Time in Patañjali's Yogasūtra - Klostermaier, K. K.

8/10/2019 Time in Patajali's Yogastra - Klostermaier, K. K.

1/7

Time in Patajali's "Yogastra"Author(s): Klaus K. KlostermaierSource: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Apr., 1984), pp. 205-210Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1398919.

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2/7

Klaus

K.

Klostermaier

Time

in

Patanijali's

Yogasitra

INTRODUCTION

The few

scholars

who have dealt at

any

length

with the notion of time

in

Patanjali'sYogasutra

seem

to

have been

guided

by

an effort

to

prove

that

Patanijali's

deas

are

in

line

with modern

that

is,

contemporary)

Western

conceptions.

Most of them

speak

of time

in

one breath

with

space

(and,

quite

frequently,

with

causality

oo)

as we are used

to

speaking

n

the

West

today:

philosophically

ince

Kant,

physically

ince

Einstein.

Sir

Brajendranath

eal,

writing

before Einstein

had

developed

his

Theory

of

Relativity,

moved

Patanijali's

iew of time and

space

close to Kant's

concept

of

the

a

priori

orms

of

apperception.1

ritjofCapra,

a

modern

physicist,

ries

to

suggest

hat

Oriental

Thought,

as

he

calls

it,

had

developed

more

than

two

thousand

earsago

the idea

of a four-dimensional

pace-time

ontinuum.2

Both

views

appear

o

be mistaken.

t is

my

contention

n this

essay

that

the

notion of

time in patanijali'sYogasutras not intrinsically onnectedwith the notion of

space

and

can

(and

should)

be treated

differently.

The

Yogasitra,

as

is well

known,

has much

in common

with

the

Samkhya-

darsana as far as basic

concepts

are concerned.

Now

Samkhya

is

neither

physics

n the

modern

ense,

nor

psychology,

or

metaphysics -but

it is

something

f

all

of them.The

Yogasutra

hares

his holistic

approach,

where

an

overriding

nterest

n

the

practicalgoal

of

emancipation

s

coupled

with

great

theoretical oncern o offeran

explanation

f

reality

n

termsof an

evolutionary

hierarchy

f

real

principles.

In

Patanijali's

reatment f

time,

these

aspects

have to be

kept

in mindtoo: he

does not

distinguish

etween

psychological

and

physical

ime,

nor

does

he

shy

away

from

extrapolatingmetaphysical

conclusions

from

a basis

of

physical

observations.

This

is

not the

place

to

go

into

the

very importantquestion

of

the

relation

between he

Yogasutra

nd

Buddhism.3

n

spite

of

some

polemicsagainst

some

Buddhist

chools,

both the

terminology

and the

underlyingphilosophy

of the

Yogasutra

uggest

close connections.

An

understanding

f

this

interdependence

wouldgreatlyhelpto clarifyalsothenotionof time,whichPatanjali cceptsor

presupposes.

Georg

Feuerstein,

n

what

might

be the

most

thorough

and critical

recent

study

of

the

Yogasutra,

writes: It is

highly probable

hat

in his

meta-

physics

of

time

Patanijali

as

directly

nspired

by

the

high-powered

peculations

of the

Sautantrika

Buddhists. Since not

enough

research s

available

on

this,

the

attempt

undertaken

ere,

o

study

he notionof

time

n

the

Yogasutra,

may

n

its own

way

contribute

o a

clarification

f

this issue.

An

analysis

of

the scientific basis of

Yoga

is

crucial:

he

success of the

method of

emancipationdepends,

on

the one

hand,

on the

correctness

f

the

Klaus

Klostermaier is

Professor

in

the

Department

of

Religion,

University

of

Manitoba,

Winnipeg,

Canada.

Philosophy

East and

West

34,

no. 2

(April, 1984).

by

the

University

of Hawaii

Press.

All

rights

reserved.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/7

206 Klostermaier

scientific

xplanation

f

the

physical

and

psychic

structures

f the universe

n

which

we

live,

and,

on

the other

hand,

on

the correctness

f the method

uggested

to

transcend his

materialuniverse.5

THE

TEXTUALBASIS

Severalsutrain connectionwith the classicalcommentaries,provideinfor-

mationon

Patanijali's

iew

of

time. Others

yield

additional

nformation

nsofar

as

they

provide nsight

nto the

application

whichthis

notion of time has

in the

contextof

Yoga.

Others,

again,

presuppose

he notion

of

time;

he notion

of time

itself s

embedded n

a

pre-notion

of the

universality

f

chang

and

flux.

(a) ksamatatkramayohsamyamad vivekajam ndnam

(III,

52)

6

Vyasa

comments:7

Just

as the

atom

(paramanu)

s the smallest

particle

of

matter

dravya)

o a moment

ksana)

s the

smallest

particle

of

time

(kala).

He

then

gives

a

physical

definition

of

ksana

by equating

t

with

the time

which a

paramanunmotion akes o leaveonepointand reachanotherpointor,in other

words,

o move

through

a

spaceequaling

he

space

t

occupies.

The

continuous

flow

of

these

ksanas

cannot

be

combined

nto a

vastu.

Whatwe call

hours

or

days

are mental combinations.

Thus time as

such

(kala)

is not

a

real

thing

(vdstusunya)

but

is based

on

changes

in the

mind

(buddhinirmana)

nd

known

through

verbalconnotation.

The

moment

ksana),

however,

s a

real

thing

(vastu)

n itselfand

constitutive

of

the

sequence

kramavalambin).

he

sequence

s constituted

by

an

uninter-

rupted

uccession

of

moments.The

Yogis,

who

truly

know the nature

of

time,

call

this time

(kala).

Two moments

(ksana)

cannot exist

together

because

between wo simultaneousmomentsthere cannot

be

a

sequence.

A

sequence

arises whena latermoment succeeds an earlierwithoutinterruption. n the

present moment)

no

earlier

or

later

moment)

s contained.

There

s,

therefore,

no

combinationof them. The

explanation

of

the

(reality)

of

past

and

future

moments

ies

n

the nature

of

change.

The

world

whichexists

n this

one

moment

undergoes hange.

All

dharmas re

superimposed

n this ksana.

By

sariyama

on

this moment

and the

sequence

(of

moments)

these are

caused

to be

visibly

present.

And thus

arises

metaphysical

nowledge

vivekajam

ndnam).8

(b)

atlta

anagatam

svarupato

'sti adhvabheddd

dharmanam

IV,

12)9

Vyasa

comments:10 Future

s thatwhose

manifest xistence

s

still

o

come;

past

is that, whose manifestexistencehad beenexperienced; resent s that upon

which

experience

now is

superimposed.

This three-fold

reality

(vastu)

s the

object

of

knowledge.

f

they

did

not have

their own

forms of

existence,

know-

ledge

of themwould

not

arise

by

which

hey

are

distinguished.

t follows hat

past

and

futuredo exist

n their

own

right.

Further,

f

the

resultsof karman-either

that

productive

of

experience

or of liberation-were

without existence

of

its

own,

then

he

actions

of the

sages

with

regard

o

this

wouldbe

pointless.

Efficient

causality

an render

an

entity

present,

not

produce

t from

nothing.

Unlikethe

present,past

and

futuredo

not

exist in manifest

orm.

The

future

has as its characteristic

ts

coming-to-be-manifest,

he

past

its

having-already-

been-experienced.

he

present

alone

possesses

manifest

existence.

While one

time-forms present,past andfuturedo exist(in theirown subtleway)in the

suppositum.

The

three

time-forms

do

not come

into

existence

out of

nonexistence.



4/7

207

(c)

tatah

krtarthanamr

arinamakramasamaptir unamam

(IV,

32)11

Vyasa

comments:

2

As

a

result of the

rising

of

the

dharmamegha

the

gunas,

having

served their

function,

the

sequence

of

changes

comes to an end.

After

they

have

exhausted their

karman

and exhausted

their

sequence

they

can

no

longer

sustain

even

a

ksana.

(d)

ksanapratiyogiparinama-parantanirgrahyah

ramah

(IV,

33)

3

Vyasa comments:14 a sequence is an uninterruptedseries of moments (ksana)

perceived

as such

at the

end

of a

(process

of)

transformation.

ANALYSIS

OF THE TEXTS

The

conception

of

time

in

these texts

appears

to be

very

close

to

the Buddhist

ksanikavada.15

By pointing

out this closeness to Buddhism it is

implied

that the

notion of

time

is

not,

as

might

seem,

marginal

to

the

Yoga

system

but

very

central. The attainment of the

goal

of

Yoga

depends

on the

theory

as well as

the

reality

of

ksana. The Buddhists

haye defended

very

vigorously

the

reality

of

ksana

against

the contention of their enemies

that,

if

they

were

consistent,

they

would

consider the ksana a mere name without

any

corresponding reality-as

they

are

wont to

do

with

regard

to

every

other

thing.

The

Buddhists

maintain that

the

shortest

time,

the

mathematical

point-instant

is

something

real,

since

the

astronomer

makes

it

the

basis

of

all

his

computations.

It is an

indivisible time-

particle;

it

does

not contain

any

parts

standing

in

the relation of

antecedence

and

sequence.

The

only thing

in

the

universe which

is

a

nonconstruction,

a nonfic-

tion,

is

the

sensible

point-instant:

it

is the

real

basis of all

constructions.

It is

true

that it is a reality which cannot be representedin a sense-image, but this is just

because it is not

a

thought-construction.

The

absolutely unique

point-instant

of

reality,

as

it

cannot be

represented,

can also not be

named.

Consequently,

it is no

name at

all;

it

has

no

name:

reality

is

unutterable. What is

utterable

is

always

a

thought

construction.

Thus it is

that the

mathematical

point-instant

is a

fiction

for

the Realist

and

a

reality

for

the

Buddhist,

and vice

versa,

empirical

time or

gross

time,

substantial

time,

is

a

reality

for

the

Realist and a fiction for

the

Buddhist. Just as the

mathematician

constructs

his

velocities out

of

differentials,

so

does

the human

mind,

a natural

mathematician,

construct duration

out of

momentary sensations.

Though

the

Yogasutra

does

not

explicitly

mention

it,

it

seems to assume an

identity

of

the

ksana

that

becomes the

object

of

direct

experience

in

samyama

(constraint)

on

time and the

interval between

(and

the duration

of)

individual

vrttis

(modifications).

There is

reason

to

mention

this

point

because there

is

a

(Hinayana)

Buddhist

theory

which

calculates the

external-world ksana

to

be

equal

in

length

to

seventeen

thought-ksanas.16

There

is

reason, then,

to

speak

in

connection with

the

Yogasutra's

notion of

time not

only

of

an

(objective) time-quantum (close

to

ideas

of

'chronons'

maintained

by

some

physicists today)

but

also

of

a

consciousness-quantum

as

unit of

change.



5/7

208

Klostermaier

This

again

has a twofold

function. In the

application

of

sariyama

on the

point

of

time he

yogin

s enabled

o

perceive

hat

which

s

vastu

a

real

hing)

n

time-a

mutual

corroboration

f

the

reality

of

consciousnessand

its

object,

which

is

responsible

or

it. In the

stage

of

dharmameghasamadhi

he

quantum-

natureof

time

again

offers

the

explanation

or

the

possibility

of

totally

trans-

cending

t.

Because

t

is a

dharma,

t

is

at

one and the same ime

an ultimate

n

the levelof

sense-perception

nd

cognition

derived

rom

t

and also

nonultimate

on

the levelof the

reality

which

emerges

after

the

gunas qualities)

ollapse

nto

themselves.

This

seems

o

suggest

hat time

n the form

of the moment

ksana)

s

fundamentaln

the

physical

universe

which

restson the interactionbetween

he

gunas.

It

wouldfollow

then,

that

it is intrinsic o samsaric

xistence

o

consider

kala

(gross

ime)

as vastu-whereas

in

reality

t is

an

imagination,

creation

of

the

buddhi

intellect),

based

on the

constantly changing

vrttis.

To

perceive

the

emptinessvastusunya)f time n that senseandto realize he vastu-characterf

the

three

modesof

the existence

f

ksana

s

at

one

and

the same

ime ndication

f

a

high

degree

of

insight

into the true nature

of

things

and also a

means

of

transcending

amsaric xistence.

The

insight

nto the

true nature

of

time,

so it

seems,

s

the borderline

nsight:

inceksana

s the dharma

which

s most elemen-

tary

(all

other dharmas

presuppose

t

and

inhere

n

it,

and

beyond

it-in the

process

of resolution f dharmas-there

are,

as

it

were,

he

gunas

n their

raw

forms)

its

dissolution,

or the

recognition

of its

dharma-character,

orms

the

essential

breakthrough

nd

is

both result

of,

and

generating,

viveka

discern-

ment).

When

vivekajnana

arises,

it

leads

to

dharmameghasamddhi,

which

almost

by

itself

glides

over into the

condition

of

kaivalya isolation,

namely,

of the

spirit).Although

he term

dharmamegha

as

not

yet

beenstudied

properly

nthis

context,

t

would it into the

picture

o translate

megha

not as cloud

(as

is

usually

done)

but as

field

n the

sense

of modern

physics.18

It would then

be a

condition

n

which

the

dharmas,

which on a lower

level

of consciousness

have

been

perceived

s differentiated

nto

a

great

number

f

specific

dharmas,

ow are

perceived

n

their

unified)

dharma-character:

s a

field

urrounding

ltimate

reality ather hanas things. Again,thecrucial unctionwouldbegiven o the

ksanadharma.

In the worldview

f the

Yogasuitra,

he

irreversibility

f

time,

a

problem

which

has

greatly

roubled

modern

physics,

would

find a

plausibleexplanation.

The

wholecosmic

process

samsara)

an be seen-after

it

has

come

to an end-as

a

krama:

a

sequence

of

ksanas.

The constituents

of

krama,

the

ksanas,

have-

amongst

hemselves-an

irreversible rder:

he ksana

of

the

past

is once

and

forever

haracterized

y

its

having

been

experienced.19

hat

means

t can

never

revert o a mode

of existence

of a

momentto

be

experienced

future)

nor

to a

modeof

being

experienced

ust

now

(present).

t is inherentntheirreversibility

of

order

tself,

order

being

constitutive

f

time-experience.

lso

in the

kaivalya

state,

the

state

of

freedom

rom the

bondage

of

samsaric

existence,

when

the



6/7

209

gunas

have

collapsed

nto

prakrti

without

differentiation,

here

s no reversal

f

time: t is

an

existenceoutsidethe dharmas

altogether,

and therefore

timeless

existence.But

also heresamsaric

past

and futureare not

interchangeable.

That

wouldalso serve

another

problem.

The

yogin

is,

by

the

development

f

siddhis

(extraordinary ttainments),

capable

both of

looking

into

the

past

(coming

to know his own

pastbirths)

and

of

looking

into

the future

(divining

things

o

come).

Sinceall ksanasare

differentiated

y

the differenceo

the

present

ksana,

here

s no

danger

of

confusingpast

with

future,

or

vice versa.

It

is

only

given

o

the

yogin

to

have

insight

nto the

vastu

hat

are

the

ksanas: nsofaras he

knows

a

ksana,

he also knows ts

position

n the

sequence

which s

established

y

them.

Furthermore,

he

key

function of

dharmameghasamadhi

s

zero-time ex-

perience

would

appear.

f

kala

is

saidto be

vastusunya,

hat seems

o

suggest

not

a mere

negation

but

a transition:

corresponding

o

the function of

zero

as

transitionalratherthan terminal n the differentiation f experienceand re-

ality.20

The

vastusunya

ealization

s

essentialas

point

of

transition

betweena

buddhi-centeredonsciousness

nd the

purusa-awareness.

ince

kala

is

the

most

basic

of

the forms

created

by

buddhi,

he

realization

of

its

emptiness

mplies

a

radical

reversal

f

the

direction

of

activity

of

the

buddhi nd a

withdrawal f all

support

for

buddhi-baseddharmas.

NOTES

1. Sir

Brajendranath

Seal,

The

Positive Sciences

of

the Ancient

Hindus,

(reprint,

Delhi: Motilal

Banarsidass:

1958),

p.

18ff.

2.

Fritjof

Capra,

The Tao

of

Physics (Berkeley,

California:

Shambhala

Publications,

1975),

p.

161ff.

3. In a

general way

the

question

of

the relation

between the

Yogasutra

and

Buddhism had

been

treated

already

by

Louis de la

Vallee Poussin in his

essay

Le

Bouddhisme et le

Yoga

de

Patafijali,

Melanges

chinois et

bouddhiques

5

(Louvain:

Institut

Belge

des Hautes

Etudes

Chinois,

1936/37):

223ff.

4.

Georg

Feuerstein,

The

Philosophy

of

Classical

Yoga (Manchester

University

Press,

1982),

p.

95.

5. An observation

by

TilmanVetteris

quite

pertinent

here:One is

getting

out from the world

only

by

going

to

the

ground

of

things,

and

not

by

going

anywhere

else.

One

is

not

getting

to the

ground

of

things by

an

analysis

of

any

kind of

stupidity,

but

by

an

analysis

and a

transcendence

of

the

most

important

concepts

and

truths which can

be found

about

the world....

Zum

Problem der

Person

in

Nagarjuna's Mula-Madhyamaka-Karikais.

In

Walter

Strolz

and

Shizuteru

Ueda, eds.,

Offenbarung

als

Heilserfahrung

im

Christentum,

Hinduismus

und

Buddhismus

(Freiburg-Basel-Wien,

Herder,

1982),

p.

171.

6.

James

Haughton

Woods,

The

Yoga

System

of

Pataijali,

Harvard

Oriental

Series,

vol. 17

(Harvard

University

Press,

1914),

p.

287,

translates: As a

result

of

constraint

upon

moments

and

their

sequence

(there

arises

the

intuitive)

knowledge proceeding

from

discrimination. I.

K.

Taimni,

The Science

of

Yoga

(Wheaton,

Illinois:

Theosophical

Publishing

House,

1967),

p.

368,

translates:

Knowledge born of awareness of Reality by performing samyamaon moment and (the process of)

its

succession

(in

his

ed.

III,

53).

It

is

presupposed

here

that the

reader knows

(or

is

being

informed

about

it

in

some other section of this

book)

what

the basic

term

samyama (translated

by

Woods as

constraint )

means.



7/7

210 Klostermaier

7.

The

edition used

is that

by

Swami

Vijfianasrama (Ajmer:

Madanlal Laksminivas

Chandak,

1961)

which,

besides the

Vydsa-bhasya,

also

contains

the

Bhojavrtti.

For

convenience

sake,

one-word

English

translations

have

been

added

to the

technical Sanskrit terms.

For more detailed information

on the

meaning

of these notions and the various translations

adopted

by

Western

scholars

see

Feuerstein,

Philosophy, especially

on

guna:

33ff;

vrtti:

61ff.;

sarhyama:

104ff;

kaivalya:

51ff;

siddhis:

10lff.

8.

My

translation of

vivekajam ]dnarh

as

metaphysical

knowledge

should

indicate that it

is

considered to be true and certain knowledge but not yet identical with the objectless awareness

characteristic

for the condition

ofpurusa

in

kaivalya.

9.

Woods,

Yoga,

p.

315: Past and future as such

exist;

(therefore subconcious-impressions

do

not

cease to

be).

For the different time-forms

belong

to

the

external-aspects.

I.

K.

Taimni, Science,

p.

403: The

past

and

the future exist

in

their

own

(real)

form. The difference

of

Dharmas or

properties

is on account

of

the difference

of

paths.

10.

Op.

cit.,

pp.

449f.

(relevant

ortions

only).

11.

Woods,

Yoga,

p.

343: When as a result of this

the

aspects

(guna)

have fulfilled their

purpose,

they

attain

to

the

limit

of the

sequence

of

mutations.

12.

Op.

cit.,

p.

505.

13.

Woods,

Yoga,

p.

343: The

positive

correlate to

the

moment,

recognized

as such at the

final

limit of the mutation is a sequence.

Taimni, Science,

p.

439: The

process corresponding

to

moments

which

become

apprehensible

at

the

final end of

transformation

(of

the

gunas)

is kramah.

14.

p.

507.

15. In the

following exposition

of the ksanikavdda

I am

closely following

Theodore

Stcherbatsky,

Buddhist

Logic

(Reprint,

Dover,

1962),

vol.

1,

pp.

78ff.

16.

See Shwe Zan

Aung,

Compendiumof

Philosophy

(London:

Pali Text

Society,

1972),

p.

26.

17.

Also

according

to

the

Bhdmati the

nitydnityaviveka

is the most crucial adhikdra

for

brahmajijnafsa.

18. G.

Feuerstein,

Philosophy

(p.

98ff),

after

examining

a

great

many

suggested

translations

for

dharmamegha,

adopts

the view

of J.

Hauer,

who

wrote:

The meditator

is in

this state

enveloped

by

the supportingprimalpowerof the world;he has become a dharma-kdyaike 'thegreatMuni'. This is

an

expression

for the

Buddha who has

entered

Nirvana. Feuerstein

goes

on,

stating

that

the

concept

ofdharmamegha

does not

appear

to be mentioned

by any

Hindu

authority

prior

to

Patafijali,

though

it is

evidently

an

integral part

of

early Mahayana-Buddhism.

19. P. C. W.

Davies,

in The

Physics of

Time

Asymmetry

(Berkeley,

California:

University

of

California

Press,

1974)

discusses the

peculiar

phenomenon

that observation

in

quantum physics

introduces

a

time

asymmetry

into natural

processes.

Could

the difference

between

macroscopic

and

quantum

physics

be set

in

parallel

to the ancient Indian laukika and

vivekaja

nnam?

(This

is not to

suggest,

of

course,

the

possibility

of

observation

of

subatomic

processes,

but

the

possibility

of

a

development

of

a

corresponding

theoretical

framework.)

20. See

Betty

Heimann,

The

Discovery

of Zero and

Its

Philosophical

Implications

in

India and

Counter-Tensionof the Zero-Point, in Facetsof IndianThought London: G. Allen & Unwin Ltd.,

1964),

pp.

95-104.

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Time in Patañjali's Yogasūtra - Klostermaier, K. K.

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