Part II Samkhya and Yoga (Historical Perspective of Indian Religious Thoughts)

[Guest guest]

Part II Samkhya and Yoga (Historical Perspective of Indian Religious

Thoughts)

 

The SAmkhya school was founded by Kapila, who lived probably in the

seventh century B.C. The system can be regarded as dualistic, since it

recognizes two basic categories in the universe - the purusha and the

prakriti. (Chapter 13 of Bhagavad Gita discusses Samkhya philosophy in

greater details). The Purusha consists of selves or spirits, eternal

entities of consciousness. The prakriti represents the potentiality of

nature, the basis of all objective existence. It does not consist of

matter alone and includes all resources of nature, material and

psychical. The Prakriti is thus the fundamental substance out of which,

the SAmkhya claims, the world evolves. This evolution of the prakriti is

possible only under the influence of the purusha, and the history of the

world is the history of this evolution.

 

SAmkhya believes very strongly in the principle of causation and in fact

uses this to show the necessity of assuming the eternal existence of

prakriti, for something cannot come out of nothing. But, claims the

SAmkhya school, while the cause and the effect are different things

distinct from each other, the effect is always present in the cause. The

former is just a different arrangement of the latter, both consisting of

the same substance. A jar is not a lump of clay from which it is made,

but they consist of the same substance. There is an underlying

assumption of the indestructibility of substance.

 

Another important SAmkhya contribution to Hindu thought is the doctrine

of triguna, the three qualities of nature. The three three qualities are

sattva (light, purity, harmonious existence), rajas (energy, passion),

and tamas (inertia, darkness). These three conflicting aspects of

prakriti play different parts in its evolution. Sattva is primarily

responsible for the manifestation of prakriti and the maintenance of its

evolution. Rajas causes all activity and tamas is responsible for

inertia and restraint. While these qualities conflict with each other,

they all have their part in the evolution. Evolution proceeds through

various stages. There is first the development of buddhi (intellect),

described as the mahat (great). Then evolves the self-sense, the feeling

of ego. Gradually develop the five cognitive organs, the five motor

organs, and the disciplined mind. (Bhagavad Gita discusses in greater

detail the three qualities of nature (Gunas) in chapter 14).

 

For emanicipation from the bondage of one's body, what is needed is the

knowledge of the distinction between the purusa and the prakriti, the

self and non-self. The self tends to confuse itself with buddhi, the

intellect. When the knowledge of the distinction is achieved, the soul

is no longer bound by the prakriti. The person becomes a disinterested

spectator of the happenings in the world. At death the bond between the

purusha and the prakriti is completely dissolved and the emancipated

soul, unlike other souls, is free from rebirth. Bondage according to

this philosophy, is due to ignorance, and emanicipation comes through

knowledge.

 

The SAmkhya has been described as an atheistic philosophy, though this

is not entirely correct. The Samkhya pravacana Sutra (attributed to

Kapila) finds it unnecessary to make the assumption of the existence of

God, though it does not deny it either. It maintains that the existence

of God cannot be proved by evidence. The later SAmkhya philosophers seem

to abandon this agnostic position and the existence of God is later

accepted. VijnAnabhikshu even tries to reconcile the Samkhya views with

those of the Vedanta.

 

The philosophical basis of the Yoga is the same as that of the SAmkhya,

except that a personal God is introduced into the system. God controls

the process of evolution and is, as one might expect, Omniscient and

Omnipotent. Periodically He dissolves the cosmos and then initiates the

process of evolution again. The Yoga of Sage Patanjali set forth the

process of pshychological discipline by which one could attain this

release from the misery of mundane experience and transmigration and all

emphasized knowledge of one kind or another. In practice, the Yoga

system of discipline consists of exercises of the mind and the body,

including the very difficult exercise of not exercising them at all. In

addition to making us healthier in mind and body in this world, these

exercises are supposed to facilitate emancipation.

 

Unlike the SAmkhya system, the Yoga school does not believe that freedom

comes only from knowledge; the discipline of the mind and the body is

supposed to contribute to the process. Various methods of concentration

are recommended, as well as methods of suppressing those mental

activities that increase our bondage by making us more dependent on

prakriti. The Yoga system of exercises is still commonly practised in

India. Apart from those seeking emancipation, there are those who find

it a useful way of keeping their mind and body healthy. Some have been

attracted by its promise of prompt development of supernatural powers, a

promise that, surprisingly, seems to have just as much appeal in this

age as in any previous period in history.

[laxmi.l]

I am deeply interested in the Samkhya Philosophy. You seem to have a good study on the subject.

 

Do you agree that it is not a cosmological system at all, and hence it has far larger share of critics?

 

Do you have more posts on the topic of Samkhya?