The Paradox of Effort: Abhyāsa, Vairāgya, and the Problem of Willed Liberation in Pātañjala Yoga and the Bhagavad Gītā
The Paradox of Effort: Abhyāsa, Vairāgya, and the Problem of Willed Liberation in Pātañjala Yoga and the Bhagavad Gītā
Author(s): Divya SharmaSubject(s): History, Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Non-European Philosophy, Special Branches of Philosophy, Comparative history, Diplomatic history, History of ideas, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Comparative Study of Literature, Indian Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Language, Philology, History of Religion
Published by: Presa Universitara Clujeana
Keywords: Pātañjala Yoga; abhyāsa; vairāgya; kaivalya; Bhagavad Gītā; niṣkāma karma; kleśa; nimitta-kāraṇa; Advaita Vedānta; liberation;
Summary/Abstract: Pātañjala Yoga defines its goal as the cessation of the modifications of the mind, yet the means it prescribes, sustained practice or abhyāsa, is itself an activity of that very mind. The instrument of liberation thus appears to belong to the category liberation abolishes. This paper distinguishes three objections the paradox generates, from simultaneity, self-reference, and efficacy, and argues that the Yoga Sūtra answers each: sequentially, through the graded dispassion of YS I.12 to I.16 and I.50 to I.51; qualitatively, through the division of the vṛttis into afflicted and unafflicted; and causally, through Vyāsa’s farmer of YS IV.3, whereby effort removes barriers but produces nothing. The Bhagavad Gītā resolves the same difficulty structurally, by removing the ownership of action rather than the action. Set against the Advaita claim that no act can free, the two yield distinct Indian logics of self-transcending effort.
Journal: ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF INDIAN STUDIES
- Issue Year: 1/2026
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 39-56
- Page Count: 17
- Language: English
