সভাপতি স্বামীর জীবনসাধনার স্বরূপ ও বাংলার যোগ সাধনার সাদৃশ্য বিচার | The Essential Image in Sabhapaty Swami's Lifework and an Inquiry into its Resemblance to Bengali Yogic Practice

Abstract

The literature of the Tamil yogi Sabhapaty Swami (b. 1840 CE in Madras / Chennai, India) has had a far-reaching impact on South Asian, North American, and European esoteric and occult conceptions of the body, but its content is only now beginning to be properly contextualized by scholars. Sabhapaty's writings survive in English, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Hindi, and are notable for their rich visual depictions of an embodied "essential nature" or svar pa. Sabhapaty was not alone in this endeavor, however the Gau ya Vai ava reformers as well as Baul poets like Lalan Fakir similarly mapped the human body by blending Sufi elements with their counterparts in Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions. Like Sabhapaty, these Bengali spiritual adepts also called this "essential nature" the svar pa and attached a stunningly complex array of correspondences to each region of the body. This article aims to point out some of these similarities and inspire discussion as to how these historical practices of embodiment were able to transcend the limitations of language, religion, and nationality.