Talk:Viksepa
By Swami Harshananda
viksepa (‘throwing,’ ‘distracting’)
This is a technical word used in several senses.
In the Nyāya philosophy, it is interpreted as ‘evasion’. When a person, who is involved in a disputation, finds himself on the losing side and tries to escape by saying that he has to go on some urgent business, it is called ‘vikṣepa’ (vide Nyāyasūtras 5.2.19).
In the Yogasūtras (1.30), the word is used to indicate those nine factors such as vyādhi (illness), pramāda (heedlessness) and avirati (absence of renunciation), which act as antarāyas or obstacles to the practice of yoga.
In the Advaita Vedānta, it is one of the two śaktis (powers) of avidyā (nescience). For instance, avidyā covers the real nature of the rope as rope by its āvaraṇaśakti (covering power) and makes it appear as a snake by its vikṣepaśakti (power of projection).
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore
OLD CONTENT[edit]
vikṣepa (‘throwing,’ ‘distracting’) This is a technical word used in several senses. In the Nyāya philosophy, it is inter¬preted as ‘evasion’. When a person, who is involved in a disputation, finds himself on the losing side and tries to escape by saying that he has to go on some urgent business, it is called ‘vikṣepa’ (vide Nyāyasutras 5.2.19). In the Yogasutras (1.30), the word is used to indicate those nine factors such as vyādhi (illness), pramāda (heedlessness) and avirati (absence of renunciation), which act as antarāyas or obstacles to the practice of yoga. In the Advaita Vedānta, it is one of the two śaktis (powers) of avidyā (nescience). For instance, avidyā covers the real nature of the rope as rope by its āvaraṇaśakti (covering power) and makes it appear as a snake by its vikṣepaśakti (power of projection).