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During the early phases of the classical Indian law literature (dharmaśāstra) all elements in the life of the brāhmin householder had been gradually ritualized. Now, the institution of penance (prāyaścitta) – rituals that had the power to negotiate the invisible karmic effects of wrong acts or undone duties – became increasingly important. This was a break with the normative doctrines of karma formulated in the early Upanishads. According to these doctrines karma and rebirth were the negative elements of a life in the world that the groups behind the Upanishads themselves rejected. But as this ascetic ideal was gradually modified and included in a more worldly householder ideology, attitudes to karma and rebirth changed. The stress was laid on a good birth rather than on liberation, and techniques to control the bad karma, which was now seen as an unavoidable part of life, were therefore developed. Behind these developments was a struggle for religious dominance, in particularly in relation to economic support. At the same time penance, which made hidden transgressions visible, was a strong means of social control. The article highlights penance as rituals that negotiate power at these different levels. In doing so, penance is compared to other karma-negotiating rites described in the law books, such as votive rites (vrata) and propitiatory rites (śānti).

This chapter reviews the developments in yoga psychology. While the Yoga Sūtras are pre-eminently psychological in nature, the treatment of psychological phenomena has been attempted from the perspective of self-realization. The functional mind (citta) comprises not only cognitive, affective and conative processes (Karmas), but also contains instinctual tendencies (vāsanās) that are inherited from previous lives as subliminal-impressions (samskāras). These vāsanās and samskāras tend to colour our cognitions and predispose us to behave in certain ways. The chapter critically analyses these key concepts and situates them in contemporary psychological context. A brief description of the Jaina and Buddhist yoga systems and other varieties of yoga that are prevalent today is also provided. Finally, a review of the empirical studies is presented that showcases the mundane and incorporeal aspects of yoga psychology and outlines several issues for further investigation.