The ISKCON Deity Worship Journal

Philosophy

Arcana as Yoga in the Gau�…ya Vai�Šava Tradition

by K��Ša-k�etra D€sa

There are interesting parallels between the classical eightfold Yoga system delineated in the Yoga-s™tras of Patañjali and the bhakti-yoga system delineated in the Bh€gavad-g…t€ and Bh€gavata Pur€Ša, both traditionally attributed to K��Ša-Dvaip€yana Vy€sa. 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-m™rtis. 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 Gau�…ya Vai�Šava 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 Vai�Šavas — worshipers of Vi�Šu as the Supreme — in a collection of texts known as Pañcar€tra. Though generally considered of relatively recent origin², the tradition itself identifies them as canonical, carrying equal validity with the original four Vedic Saˆhit€s, yet conveying greater import for the present degraded age of Kali. Even more important for Gau�…ya Vai�Šavas is the Bh€gavata Pur€Ša, which includes significant elements of Pañcar€tra ideas, one of which is the acceptance of the physical image as worshipable. In the Eleventh Skandha of the Bh€gavata Pur€Ša, K��Ša 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-viny€sa is most dear. Oblations of sesame and barley soaked in ghee are the preferred offering to the sacrificial fire, whereas abhyarhaŠam 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 (�raddh€) 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 a�˜€‰ga-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 Vai�Šavas (whereby the Pañcar€tra literature is sometimes referred to as sattvika-tantra, or tantra based on pure, illuminated practices), and the "left-handed" (v€ma-m€rga) 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 Vai�Šava literature as prerequisite to acceptance by a guru for instruction in devotional practices.⁷ Thus, for example, where Vy€sa, the Yoga-s™tra commentator, puts emphasis on ahiˆsa as central to the practice of yama⁸, the Vai�Šava would concur; the basis of the Vai�Šava's claim to the practice of non-violence is to refrain from eating animal flesh. Similarly the strict Vai�Šava s€dhaka (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.

šSANA: The a�˜€‰ga-yogin practices €sana 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 šnanta-�e�a 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 s€dhaka, public worship begins, usually standing, with the singing of k…rtana, dancing, and playing of musical instruments for the pleasure of the deity.

PRš¦šYšMA: 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, " Pañcar€tra literature prescribes a minimal practice which takes but a few minutes, as an aspect of citta-�uddhi, or preliminary purification of the consciousness. Bh™ta-�uddhi, 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.

PRATYšHšRA: 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 Bh€gavad-g…t€, since as living beings we cannot refrain from acting at any moment, one should perform action (karma) with the organs of action (karmendriyaiƒ) 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 bhagav€n, who is present in the arca-m™rti. Thus arcana is the formal means of practicing or playing out this mode of understanding. K��Ša summarizes this mode of practice in the Bh€gavad-g…t€: "If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it. "¹⁴

DHšRANš: Patañjali'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 Bh€gavad-g…t€ K��Ša 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-m™rti.

After having purified oneself in preparation for approaching the Lord (abhigamana) and collecting appropriate items for worship such as pure water, fruits and flowers (up€d€na), one can proceed with the third of five aspects of worship (pañc€‰ga-p™j€), called yoga.¹⁶ Yoga as a formal subdivision of arcana encompasses certain practices already mentioned, such as bh™ta-�uddhi, but it also covers what would be the seventh phase in the Yoga system of Patañjali, namely dhy€na, or meditation.

DHYšNA: 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 dhy€na-mantra appropriate for the form of the image being worshipped. Such descriptions typically portray Vi�Šu 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 Bh€gavata Pur€Ša, after describing Vi�Šu's bodily features from the feet to the head, Kapila urges one to meditate on Vi�Šu's beautiful eyes, smile, and even laughter:

With devotion steeped in love and affection, the yog… should meditate within the core of his heart upon the laughter of Lord Vi�Šu. The laughter of Lord V…�Šu 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 yog… 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 dhy€na the process continues with manasa-p™j€, 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 l…l€, 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 mok�a, 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 bh€va in which the bhakta is inclined to approach the Lord. To understand this distinctive feature of bhakti is crucial to an understanding of sam€dhi as it pertains to devotional activity such as arcana.

SAMšDHI: After long and arduous discipline in practice of the previous seven stages, the yogin may be fortunate to attain full sam€dhi, 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 bhagav€n, the personal (and, for Vai�Šavas, primary) feature of the Absolute. In the context of arcana, this dynamic between sevaka and sevya, or servant and served, is exemplified by ®r… Caitanya, whose ecstatic dancing before the deity of Jagann€tha in P™ri is documented in the late Sixteenth Century work ®r… Caitanya-carit€m�ta of K��Šad€sa Kavir€ja Gosv€m…. During the yearly public procession of the massive Jagann€tha, Subhadr€, and Baladeva m™rtis, ®r… Caitanya, whom the Gau�…ya Vai�Šavas consider to be K��Ša himself incarnate, would manifest a variety of ecstatic symptoms while dancing in the midst of his followers and associates:

When Caitanya Mah€prabhu 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 �imul… [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. ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu'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



Pañcar€tra literature prescribes chanting and dancing before the m™rti as the conclusion of the ritual of worship, the process of arcana. In his chanting and dancing before the Jagann€tha deity, ®r… Caitanya demonstrated by his very public ecstasies the highly esoteric theology of bh€va, 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 l…l€.

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 bhagav€n. In the Bh€gavata Pur€Ša 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 Gau�…ya Vai�Šavas, following the guidelines of Bh€gavata Pur€Ša, 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 �ravana and k…rtana, or hearing and chanting about the names, forms, qualities and pastimes of the Lord.²⁴ Still, for Gau�…ya Vai�Šavas, as for other Vai�Šava traditions, arcana persists as a viable and potent means of attaining the link with the supreme of which K��Ša speaks in the Bh€gavad-g…t€:

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 Gau�…ya Vai�Šava bhakta, it is being absorbed in K��Ša and coming to K��Ša 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 K��Ša's claim at the end of Chapter Six of the Bh€gavad-g…t€:

And of all yog…s, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me¾he 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 Gau�…ya Vai�Šava tradition, ®r… Caitanya provides the ideal model for such active absorption, and his demonstration of ecstasy in service to the Jagann€tha deity exemplified the perfection of Vai�Šava yogic practice in the context of arcana.

K��Ša-k�etra D€sa has just completed study at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has begun study in the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, in the Master's program, in conjunction with the Institute of Vai�Šava Studies. Since 1991 he has served as Monitor for Deity Worship to the GBC of ISKCON.

¹ Ninian Smart, Doctrine and Argument in Indian Philosophy, (London: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1964.) 144.

² "Pañcar€tra," The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions, ed. Keith Crim, (New York: Harper and Row, 1989.

³ ®rimad-Bhagavatam of K��Ša Dvaipayana Vyasa with Sanskrit Translations and Commentary of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Los Angeles: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1988)
XI.27.16-17: sn€n€la‰karaŠaˆ pre�˜ham arc€y€m eva t™ddhava / sthaŠ�ile tattva-viny€so vahn€v €jya-plutaˆ haviƒ // s™rye c€bhyarhaŠaˆ pre�˜haˆ salile salil€dibhiƒ / �raddhayop€h�taˆ pre�˜haˆ bhaktena mama v€ry api.

⁴ R€m€nuja, whose philosophy regarding arcana is for the most part taken up by the Gau�…ya Vai�Šavas, stressed the divine nature of the arca-m™rti in his Ved€rthasaˆgraha. See John Braisted Carman, The Theology of R€m€nuja: 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 "Pañcar€tra," "Tantrism," The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions, ed. Keith Crim, (New York: Harper and Row, 1989.

⁷ Gopal Bha˜˜a Gosv€m…, Haribhaktivil€sa 1.62., trans. Ku�akratha d€sa. (Los Angeles: The K��Ša 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 €sanas while he was in India learning about yoga!

¹⁰ ibid., p. 53

¹¹ ibid., p. 55.

¹² ibid., p. 68.

¹³ Sv€m… Vireswarananda, ®r…mad Bh€gavad-g…t€, (Madras: ®r… Ramakrishna Math, nd.) 87.

¹⁴ ibid,. 278. IX.26: patraˆ pu�paˆ phalaˆ toyaˆ yo me bhakty€ prayacchati // tad ahaˆ bhakty-upah�tam a�n€mi prayat€tmanaƒ.

¹⁵ Mircea Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969) 70.

¹⁶ K��Ša-k�etra D€sa, ed., Pañcar€tra Prad…pa: Illumination of Pañcar€tra, (Mayapur, India: ISKCON-GBC Press, 1994). Vol. I, 21-22.

¹⁷ ®rimad-Bhagavatam of K��Ša Dvaipayana Vyasa with Sanskrit Translations and Commentary of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Los Angeles: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1988)
dhy€n€yanaˆ prahasitaˆ bahul€dharo�˜ha- / bh€s€ruŠ€yita-tanu-dvija-kunda-pa‰kti // dhy€yet svadeha-kuhare 'vasitasya vi�Šor / bhakty€rdray€rpita-man€ na p�thag did�k�et.

¹⁸ O.B.L Kapoor, The Philosophy and Religion of ®r… 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 Sv€m… Prabhup€da, ®r… Caitanya-Carit€m�ta of K��Šad€sa Kavir€ja Gosv€m…, (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1975.) Madhya-l…l€ 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 ®rimad-Bhagavatam III.25.36. trans. tair dar�an…y€vayavair ud€ra- / vil€sa-h€sek�ita-v€ma-s™ktaiƒ // h�t€tmano h�ta-pr€Š€ˆ� ca bhaktir / anicchato me gatim aŠv…ˆ prayu‰kte.

²⁴ A.C. Bhaktivedanta Sv€m… Prabhup€da, ®r…mad Bh€gavatam, (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1987) Vol. VII.1, p. 255 - 257.

²⁵ Bh€gavad-g…t€ As It Is, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Sv€m… Prabhup€da, IX.34: translation of verse
man-man€ bhava mad-bhakto mad-y€j… m€ˆ namaskuru // m€m evai�yasi yuktvaivam €tm€nam mat-par€yaŠaƒ.

²⁶ Bg, VI.47: translation;
yogin€m api sarve�€ˆ mad-gaten€ntar-€tman€ // �raddh€v€n bhajate yo m€ˆ sa me yuktatamo mataƒ.

© International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust 1998
Founder-šch€rya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhup€da