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In answer to this Vasistha says that, when any endeavour (paurusa) comes to fruition or is baffled, and a good or a bad result is gained, people speak of it as being datva. There is no daiva, it is mere vacuity, and it can neither help nor obstruct anyone in any way. At the time of taking any step people have a particular idea, a particular resolution; there may be success or failure as the result of opera- tion in a particular way, and the whole thing is referred to by ordinary people as being due to daiva, which is a mere name, a mere consolatory word. The instinctive root inclinations (vasan@) of a prior state become transformed into karma. A man works in accordance with his vasana and by vasand gets what he wants. Vasana and karma are, therefore, more or less like the potential and actual states of the same entity. Daiva is but another name for the karmas performed with strong desire for fruit, karma thus being the same as vasana, and vasana being the same as manas, and manas being the same as the agent or the person (purusa) ; so daiva does not exist as an entity separate from the purusa, and they are all merely synonyms for the same indescribable entity (durniscaya). Whatever the manas strives to do is done by itself, which is the same as being done by daiva. There are always in manas two distinct groups of vasands, operating towards the good and towards the evil, and it is our clear duty to rouse the former against the latter, so that the latter may be overcome and dominated by the former. But, since man is by essence a free source of active energy, it is meaningless to say that he could be determined by anything but himself; if it is held that any other entity could determine him, the question arises, what other thing would de- termine that entity, and what else that entity, and there would thus be an endless vicious regression?. Man is thus a free source ts miidhaih prakalpitam daivam tat-paras te ksayam gatah prajfds tu paurusarthena padam uttamatam gatah. Yoga-vasistha, 11. 8. 16. a anyas tudm cetayati cet tam cetayati ko ’parah ka imam cetayet tasmad anavastha na vastavi. Ibid. 11. 9. 29. 256 The Philosophy of the Yoga-vdsistha [cH. of activity, and that which appears to be limiting his activity is but one side of him, which he can overcome by rousing up his virtuous side. This view of purusa-kara and karma seems to be rather unique in Indian literature. Prana and its Control. The mind (citta), which naturally transforms itself into its states (vrtti), does so for two reasons, which are said to be like its two seeds. One of these is the vibration (parispanda) of prana, and the other, strong and deep-rooted desires and inclinations which construct (drdha-bhavana)!. When the prana vibrates and is on the point of passing through the nerves (nddi-samsparsanodyata), then there appears the mind full of its thought processes (samveda- namaya). But when the prana lies dormant in the hollow of the veins (sira-sarani-kotare), then there is no manifestation of mind, and its processes and the cognitive functions do not operate®. It is the vibration of the prana (prana-spanda) that manifests itself through the citta and causes the world-appearance out of nothing. The cessation of the vibration of prana means cessation of all cognitive functions. As a result of the vibration of prdana, the cognitive function is set in motion like a top (vita). As a top spins round in the yard when struck, so, roused by the vibration of prana, knowledge is manifested; and in order to stop the course of knowledge, it is necessary that the cause of knowledge should be first attacked. When the citta remains awake to the inner sense, while shut to all extraneous cognitive activities, we have the highest state. For the cessation of citta the yogins control prana through pranayama (breath-regulation) and meditation (dhyana), in accordance with proper instructions?. Again, there is a very intimate relation between vasana and prana-spanda, such that vdsana is created and stimulated into activity, prana-spanda, and prana-spanda is set in motion through vasana. When by strong ideation and without any proper delibera- tion of the past and the present, things are conceived to be one’s own—the body, the senses, the ego and the like—we have what is 1 Yoga-vasistha, v. 91. 14. * I have translated rd as veins, though I am not properly authorized to do it. For the difference between veins and arteries does not seem to have been known. 3 Yoga-vasistha, v. 91. 20-27. XII] Prana and its Control 257 called vasana. Those who have not the proper wisdom always believe in the representations of the ideations of vasana without any hesitation and consider them to be true; and, since both the vasana and the prana-spanda are the ground and cause of the manifestations of citta, the cessation of one promptly leads to the cessation of the other. The two are connected with each other in the relation of seed and shoot (biyankuravat); from prana-spanda there is vdsana, and from vdasanda there is prana-spanda. The object of knowledge is inherent in the knowledge itself, and so with the cessation of knowledge the object of knowledge also ceases}. As a description of prana we find in the Yoga-vasistha that it is said to be vibratory activity (spanda-sakti) situated in the upper part of the body, while apana is the vibratory activity in the lower part of the body. There is a natural pranayama going on in the body in waking states as well as in sleep. The mental outgoing tendency of the pranas from the cavity of the heart is called recaka, and the drawing in of the pranas (dvadasanguli) by the apdana activity is called piiraka. The interval between the cessation of one effort of apana and the rise of the effort of prana is the stage of kumbhaka. Bhusunda, the venerable old crow who was enjoying an excep- tionally long life, is supposed to instruct Vasistha in v1. 24 on the subject of prana. He compares the body to a house with the ego (ahamkara) as the householder. It is supposed to be supported by pillars of three kinds*, provided with nine doors (seven aper- tures in the head and two below), tightly fitted with the tendons (sna@yu) as fastening materials and cemented with blood, flesh and fat. On the two sides of it there are the two nadis, ida and pingala, lying passive and unmanifested (nimilite). There is also a machine (yantra) of bone and flesh (asthi-mamsa-maya) in the shape of three double lotuses (padma-yugma-traya) having pipes attached to them running both upwards and downwards and with their petals closing upon oneanother (anyonya-milat-komala-saddala).When it is slowly 2 samilam nasyatah ksipram miila-cchedad iva drumah. samvidam viddhi samvedyam bijam dhirataya vind na sambhavati samvedyam taila-hinas tilo yatha na bahir nantare kimcit samvedyam vidyate prthak. Yoga-vasistha, v. 91. 66 and 67. 2 tri-prakara-maha-sthiinam, v1.24. 14. ‘The commentator explains the three kinds of pillars as referring to the three primal entities of Indian medicine— vayu (air), pitta (bile) and kapha (phlegm)—vdata-pitta-kapha-laksana-tri-prakara mahantah sthiinad vistambha-kasthani yasya. I am myself inclined to take the three kinds of pillars as referring to the bony structure of three parts of the body— the skull, the trunk, and the legs. DII 17 258 The Philosophy of the Yoga-vasistha [cH. filled with air, the petals move, and by the movement of the petals the air increases. Thus increased, the air, passing upwards and downwards through different places, is differently named as prana, apana, samana, etc. It is in the threefold machinery of the lotus of the heart (hrt-padma-yantra-tritaye) that all the prana forces operate and spread forth upwards and downwards like the rays from the moon’s disc. They go out, return, repulse and draw and circulate. Located in the heart, the air is called prana: it is through its power that there is the movement of the eyes, the opera- tion of the tactual sense, breathing through the nose, digesting of food and the power of speech!. The prama current of air stands for exhalation (recaka) and the apana for inhalation (piraka), and the moment of respite between the two operations is called kum- bhaka; consequently, if the prana and apana can be made to cease there is an unbroken continuity of kumbhaka. But all the functions of the prana, as well as the upholding of the body, are ultimately due to the movement of citta?. Though in its movement in the body the prdna is associated with air currents, still it is in reality nothing but the vibratory activity proceeding out of the thought- activity, and these two act and react upon each other, so that, if the vibratory activity of the body be made to cease, the thought- activity will automatically cease, and vice-versa. Thus through spanda-nirodha we have prana-nirodha and through prana-nirodha we have spanda-nirodha. In the Yoga-vasistha, 111. 13.31, vayu is said to be nothing buta vibratory entity (spandate yat sa tad vayuh). In v. 78 it is said that citta and movement are in reality one and the same, and are therefore altogether inseparable, like the snow and its whiteness, and consequently with the destruction of one the other is also destroyed. There are two ways of destroying the citta, one by Yoga, consisting of the cessation of mental states, and the other by right knowledge. As water enters through the crevices of the earth, so air (vata) moves in the body through the nadis and is called prana. It is this prana air which, on account of its diverse functions and works, is differently named as apana, etc. 1 Yoga-vasistha, vi. 24.