Prayatna

Prayatna means – effort or activity; it expresses a sense of human determination and initiative but is required to be supplemented by confidence in one’s own abilities and steadfastness of purpose which two factors combine to make it a driving force. ''Prayatna'' does not merely mean 'effort' but 'effort at a point of articulation'.

Meaning

Prayatna (Sanskrit: प्रयत्नः) means – 'effort', 'exertion', 'endeavour', 'perseverance', 'activity' or 'action in general'. Pāṇini explains that ''prayatna'' does not merely mean effort but effort at a point of articulation; it expresses a sense of human determination and initiative and needs to be supplemented by confidence in one’s own abilities and steadfastness of purpose which makes ''prayatna'' a driving force.

Implication

''Prayatna'' implies energy (''vīrya'') and enthusiasm ('' utsaha'') directed towards strenuous efforts (''anusthāna'') for attaining the state of equipoise ('' sthiti'') in undisturbed calm (''praśānta-vāhitā'') under the influence of sattva-guna. It is a part of energetic and enthusiastic pursuit abhyāsa, and an act (''kriti'') prompted by the desire or will (''icchā'') that involves physical exertion (''cheśțā'') Actions are of two kinds – i) vital actions prompted by life (''jīvana-pūrvaka''), and ii) voluntary actions initiated by desire and aversion (''icchā-dveśa-pūrvaka''). Vital actions are non-voluntary produced by the conjunction of the self with the internal organ which depends on the self, and all voluntary actions are produced by desire and aversion that produce merits and demerits. Empirical pleasure arises from the fulfilment of these actions but transcendental bliss arises from their extermination. ''Prayatna'' ('volition') finds its fullest expression within intentional action.

According to the Vaisesika school of Mimamsa thought, ''karma'' is movement or action in which there is no effect to differentiate an intentional action from an unintentional one; ''karma'' excludes all kinds of mental acts, and ''prayatna'' in itself is not a ''karma'' but a quality of the self that shares a common violational trait with ''sankalpa'' ('chosen resolution'). ''Prayatna'' ('effort') is one of the five ''avasthās'' ('stages of action') viz., the second stage, the other four being ''ārambha'' ('the beginning'), ''prāptayāśā'' ('prospect of success'), ''niyatāpti'' ('certainty of success') and ''phalagāma'' or ''phalayoga'' ('attainment of result'). ''Karya'' ('action') consists of one of the three objects of human existence. ''Prayatna'' ('effort') is exertion attended with great haste, when result has not been obtained. Uneven progress indicates uneven stages.

''Pāṇīniya-śikśā'' states that in Indian phonetics, sounds are distinguished from each other on the basis of ''swaras'' ('accents'), ''kāla'' ('time or duration'), ''sthāna'' ('point of articulation'), ''prayatna'' ('manner') and 'anupradāna' ('type of phonation'), where ''prayatna'', here meaning 'manner', refers to how the physical organ called ''kāraṇa'' ('articulator') relates to the point of articulation, ''sparśa'' ('contact'), 'upasamhara' ('approximation'), ''vivarta'' ('open') etc. Sukta I.i.9 reads –
:तुल्यास्यप्रयत्नं सवर्णम् ,
meaning – "those whose place of utterance and effort are equal are called ''savarṇa'' or homogenous letters" i.e. when the ''sthāna'' ('place of utterance') and ''prayatna'' ('effort') are the same; the inner effort is called ''abhyantara'' (which are of four kinds), and external called ''bhaya''.

According to the Nyaya School there are three groups of ''prayatna'' – ''pravrtti'', ''nivrtti'' and ''jivanaprayatna'', the former two are ''citta vrttis'', the third being efforts made by individuals to maintain life; in Yoga philosophy, ''prayatna'' means - the effort of breathing which in the practice of ''āsanas'' must be smooth and regular, and ''prayatna śaithilya'' means the exact and even weighing of effort and effortlessness; ''śaithilya'' means laxity, and this state is experienced when the pinnacle of intelligence holds the body on its own, unaided and effortlessly.

Significance

''Kriya'' ('action') is the nature of ''prayatna'' or personal effort, and there can be no effort without a body; ''prayatna'' is a quality which emerges in the embodied self and is associated with '' manas'' ('mind'). Caraka Sutras list the ''guṇa'' does not figure but is separately enumerated. ''Prayatna'' is conscious activity, which in-coordination with desire, antipathy, pleasure, pain and knowledge indicates the existence of the self.

References

{{Indian Philosophy, state=collapsed

Vedanta
Sanskrit grammar
Vedas
Yoga concepts
Sanskrit words and phrases