Introduction 199 7 Between Impetus, Fear and Disgust ‘Desire for Emancipation’ (Saṃvega) from Early Buddhism to Pātañjala Yoga and Śaiva Siddhānta ANDREA ACRI I n mainstream Indic philosophical and soteriological traditions, emotions are generally associated with lower instincts and irrational- ity. Emotions, like passions, are regarded as bondages for the soul (be it conceived as Spirit, Self or subtle body) of the individual, being the untoward responses of the subject’s deeply entrenched attachment for the sensory objects. Such emotions are, for instance, craving (tṛṣṇā), or the six core emotions of (sensual) desire (kāma), anger (krodha), cupid- ity (lobha), excitement (harṣa), pride (māna), and intoxication (mada) — collectively called ṣaḍvarga (‘the six [faulty] aggregates’) or ariṣaḍvarga/ ṣaḍripu (‘the six enemies’) — against which any spiritual practitioner (sādhaka) must fight a heroic battle in order to attain final emancipation. There are, however, emotions that, even though dominated by a strong psycho-physical element of passion, are considered positive and desirable events in the practitioner’s path to enlightenment. Examples of such positive emotions are compassion (karuṇā), benevolence (maitrī), devotion (bhakti), i.e., for one’s guru or iṣṭadevatā, and such like. Among such emotions or states of mind is saṃvega. Albeit inherently ambiva- lent, and perhaps even paradoxical — for it is by no means ‘mild’ and positive per se — saṃvega occurs in philosophic-religious texts to mark a watershed event in the career of the sādhaka seeking emancipation from the cycle of karma and the worldly bonds. As such, saṃvega has been translated in a variety of manners, viz., as ‘impetus, excitement’, ‘fear’,