ŚABDA-YOGA The Language of Yoga demystified – 8.5 (Bhūmiḥ)

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.

8.5 Bhūmiḥ

From the among the five words for this unit 8, this part discusses the fifth  and final word Bhūmi.

Etymology

भू+ मि= भूमिः

bhū+ mi= bhūmiḥ

• The root word is भू bhū – and its meaning is सत्ता sattā – existence/ to be
• The suffix मि mi added probably to indicate the meaning substratum. This addition of the suffix is based on grammatical rule भुवः कित् bhuvaḥ kit  (uṇādisūtra 4.45)

The derivation of the term given in Śabdakalpadruma dictionary[1]a is as follows - भवन्ति अस्यां भूतनि इति भूमिः bhavanti asmin bhūtani iti bhūmiḥ - Bhūmi is that on which beings exist.

Yogas[1] https://kosha.sanskrit.today/word/sa/bhUmi?q=%E0%A4%AD%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BF

Lexicon

There is one entry for this term in Amarakośa. It is as follows –

भूर्भूमिरचलानन्ता रसा विश्वम्भरा स्थिरा(2.1.2)

bhūrbhūmiracalānantā rasā viśvambharā sthirā

Bhū, Bhūmi, Acalā, Ānantā, Rasā, Viśvambharā,  sthirā are the words used (in Saṃskṛta) to denote earth.

Textual Occurrences

Yogasūtra

There are four occurrences of the term in Yogasūtra. Their brief explanations are as follows –

1) स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढभूमिः ॥ १.१४॥

sa tu dīrghakālanairantaryasatkārāsevito dṛḍhabhūmiḥ .. 1.14..

This reference indicates the attainment of firm ground (bhūmi) in practice by doing the practice of Yoga for long term, in an uninterrupted manner and respecting the practice.

2) व्याधिस्त्यान​संशयप्रमादालस्या​विरतिभ्रान्तिदर्शनालब्ध​भूमिकत्वानवस्थितत्वानि चितविक्षेपास्तेऽन्तरायाः॥१.३० ॥

vyādhistyānasaṃśayapramādālasyāviratibhrāntidarśanālabdhabhūmikatvānavasthitatvāni citavikṣepāste'ntarāyāḥ.. 1.30 ..

Alabdhabhūmikatva is listed as one among the nine hindrances in the path of Yoga. This is described as inability to scale or progress to higher states(bhūmi) of Yoga.

3) तस्य सप्तधा प्रान्तभूमिः प्रज्ञा ॥ २.२७ ॥

tasya saptadhā prāntabhūmiḥ prajñā .. 2.27 ..

It could be noted that the term prāntabhūmi is found in this verse. Seven high states of clarity that emerges by reaching Vivekakhyāti. It is described as prāntabhūmi. From among all the commentators 19^th century Yogasūtra commentator Sadaśiva Brahmendra  gives a lucid explanation to the term prāntabhūmi, where he states  -  प्रकर्षेणान्तो निवृत्तिः फलत्वेन यासां ता भूमयोऽवस्था - prakarṣeṇānto nivṛttiḥ phalatvena yāsāṃ tā bhūmayo'vasthā – the great level of culmination (of suffering/worldly existence) which is the result on attainment state of Vivekakhyāti is stated as  Prāntabhūmi.

4) तस्य भूमिषु विनियोगः ॥ ३.६ ॥

tasya bhūmiṣu viniyogaḥ .. 3.6 ..

The fourth occurrence of the term is in the context of channelizing the Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna and Samādhi collectively termed as Saṃyama in various states- Bhūmis.

Sage Vyāsa clarifies that - संयमस्य जितभूमेर्याऽनन्तरा भूमिस्तत्र विनियोगः - saṃyamasya jitabhūmeryā'nantarā bhūmistatra viniyogaḥ - by the practice of Saṃyama one scales various higher states of mind. On conquering the previous state – Saṃyama is channelized in the higher states.

Bhagavadgītā 

There is just one occurrence of the term in the Bhagavadgītā, It is as follows –

भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च ।

अहङ्कार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा ॥७.४॥

bhūmirāpo'nalo vāyuḥ khaṃ mano buddhireva ca .

ahaṅkāra itīyaṃ me bhinnā prakṛtiraṣṭadhā ..7.4..

The nature of Prakṛti is clarified in this verse. Here the five elements, Manas, Buddhi and ahaṅkāra are stated as the eight constituents of Prakṛti.

Ācārya Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda clarifies that the five elements mentioned in this context should be taken as the Tanmātras – the subtle causal forms of the five elements. भूमिः इति पृथिवीतन्मात्रमुच्यते, न स्थूला - bhūmiḥ iti pṛthivītanmātramucyate, na sthūlā.

In the same way, the Ācārya adds that -  Manas should be understood as Ahaṅkāra, Buddhi should be taken as Mahat-tattva and Ahaṅkāra as the avyakta (unmanifest) with Avidyā. Thus this in essence indicates the eight subtle causal aspects of creation as seen in Sāṅkhya cosmological framework.  (नः इति मनसः कारणमहङ्कारो गृह्यते । बुद्धिः इति अहङ्कारकारणं महत्तत्त्वम् । अहङ्कारः इति अविद्यासंयुक्तमव्यक्तम् - naḥ iti manasaḥ kāraṇamahaṅkāro gṛhyate . buddhiḥ iti ahaṅkārakāraṇaṃ mahattattvam . ahaṅkāraḥ iti avidyāsaṃyuktamavyaktam)

Haṭhayogapradīpikā

In this text also there is just occurrence of the term Bhūmi. It is as follows -

भवेत् सत्त्वं च देहस्य सर्वोपद्रवविवर्जितः ।

अनेन विधिना सत्यं योगीन्द्रो भूमिमण्डले ॥ २.५६ ॥

bhavet sattvaṃ ca dehasya sarvopadravavivarjitaḥ .

anena vidhinā satyaṃ yogīndro bhūmimaṇḍale .. 2.56 ..

This verse with reference to Bhūmi discusses the outcome of sītkārī prāṇāyāma.

It has been stated here that by sītkārī – the body attains strength; all troubles will be overcome in the earthly realm (bhūmimaṇḍala) for the practitioner.

Tabulation of Textual References 8.5

Observations

It could be observed that while Haṭhayogapradīpikā simply uses the term Bhūmi to indicate the physical earth, in the Yogasūtra it refers to states of mind and also firm ground. It is to be noted that in Yogasūtra commentaries various states of Yoga have been described such as madhumatī bhūmi, madhupratīkā etc. More details can be gained by consulting the saṃskṛta yogasūtra commentaries.

Further, two contrasting terms -  dṛḍhabhūmiḥ and alabdhabhūmikatvā could be noted. A person who has not made his commitment to practice long term, without break and with respect will be a alabdhabhūmika and on the other hand the one who does so, becomes a dṛḍhabhūmi. This contrast comes through only by exercise Śabdayoga when the occurrences of the term Bhūmi are juxtaposed.

Also, in the context of Bhagavadgītā it could be noted that though the apparent expression Bhūmi points to one among the five elements – contextual interpretation – derived from the commentary points to the causal, subtle state of the element earth. Hence consulting the commentary, which is an integral part of Śabdayoga, becomes valuable.

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 bhānuji dīkṣita, Edited with notes by M.M.Pandit Shivadatta Dadimatha, Chaukhamba Saṃskṛta Prathisthan, Delhi, Reprint 2002
8. śabdārthakaustubha, cakravartī śrīnivāsagopālācārya, Vol 4, Bappco Publication, Bengaluru, Reprint 2009
9. Yoga-vaiśāradī - https://kymyogavaisharadi.org/