ISWARA PRANIDHANA

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Great question! Let’s unpack the Sanskrit concept Īśvara Praṇidhāna and then compare how it is treated in Yoga, Sāṅkhya, Dvaita Vedānta, and Advaita Vedānta traditions.

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1. Meaning of Īśvara Praṇidhāna

• Sanskrit: ईश्वरप्रणिधान (īśvara-praṇidhāna)

• Literal meaning: Surrender, devotion, or dedication (praṇidhāna) to the Lord or Higher Reality (Īśvara).

• In Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras, it is both a part of Niyama (personal discipline) and a means of attaining samādhi (YS 2.45: samādhi-siddhir īśvara-praṇidhānāt).

• Philosophically, it bridges effort (sādhana) and grace (prasāda).

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2. Īśvara Praṇidhāna in Different Philosophical Systems

(a) Yoga (Pātañjala Yoga)

• Īśvara is defined as a special puruṣa (puruṣa-viśeṣa), untouched by karma, afflictions, or saṃskāras (YS 1.24).

• Not the creator-God but an eternal, pure consciousness, a guide and teacher.

• Īśvara praṇidhāna = surrendering ego and dedicating practice to this transcendent principle → accelerates meditation and liberation.

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(b) Sāṅkhya

• Classical Sāṅkhya is atheistic / non-theistic: it accepts puruṣa (consciousness) and prakṛti (matter) as eternal realities but no God.

• Therefore, Īśvara praṇidhāna has no place in strict Sāṅkhya.

• However, later commentators sometimes blended Yoga’s Īśvara with Sāṅkhya metaphysics, treating God as a symbolic or optional principle.

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(c) Dvaita Vedānta (Dualism, Madhva)

• Strongly theistic: Īśvara = Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa, the supreme God, completely distinct from jīvas (souls) and prakṛti (matter).

• Īśvara praṇidhāna = bhakti (devotion) and total surrender to God’s will.

• Liberation comes not by self-realization alone but by God’s grace.

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(d) Advaita Vedānta (Non-dualism, Śaṅkara)

• Īśvara = Brahman with māyā (saguṇa Brahman) — the personal God, accessible to devotion.

• Ultimate reality is nirguṇa Brahman (formless, non-dual consciousness).

• Īśvara praṇidhāna = a provisional practice: devotion to personal God purifies the mind, leading to jñāna (knowledge) of one’s identity with Brahman.

• At the highest level, Īśvara and jīva are realized as non-different.

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3. Comparative Snapshot

Tradition	Nature of Īśvara	Role of Īśvara Praṇidhāna
Yoga	Special puruṣa, eternal, teacher but not creator	Accelerates samādhi by surrender and focus
Sāṅkhya	No God concept (atheistic dualism)	Not applicable (later interpolations exist)
Dvaita Vedānta	Personal God (Viṣṇu), eternally distinct from jīva	Central practice: surrender + devotion → grace grants mokṣa
Advaita Vedānta	Īśvara = Brahman with māyā; ultimately transcended in nirguṇa Brahman	Devotion is preparatory; leads to realization of non-dual Self

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✅ In essence:

• Yoga → surrender to Īśvara as a meditative aid.

• Sāṅkhya → no Īśvara, liberation through discriminative knowledge.

• Dvaita → surrender to a personal God, liberation by grace.

• Advaita → surrender as a stepping stone; final liberation by realizing Ātman = Brahman.

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Would you like me to draw a comparative diagram (a 4-quadrant chart: Yoga–Sāṅkhya–Dvaita–Advaita) showing how Īśvara Praṇidhāna is conceptualized across these schools?

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