Prasaṅkhyāna and Related Forms of Meditation
September 17, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197861493.003.0004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that prasaṅkhyāna, a Yoga-derived meditative practice adopted in pre-Śaṅkara Vedānta, addressed the perceived insufficiency of scriptural knowledge for liberation by functioning as a cathartic purification of the subject that transforms mediate knowledge of Brahman into immediate, liberating intuition. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter examines the doctrine of prasaṅkhyāna—a form of meditation appropriated from Yoga and integrated into pre-Śaṅkara Vedānta—as a response to a perceived insufficiency of scriptural knowledge for liberation. It begins with Bhartṛprapañca’s soteriology, which combines ritual and meditation through assuming dual entitlement of the individual Self for ritual and for knowing Brahman. The chapter then traces the origins of prasaṅkhyāna in the Pātañjala-yoga-śāstra, where it denotes a meditative practice culminating in perceptual awareness (viveka-khyāti) and the eradication of psychological torments (kleśa). Vedāntic adaptations of this doctrine, as reconstructed from Śaṅkara, Sureśvara, and Maṇḍana Miśra, emphasize the transition from mediate, propositional knowledge of Brahman to immediate experience through sustained meditation, often framed as an injunction in the Upaniṣads. Ultimately, the chapter argues that prasaṅkhyāna functioned as a cathartic process of purification of the subject, enabling the transformation of scriptural knowledge into liberating intuition.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |