Classical Discourses of Liberation

Shared Botanical Metaphors in Sarvastivada Buddhism and the Yoga of Patañjali

Authors

  • Karen O'Brien-Kop School of Oriental and African Studies Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.37021

Keywords:

Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, affliction, āśraya, classical yoga, kleśa, Patañjali, Sarvāstivāda, Yogasūtra

Abstract

Conventionally, the label 'classical yoga' has been aligned with-and sometimes conflated with-the text of Patañjali's Yogasutra. Yet if we broaden the scope of inspection to a wider textual corpus, we can identify a richer and more complex discourse of classical yoga in soteriological contexts. This discourse is also employed in Buddhist Sarvastivada traditions and is semantically and metaphorically entangled across religious boundaries. By comparing passages from the Patañjalayogasastra and the Abhidharmakosabhasya, this article highlights the botanical image of the seed and its seedbed (the substratum) as a key metaphorical structure in the soteriology of the two texts.

Author Biography

  • Karen O'Brien-Kop, School of Oriental and African Studies

    Karen O'Brien-Kop is a Senior Teaching Fellow and PhD Candidate at SOAS University of London and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Roehampton. Her research is on the history of classical yoga. She co-runs the blog sanskritreadingroom.wordpress.com and is a member of the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies.

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Published

2018-09-06

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

O'Brien-Kop, K. (2018). Classical Discourses of Liberation: Shared Botanical Metaphors in Sarvastivada Buddhism and the Yoga of Patañjali. Religions of South Asia, 11(2-3), 123-157. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.37021