Engaged Emancipation by Christopher Key Chapple Arindam Chakrabarti

Author:Christopher Key Chapple,Arindam Chakrabarti [Christopher Key Chapple,Arindam Chakrabarti]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781438458687
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2015-07-15T05:00:00+00:00

8

A Fabulous Rationality

Poetry, Reason, and Action in the Yogavāsiṣṭha

RODDAM NARASIMHA

Introduction

The Yogavāsiṣṭha (YV)1 is, according to the author himself, a kāvya—a poem (YV II:8.33).2 The poem, however, is of epic length. At 27,687 verses (in the Nirnaya Sagar Press edition) the YV is longer than the Rāmāyaṇa, of which it is purported to be a part. It is in the form of nested dialogues, the chief of which is that between the young (sixteen-year-old) prince Rāma and the fabled guru of his royal Ikṣvāku clan, Vasiṣṭha. This dialogue is the prescription urged on Rāma’s father, King Daśaratha, by Viśvāmitra in order to cure Rāma of the depression he is suffering from, after having been exposed to the miseries of the world during a pilgrimage to various holy places. This incident recalls the experience of another celebrated prince, Gautama (the Buddha), around the sixth century BCE.3

The long dialogue between guru and śiṣya (disciple) in the YV is remarkable in many respects. It is first of all rich, diverse, and complex, and it touches on a number of aspects of life—action, belief, and knowledge—often at length, with striking stories and analogies. Second, all of this is done in pleasant, lovely Sanskrit, not without a touch of humor; the author carries his apparently formidable learning lightly. Third, the author remains completely anonymous and, while apparently quite aware of the singular nature of his project, and its likely appeal, does not claim originality for what he says (YV VIb:103.42), although many of his views appear to be unorthodox. For example, he is full of praise for vicāra (enquiry, analysis, investigation) and pauruṣa (human effort), and he dismisses the notion of fate as the invention of fools (YV II:8.16).4 Fourth, and what is important for the theme of the present chapter, throughout the book are scattered comments on issues that have been on the agenda of the science enterprise—some for a long time, including the present. These comments are in the spirit of the vicāra whose virtues are elsewhere so eloquently commended to Rāma by Vasiṣṭha. Most other aspects of the work have received extensive attention—its perception of reality (O’Flaherty5), its numerous and fascinating stories (Venkatesananda,6 O’Flaherty), its philosophy (Chakrabarti,7 Venkatesananda), its approach to yoga, its views on consciousness, and so on. A compilation by Athreya8 presents the YV’s views on many of these aspects classified subject-wise. But those related to what is generally considered to be the concern of science have (to the best of my knowledge) received little attention. This chapter attempts to collect these views and will conclude with some remarks on the strange and powerful mix of fabulous story, rational worldview, and actionist philosophy that is so uniquely characteristic of the YV.

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