A most priceless of knowledge: The 24 Principles of Creation & Samkhya Yoga

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>

> VI. The 24 principles of Creation : It has been said that Samkhya

> philosophy was the greatest achievement of ancient Indian

> scholarship. The Samkhyas were originally atheists in the sense

that

> they did not accept the concept of a Supreme creator. But they

> contributed to Hinduism the concept of Prakriti and evolution of

> life which was subsequently modified and absorbed into mainstream

> Hinduism, through such works as the Bhagavad gita, the epics, and

> the Puranas. Know from this article the twenty four principles of

> manifest creation.

>

> http://www.hinduwebsite.com/24principles.asp

>

>

 

The 24 Principles of Creation & Samkhya Yoga

 

Hinduism owes a great deal to the Samkhya school of thought.

According to Richard Garbe, Samkhy philosophy is " the most

significant system of philosophy that India has produced. " It

exerted profound influence on many scholars in ancient India, China

and, according to some, even Greece. We find ample references to

this school of thought in many ancient religious scriptures

including the Bhagavadgita and some Upanishads such as the

Svetasvatara Upanishad and the Maitrayani Upanishad. Though it

originally began with an atheistic note on the nature of creation

and existence of God, some of its notable concepts and ideas were

gradually absorbed into the main stream of Hinduism and Buddhism

with suitable modifications.

 

According to the Samkhya philosophy, the source all reality and

experiences is Prakriti or nature. In its pure original forma, it is

the unmanifest (avyaktam), primal resource, the sum total of the

universal energy. Prakriti is without a cause, but the cause and

source of all effects, " the ultimate basis of the empirical

universe " . Through a process of continuous evolution, it gradually

manifests its latent potentials and effects into various forms,

energies and elements in different planes of reality. Though it is

the cause of all causes, it does not have any control on the Purusha

or the individual soul without qualities and movement. The creative

process (Shristi) begins, when Purusha, joins Prakriti and becomes

established in it. Out of this process evolve 24 principles, which

are:

 

Mahat: the great principle (1)

 

Buddhi:the discriminating, reasoning and causative intelligence (2)

 

Ahamkara:the ego-principle (3)

 

Manas:the mind or the sixth sense (4)

 

Panchendiryas:the five sense organs (9)

 

Five karmendriyas: the five organs of action (14)

 

Five tanmantras: the five subtle elements (19)

 

Five Mahabhutas:the five gross elements (earth, water, air, fire and

ether)(24)

 

These are the evolutes. The Mahat (the Great One), is the first to

emerge in this process of evolution. The Mahat is Prakriti or the

primordial nature in its dynamic aspect. From the Mahat evolves

buddhi and Manas. Buddhi is the principle of intelligence or the

discriminating awareness and Manas is the mind stuff consisting of

pure consciousness. From Buddhi evolve ahmkara or the feeling of

individuality and separation and the five tanmantras of sound, touch

smell, form or color and taste.

 

The rest of the principles arise from from Manas, which are the five

senses, the five organs of actions and the five gross elements.

These are the 24 evolutes and together with the Purusha (individual

soul) who joins with Prakriti to initiate this process, the number

becomes 25.

 

As one European commentator pointed out, Samkhya is " the most

significant system of philosophy that India has produced. " Its

popularity in ancient India can be gauged from the fact the epic,

the Mahabharata, Manusmriti, the Puranas and the Bhagavad gita

describe its main features though with some variations and sometimes

without making a direct reference to this school.

 

The Samkhya school was founded by Kapila, who lived in very ancient

times, even before the composition of some of the principal

Upanishads such as the Svetavatara, Katha, Prashna and Maitrayani

Upanishads. A comprehensive treatment of the subject can be found in

an ancient scripture called the Samkhyakarika, ascribed historically

to Isvarakrishna, who probably lived in the third century A.D.

This scripture became more prominent with a commentary written on it

by Gaudapada, who is probably different from the Gaudapada of

Mandukyopanishad and who lived around 8th Century A.D.

 

The greatness of Samkyha lies in the fact that the evolution of life

on earth is depicted not as miracle work of God, but as a creative

process passing through different phases of change and

transformation.

 

Infact the original Samkhya did not accept the idea of an Absolute

Principle or God behind creation. The individual soul or Purusha is

the eternal principle which joins with Prakriti, another eternal

principle to establish its presence in the material world. The

individual soul is immortal. It exists prior to the emergence of

other principles and will continue to exist even after the rest

disappear.

 

The Bhagavad gita picks up the basic aspects of Samkhya, but adds

the principle of Supreme Self or Universal Purusha as the cause of

all creation.

 

According to the Bhagavad gita, the Purusha enters the Prakriti and

manifests the entire creation. At the human level, the purusha is

compared symbolically with a man and the Prakriti with a woman. At

the microcosmic level a union between the two indeed leads to the

creation of a new being, which can be compared to the Hiranyagarbha

(the golden embryo) at the microcosmic level.

 

The concept of Prakriti as the source of material evolution,

probably led to the popularity of the worship of Mother Goddess and

led subsequently to the emergence of Tantricism during the post

Gupta perod.

 

The 24 Principles of Creation & Samkhya Yoga

http://www.hinduwebsite.com/24principles.asp