Verse work on Hindu philosophy and spirituality.

Abridged text of Yogavāsiṣṭharāmāyaṇa, an epic on Hindu philosophy with miniature paintings depicting the stories.

The author of the Yogav sistha Mah r m yana has liberation (moksa) foremost on her or his mind and this focus appears to relegate virtue (dharma) to poor relation status. Yet, R ma's question to Vasistha is, 'How should one live in this world?' This signals a strongly ethical stance and opens another avenue of exploration; the possibility that the teachings on the realisation of liberation are concomitant with the teachings regarding the embodiment of virtue. The aim of this (...) paper is to flesh out the admittedly skeletal frame of virtue by comparing the theories in the Yogav sistha with Aristotle's elaboration of virtue in the Nicomachean Ethics. I argue that, in spite of fundamental metaphysical differences between the two philosophers, the stages of moral development described in the Yogav sistha harmonise with Aristotle's theories and provide insights into problems that arise in Aristotle's work. (shrink)

Critical study of selected portion of Yogavāsiṣṭha, treatise on Vedanta philosophy; includes translation of text and commentary.

El Mokṣopāya (s. X d.n.e), mejor conocido como Yogavāsiṣṭha, nos adentra en el universo del idealismo subjetivo a través de historias extraordinarias, narradas por Vasiṣṭha, en las que la imaginación es la protagonista. La filosofía que subyace a este voluminoso poema muestra que todo lo que hay es la conciencia (cit-mātra) formada por el vacío supremo. La mente individual solo es un destello del poder de esta conciencia (cit-śakti), un teatro donde se proyecta el mundo externo, con todos sus (...) objetos perceptibles. Leyendo este texto a la luz de una de las obras más célebres del teatro español del Siglo de Oro, La vida es sueño de Calderón de la Barca, este ensayo tiende puentes entre la angustia existencial de Segismundo, que ignora si está dormido o despierto, y el pensamiento sereno de Vasiṣṭha cuando explica que la vigilia y el sueño son ambos igual de vacíos e ilusorios. (shrink)

A wide-ranging analysis of the Mokṣopāya, the Indian literary classic that teaches through storytelling how to enjoy an active, successful, worldly life in a spiritually enlightened way. In the Mokṣopāya (also known as the Yogavāsiṣṭha), an eleventh-century Sanskrit poetic text, the great Vedic philosopher Vāsiṣṭha counsels his young protégé Lord Rāma about the ways of the world through sixty-four stories designed to bring Rāma from ignorance to wisdom. Much beloved, this work reflects the philosophy of Kashmir Śaivism. Precisely because all (...) worldly pursuits are dreamlike and fiction-like, the human soul must first come to an experience of non-dualistic, mind-only metaphysics, and after attaining this wisdom, promote moral activism. _Engaged Emancipation_ is a wide-ranging consideration of this work and the philosophical and spiritual questions it addresses by philosophers, Sanskritists, and scholars of religion, literature, and science. Contributors allow readers to walk with Rāma as his melancholy and angst transform into connectivity, peace, and spiritual equipoise. (shrink)

Innovation of Yoga in vedic saṁhitās -- Elaboration of yogic thought and practices in Brāhmaṇas, Āraṇyakas and Upaniṣads -- Continuation of the tradition in the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata -- Deviation from the vedic tradition in Jainism and Buddhism -- Systematization of Yoga in Patañjali and Haṭha-yoga -- Yoga of Vedāntic ācāryas and yoga-vāsiṣṭha -- Bhakti-yoga of medieval saints -- Yogic sādhanā in Tantra, Śaivism and Sufism -- Revival of the spirit of Yoga in modern India -- Yogic capability in (...) the estimation of logic. (shrink)