Sakayanya

Sakayanya,also known asJata Sakayanya,a descendant ofSaka,was a ritual authority and contemporary ofSankhain theKathaka Samhita(xxii.70)^[1]also known asCharaka Samhitabelonging toKrishna Yajurveda,and which was compiled byKatha,a disciple ofVaisampayana.^[2]

Sakayanya was a disciple ofRishiMaitri. And, Shubhra Sharma in his treatise titled - 'Life in the Upanishads' writes that Sakayanya "burns with all the splendor and the grandeur of an incarnation of the Puranic literature, who appears out of the blue and even has the capacity of granting boons". The ideas which Sakayanya expresses were already formed and developed in the earlierUpanishads.^[3]

Sakayanya speaks about the 'pure noumenal Self' who arising from the body shines in his own splendour, and of the 'phenomenal Self' called theBhutatmanwho is subject to the influence of actions and therefore undergoestransmigrationas was taught to him by Rishi Maitri.^[4] In the Maitri Upanishad Sakayanya deals with various questions as to form, manifestation, division, existence, and infinity of time. With regard to the question - Whether time is the original cause of everything or not?, he says that Time (Kala), Death (Yama) and Life (Prana) are identical, Time is one of chief manifestation ofBrahman,there are two forms of Brahman – 1) Time and 2) Non-time (that existed before the sun came into existence and is indivisible); from the former that is divisible, all creatures are born,^[5]and explains that Time ripens and dissolves all beings in the great self, but he who knows into what Time itself dissolved is the knower of the Veda (Maitri or Maitrayani Upanishad VI.14-16).^[6]

He even offersSamkhyametaphysics to explain theYogaprocesses.^[7]

He finally removes the pessimism ofBrihadratha Ikshvakuwho saw the whole universe decaying around him and who had requested Sakayanya to lift him out of the mire of existence like a frog from a waterless well (Maitri I.7) by teaching him the six-faceted yoga involvingpranayama('breath-control'),pratyahara('withdrawal of the senses'),dhyana('meditation'),dharana('concentration'),tarka('inquiry') andsamadhi('absorption') which yoga was centuries later systemised byPatanjali.^[8]

References

^Kathaka Samhita.
^Vedic Index of Names and Subjects Vol.1.A1 Books Co. 1995. p. 281.ISBN 9788120813328.
^Shubhra Sharma (1985).Life in the Upanishads.Abhinav Publications. p. 209.ISBN 9788170172024.
^R.D.Ranade (1926).A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy.Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p.23.
^Benimadhab Barua (1970).A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy.A1 Books Co. p. 206.ISBN 9788120807969.
^Shrinivas Tilak (July 1989).Religion and Aging in Indian Tradition.Suny Press. p. 83.ISBN 9780791400456.
^Surendranath Dasgupta (1985).Yoga Philosophy: In Relation to Other Systems of Indian Thought.Motilal Banarsidass. p. 48.ISBN 9788170172024.
^Gavin D. Flood (1996).An Introduction to Hinduism.Cambridge University Press. p.95.Sakayanya.

[1] Kathaka Samhita.

[2] Vedic Index of Names and Subjects Vol.1.A1 Books Co. 1995. p. 281.ISBN 9788120813328.

[3] Shubhra Sharma (1985).Life in the Upanishads.Abhinav Publications. p. 209.ISBN 9788170172024.

[4] R.D.Ranade (1926).A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy.Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p.23.

[5] Benimadhab Barua (1970).A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy.A1 Books Co. p. 206.ISBN 9788120807969.

[6] Shrinivas Tilak (July 1989).Religion and Aging in Indian Tradition.Suny Press. p. 83.ISBN 9780791400456.

[7] Surendranath Dasgupta (1985).Yoga Philosophy: In Relation to Other Systems of Indian Thought.Motilal Banarsidass. p. 48.ISBN 9788170172024.

[8] Gavin D. Flood (1996).An Introduction to Hinduism.Cambridge University Press. p.95.Sakayanya.

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