Arcana
as Yoga in the Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition
by
Krsna-ksetra Dasa
This article was written originally as a
term paper for an undergraduate
university class called "Yoga Traditions of India", at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
For devotees engaged in the regular
practice of Deity worship, it serves to show how, just as everything is included within the practice
of bhakti, so all aspects of yogic
practice can be found within the practice of
arcana.
There are interesting parallels between
the classical eightfold Yoga system
delineated in the Yoga-sutras of Patanjali and the bhakti-yoga
system delineated in the Bhagavad-gita
and Bhagavata Purana, both traditionally
attributed to Krsna-Dvaipayana Vyasa. Yet at least as striking as the similarities are the differences between the
two systems, both in their philosophical
underpinnings and in their practices. In this context, the integrative character of bhakti, whereby the
bipolar features of yoga and worship1
come together, is especially worthy of consideration. The most visible, and at the same time most
formalized, practice of the bhakti-yoga
system is called arcana, involving carefully prescribed ritual practices which together constitute worship
of images, known as arca-vigrahas or
arca-murtis. In this paper I wish to briefly outline these practices as they reflect the stages of yoga
practice in classical Yoga, and to touch
on how the philosophical understanding of God as the absolute in the Gauiya Vaisnava tradition of bhakti
brings a fundamentally different
understanding to the word yoga than is found in the classical Yoga
system. The philosophy and process of
arcana, or formal worship of images, is
delineated for Vaisnavas — worshipers of Visnu as the Supreme — in a collection of texts known as Pancaratra.
Though generally considered of
relatively recent origin2, the tradition itself identifies them as canonical, carrying equal validity with the
original four Vedic Saˆhitas, yet
conveying greater import for the present degraded age of Kali. Even more important for Gauiya Vaisnavas is the
Bhagavata Purana, which includes
significant elements of PaNcaratra ideas, one of which is the acceptance
of the physical image as worshipable. In
the Eleventh Skandha of the Bhagavata
Purana, Krsna explains to his friend Uddhava: In worshipping the temple deity, My dear
Uddhava, bathing and decoration are
most pleasing [offerings]. [For the deity traced] on sacred ground, tattva-vinyasa is most dear. Oblations of
sesame and barley soaked in ghee are
the preferred offering to the sacrificial fire, whereas abhyarhanam is preferred for the sun.
[One should worship Me] in [the form
of water] by [offering] water, etc. Whatever is offered to Me with faith by My devotee — even [if only] water —
is most dear [to Me].3 The bhakta, or devotional yogin, has faith (sraddha)
that the image he or she serves is
thoroughly equivalent to the transcendent supreme being aspired for by means of the perfecting of
devotional practice. But I shall spare
the reader an elaboration on this important subject to proceed with an overview of the practices involved in arcana
as related to the stages of yoga.4
YAMA AND NIYAMA:
In the first two practices of as˜anga-yoga
— the exercise of five types of
restraint (yama) and five types of discipline (niyama) — there is a perfect homology with the bhakti
systems in general and arcana process in
particular. This might not come as a surprise to one familiar with Mircea Eliade's observation that the
restraints "can be recognized by
all systems of ethics and realized by an apprentice yogin as well as by
any pure and upright man."5
Nonetheless, one will note a clear distinction in this matter between bhakti as practiced by
Vaisnavas (whereby the PaNcaratra
literature is sometimes referred to as sattvika-tantra, or tantra based
on pure, illuminated practices), and the
"left-handed" (vama-marga) tantra
involving indulgences rather than restraints.6 In arcana practice, the day begins very early
with a series of purifications meant to
place one in a condition for approaching the Lord. Such striving for purity takes place in a framework of
self-regulation considered in Vaisnava
literature as prerequisite to acceptance by a guru for instruction in devotional practices.7 Thus, for example,
where Vyasa, the Yoga-sutra commentator,
puts emphasis on ahiˆsa as central to the practice of yama8, the Vaisnava would concur; the basis of the
Vaisnava's claim to the practice of
non-violence is to refrain from eating animal flesh. Similarly the strict Vaisnava sadhaka (practitioner)
conscientiously refrains from other
activities of sense indulgence: in addition to refraining from meat
eating, he or she avoids all
intoxicating substances, all sexual activity (unless one is a householder, in which case
procreational sex may be practiced), and
all forms of gambling.
ASANA: The as˜anga-yogin practices asana
to establish stability, for which he may
practice "uncomfortable and even unbearable" postures until he
gains perfection in them, recognizable
when the "effort to attain [them] disappear[s]. "9
In arcana, the main daily practice of
worship takes place in a sitting
position, with legs crossed as in much of yoga practice. However, the
bhakta is for most of the time of
worship quite active in a variety of absorbing
engagements. Less concerned with a "complete suspension of
attention to the presence of one's own
body10, " the bhakta looks to be reasonably comfortable for the business at hand, having
first offered formal respect to
nnanta-sesa and other expansions of the supreme being who are considered
to be supporters of the earth. The activities included in arcana are not
restricted to sitting. When the main
worship is concluded by the individual sadhaka, public worship begins, usually standing, with the singing of
kirtana, dancing, and playing of musical
instruments for the pleasure of the deity.
PRANAYAMA:
Whereas yoga practitioners may spend
considerable time in the practice of
breath control as a technique to prepare the body and mind for further "refusals11, " PaNcaratra
literature prescribes a minimal practice
which takes but a few minutes, as an aspect of citta-suddhi, or
preliminary purification of the consciousness.
Bhuta-suddhi, also prescribed in various
tantra traditions, is a related process of conscious disintegration
and reintegration of the bodily elements
ultimately meant to help identify
oneself as a spiritual being categorically different from the
ephemeral material body. The control of breath in arcana becomes more
generally a vehicle for devotional
uttering of the mantras associated with the worshipable image: Visual absorption in the form of the image is
complemented with recitations which
serve as concrete means of opening communication with the worshipable
personage.
PRATYAHARA:
The "ability to free sense activity
from the domination of external
objects"12 is accomplished in arcana practice by a "positive engagement" of the senses. According to
the Bhagavad-gita, since as living
beings we cannot refrain from acting at any moment, one should
perform action (karma) with the organs
of action (karmendriyai) as karma-yoga, or
in a spirit of detached regulation for a higher purpose.13 The
higher purpose is to offer service with
devotion to the supreme being who, being
sentient as is the yogin, enjoys the offerings presented to the
arca-vigraha much as one might enjoy
gifts received from an affectionate friend. The
"domination of external objects" is overcome by thinking and
acting in such a way as to see all sense
objects as potentially enjoyable not by oneself
but by the supreme, or bhagavan, who is present in the arca-murti. Thus arcana is the formal means of practicing or playing
out this mode of understanding. Krsna
summarizes this mode of practice in the Bhagavad-gita: "If one offers Me with love and devotion
a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I
will accept it. "14
DHARANA:
PataNjali's sixth stage of yoga, defined
as "fixation of thought on a single
point"15, is generally accomplished by concentrating the mind on a particular location of one's own body — the
navel, the lotus of the heart, or the
tip of the nose. In arcana it is the object of worship, the Lord, upon whom one concentrates. The bhakta
asserts that this process is
incomparably easier than artificial attempts of the yogin to fix the
mind on something innately uninteresting
like the navel! In the beginning of the
Twelfth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita Krsna shows unequivocal preference
for devotional practice over meditation
focused on spiritual existence beyond
the senses or the unmanifest. Hence devotional ritual in the arcana
process emphasizes focusing attention on
the arca-murti. After having purified
oneself in preparation for approaching the Lord
(abhigamana) and collecting appropriate items for worship such as
pure water, fruits and flowers
(upadana), one can proceed with the third of five aspects of worship (paNcanga-puja), called
yoga.16 Yoga as a formal subdivision of
arcana encompasses certain practices already mentioned, such as bhuta-suddhi, but it also covers what
would be the seventh phase in the Yoga
system of PataNjali, namely dhyana, or meditation.
DHYANA:
Before the worship of the image with
physical paraphernalia begins, the
bhakta engages in meditation on the form of the object of worship, following a description contained in a
dhyana-mantra appropriate for the form
of the image being worshipped. Such descriptions typically portray Visnu displaying his divine opulence — his
dress, ornaments, and four symbols,
namely the wheel of fire, conch, club and lotus flower. The bhakti literature also gives further details to help
the worshiper to become fully absorbed
in the worshipable form. In the Bhagavata Purana, after describing Visnu's bodily features from the feet to the
head, Kapila urges one to meditate on
Visnu's beautiful eyes, smile, and even laughter:
With devotion steeped in love and affection, the yogi should meditate
within the core of his heart upon the laughter of Lord Visnu. The
laughter of Lord Visnu is so captivating that it can be easily meditated
upon. When the Supreme Lord is laughing, one can see His small teeth,
which resemble jasmine buds rendered rosy by the splendor of His lips.
Once devoting his mind to this, the yogi should no longer desire to see
anything else.17
Here we may note the emphasis on the
ease with which success can be attained,
by virtue of the attractive quality of the object of meditation. After the more passive dhyana the process
continues with manasa-puja, in which the
worshiper mentally performs all of the activities of worship which he or she will soon perform externally. In
its more advanced form, such exercise
becomes a prelude to full absorption in awareness of oneself as a participant in the lila, or pastimes, of the
Lord in the transcendent realm.
Before proceeding with a discussion of
the final stage in classical Yoga and
its parallel in arcana, a remark about the specific nature of bhakti may
be appropriate. Just as in Yoga the
practitioner strives constantly for a
fundamental transformation of existence culminating in liberation, or
moksa, the bhakta similarly strives for
transformation. But whereas the yogin
strives by his or her own effort, relying on the acquired power of
tapas, or austerity, the bhakta strives
for the divine grace of the Lord, the object
of worship, based on the fundamental principle of reciprocation.
The relationship based on bhakti acts
simultaneously in two ways: First, it acts
to root out the ahaˆkara principle from the bhakta's heart — the
principle of selfish orientation which
perpetuates the notion of independent agency —
enabling one to act in harmony with the divinity. Second, as O.B.L
Kapoor writes, bhakti "energizes
[the Lord's] mercy and releases the forces of
redemption"18, making the Lord attentive to, and even submissive
to, his bhakta and the particular mood
or bhava in which the bhakta is inclined to
approach the Lord. To understand this distinctive feature of bhakti is crucial to an understanding of samadhi as it
pertains to devotional activity such as
arcana.
SAMADHI:
After long and arduous discipline in practice
of the previous seven stages, the yogin
may be fortunate to attain full samadhi, a state of absorption which defies description
particularly because no relation to an
Absolute, either personal or impersonal, is affirmed.19 In thorough contrast is the state of
absorption attained by the bhakta — a
dynamic state in association with bhagavan, the personal (and, for Vaisnavas, primary) feature of the Absolute.
In the context of arcana, this dynamic
between sevaka and sevya, or servant and served, is exemplified by Sri Caitanya, whose ecstatic dancing before
the deity of Jagannatha in Puri is
documented in the late Sixteenth Century work Sri Caitanya-caritamrta of Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. During the yearly
public procession of the massive
Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva murtis, Sri Caitanya, whom the Gaudiya Vaisnavas consider to be Krsna
himself incarnate, would manifest a
variety of ecstatic symptoms while dancing in the midst of his followers
and
associates:
When Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced and jumped high, eight wonderful
transformations indicative of divine ecstasy were seen in His body. All
these symptoms were visible simultaneously. His skin erupted with goose
pimples, and the hairs of His body stood on end. His body resembled the
simuli [silk cotton tree], all covered with thorns. Indeed, the people
became afraid just to see His teeth chatter, and they even thought that
His teeth would fall out. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's whole body flowed
with perspiration and at the same time oozed blood. He made the sounds
"jaja gaga, jaja gaga" in a voice choked with ecstasy. Tears
came
forcefully from the eyes of the Lord, as if from a syringe, and all the
people surrounding Him became wet.20
Pancaratra literature prescribes
chanting and dancing before the murti as
the conclusion of the ritual of worship, the process of arcana. In
his chanting and dancing before the
Jagannatha deity, Sri Caitanya demonstrated
by his very public ecstasies the highly esoteric theology of bhava, or
the complete absorption of consciousness
in active service to the Lord: the
culmination of what may seem mere ritual is, in its most perfect performance, the opportunity to enter into
intimate association with God on the
timeless platform of lila.
To explore the relationship between
devotional ecstasy and yogic "enstasy" it behooves us to consider also the
relationship of the former with shamanic
ecstasy. Mircea Eliade, in his discussions on the relation of shamanism
and Yoga, compares the ecstasy of the
shaman with the "enstasy" of the yogin. While the former is characterized by a
"desperate effort to attain the
'condition of a spirit' to accomplish ecstatic flight", the latter
is characterized by "perfect
autonomy", or withdrawal within to a state of liberation, as a jivan-mukta, or a soul
liberated in this life.21 As one might
expect, a sharp contrast between shamanic ecstasy and devotional ecstasy also exists, as June
Daniels has noted in her book The
Madness of the Saints: Ecstatic Religion in Bengal. Referring to
Mircea Eliade's definition of ecstasy,
namely "to stand outside" or "to be outside, " she emphasizes that devotional ecstasy
is "a radical alteration of
perception, emotion, or personality which brings the person closer to
what he regards as the sacred ... The
ecstatic often passes through a stage of
disintegration, but ultimately experiences an integration that brings
parts of the self, or the self and the
Divine, into a closer relationship or
union."22 Whereas ecstasy of the shaman "manifests the
separation of the soul" and thus
"anticipates the experience of death", that of the bhakta involves a supraconsciousness in which all of
the senses are surcharged or infused
with awareness of the worshipable object, the Lord. Like the yogin, the bhakta in the
perfectional stage attains jivan-mukti.
Yet the bhakta considers liberation secondary to the much more
significant attainment of uninterrupted
service to bhagavan. In the Bhagavata Purana
Kapila highlights this point:
Upon seeing the attractive form of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and
hearing His very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other
consciousness. His senses are freed from all other engagements, and he
becomes absorbed in devotional service. Thus in spite of his
unwillingness, he attains liberation without separate endeavor.23
In the devotional rituals of arcana
there are several points of resonance
with the eightfold practice of classical Yoga, yet both the practice and
the goal of devotional arcana stand in
sharp contrast to those of Yoga. For the
Gauiya Vaisnavas, following the guidelines of Bhagavata Purana, arcana
is only one of nine processes by which
bhakti is practiced; in fact arcana
ritual is considered subordinate and dependent upon the two primary activities of sravana and kirtana, or hearing
and chanting about the names, forms,
qualities and pastimes of the Lord.24 Still, for Gauiya Vaisnavas, as for other Vaisnava traditions, arcana
persists as a viable and potent means of
attaining the link with the supreme of which Krsna speaks in the Bhagavad-gita:
Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer
obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely
you will come to Me.25
For the Gaudiya Vaisnava bhakta, it is
being absorbed in Krsna and coming to
Krsna which constitutes yoga, whereby
the sense of "joining" which yoga
implies is understood as the process of joining oneself with the
supreme Self in a relationship of
service. The bhakta bases his understanding of
yoga as a process of joining oneself with the supreme on Krsna's claim
at the end of Chapter Six of the
Bhagavad-gita:
And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me,
thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service
to Me he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is highest of
all. That is My opinion.26
Thus whereas the yogin is above all
seeking liberation from the miseries of
material existence, the bhakta seeks to
be actively absorbed in positive
relationship to his or her object of
worship, the supreme divine being. In
the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, Sri
Caitanya provides the ideal model for
such active absorption, and his
demonstration of ecstasy in service to the
Jagannatha deity exemplified the
perfection of Vaisnava yogic practice in
the context of arcana.
1 Ninian Smart, Doctrine and Argument in
Indian Philosophy, (London: George
Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1964.) 144.
2 "Pancaratra," The Perennial
Dictionary of World Religions, ed. Keith Crim,
(New York: Harper and Row, 1989.
3 Srimad-Bhagavatam of Krsna Dvaipayana
Vyasa with Sanskrit Translations and
Commentary of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada (Los Angeles: The
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1988)
XI.27.16-17: snanalankaranaˆ pres˜ham
arcayam eva tuddhava / sthandile
tattva-vinyaso vahnav ajya-plutaˆ haviƒ
// surye cabhyarhanaˆ pres˜haˆ
salile saliladibhiƒ / sraddhayopahrtaˆ
pres˜haˆ bhaktena mama vary api.
4 Ramanuja, whose philosophy regarding
arcana is for the most part taken up
by the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, stressed the
divine nature of the arca-murti in
his Vedarthasaˆgraha. See John Braisted
Carman, The Theology of Ramanuja: An
Essay on Interreligious Understanding,
(New Haven: Yale University Press,
1994) 167 - 171.
5 Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and
Freedom, (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1969) 50.
6 "PaNcaratra,"
"Tantrism," The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions, ed.
Keith Crim, (New York: Harper and Row,
1989.
7 Gopal Bhata Gosvami, Haribhaktivilasa
1.62., trans. Kusakratha dasa. (Los
Angeles: The Krsna Library, 1992). Vol.
153, p. 40.
8 Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and
Freedom, (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1969) 49.
9 ibid., 53. Eliade may very well have
personally experienced the pain of a
novice attempting to perform asanas
while he was in India learning about
yoga!
10 ibid., p. 53
11 ibid., p. 55.
12 ibid., p. 68.
13 Svami Vireswarananda, Srimad
Bhagavad-gita, (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna
Math, nd.) 87.
14 ibid,. 278. IX.26: patraˆ puspaˆ
phalaˆ toyaˆ yo me bhaktya prayacchati
// tad ahaˆ bhakty-upahrtam asnami
prayatatmanaƒ.
15 Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and
Freedom, (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1969) 70.
16 Krsna-ksetra Dasa, ed., PaNcaratra
Pradipa: Illumination of PaNcaratra,
(Mayapur, India: ISKCON-GBC Press,
1994). Vol. I, 21-22.
17 Srimad-Bhagavatam of Krsna Dvaipayana
Vyasa with Sanskrit Translations
and Commentary of A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada (Los Angeles: The
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1988)
dhyanayanaˆ prahasitaˆ bahuladharos˜ha-
/
bhasarunayita-tanu-dvija-kunda-pankti //
dhyayet svadeha-kuhare 'vasitasya
visnor / bhaktyardrayarpita-mana na
prthag didrkset.
18 O.B.L Kapoor, The Philosophy and
Religion of Sri Caitanya, (Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal, 1977) 183.
19 Ninian Smart, Doctrine and Argument
in Indian Philosophy, (London: George
Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1964.) 131.
20 A. C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada,
Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta of
Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, (Los
Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1975.)
Madhya-lila 13.101 - 105. vol. 5 of
Madhya-lila, 163-166.
21 Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and
Freedom, (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1969) 339-340.
22 June McDaniel, The Madness of the
Saints: Ecstatic Religion in Bengal,
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1989) 2.
23 Srimad-Bhagavatam III.25.36. trans.
tair darsaniyavayavair udara- /
vilasa-haseksita-vama-suktaiƒ //
hrtatmano hrta-pranaˆs ca bhaktir /
anicchato me gatim anviˆ prayunkte.
24 A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada,
Srimad Bhagavatam, (Los Angeles:
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987) Vol.
VII.1, p. 255 - 257.
25 Bhagavad-gita As It Is, A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, IX.34:
translation of verse
man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji maˆ
namaskuru // mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam
atmanam mat-parayanaƒ.
26 Bg, VI.47: translation;
yoginam api sarvesaˆ
mad-gatenantar-atmana // sraddhavan bhajate yo maˆ sa
me yuktatamo mataƒ.