''Nirbīja'' (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

; or

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

: ''nibbija'' or ''nibija''). Translated as without seed.

Transliterations

Synonymic Sanskrit transliterations in contemporary use are ''nirbija'', ''nirvija'' or ''nirviija''.

Etymology

The Sanskrit prefix ''nir-'' (from ''nih'' निः +

sandhi Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...

-r-) means "without".

Antonym

Sabīja, (Pali: ''sabbija'', ''sabija'') ''savija'' or ''saviija'' means "with seed".

Mantra

The term "

Bīja In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term Bīja () ( Jp. 種子 shuji) (Chinese 种子 zhǒng zǐ), literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu. Buddhist theory of karmic seeds Various schools ...

" carries the specific meaning of a syllable that is used as a

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

or otherwise as the object of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

. Bīja can also mean any object of meditation.

Contemplation

The term Nirbīja Samādhi refers to a specific type of

Samādhi (Buddhism) ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

Samādhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditation, meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ash ...

. In Patañjali's

Yoga Sutras The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The '' ...

it is said, "But these three inner limbs, saṃyama, are only external means compared to the samādhi 'without seed' " ook 3, 7th and 8th Sutra Nirvikalpa Samādhi is related but not similar.

Meditation without seed

Dhyana (Hinduism) or dhyāna, meditation, as a "seedless meditation". The

samādhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditation, meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ash ...

without seed is a concept used to indicate a spontaneously arrived at state of meditation or dhyāna, considered by Patañjali to be the ultimate goal of (rāja) yoga. In

Patañjali Patanjali ( sa, पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hinduism, Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Very little is known about him, and while no one knows exactly when he lived; from analysis of his ...

's Yoga Sutras it is used to differentiate a spontaneously arrived at state of meditation or dhyāna. Meditation without seed is considered a likely, though unforeseeable, outcome of regularly and properly conducted meditation with object or seed (bīja). Pantanjali seems to indicate that mastery of this state is the supreme end of Yoga. The mundane and observable effect may be the body's reaction to freedom from habitual mentation, amongst other health benefits. The effect may be the body's reaction to freedom from habitual mentation. Yogic thinkers consider both attachment to, and avoidance of this state a very real danger to further advancement; although at the same time, it is the first and absolutely necessary step toward

nirvāṇa ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. This condition may be arrived at as well without any kind of yogic training. As such it can be viewed as deriving from a temporary release from habitual thought patterns. The term "Bīja" carries the meaning of a seed which can be any object of meditation.

Links to yoga texts online

Yoga Sutras
Yoga Sutras in English

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yogasutr.htm sacred-texts.com
hrih.hypermart.netupenn.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nirbija Yoga concepts