Philosophy of Charaka-samhita
by Asokan. G | 2008 | 88,742 words
Ayurveda, represented by Charaka and Sushruta, stands first among the sciences of Indian intellectual tradition. The Charaka-samhita, ascribed to the great celebrity Charaka, has got three strata. (1) The first stratum is the original work composed by Agnivesha, the foremost of the six disciples of Punarvasu Atreya. He accomplished the work by coll...
Theory of karma
Caraka did not simply take over a pre-existing Vedic doctrine of ritualistic karma. He interprets karma in a different sense which is more or less similar to the one in the philosophical systems. His total ethical conceptions hinges on the doctrine of karma. For Caraka, karma is essentially the action of the body, the mind, and the speech prompted by volition or intention (prayatna).[1] So, according to Caraka, every act is intentional.[2] It is the intention that decides whether the action is good or bad. The root of every action lies in the mind. Actions spring from erroneous knowledge (moha) and the mental dispositions of desire (icchā) and aversion (dveṣa).[3] Elsewhere he states that desire and aversion are the two kinds of craving (tṛṣṇa)[4] and declares that the ultimate healing of all sorts of sufferings consists in the elimination of upadhā[5] which is synonymous with tṛṣṇa.[6]
It may be relevant to note in this context that the basic conception of karma is found reflected in the various classical philosophical systems. The Buddha regards craving (tṛṣṇa) as the cause of suffering.[7] The Nyāya-sūtra also gives the very same idea. There it is stated that defects (doṣas)which proceed from ignorance are the cause of actions leading to bondage.[8] Doṣa refers to more or less the same concept of tṛṣṇa in the Carakasaṃhitā because erroneous knowledge (moha), desire (icchā), and aversion (dveṣa) are regarded as the ramifications of doṣa.[9] Vaiśeṣika - sūtra regards upadhā as the cause of actions leading to adharma and anupadhā as the origin of dharma.By upadhā what he means is the impurity of all mental dispositions as well as external impurity. Similarly, anupadhā refers to both internal and external purity.[10] According to Praśatapāda, volition that impels action is of two types: (1) that which proceeds from being lively (jīvanapūrvaka) and (2) that which proceeds from desire and aversion (icchādveṣapūrvaka).[11]
Whatever one does or whatever one refrains from doing is an action, and unless it is an act of renunciation, it is bound to breed bondage and frustration. Wholesome or unwholesome kārmic intentions bring about in this life or in the future life happy or painful experiences. For instance, an action taking place from hatred or greed as response to what is unpleasant is morally wrong and is not conductive to liberation. In particular, karma refers to a morally relevant action rather than mere ritual action.
The diversity of the initial circumstances as well as the equipment with which men are brought into this life is accountable only in terms of the diversity of the causal actions and tendencies. Caraka calls the actions of the previous life which lead to rebirth as destiny (daiva) and the fresh acts initiated in the present life as puruṣakāra.[12] If karma is strong and dominant, it will certainly wield its effect (death) on time (kālaniyata) and if it is weak, it doesn't produce its result on time (akālaniyata).[13] Transmigration is also according to one's accrued fruits of actions.[14] The subtle body, after death, carries with it the merit and demerit of what is done in the previous life, and it determines the mental traits and thereby the next life. One takes a new birth according to the potential of one's actions of previous life. The good and bad experiences of this life or future life are, therefore, brought about not by others but by oneself.
Actions are not accidental. But they are underpinned by certain fundamental motives or instincts. The three basic instincts from which all our actions originate are:
- desire for life preservation (praṇaiṣaṇa),
- desire for material wealth (arthaiṣaṇa),
- desire for afterlife (paralokaiṣaṇa).[15]
Thus, Caraka construes the three sorts of biological instincts as the fundamental motives which serve as the spring of all our actions and envisages a scheme of well balanced life by harmonizing the interplay of all the three basic instincts. The harmonization in turn is determined by knowledge because, for Caraka, action denotes action impelled by volition.[16] That is, even though the aforesaid three biological instincts are at the root of every action, all actions are essentially and immediately initiated by volition. Again, volition (prayatna) is oriented by apprehension (dhī), fortitude (dhṛti), and memory (smṛti). Thus, in accordance with the nature of these three factors the basic instincts get manifested in the form of desire or aversion which gives rise to volition. Volition finally ends in action.
Craving arises from erroneous knowledge of objects in the pursuit of happiness. So the ignorant people indulge in unwholesome gratification of the five senses and subject themselves to strain beyond their capacity and get adapted to unpleasant regimes. They subject themselves to excessive utilization (atiyoga), non-utilization (ayoga), and wrong utilization (mithyāyoga) of the physical, mental, and oral actions[17] and thus yield to all kinds of sufferings.
It is one’s knowledge that determines the way of life. One is able to retain one's identity as long as one retains one's power of discrimination between right and wrong. The discriminative and judgmental capacity of a person depends on wisdom (prajñā) which consists in apprehension (dhī), fortitude (dhṛti), and memory (smṛti). If the instruments of knowledge, most particularly the inner instruments, are disciplined and integrated, there comes in wisdom, the cause of wholesome volitional acts, that gives rise to happiness. So Caraka construes volitional transgression (prajñāparādha) due to the degeneration or derangement of intelligence (dhī), fortitude (dhṛti), and memory (smṛti)[18] as one of the root causes of all sufferings. All the mental defects such as malice, despair, fear, anger, vanity, and hatred are also considered as volitional transgression.[19] So, annihilation of volitional transgression, control of sense organs, precise memory and accurate knowledge of place and time, self awareness, and good conduct will promote wholesome actions.[20]
The conceptions of these three fundamental motives as the basic instincts of all actions and the classification of karma into daiva and pauruṣa are something peculiar to Caraka and it differentiates Carakasaṃhitā from all other systems of Indian philosophy. Probably it is the daiva that determines one's basic instincts and so it can be equated with the unseen (adṛṣṭa / dharma and adharma) in the Vaiśeṣika - sūtra.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
vide supra, p. 55.
[2]:
[6]:
The word upadhā is being interpreted by Cakrapāṇi as tṛṣṇa. In Buddhist tradtion tṛṣṇa is conceived as the origin of suffering, BT, p. 43.
[7]:
see BT, p. 43.
[8]:
pravartanālakṣaṇā doṣāḥ, Nyāyasūtra., I. i. 18.
[9]:
tatrairāśyaṃ - rāgadveṣamohārthāntharabhāvāt, Nyāyasūtra., IV. I. 3.
[10]:
bhāvadoṣo upadhā'doṣo'nupadhā, Vaiśeṣikadarśana., VI. II. 4. see also Śaṅkaramiśra on it. Vaiśeṣikopaskāra of Śaṅkaramiśra., p. 350.
[11]:
prayatnaḥ saṃraṃbhaḥ, utsāhaḥ, iti paryāyāḥ. sa dvividhaḥjīvanapūrvaka, icchādveṣapūrvakaśca, Praśastapādabhāṣya., p. 638.
[12]:
[13]:
CS, Sa,VI. 28.
[14]:
Ibid., I. 77.
[15]:
For details see CS, Su, XI. 3- 6.
[16]:
Loc. cit., F. Note 32.
[17]:
For details see CS, Su, XI. 39-40.
[18]:
dhīdhṛtismṛtivibhraṣṭaḥ karma yat kurute'śubhaṃ prajñāparādhaṃ taṃ vidyāt sarvadoṣaprakopaṇaṃ, CS, Śārīra - sthāna, I. 102.
[19]:
īrṣyāśokabhayakrodhamānadveṣādayaśca ye manovikārāste'pyu-ktāḥ sarve prajñāparādhajāḥ, CS, Su,VII. 52.