Evgeniya Desnitskaya

Gerhard Oberhammer’s Works on Sāṃkhya and Yoga in Light of Recent Research

Vestnik NSU Series History and Philology December 1, 2022 Evgeniya Desnitskaya

Gerhard Oberhammer reconstructed the phenomenology of spiritual paths in sāṃkhya, Patañjali's yoga, and Pāśupata śaivism, developing a general typology of yogic practices. In the Yoga-sūtras he identified four distinct practices of different origin, implying the work was initially a compilation, and revealed an affinity between one practice and the later theistic Mṛgendratantra. Using the Yuktidīpikā, he described the phenomenology of the spiritual path of sāṃkhya, a tradition often considered purely theoretical. His works were largely forgotten due to positivist bias in modern indology. Comparison with Eliade and Torchinov is suggested as promising.