in various Yogopaniṣads, e.g.:
Darśanopaniṣad 4.13–22
Yogacūḍāmaṇyupaniṣad 18–21
Brahmayogin on Śāṇḍilyopaniṣad 1.10
cf. also Jābāladarśanopaniṣad 3.7–22.

Outside the yoga texts, several later tantras make this connection too, see e.g. Ahirbudhnyasaṃhitā 32.24–30.

Thus it seems that in various Hindu yoga systems the association of nāḍīs with dvāras was common. This, however, does not mean anything for Jaina yoga. A few Jaina texts I am familiar with (e.g. Hemacandra's Yogaśāstra or Haribhadra's Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya) do not describe system of nāḍīs. I would recommend you to check Hemacandra's autocommentary on his Yogaśāstra (Svopajñavivaraṇa) - this is a great treasure of Jaina yoga concepts.

Best,
Lubomir





On Thu, 10 May 2018 17:43:12 +0200
Jacob Schmidt-Madsen via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> I am currently working on an analysis of Jain gyān bāzī (Snakes & 
> Ladders) charts. Evidence seems to indicate that the nine snakes which 
> routinely appear on the charts are associated with "the nine great 
> energy channels" (mahā nav nāḍī) of the human body, and that the nine 
> rows of the charts are likewise associated with the nine "gates" (dvār) 
> of the human body (i.e. eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, anus, urethra). The 
> gates are furthermore associated with various rebirth categories, and 
> the implied logic seems to be that by "closing off" the nine gates, one 
> will be able to cut off the heads of the snakes, so to speak, stop the 
> process of rebirth, and open up the tenth gate (brahmarandhra), thereby 
> attaining liberation (and winning the game).
> 
> I am aware that Gorakhnāth associates ten nāḍīs with the ten dvāras in 
> Siddhasiddhāntapaddhati 1.67, but I have not been able to find a similar 
> association within Jainism. It is not at all impossible that Nāth 
> thinking influenced the Jain charts in this respect, but I am not 
> sufficiently well versed in Jain yoga to make such a call. If anybody is 
> aware of such an association within Jainism or elsewhere, or perhaps 
> even an association between dvāras and rebirth categories, I would be 
> very interested to know about it.
> 
> Kind regards,
> Jacob
> 
> Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
> PhD Fellow (Indology)
> University of Copenhagen
> Denmark
> 
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or unsubscribe)