Yogaśāstra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yogaśāstra (lit. "Yoga treatise") is a 12th-century Sanskrit text by Hemachandra on Svetambara Jainism.[1][2] It is a treatise on the "rules of conduct for laymen and ascetics", wherein "yoga" means "ratna-traya" (three jewels), i.e. right belief, right knowledge and right conduct for a Svetambara Jain.[2] As a manual with an extensive auto-commentary called Svopajnavrtti, it was instrumental to the survival and growth of Svetambara tradition in western Indian states such as Gujarat and the spread of Sanskrit culture in Jainism.[1]
The Yogasastra is unlike the conventional much older yoga texts found in Buddhism and Hinduism, but shows their influence.[3] Probably titled "yoga" because its royal patron was attached to yogic traditions of 12th-century India, the Yogasastra treatise is a systematic exposition of Jain doctrine using the Svetambara scriptures (sruta) and tradition (sampradaya), as well as the teachings of many prior Jain scholars such as Umasvati, Subhachandra, and Haribhadra.[4]