Part 3c - Āstika Darśana (3): Sāṅkhya Darśana

Swāmī Virupākṣānanda^[1] has translated and written commentary on Sāṅkhyakārikā of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa, Maharṣi Kapila is generally known as founder of Sāṅkhya philosophy.

Only three standard works on Sāṅkhya philosophy are available today, viz.

1. Sāṅkhyasūtra,
2. Tattvasamāsa and
3. Sāṅkhyakārikā.

The Sāṅkhya philosophy lays down four-fold divisions of categories based on their respective causal and productive efficiency.

They are—

1. Productive
2. Productive and Produced
3. Produced
4. Neither Productive nor produced.

This classification includes 24 principles also. The root product is called prakṛti being purely productive. The second varieties are the other principles like buddhi etc. This partakes of the nature of both, the productive and the produced, in as much as buddhi evolves ahamkāra and the rest. The purely non-productive but the produced principles are the eleven sense organs and five material substances. The puruṣa is neither the Productive nor the Produced and is attributeless. All the accessories that we see are the effects of the guṇas, and the spirit by its very nature is totally free.

Evolution of prakṛti as per Sāṅkhyas:

According to Sāṅkhya Philosophy, the phenomenal world is the result of contact between puruṣa and prakṛti -the subjective and objective side of nature. Puruṣa is draṣṭā (seer) of dṛṣya–the phenomenal world. Both puruṣa and prakṛti are the ultimate and eternal principles. Puruṣa, the principle of consciousness attains a separate identity only when it activates prakṛti forming different centers of consciousness in it. Puruṣa, as individual ‘self’ then lies in the conglomeration of cosmic forces. Puruṣa remains as individual-self as long as the phenomenon lasts. The unconscious purpose of the evolution of prakṛti is to afford enjoyment to puruṣa in this world and eventually to release it from bondage.The Sāṅkhya theory of causation^[2] is called as satkāryavāda (doctrine of existent effect) and pariṇāmavāda (doctrine of transformation). Production is only the manifestation of what already exists in the cause in latent form. There is only a difference in form between the cause and effect, but no difference in their content. Applying this principle to prakṛti, it can be said that the universe is but a transformation of primal matter. Sṛṣṭi is the evolution of the world from prakṛti and pralaya is its dissolution therein. These two alternates, but nothing is ever newly produced or utterly destroyed.

Sāṅkhya philosophy presupposes multiplicity of puruṣas, since neither all are born at the same time nor do they die together. As such there are many empirical souls. In fact, there is no birth and death of puruṣa and no bondage or release too. All empirical usage is with regard to reflection of the puruṣa in the physical evolutes of prakṛti i.e. mahat, buddhi, ahamkāra and manas. This is bondage born out of avidyā (ignorance) and aviveka (non-discrimination) between spirit and non-spirit. The way to freedom from bondage is true knowledge. When the puruṣa realizes that it has nothing to do with prakṛti, it is liberated. The liberation of puruṣa from prakṛti is kaivalya as per Sāṅkhya philosophy.

Concept of Kaivalya according to Sāṅkhya Darśana–

Sāṅkhya School is regarded as one of the oldest philosophical systems in India. The very first sūtra of Sāṅkhya Darśana ^[3] describes the concept of mokṣa as the state of being permanently free from three types of pains is called as final attainment, i.e. kaivalya.

Three types of pains are-

1. Ādhibhautika duḥkha -Pains resulting from animals like snake or scorpion bites etc.
2. Ādhidaivika duḥkha -Pains caused by natural happenings like storm, rain, lightening, floods etc.
3. Ādhyātmika duḥkha -Physical pains like fever, headache as well as mental pains like frustration, anger etc.

There are some temporary remedies for these pains, like medicines for fever etc., however these remedies offer only temporary symptomatic relief but not permanent relief. A person wishes to be free from all the pains all the time. According to Sāṅkhya philosophy, the relief from these three types of pains is possible only in the state of kaivalya.

According to Sāṅkhya philosophy, kaivalya can be attained through the discriminate knowledge of two realities of puruṣa and prakṛti. Puruṣa is transcendental self or pure consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, imperceptible, and unknowable through other agencies, above any experience by mind or senses and beyond any words or explanations. It remains pure, ‘non-attributive consciousness’. Puruṣa is neither produced nor does it produce. In Sāṅkhya philosophy, puruṣa is not one. The multiplicity of puruṣa is established from the individual allotment of birth, death and instruments, from non-simultaneity of activities and from the diverse modifications due to the three guṇas.

Prakṛti is the first cause of manifest material universe -of everything except the puruṣa. It accounts for whatever is physical, both mind and matter-cum-energy or force. Since it is the first principle (tattva) of the universe, it is called pradhāna, but, as it is the unconscious and unintelligent principle, it is also called the jaḍa. It is composed of three essential characteristics (triguṇas).

These are -

1. Sattva -poise, fineness, lightness, illumination, balance, harmony and joy.
2. Rajas -dynamism, activity, excitation and pain
3. Tamas -inertia, coarseness, heaviness, obstruction and sloth.

All physical events are manifestations of the evolution of prakṛti, or primal nature (from which all physical bodies are derived). This evolution from mahat down to specific entities is brought about (the modifications of prakṛti in the interest of another appearing as if in her own interest, for the release of each individual puruṣa). Actually, puruṣa is never bound, neither is he released nor, does he migrate. The example can be given to understand this concept-If there is a red flower behind a crystal, we feel that the crystal is of red color. Puruṣa can be compared with the crystal which is not red but perceived as being red. It is the prakṛti, being the support of manifold creation that migrates, is bound and is released.

Samsāra or bondage arises when the puruṣa does not have the discriminative knowledge and so is misled as to its own identity, confusing itself with the ego (ahamkāra) which is actually an attribute of prakṛti. The spirit is liberated when the discriminative knowledge of the difference between conscious puruṣa and unconscious prakṛti is realized by the puruṣa. This discriminative knowledge is produced from the practice of truth in the form- ‘I am not’, ‘nothing is mine’, and ‘not I’. This knowledge is final, pure on account of the absence or error and absolute. The puruṣa thinks: “She has been seen by me” and therefore, loses all interest. The prakṛti thinks ‘I have been seen’ and ceases to act further. Therefore, even if there is still connection there is no motive for further evolution.

Through the attainment of perfect knowledge, the spirit continues to live for a while invested with the body, just like a potter’s wheel continuing to revolve (even when the potter ceases in his efforts at revolving the wheel) due to the momentum of the past impulse and after the separation from the body, puruṣa attains both absolute and final freedom.

Sāṅkhya darśana accepts that discriminative knowledge of prakṛti and puruṣa leads to Kaivalya. But until external objects attract the mind of a person, he would never start the journey on the path of liberation. When a person leaves up the desire of achieving any object looking defects in them, he feels aversion about them. Antipathy is created after looking at the defects of the objects. If a person concentrates on the following five things he would recognize defects in the gain of objects -we feel lot of pain to achieve, pain to protect that, pain due to fear of destruction, pain due to increase in desire while enjoying them, sometimes we do violence for objects. These five are called as bāhyatuṣṭi which result into antipathy from external objects.

Sāṅkhya philosophy describes eight types of siddhis (attainments),^[4] which help destroy the three types of pain.

• 1. Reasoning
• 2. Oral obstruction
• 3. Study
• 4-6. Three-fold suppression of pain
• 7. Acquisition of well wishers and
• 8. Purity or charity.

The pains to be suppressed are the three-fold; hence the three siddhis which suppress them are the principle ones. The other five varieties of siddhis are secondary, as they serve as the means to achieve this suppression of pain.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Īśvara Kṛṣṇa (Swāmī Virupākṣānanda (Tr.)), Sāṅkhyakārikā of Īśvara Kṛṣṇa, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, 2003, p. vi-vii

[2]:

T.M.P. Mahadevan, op. cit., p.120

[3]:

Īśvara Kṛṣṇa, op.cit.,Sholka 1,p1

[4]:

Īśvara Kṛṣṇa, op.cit, verse 51, p.104 — [...] ||