Niyama are positive duties or observances. In Indian traditions, particularly Yoga, niyamas and its complement, Yamas, are recommended activities and habits for healthy living, spiritual enlightenment and liberated state of existence. It has multiple meanings depending on context in Hinduism. In Buddhism, the term extends to the determinations of nature, as in the Buddhistniyama dhammas.
Hinduism
Virtues are extensively discussed in various ancient and medieval era texts of Hinduism. In its Yoga school, they are described in first two of eight limbs. The first limb is called yamas, which include virtuous self-restraints. The second limb is called niyamas which include virtuous habits, behaviors and observances. These virtues and ethical premises are considered in Hinduism as necessary for an individual to achieve a self-realized, enlightened, liberated state of existence.
Five Niyamas
In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the Niyamas are the second limb of the eight limbs of Yoga. Sadhana Pada Verse 32 lists the niyamas as:
Śauca : purity, clearness of mind, speech and body
Santoṣa : contentment, acceptance of others and of one's circumstances as they are, optimism for self
In the diverse traditions and historical debate within Hinduism, some texts suggest a different and expanded list of niyamas. For example, the Shandilya and Varaha Upanishads, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, verses 552 to 557 in Book 3 of the Tirumandhiram of Tirumular suggest ten niyamas, in the sense of positive duties, desirable behaviors and discipline. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists the ten niyamas in the following order, in verse 1.18,
Tapas : persistence, perseverance in one's purpose, austerity
Santoṣa : contentment, acceptance of others and of one's circumstances as they are, optimism for self
: faith in Real Self, belief in God, conviction in Vedas/Upanishads
# Huta : rituals, ceremonies such as yajna sacrifice.
# Vrata : Fulfilling religious vows, rules and observances faithfully.
Some texts replace the last niyama of Huta with Vrata. The niyama of Vrata means making and keeping one's vows, which may be pious observances. For example, a promise to fast and visit a pilgrimage site is a form of Vrata. The education process in ancient India, where Vedas and Upanishads were memorized and transmitted across generations without ever being written down, required a series of Vrata niyamas over a number of years.
Other numbers of Niyamas
At least sixty five ancient and medieval era Indian texts are known so far that discuss Niyamas and Yamas. Most are in Sanskrit, but some are in regional Indian languages of Hindus. The number of Niyamas mentioned in these texts range from just one to eleven, however 5 and 10 are the most common. The order of listed niyamas, the names and nature of each niyama, as well as the relative emphasis vary between the texts. For example, Sriprashna Samhita discusses only one Niyama in verse 3.22, and that Niyama being Ahimsa. Shivayoga Dipika, Sharada Tilaka, Vasishtha Samhita, Yoga Kalpalatika, Yajnavalkya Smriti and many others, each discuss ten Niyamas. Bhagavata Purana discusses eleven Niyamas, with kind hospitality of guests, to one's best ability, as an additional virtuous behavior. Other texts substitute one or more different concepts in their list of Niyamas. For example, in the five Niyamas listed by Markandeya Purana in verse 36.17, Matanga Parameshvaram in verse 17.31 and Pashupata Sutra in verse 1.9, each suggest Akrodha as a Niyama. Many of the texts match Patanjali's five Niyamas. Ahimsa is the most widely discussed ethical theory, and highlighted as the highest virtue by majority of these texts.
Overlap between Yamas and Niyamas
Some yamas are understood as reverse of niyamas in Hatha Yoga Pradipika. For example, Ahimsa and Mitahara are called as yama as well as niyama in verse 1.17 and 1.40. The text calls Ahimsa as the highest virtuous habit, Mitahara as the best personal restraint, and Siddhasana as the foremost of Asanas in verse 1.40.
Buddhism
In Buddhist commentary we find the pañcavidha niyama, fivefold niyama which occurs in the following texts:
In the Aṭṭhasālinī, the commentary attributed to Buddhaghosa on the Dhammasangaṅi, the first book of the Theravāda Abhidhamma Piṭaka;
In the Sumaṅgala-Vilāsinī, Buddhaghosa’s commentary on the Dīgha Nikāya;
In the Abhidhammāvatāra, a verse summary of Abhidhamma by Buddhaghosa’s contemporary, Buddhadatta.
Abhidhammamātika Internal Commentary. The Abhidhamma-mātika is a matrix of abstracts for the Abhidhamma, with lists of pairs and triplets of terms from which the whole of the text can theoretically be reconstructed. The passage on the niyamas is from an internal commentary on the mātika associated with the Dhammasaṅgaṇī ; and was composed in South India by Coḷaraṭṭha Kassapa.
Abhidhammāvatāra-purāṇatīkā. Composed in Sri Lanka by Vācissara Mahāsāmi c. 13th century or Sāriputta c. 12th century. This text is a commentary on the text of the Abhidhammāvatāra Nāmarūpa-parichedo so is technically a sub-sub-commentary. This commentary is an incomplete word by word commentary.
utu-niyāma “the constraint of the seasons”, i.e. in certain regions of the earth at certain periods the flowering and fruiting of trees all at one time, the blowing or ceasing of wind, the degree of the heat of the sun, the amount of rain-fall, some flowers like the lotuses opening during the day and closing at night and so on;
bīja-niyāma “the constraint of seeds or germs”, i.e. a seed producing its own kind as barley seed produces barley;
kammaniyāma “the constraint of kamma”, i.e. good actions produce good results and bad actions produce bad results. This constraint is said to be epitomised by verse 127 which explains that the consequences of actions are inescapable;
citta-niyāma “the constraint of mind”, i.e. the order of the process of mind-activities as the preceding thought-moment causing and conditioning the succeeding one in a cause and effect relation;
dhamma-niyāma “the constraint of dhammas”, i.e. such events like the quaking of the ten thousand world-systems at the Bodhisatta’s conception in his mother’s womb and at his birth. At the end of the discussion Sumaṅgalavilāsinī passage the Commentary says that dhammaniyāma explains the term dhammatā in the text of the Mahāpadāna Sutta
In these texts the fivefold niyama was introduced into commentarial discussions not to illustrate that the universe was intrinsically ethical but as a list that demonstrated the universal scope of paṭicca-samuppāda. The original purpose of expounding fivefold niyama was, according to Ledi Sayadaw, neither to promote or to demote the law of karma, but to show the scope of natural law as an alternative to the claims of theism. C.A.F. Rhys Davids was the first western scholar to draw attention to the list of pañcavidha niyama, in her little book of 1912 entitled simply Buddhism. Her reason for mentioning it was to emphasise how for Buddhism we exist in a "moral universe" in which actions lead to just consequences according to a natural moral order, a situation she calls a "cosmodicy" in contrast with the Christian theodicy.: In Rhys Davids' scheme the niyamas become:
kamma niyama: consequences of one's actions
utu niyama: seasonal changes and climate, law of non-living matter
bīja niyama: laws of heredity
citta niyama: will of mind
dhamma niyama: nature's tendency to perfect
This is similar to the scheme proposed by Ledi Sayadaw. Western Buddhist Sangharakshita has taken up Mrs Rhys Davids conception of the niyamas and made it an important aspect of his own teachings on Buddhism.
Spelling
In Pāli the word is spelled both niyama and niyāma, and the Pali Text Society Dictionary says that the two forms have become confused. It is likely that niyāma is from a causative form of the verb ni√i.
