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ŚABDA-YOGA : The Language Of Yoga Demystified – Part 8.3

Introduction

In this series, Yogic terminologies will be taken up and their –

  1. Etymological analysis,
  2. Lexical descriptions and
  3. Textual occurrences in Yogic literature and their commentaries, as available, will be presented. And finally observations will be made on the references.

Three texts – Yogasūtra, Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā and Bhagavad-gītā are consulted for textual occurrences portion. Śabda-yoga is intended to help students, teachers, and professionals of Yoga to develop a sound grammatical, contextual, and thereby an authentic and immersive understanding of Yoga terminologies.

8.3 satkāraḥ

 From the among the five words for this unit 8, this part discusses the third word Satkāra.

Etymology

सत्+कृ+घञ् = सत्कारः

sat+kṛ+ghañ = satkāraḥ

  • The prefix is सत्sat that means to be present/respect
  • कृkṛ is the root that means करणkaraṇa – to do
  • घञ्ghañ is the suffix that means the act/action this suffix is added based on the grammatical rule भावेBhāve (aṣṭādhyāyī 3.18)

Based on the etymology the derivate statement would be – सत्क्रियतेइतिसत्कारःsatkriyateitisatkāraḥ – the act of doing respectfully.

Lexicon

There are no entries for the term in Amarakośa.

 Textual Occurrences

Yogasūtra

There is just one entry of the term in the Yogasūtra. It is as follows –

सतुदीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितोदृढभूमिः॥१.१४॥

satudīrghakālanairantaryasatkārāsevitodṛḍhabhūmiḥ .. 1.14 ..

In the Sutra it could be seen that the word Satkāra is used as quality of Abhyāsa. The Abhyāsa of Yoga should have Satkāra – a sense of respect. The Saṃskṛta Commentaries add the following views about Satkāra-

  • *tapasābrahmacaryeṇavidyayāśraddhayā ca saṃpāditaḥsatkāravāndṛḍhabhūmirbhavati.
  • **ādarātiśayena ca sevyamāno
  • ^ bhaktiśraddhādirūpasatkāreṇasevito
  • ^^ satkārapūrvakaṃsevitaścetpūjyabuddhisevitaścetādarapūrvakaṃsevitaścetpremasahitaṃsevitaścet

Bhagavadgītā

In this text also there is a solitary reference to the word satkāra. It is as follows –

सत्कारमानपूजार्थंतपोदम्भेनचैवयत्।

क्रियतेतदिहप्रोक्तंराजसंचलमध्रुवम्॥१७.१८॥

satkāramānapūjārthaṃtapodambhenacaivayat .

kriyatetadihaproktaṃrājasaṃcalamadhruvam .. 17.18 ..

Rajasic Tapas is delineated in this verse. As it is evident from the verse, Tapas which done by the practitioner expecting others to respect (Satkāra) becomes Rajasic. ĀcāryaŚaṅkaraBhagavatpādacommenting upon this word states – साधुकारः ‘साधुःअयंतपस्वीब्राह्मणः’ इत्येवमर्थम् – sādhukāraḥ ‘sādhuḥayaṃtapasvībrāhmaṇaḥ’ ityevamartham – (that Tapas which is done to elicit the view that) this Tapasvī, Brahmin is a very pious person” to this end.

HaṭhayogapradīpikāSatkāra is not found in this text

Tabulation of Textual References 8.3

Observations

Though very important, there are scant references in the three Texts consulted for the term Satkāra.

  • But in the two texts that yielded a reference each – the word Satkāra is used in contrasting contexts. In the Yogasūtra context – Satkāra is a virtue that a practitioner should possess about his Yogic practice. While Bhagavadgītā clarifies that – Tapas and other activities should not be done expecting Satkāra for oneself from others. Reflecting upon these – it becomes clear that one should have a great regard for his practice and should not expect that he himself is regarded as great by the practice.
  • Further– the idea that Satkāra in the context of Yogasūtra and yoga practice is not mere notion of reverence about Yoga. This emerges from the commentaries for the text. It has components such as Tapas, Śraddhā, Brahmacarya and Devotion.

Such are the important insights on the term Satkāra revealed by this exercise of śabdayoga.

Useful Links

Archive of previous Śabdayoga Entries – https://yoga-words-demystified.blogspot.com/2022/01/sabda-yoga-language-of-yoga-demystified.html

Video Explanation of Śabdayoga (Playlist) – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHwsf77PLjWvmryW-f0z2hLAHmzaRbKnX

References

  1. Advaitaśāradā – https://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/
  2. Amarakoṣasampat – http://amara.aupasana.com/
  3. Aṣṭādhyāyī – https://ashtadhyayi.com/
  4. Aksharamukha – https://aksharamukha.appspot.com/
  5. Avyayakośaḥ, śrīśrīvatsāṅkācāryaḥ, saṃskṛtavidyāsamitiḥ, chennai, 2004
  6. Gītā Supersite – https://www.Gītāsupersite.iitk.ac.in/
  7. Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana alias amarakoṣa of amarasiṃha with the commentary vyākhyāsudhā or rāmāśramī by bhānujidīkṣita, Edited with notes by M.M.PanditShivadattaDadimatha, ChaukhambaSaṃskṛtaPrathisthan, Delhi, Reprint 2002
  8. śabdārthakaustubha, cakravartīśrīnivāsagopālācārya, Vol 4, Bappco Publication, Bengaluru, Reprint 2009
  9. Yoga-vaiśāradī – https://kymyogavaisharadi.org/

Unit 8 To be Continued…

Links for previous posts in this unit

Śabda yoga 8.2

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article belong to the author. Indic Today is neither responsible nor liable for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information in the article.

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