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Samkhya

March 31, 2023

This article is about a school of philosophy. For the statistics journal, see Sankhya (journal).

Samkhya or Sankya (/ˈsɑːŋkjə/; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: sāṅkhya) is a dualistic school of Indian philosophy.[1][2][3] It views reality as composed of two independent principles, puruṣa ('consciousness' or spirit); and prakṛti, (nature or matter, including the human mind and emotions).[4]

Puruṣa is the witness-consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, beyond perception, above any experience by mind or senses, and impossible to describe in words.[5][6][7]

Unmanifest prakriti is matter or nature. It is inactive, unconscious, and is a balance of the three guṇas (qualities or innate tendencies),[8][9] namely sattva , rajas, and tamas. When prakṛti comes into contact with Purusha this balance is disturbed, and Prakriti becomes manifest, evolving twenty-three tattvas,[10] namely intellect (buddhi, mahat), ego (ahamkara) mind (manas); the five sensory capacities; the five action capacities; and the five "subtle elements" or "modes of sensory content" (tanmatras), from which the five "gross elements" or "forms of perceptual objects" (earth, water, fire, air and space) emerge,[8][11] in turn giving rise to the manifestation of sensory experience and cognition.[12][13]

Jiva ('a living being') is the state in which purusha is bonded to prakriti.[14] Human experience is an interplay of the two, purusha being conscious of the various combinations of cognitive activities.[14] The end of the bondage of purusha to prakriti is called liberation or kaivalya (isolation).[15]

Samkhya's epistemology accepts three of six pramanas ('proofs') as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge, as does yoga. These are pratyakṣa ('perception'), anumāṇa ('inference') and śabda (āptavacana, meaning, 'word/testimony of reliable sources').[16][17][18] Sometimes described as one of the rationalist schools of Indian philosophy, it relied exclusively on reason.[19][20]

While samkhya-like speculations can be found in the Rig Veda and some of the older Upanishads, some western scholars have proposed that Samkhya may have non-Vedic origins,[21][note 1] and developed in ascetic milieus. Proto-samkhya ideas developed from the 8th/7th c. BCE onwards, as evidenced in the middle Upanishads, the Buddhacharita, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Mokshadharma-section of the Mahabharata.[22] It was related to the early ascetic traditions and meditation, spiritual practices, and religious cosmology,[23] and methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge (vidya, jnana, viveka) that end the cycle of dukkha (suffering) and rebirth.[24] allowing for "a great variety of philosophical formulations."[23] Pre-karika systematic Samkhya existed around the beginning of the first millennium CE.[25] The defining method of Samkhya was established with the Samkhyakarika (4th c. CE).

The oldest strands of Samkhya may have been theistic or nontheistic, but with its classical systematization in the early first millennium CE the existence of a deity became irrelevant.[26][27][28][29] Samkhya is strongly related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, for which it forms the theoretical foundation, and it was influential on other schools of Indian philosophy.[30]

Etymology

Sāṃkhya (सांख्य) or sāṅkhya, also transliterated as samkhya and sankhya, respectively, is a Sanskrit word that, depending on the context, means 'to reckon, count, enumerate, calculate, deliberate, reason, reasoning by numeric enumeration, relating to number, rational'.[31] In the context of ancient Indian philosophies, Samkhya refers to the philosophical school in Hinduism based on systematic enumeration and rational examination.[32]

The word samkhya means 'empirical' or 'relating to numbers'.[33] Although the term had been used in the general sense of metaphysical knowledge before,[34] in technical usage it refers to the Samkhya school of thought that evolved into a cohesive philosophical system in early centuries CE.[35] The Samkhya system is called so because 'it "enumerates'" twenty five Tattvas or true principles; and its chief object is to effect the final emancipation of the twenty-fifth Tattva, i.e. the puruṣa or soul'.[33]

Philosophy

Puruṣa and Prakṛti

Samkhya makes a distinction between two "irreducible, innate and independent realities,"[36] purusha, the witness-consciousness, and prakṛti, "matter," the activities of mind and perception.[4][37][38] According to Dan Lusthaus,

In Sāṃkhya puruṣa signifies the observer, the 'witness'. Prakṛti includes all the cognitive, moral, psychological, emotional, sensorial and physical aspects of reality. It is often mistranslated as 'matter' or 'nature' - in non-Sāṃkhyan usage it does mean 'essential nature' - but that distracts from the heavy Sāṃkhyan stress on prakṛti's cognitive, mental, psychological and sensorial activities. Moreover, subtle and gross matter are its most derivative byproducts, not its core. Only prakṛti acts.[4]

Puruṣa is considered as the conscious principle, a passive enjoyer (bhokta) and the prakṛti is the enjoyed (bhogya). Samkhya believes that the puruṣa cannot be regarded as the source of inanimate world, because an intelligent principle cannot transform itself into the unconscious world. It is a pluralistic spiritualism, atheistic realism and uncompromising dualism.[39]

Puruṣa - witness-consciousness

 
Purusha-prakriti

Puruṣa is the witness-consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, imperceptible, unknowable through other agencies, above any experience by mind or senses and beyond any words or explanations. It remains pure, "nonattributive consciousness". Puruṣa is neither produced nor does it produce.[5] No appellations can qualify purusha, nor can it substantialized or objectified.[6] It "cannot be reduced, can't be 'settled'." Any designation of purusha comes from prakriti, and is a limitation.[7] Unlike Advaita Vedanta, and like Purva-Mīmāṃsā, Samkhya believes in plurality of the puruṣas.[5]

Prakṛti - cognitive processes

 
Elements in Samkhya philosophy
Main article: Prakṛti

Prakṛti is the first cause of the world of our experiences.[10] Since it is the first principle (tattva) of the universe, it is called the pradhāna (chief principle), but, as it is the unconscious and unintelligent principle, it is also called the jaḍa (unintelligent). It is composed of three essential characteristics (trigunas). These are:

  • Sattva – poise, fineness, lightness, illumination, and joy;
  • Rajas – dynamism, activity, excitation, and pain;
  • Tamas – inertia, coarseness, heaviness, obstruction, and sloth.[39][40][41]

Unmanifested prakriti is infinite, inactive, and unconscious, with the three gunas in a state of equilibrium. This equilibrium of the gunas is disturbed when prakṛti comes into contact with consciousness or Purusha, giving rise to the manifestation of the world of experience from unmanifested prakṛti.[12][13] Prakriti becomes manifest as twenty-three tattvas:[10] intellect (buddhi, mahat), ego (ahamkara) mind (manas); the five sensory capacities; the five action capacities; and the five "subtle elements" or "modes of sensory content" (tanmatras: form (rūpa), sound (shabda), smell (gandha), taste (rasa), touch (sparsha)), from which the five "gross elements" or "forms of perceptual objects" emerge (earth (prithivi), water (jala), fire (Agni), air (Vāyu), ether (Ākāsha)).[8][11] Prakriti is the source of our experience; it is not "the evolution of a series of material entities," but "the emergence of experience itself."[12] It is description of experience and the relations between its elements, not an explanation of the origin of the universe.[12]

All prakriti has these three gunas in different proportions. Each guna is dominant at specific times of day. The interplay of these gunas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life.[42][43] The Samkhya theory of gunas was widely discussed, developed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies. Samkhya's philosophical treatises also influenced the development of various theories of Hindu ethics.[30]

Thought processes and mental events are conscious only to the extent they receive illumination from Purusha. In Samkhya, consciousness is compared to light which illuminates the material configurations or 'shapes' assumed by the mind. So intellect, after receiving cognitive structures from the mind and illumination from pure consciousness, creates thought structures that appear to be conscious.[44] Ahamkara, the ego or the phenomenal self, appropriates all mental experiences to itself and thus, personalizes the objective activities of mind and intellect by assuming possession of them.[45] But consciousness is itself independent of the thought structures it illuminates.[44]

Liberation or mokṣa

The Supreme Good is mokṣa which consists in the permanent impossibility of the incidence of pain... in the realisation of the Self as Self pure and simple.

—Samkhyakarika I.3[46]

Samkhya school considers moksha as a natural quest of every jiva. The Samkhyakarika states,

As the unconscious milk functions for the sake of nourishment of the calf,
so the Prakriti functions for the sake of moksha of the spirit.

— Samkhya karika, Verse 57[47][48]

Samkhya regards ignorance (avidyā) as the root cause of suffering and bondage (Samsara). Samkhya states that the way out of this suffering is through knowledge (viveka). Mokṣa (liberation), states Samkhya school, results from knowing the difference between prakṛti (avyakta-vyakta) and puruṣa (jña).[16] More specifically, the puruṣa that has attained liberation is to be distinguished from a puruṣa that is still bound on account of the liberated puruṣa being free from its subtle body (synonymous with buddhi), in which is located the mental dispositions that individuates it and causes it to experience bondage.[49]: 58 

Puruṣa, the eternal pure consciousness, due to ignorance, identifies itself with products of prakṛti such as intellect (buddhi) and ego (ahamkara). This results in endless transmigration and suffering. However, once the realization arises that puruṣa is distinct from prakṛti, is more than empirical ego, and that puruṣa is deepest conscious self within, the Self gains isolation (kaivalya) and freedom (moksha).[50]

Though in conventional terms the bondage is ascribed to the puruṣa, this is ultimately a mistake. This is because  the Samkhya school (Samkhya karika Verse 63) maintains that it is actually prakriti that binds itself, and thus bondage should in reality be ascribed to prakriti, not to the puruṣa:[51]

By seven modes nature binds herself by herself: by one, she releases (herself), for the soul's wish (Samkhya karika Verse 63) ·

Vacaspati gave a metaphorical example to elaborate the position that the puruṣa is only mistakenly ascribed bondage: although the king is ascribed victory or defeat, it is actually the soldiers that experience it.[52] It is then not merely that bondage is only mistakenly ascribed to the puruṣa, but that liberation is like bondage, wrongly ascribed to the puruṣa and should be ascribed to prakriti alone.[49]: 60 

Other forms of Samkhya teach that Mokṣa is attained by one's own development of the higher faculties of discrimination achieved by meditation and other yogic practices. Moksha is described by Samkhya scholars as a state of liberation, where Sattva guna predominates.[15]

Epistemology

 
The Samkhya school considers perception, inference and reliable testimony as three reliable means to knowledge.[16][17]

Samkhya considered Pratyakṣa or Dṛṣṭam (direct sense perception), Anumāna (inference), and Śabda or Āptavacana (verbal testimony of the sages or shāstras) to be the only valid means of knowledge or pramana.[16] Unlike some other schools, Samkhya did not consider the following three pramanas to be epistemically proper: Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy), Arthāpatti (postulation, deriving from circumstances) or Anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof) .[17]

  • Pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष) means perception. It is of two types in Hindu texts: external and internal. External perception is described as that arising from the interaction of five senses and worldly objects, while internal perception is described by this school as that of inner sense, the mind.[53][54] The ancient and medieval Indian texts identify four requirements for correct perception:[55] Indriyarthasannikarsa (direct experience by one's sensory organ(s) with the object, whatever is being studied), Avyapadesya (non-verbal; correct perception is not through hearsay, according to ancient Indian scholars, where one's sensory organ relies on accepting or rejecting someone else's perception), Avyabhicara (does not wander; correct perception does not change, nor is it the result of deception because one's sensory organ or means of observation is drifting, defective, suspect) and Vyavasayatmaka (definite; correct perception excludes judgments of doubt, either because of one's failure to observe all the details, or because one is mixing inference with observation and observing what one wants to observe, or not observing what one does not want to observe).[55] Some ancient scholars proposed "unusual perception" as pramana and called it internal perception, a proposal contested by other Indian scholars. The internal perception concepts included pratibha (intuition), samanyalaksanapratyaksa (a form of induction from perceived specifics to a universal), and jnanalaksanapratyaksa (a form of perception of prior processes and previous states of a 'topic of study' by observing its current state).[56] Further, some schools considered and refined rules of accepting uncertain knowledge from Pratyakṣa-pranama, so as to contrast nirnaya (definite judgment, conclusion) from anadhyavasaya (indefinite judgment).[57]
  • Anumāna (अनुमान) means inference. It is described as reaching a new conclusion and truth from one or more observations and previous truths by applying reason.[58] Observing smoke and inferring fire is an example of Anumana.[53] In all except one Hindu philosophies,[59] this is a valid and useful means to knowledge. The method of inference is explained by Indian texts as consisting of three parts: pratijna (hypothesis), hetu (a reason), and drshtanta (examples).[60] The hypothesis must further be broken down into two parts, state the ancient Indian scholars: sadhya (that idea which needs to proven or disproven) and paksha (the object on which the sadhya is predicated). The inference is conditionally true if sapaksha (positive examples as evidence) are present, and if vipaksha (negative examples as counter-evidence) are absent. For rigor, the Indian philosophies also state further epistemic steps. For example, they demand Vyapti - the requirement that the hetu (reason) must necessarily and separately account for the inference in "all" cases, in both sapaksha and vipaksha.[60][61] A conditionally proven hypothesis is called a nigamana (conclusion).[62]
  • Śabda (शब्द) means relying on word, testimony of past or present reliable experts.[17][63] Hiriyanna explains Sabda-pramana as a concept which means reliable expert testimony. The schools which consider it epistemically valid suggest that a human being needs to know numerous facts, and with the limited time and energy available, he can learn only a fraction of those facts and truths directly.[64] He must cooperate with others to rapidly acquire and share knowledge and thereby enrich each other's lives. This means of gaining proper knowledge is either spoken or written, but through Sabda (words).[64] The reliability of the source is important, and legitimate knowledge can only come from the Sabda of Vedas.[17][64] The disagreement between the schools has been on how to establish reliability. Some schools, such as Carvaka, state that this is never possible, and therefore Sabda is not a proper pramana. Other schools debate means to establish reliability.[65]

Causality

The Samkhya system is based on Sat-kārya-vāda or the theory of causation. According to Satkāryavāda, the effect is pre-existent in the cause. There is only an apparent or illusory change in the makeup of the cause and not a material one, when it becomes effect. Since, effects cannot come from nothing, the original cause or ground of everything is seen as prakṛti.[66]

More specifically, Samkhya system follows the prakṛti-Parināma Vāda. Parināma denotes that the effect is a real transformation of the cause. The cause under consideration here is prakṛti or more precisely Moola-prakṛti (Primordial Matter). The Samkhya system is therefore an exponent of an evolutionary theory of matter beginning with primordial matter. In evolution, prakṛti is transformed and differentiated into multiplicity of objects. Evolution is followed by dissolution. In dissolution the physical existence, all the worldly objects mingle back into prakṛti, which now remains as the undifferentiated, primordial substance. This is how the cycles of evolution and dissolution follow each other. But this theory is very different from the modern theories of science in the sense that prakṛti evolves for each Jiva separately, giving individual bodies and minds to each and after liberation these elements of prakṛti merges into the Moola prakṛti. Another uniqueness of Sāmkhya is that not only physical entities but even mind, ego and intelligence are regarded as forms of Unconsciousness, quite distinct from pure consciousness.

Samkhya theorizes that prakṛti is the source of the perceived world of becoming. It is pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty four tattvas or principles. The evolution itself is possible because prakṛti is always in a state of tension among its constituent strands or gunas – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. In a state of equilibrium of three gunas, when the three together are one, "unmanifest" prakṛti which is unknowable. A guna is an entity that can change, either increase or decrease, therefore, pure consciousness is called nirguna or without any modification.

The evolution obeys causality relationships, with primal Nature itself being the material cause of all physical creation. The cause and effect theory of Samkhya is called Satkārya-vāda (theory of existent causes), and holds that nothing can really be created from or destroyed into nothingness – all evolution is simply the transformation of primal Nature from one form to another.

Samkhya cosmology describes how life emerges in the universe; the relationship between Purusha and prakṛti is crucial to Patanjali's yoga system. The strands of Samkhya thought can be traced back to the Vedic speculation of creation. It is also frequently mentioned in the Mahabharata and Yogavasishta.

Historical development

Larson (1979) discerns four basic periods in the development of Samkhya:[67]

  1. 8/9th c. BCE - 5th c. BCE: "ancient speculations," including speculative Vedic hymns and the oldest prose Upanishads
  2. 4th.c. BCE-1st c. CE: proto-Samkhya speculations, as found in the middle Upanishads, the Buddhacarita, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Mahabharata
  3. 1st-10th c. CE: classical Samkhya
  4. 15th-17th c.: renaissance of later Samkhya

Larson (1987) discerns three phases of development of the term samkhya, relating to three different meanings:[68]

  1. Vedic period and the Mauryan Empire, ca. 1500 BCE until the 4th and 3rd c. BCE:[68] "relating to number, enumeration or calculation."[68] Intellectual inquiry was "frequently cast in the format of elaborate enumerations;[68] references to samkhya do not denote integrated systems of thought.[22]
  2. 8th/7th c. BCE - first centuries CE:[22] as a masculine noun, referring to "someone who calculates, enumerates, or discriminates properly or correctly."[68] Proto-samkhya,[69] related to the early ascetic traditions,reflected in the Moksadharma section of the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, and the cosmological speculations of the Puranas.[22] The notion of samkhya becomes related to methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge (vidya, jnana, viveka) that end the cycle of dukkha and rebirth.[24] During this period, samkhya becomes explicitly related to meditation, spiritual practices, and religious cosmology,[23] and is "primarily a methodology for attaining liberation and appears to allow for a great variety of philosophical formulations."[23] According to Larson, "Samkhya means in the Upanishads and the Epic simply the way of salvation by knowledge."[23] As such, it contains "psychological analyses of experience" that "become dominant motifs in Jain and Buddhist meditation contexts."[70] Typical Samkhya terminology and issues develop.[70] While yoga emphasizes asanas breathing, and ascetic practices, samkhya is concerned with intellectual analyses and proper discernment,[70] but samkhya-reasonong is not really differentiated from yoga.[69] According to Van Buitenen, these ideas developed in the interaction between various sramanas and ascetic groups.[71] Numerous ancient teachers are named in the various texts, including Kapila and Pancasikha.[72]
  3. 1st c. BCE - first centuries CE:[69] as a neuter term, referring to the beginning of a technical philosophical system.[73] Pre-karika-Samkhya (ca. 100 BCE – 200 CE).[74] This period ends with Ishvara Krishna's (Iśvarakṛṣṇa, 350 CE) Samkhyakarika.[69] According to Larson, the shift of Samkhya from speculations to the normative conceptualization hints—but does not conclusively prove—that Samkhya may be the oldest of the Indian technical philosophical schools (e.g. Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Buddhist ontology), one that evolved over time and influenced the technical aspects of Buddhism and Jainism.[75][note 2]

Vedic speculations and Upanishadic enumerations

In the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape of a person (puruṣa). He looking around saw nothing but his Self (Atman). He first said, "This is I", therefore he became I by name.

—Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.1[77][78]

The early, speculative phase took place in the first half of the first millennium BCE,[67] when ascetic spirituality and monastic (sramana and yati) traditions came into vogue in India, and ancient scholars combined "enumerated set[s] of principles" with "a methodology of reasoning that results in spiritual knowledge (vidya, jnana, viveka)."[24] These early non-Samkhya speculations and proto-Samkhya ideas are visible in earlier Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas,[note 3] early Upanishads such as the Chandogya Upanishad,[24][note 4] and the Bhagavad Gita.[83][67] However, these early speculations and proto-Samkhya ideas had not distilled and congealed into a distinct, complete philosophy.[84]

Anthony Warder (1994; first ed. 1967) writes that the Samkhya and Mīmāṃsā schools appear to have been established before the Sramana traditions in India (~500 BCE), and he finds that "Samkhya represents a relatively free development of speculation among the Brahmans, independent of the Vedic revelation."[85] Warder writes, '[Samkhya] has indeed been suggested to be non-Brahmanical and even anti-Vedic in origin, but there is no tangible evidence for that except that it is very different than most Vedic speculation – but that is (itself) quite inconclusive. Speculations in the direction of the Samkhya can be found in the early Upanishads."[86]

Rig Vedic speculations

The earliest mention of dualism is in the Rigveda, a text that was compiled in the second millennium BCE.,[87] in various chapters.

Nasadiya Sukta (Hymn of non-Eternity, origin of universe):

There was neither non-existence nor existence then;
Neither the realm of space, nor the sky which is beyond;
What stirred? Where? In whose protection?

There was neither death nor immortality then;
No distinguishing sign of night nor of day;
That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse;
Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;
Without distinctive marks, this all was water;
That which, becoming, by the void was covered;
That One by force of heat came into being;

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,
Only He knows, or perhaps He does not know.

—Rigveda 10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian)[88]

The hymn, as Mandala 10 in general, is late within the Rigveda Samhita, and expresses thought more typical of later Vedantic philosophy.[89]

At a mythical level, dualism is found in the Indra–Vritra myth of chapter 1.32 of the Rigveda.[90] Enumeration, the etymological root of the word samkhya, is found in numerous chapters of the Rigveda, such as 1.164, 10.90 and 10.129.[91] According to Larson, it is likely that in the oldest period these enumerations were occasionally also applied in the context of meditation themes and religious cosmology, such as in the hymns of 1.164 (Riddle Hymns) and 10.129 (Nasadiya Hymns).[92] However, these hymns present only the outline of ideas, not specific Samkhya theories and these theories developed in a much later period.[92]

The Riddle hymns of the Rigveda, famous for their numerous enumerations, structural language symmetry within the verses and the chapter, enigmatic word play with anagrams that symbolically portray parallelism in rituals and the cosmos, nature and the inner life of man.[93] This hymn includes enumeration (counting) as well as a series of dual concepts cited by early Upanishads . For example, the hymns 1.164.2 - 1.164-3 mention "seven" multiple times, which in the context of other chapters of Rigveda have been interpreted as referring to both seven priests at a ritual and seven constellations in the sky, the entire hymn is a riddle that paints a ritual as well as the sun, moon, earth, three seasons, the transitory nature of living beings, the passage of time and spirit.[93][94]

Seven to the one-wheeled chariot yoke the Courser; bearing seven names the single Courser draws it.
Three-naved the wheel is, sound and undecaying, whereon are resting all these worlds of being.
The seven [priests] who on the seven-wheeled car are mounted have horses, seven in tale, who draw them onward.
Seven Sisters utter songs of praise together, in whom the names of the seven Cows are treasured.
Who hath beheld him as he [Sun/Agni] sprang to being, seen how the boneless One [spirit] supports the bony [body]?
Where is the blood of earth, the life, the spirit? Who will approach the one who knows, to ask this?

— Rigveda 1.164.2 - 1.164.4, [95]

The chapter 1.164 asks a number of metaphysical questions, such as "what is the One in the form of the Unborn that created the six realms of the world?".[96][97] Dualistic philosophical speculations then follow in chapter 1.164 of the Rigveda, particularly in the well studied "allegory of two birds" hymn (1.164.20 - 1.164.22), a hymn that is referred to in the Mundaka Upanishad and other texts .[93][98][99] The two birds in this hymn have been interpreted to mean various forms of dualism: "the sun and the moon", the "two seekers of different kinds of knowledge", and "the body and the atman".[100][101]

Two Birds with fair wings, knit with bonds of friendship, embrace the same tree.
One of the twain eats the sweet fig; the other not eating keeps watch.
Where those fine Birds hymn ceaselessly their portion of life eternal, and the sacred synods,
There is the Universe's mighty Keeper, who, wise, hath entered into me the simple.
The tree on which the fine Birds eat the sweetness, where they all rest and procreate their offspring,
Upon its top they say the fig is sweetest, he who does not know the Father will not reach it.

— Rigveda 1.164.20 - 1.164.22, [95]

The emphasis of duality between existence (sat) and non-existence (asat) in the Nasadiya Sukta of the Rigveda is similar to the vyakta–avyakta (manifest–unmanifest) polarity in Samkhya. The hymns about Puruṣa may also have had some influence on Samkhya.[102] The Samkhya notion of buddhi or mahat is similar to the notion of hiranyagarbha, which appears in both the Rigveda and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.[103]

Upanishads

Higher than the senses, stand the objects of senses. Higher than objects of senses, stands mind. Higher than mind, stands intellect. Higher than intellect, stands the great self. Higher than the great self, stands Avyaktam(unmenifested or indistinctive). Higher than Avyaktam, stands Purusha. Higher than this, there is nothing. He is the final goal and the highest point. In all beings, dwells this Purusha, as Atman (essence), invisible, concealed. He is only seen by the keenest thought, by the sublest of those thinkers who see into the subtle.

—Katha Upanishad 3.10-13[104][105]

The oldest of the major Upanishads (c. 900–600 BCE) contain speculations along the lines of classical Samkhya philosophy.[83] The concept of ahamkara was traced back by Van Buitenen to chapters 1.2 and 1.4 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and chapter 7.25 of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, where it is a "cosmic entity," and not a psychological notion.[83][103] Satkaryavada, the theory of causation in Samkhya, may in part be traced to the verses in sixth chapter which emphasize the primacy of sat (being) and describe creation from it. The idea that the three gunas or attributes influence creation is found in both Chandogya and Shvetashvatara Upanishads.[106]

Yajnavalkya's exposition on the Self in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and the dialogue between Uddalaka Aruni and his son Svetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad represent a more developed notion of the essence of man (Atman) as "pure subjectivity - i.e., the knower who is himself unknowable, the seer who cannot be seen," and as "pure conscious," discovered by means of speculations, or enumerations.[107] Acdording lo Larson, "it seesm quite likely that both the monistic trends in Indian thought and the duslistic samkhya could have developed out of these ancient speculations."[108] According to Larson, the enumeration of tattvas in Samkhya is also found in Taittiriya Upanishad, Aitareya Upanishad and Yajnavalkya–Maitri dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.[109]

The Katha Upanishad in verses 3.10–13 and 6.7–11 describes a concept of puruṣa, and other concepts also found in later Samkhya.[110] The Shvetashvatara Upanishad in chapter 6.13 describes samkhya with Yoga philosophy, and Bhagavad Gita in book 2 provides axiological implications of Samkhya, therewith providing textual evidence of samkhyan terminology and concepts.[111] Katha Upanishad conceives the Purusha (cosmic spirit, consciousness) as same as the individual soul (Ātman, Self).[110][112]

Proto-Samkhya

Ascetic origins

While some earlier scholars have argued for Upanishadic origins of the Samkhya-tradition,[note 4] and the Upanisads contain dualistic speculations which may have influenced proto-samkhya,[83][113] other scholars have noted the dissimilarities of Shamkhya with the Vedic tradition. As early as 1898, Richard Karl von Garbe, a German professor of philosophy and Indologist, wrote in 1898,

The origin of the Sankhya system appears in the proper light only when we understand that in those regions of India which were little influenced by Brahmanism [political connotation given by the Christian missionary] the first attempt had been made to solve the riddles of the world and of our existence merely by means of reason. For the Sankhya philosophy is, in its essence, not only atheistic but also inimical to the Veda'.[114]

Dandekar, similarly wrote in 1968, 'The origin of the Sankhya is to be traced to the pre-Vedic non-Aryan thought complex'.[115] Heinrich Zimmer states that Samkhya has non-Aryan origins.[21][note 1] According to Ruzsa in 2006, "Sāṅkhya has a very long history. Its roots go deeper than textual traditions allow us to see,"[117] stating that "Sāṅkhya likely grew out of speculations rooted in cosmic dualism and introspective meditational practice."[117] The dualism is rooted in agricultural concepts of the union of the male sky-god and the female earth-goddess, the union of "the spiritual, immaterial, lordly, immobile fertilizer (represented as the Śiva-liṅgam, or phallus) and of the active, fertile, powerful but subservient material principle (Śakti or Power, often as the horrible Dark Lady, Kālī)."[117] In contrast,

The ascetic and meditative yoga practice, in contrast, aimed at overcoming the limitations of the natural body and achieving perfect stillness of the mind. A combination of these views may have resulted in the concept of the Puruṣa, the unchanging immaterial conscious essence, contrasted with Prakṛti, the material principle that produces not only the external world and the body but also the changing and externally determined aspects of the human mind (such as the intellect, ego, internal and external perceptual organs).[117]

According to Ruzsa,

Both the agrarian theology of Śiva-Śakti/Sky-Earth and the tradition of yoga (meditation) do not appear to be rooted in the Vedas. Not surprisingly, classical Sāṅkhya is remarkably independent of orthodox Brahmanic traditions, including the Vedas. Sāṅkhya is silent about the Vedas, about their guardians (the Brahmins) and for that matter about the whole caste system, and about the Vedic gods; and it is slightly unfavorable towards the animal sacrifices that characterized the ancient Vedic religion. But all our early sources for the history of Sāṅkhya belong to the Vedic tradition, and it is thus reasonable to suppose that we do not see in them the full development of the Sāṅkhya system, but rather occasional glimpses of its development as it gained gradual acceptance in the Brahmanic fold.[117]

Burley argues for an ontegenetic or incremental development of Shamkya, instead of being established by one historical founder.[118] Burley states that India's religio-cultural heritage is complicated and likely experienced a non-linear development.[119] Samkhya is not necessarily non-Vedic nor pre-Vedic nor a 'reaction to Brahmanic hegemony', states Burley.[119] It is most plausibly in its origins a lineage that grew and evolved from a combination of ascetic traditions and Vedic guru (teacher) and disciples. Burley suggests the link between Samkhya and Yoga as likely the root of this evolutionary origin during the Vedic era of India.[119] According to Van Buitenen, various ideas on yoga and meditation developed in the interaction between various sramanas and ascetic groups.[71]

Textual references

The Mokshadharma chapter of Shanti Parva (Book of Peace) in the Mahabharata epic, composed between 400 BCE to 400 CE, explains Samkhya ideas along with other extant philosophies, and then lists numerous scholars in recognition of their philosophical contributions to various Indian traditions, and therein at least three Samkhya scholars can be recognized – Kapila, Asuri and Pancasikha.[120][121] The 12th chapter of the Buddhist text Buddhacarita suggests Samkhya philosophical tools of reliable reasoning were well formed by about 5th century BCE.[120] According to Rusza, "The ancient Buddhist Aśvaghoṣa (in his Buddha-Carita) describes Āḷāra Kālāma, the teacher of the young Buddha (ca. 420 B.C.E.) as following an archaic form of Sāṅkhya."[117]

Samkhya and Yoga are mentioned together for first time in chapter 6.13 of the Shvetashvatra Upanishad,[111] as samkhya-yoga-adhigamya (literally, "to be understood by proper reasoning and spiritual discipline").[122] Bhagavad Gita identifies Samkhya with understanding or knowledge.[123] The three gunas are also mentioned in the Gita, though they are not used in the same sense as in classical Samkhya.[124] The Gita integrates Samkhya thought with the devotion (bhakti) of theistic schools and the impersonal Brahman of Vedanta.[125]

Traditional credited founders

Sage Kapila is traditionally credited as a founder of the Samkhya school.[126] It is unclear in which century of the 1st millennium BCE Kapila lived.[127] Kapila appears in Rigveda, but context suggests that the word means 'reddish-brown color'. Both Kapila as a 'seer' and the term Samkhya appear in hymns of section 5.2 in Shvetashvatara Upanishad (~300 BCE), suggesting Kapila's and Samkhya philosophy's origins may predate it. Numerous other ancient Indian texts mention Kapila; for example, Baudhayana Grhyasutra in chapter IV.16.1 describes a system of rules for ascetic life credited to Kapila called Kapila Sannyasa Vidha.[127] A 6th century CE Chinese translation and other texts consistently note Kapila as an ascetic and the founder of the school, mention Asuri as the inheritor of the teaching and a much later scholar named Pancasikha[128] as the scholar who systematized it and then helped widely disseminate its ideas. Isvarakrsna is identified in these texts as the one who summarized and simplified Samkhya theories of Pancasikha, many centuries later (roughly 4th or 5th century CE), in the form that was then translated into Chinese by Paramartha in the 6th century CE.[127]

Buddhist and Jainist influences

Buddhism and Jainism had developed in eastern India by the 5th century BCE. It is probable that these schools of thought and the earliest schools of Samkhya influenced each other.[129] According to Burely, there is no evidence that a systematic samkhya-philosophy existed prior to the founding of Buddhism and Jainism, sometime in the 5th or 4th century BCE.[130] A prominent similarity between Buddhism and Samkhya is the greater emphasis on suffering (dukkha) as the foundation for their respective soteriological theories, than other Indian philosophies.[129] However, suffering appears central to Samkhya in its later literature, which likely suggests a Buddhist influence. Eliade, however, presents the alternate theory that Samkhya and Buddhism developed their soteriological theories over time, benefiting from their mutual influence.[129]

Likewise, the Jain doctrine of plurality of individual souls (jiva) could have influenced the concept of multiple purushas in Samkhya. However Hermann Jacobi, an Indologist, thinks that there is little reason to assume that Samkhya notion of Purushas was solely dependent on the notion of jiva in Jainism. It is more likely, that Samkhya was moulded by many ancient theories of soul in various Vedic and non-Vedic schools.[129]

This declared to you is the Yoga of the wisdom of Samkhya. Hear, now, of the integrated wisdom with which, Partha, you will cast off the bonds of karma.

—Bhagavad Gita 2.39[131]

Larson, Bhattacharya and Potter state it to be likely that early Samkhya doctrines found in oldest Upanishads (~700-800 BCE) provided the contextual foundations and influenced Buddhist and Jaina doctrines, and these became contemporaneous, sibling intellectual movements with Samkhya and other schools of Hindu philosophy.[132] This is evidenced, for example, by the references to Samkhya in ancient and medieval era Jaina literature.[133]

Pre-karika Samkhya

According to Ruzsa, about 2,000 years ago "Sāṅkhya became the representative philosophy of Hindu thought in Hindu circles",[117] influencing all strands of the Hindu tradition and Hindu texts.[117]

Between 1938 and 1967, two previously unknown manuscript editions of Yuktidipika (ca. 600–700 CE) were discovered and published.[25] Yuktidipika is an ancient review by an unknown author and has emerged as the most important commentary on the Samkhyakarika, itself an ancient key text of the Samkhya school.[134][84] This commentary as well as the reconstruction of pre-karika epistemology and Samkhya emanation text (containing cosmology-ontology) from the earliest Puranas and Mokshadharma suggest that Samkhya as a technical philosophical system existed from about the last century BCE to the early centuries of the Common Era. Yuktidipika suggests that many more ancient scholars contributed to the origins of Samkhya in ancient India than were previously known and that Samkhya was a polemical philosophical system. However, almost nothing is preserved from the centuries when these ancient Samkhya scholars lived.[25]

Classical Samkhya - Samkhyakarika

Main article: Samkhyakarika

The earliest surviving authoritative text on classical Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya Karika (c. 200 CE[135] or 350–450 CE[125]) of Īśvarakṛṣṇa.[125] There were probably other texts in early centuries CE, however none of them are available today.[136] Iśvarakṛṣṇa in his Kārikā describes a succession of the disciples from Kapila, through Āsuri and Pañcaśikha to himself. The text also refers to an earlier work of Samkhya philosophy called Ṣaṣṭitantra (science of sixty topics) which is now lost.[125] The text was imported and translated into Chinese about the middle of the 6th century CE.[137] The records of Al Biruni, the Persian visitor to India in the early 11th century, suggests Samkhyakarika was an established and definitive text in India in his times.[138]

Samkhyakarika includes distilled statements on epistemology, metaphysics and soteriology of the Samkhya school. For example, the fourth to sixth verses of the text states it epistemic premises,[139]

Perception, inference and right affirmation are admitted to be threefold proof; for they (are by all acknowledged, and) comprise every mode of demonstration. It is from proof that belief of that which is to be proven results.

Perception is ascertainment of particular objects. Inference, which is of three sorts, premises an argument, and deduces that which is argued by it. Right affirmation is true revelation (Apta vacana and Sruti, testimony of reliable source and the Vedas).

Sensible objects become known by perception; but it is by inference or reasoning that acquaintance with things transcending the senses is obtained. A truth which is neither to be directly perceived, nor to be inferred from reasoning, is deduced from Apta vacana and Sruti.

— Samkhya Karika Verse 4–6, [139]

The most popular commentary on the Samkhyakarika was the Gauḍapāda Bhāṣya attributed to Gauḍapāda, the proponent of Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy. Other important commentaries on the karika were Yuktidīpīka (c. 6th century CE) and Vācaspati’s Sāṁkhyatattvakaumudī (c. 10th century CE).[140]

Samkhya revival

The 13th century text Sarvadarsanasangraha contains 16 chapters, each devoted to a separate school of Indian philosophy. The 13th chapter in this book contains a description of the Samkhya philosophy.[141]

The Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra (c. 14th century CE) renewed interest in Samkhya in the medieval era. It is considered the second most important work of Samkhya after the karika.[142] Commentaries on this text were written by Anirruddha (Sāṁkhyasūtravṛtti, c. 15th century CE), Vijñānabhikṣu (Sāṁkhyapravacanabhāṣya, c. 16th century CE), Mahādeva (vṛttisāra, c. 17th century CE) and Nāgeśa (Laghusāṁkhyasūtravṛtti).[143] In his introduction, the commentator Vijnana Bhiksu stated that only a sixteenth part of the original Samkhya Sastra remained, and that the rest had been lost to time. [144] While the commentary itself is no doubt medieval, the age of the underlying sutras is unknown and perhaps much older. According to Surendranath Dasgupta, scholar of Indian philosophy, Charaka Samhita, an ancient Indian medical treatise, also contains thoughts from an early Samkhya school.[145]

Views on God

Although the Samkhya school considers the Vedas a reliable source of knowledge, samkhya accepts the notion of higher selves or perfected beings but rejects the notion of God, according to Paul Deussen and other scholars,[146][147] although other scholars believe that Samkhya is as much theistic as the Yoga school.[148][29] According to Rajadhyaksha, classical Samkhya argues against the existence of God on metaphysical grounds. Samkhya theorists argue that an unchanging God cannot be the source of an ever-changing world and that God was only a necessary metaphysical assumption demanded by circumstances.[149]

The oldest commentary on the Samkhakarika, the Yuktidīpikā, asserts the existence of God, stating: "We do not completely reject the particular power of the Lord, since he assumes a majestic body and so forth. Our intended meaning is just that there is no being who is different from prakrti and purusa and who is the instigator of these two, as you claim. Therefore, your view is refuted. The conjunction between prakrti and purusa is not instigated by another being.[29]

A medieval commentary of Samkhakarika such as Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra in verse no. 1.92 directly states that existence of "Ishvara (God) is unproved". Hence there is no philosophical place for a creationist God in this system. It is also argued by commentators of this text that the existence of Ishvara cannot be proved and hence cannot be admitted to exist.[150] However, later in the text, the commentator Vijnana Bhiksu clarified that the subject of dispute between the Samkhyas and others was the existence of an eternal Isvara. Samkhya did accept the concept of an emergent Isvara previously absorbed into Prakriti.[151]

A key difference between the Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars,[147][152] is that the Yoga school accepts a 'personal, yet essentially inactive, deity' or 'personal god'.[153] However, Radhanath Phukan, in the introduction to his translation of the Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrsna has argued that commentators who see the unmanifested as non-conscious make the mistake of regarding Samkhya as atheistic, though Samkhya is equally as theistic as Yoga.[148] A majority of modern academic scholars are of view that the concept of Ishvara was incorporated into the nirishvara (atheistic) Samkhya viewpoint only after it became associated with the Yoga, the Pasupata and the Bhagavata schools of philosophy. Others have traced the concept of the emergent Isvara accepted by Samkhya to as far back as the Rig Veda, where it was called Hiranyagarbha (the golden germ, golden egg).[154] [155] This theistic Samkhya philosophy is described in the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita.[156]

Chandradhar Sharma in 1960 affirmed that Samkhya in the beginning was based on the theistic absolute of Upanishads, but later on, under the influence of Jaina and Buddhist thought, it rejected theistic monism and was content with spiritualistic pluralism and atheistic realism. This also explains why some of the later Samkhya commentators, e.g. Vijnanabhiksu in the sixteenth century, tried to revive the earlier theism in Samkhya.[157]: 137 

Arguments against Ishvara's existence

According to Sinha, the following arguments were given by Samkhya philosophers against the idea of an eternal, self-caused, creator God:[150]

  • If the existence of karma is assumed, the proposition of God as a moral governor of the universe is unnecessary. For, if God enforces the consequences of actions then he can do so without karma. If however, he is assumed to be within the law of karma, then karma itself would be the giver of consequences and there would be no need of a God.
  • Even if karma is denied, God still cannot be the enforcer of consequences. Because the motives of an enforcer God would be either egoistic or altruistic. Now, God's motives cannot be assumed to be altruistic because an altruistic God would not create a world so full of suffering. If his motives are assumed to be egoistic, then God must be thought to have desire, as agency or authority cannot be established in the absence of desire. However, assuming that God has desire would contradict God's eternal freedom which necessitates no compulsion in actions. Moreover, desire, according to Samkhya, is an attribute of prakṛti and cannot be thought to grow in God. The testimony of the Vedas, according to Samkhya, also confirms this notion.
  • Despite arguments to the contrary, if God is still assumed to contain unfulfilled desires, this would cause him to suffer pain and other similar human experiences. Such a worldly God would be no better than Samkhya's notion of higher self.
  • Furthermore, there is no proof of the existence of God. He is not the object of perception, there exists no general proposition that can prove him by inference and the testimony of the Vedas speak of prakṛti as the origin of the world, not God.

Therefore, Samkhya maintained that the various cosmological, ontological and teleological arguments could not prove God.

Influence on other schools

Vaisheshika and Nyaya

The Vaisheshika atomism, Nyaya epistemology may all have roots in the early Samkhya school of thought; but these schools likely developed in parallel with an evolving Samkhya tradition, as sibling intellectual movements.[158]

Yoga

 
Yoga is closely related to Samkhya in its philosophical foundations.

The Yoga school derives its ontology and epistemology from Samkhya and adds to it the concept of Isvara.[159] However, scholarly opinion on the actual relationship between Yoga and Samkhya is divided. While Jakob Wilhelm Hauer and Georg Feuerstein believe that Yoga was a tradition common to many Indian schools and its association with Samkhya was artificially foisted upon it by commentators such as Vyasa. Johannes Bronkhorst and Eric Frauwallner think that Yoga never had a philosophical system separate from Samkhya. Bronkhorst further adds that the first mention of Yoga as a separate school of thought is no earlier than Śankara's (c. 788–820 CE)[160] Brahmasūtrabhaśya.[161]

Tantra

The dualistic metaphysics of various Tantric traditions illustrates the strong influence of Samkhya on Tantra. Shaiva Siddhanta was identical to Samkhya in its philosophical approach, barring the addition of a transcendent theistic reality.[162] Knut A. Jacobsen, Professor of Religious Studies, notes the influence of Samkhya on Srivaishnavism. According to him, this Tantric system borrows the abstract dualism of Samkhya and modifies it into a personified male–female dualism of Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi.[163] Dasgupta speculates that the Tantric image of a wild Kali standing on a slumbering Shiva was inspired from the Samkhyan conception of prakṛti as a dynamic agent and Purusha as a passive witness. However, Samkhya and Tantra differed in their view on liberation. While Tantra sought to unite the male and female ontological realities, Samkhya held a withdrawal of consciousness from matter as the ultimate goal.[164]

According to Bagchi, the Samkhya Karika (in karika 70) identifies Sāmkhya as a Tantra,[165] and its philosophy was one of the main influences both on the rise of the Tantras as a body of literature, as well as Tantra sadhana.[166]

Advaita Vedanta

The Advaita Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara called Samkhya as the 'principal opponent' (pradhana-malla) of the Vedanta. He criticized the Samkhya view that the cause of the universe is the unintelligent Prakriti (Pradhan). According to Shankara, the Intelligent Brahman only can be such a cause.[157]: 242–244  He considered Samkhya philosophy as propounded in Samkhyakarika to be inconsistent with the teachings in the Vedas, and considered the dualism in Samkhya to be non-Vedic.[167] In contrast, ancient Samkhya philosophers in India claimed Vedic authority for their views.[168]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Zimmer: "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India - being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems."[116]
  2. ^ With the publication of previously unknown editions of Yuktidipika about mid 20th century, Larson[76] has suggested what he calls as "a tempting hypothesis", but uncertain, that Samkhya tradition may be the oldest of the Indian technical philosophical schools (Nyaya, Vaisheshika).[76]
  3. ^ Early speculations such as Rg Veda 1.164, 10.90 and 10.129; see Larson (2014, p. 5).
  4. ^ a b Older authors have noted the references to samkhya in the Upanishads. Surendranath Dasgupta stated in 1922 that Samkhya can be traced to Upanishads such as Katha Upanishad, Shvetashvatara Upanishad and Maitrayaniya Upanishad, and that the 'extant Samkhya' is a system that unites the doctrine of permanence of the Upanishads with the doctrine of momentariness of Buddhism and the doctrine of relativism of Jainism.[79] Arthur Keith in 1925 said, '[That] Samkhya owes its origin to the Vedic-Upanisadic-epic heritage is quite evident',[80] and 'Samkhya is most naturally derived out of the speculations in the Vedas, Brahmanas and the Upanishads'.[81] Johnston in 1937 analyzed then available Hindu and Buddhist texts for the origins of Samkhya and wrote, '[T]he origin lay in the analysis of the individual undertaken in the Brahmanas and earliest Upanishads, at first with a view to assuring the efficacy of the sacrificial rites and later in order to discover the meaning of salvation in the religious sense and the methods of attaining it. Here – in Kaushitaki Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad – the germs are to be found (of) two of the main ideas of classical Samkhya'.[82]

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  123. ^ Fowler 2012, p. 34
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  126. ^ Sharma 1997, p. 149
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  141. ^ Cowell and Gough, p. 22.
  142. ^ Eliade, Trask & White 2009, p. 370
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  160. ^ Isayeva 1993, p. 84
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  162. ^ Flood 2006, p. 69
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  164. ^ Kripal 1998, pp. 148–149
  165. ^ Bagchi 1989, p. 6
  166. ^ Bagchi 1989, p. 10
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Sources

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  • Zimmer, Heinrich (1951), Philosophies of India (reprint 1989), Princeton University Press

Further reading

External links

  • Ferenc Ruzsa, "Samkhya". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  • Dan Lusthaus, Samkhya
  • Samkhya and Yoga: An Introduction, Russell Kirkland, University of Georgia
  • PDF file of Ishwarkrishna's Sankhyakarika, in English
  • Bibliography of scholarly works: see [S] for Samkhya by Karl Potter, University of Washington
  • Lectures on Samkhya, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford University

March 31, 2023
samkhya, this, article, about, school, philosophy, statistics, journal, sankhya, journal, sankya, ɑː, sanskrit, iast, sāṅkhya, dualistic, school, indian, philosophy, views, reality, composed, independent, principles, puruṣa, consciousness, spirit, prakṛti, nat. This article is about a school of philosophy For the statistics journal see Sankhya journal Samkhya or Sankya ˈ s ɑː ŋ k j e Sanskrit स ख य IAST saṅkhya is a dualistic school of Indian philosophy 1 2 3 It views reality as composed of two independent principles puruṣa consciousness or spirit and prakṛti nature or matter including the human mind and emotions 4 Puruṣa is the witness consciousness It is absolute independent free beyond perception above any experience by mind or senses and impossible to describe in words 5 6 7 Unmanifest prakriti is matter or nature It is inactive unconscious and is a balance of the three guṇas qualities or innate tendencies 8 9 namely sattva rajas and tamas When prakṛti comes into contact with Purusha this balance is disturbed and Prakriti becomes manifest evolving twenty three tattvas 10 namely intellect buddhi mahat ego ahamkara mind manas the five sensory capacities the five action capacities and the five subtle elements or modes of sensory content tanmatras from which the five gross elements or forms of perceptual objects earth water fire air and space emerge 8 11 in turn giving rise to the manifestation of sensory experience and cognition 12 13 Jiva a living being is the state in which purusha is bonded to prakriti 14 Human experience is an interplay of the two purusha being conscious of the various combinations of cognitive activities 14 The end of the bondage of purusha to prakriti is called liberation or kaivalya isolation 15 Samkhya s epistemology accepts three of six pramanas proofs as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge as does yoga These are pratyakṣa perception anumaṇa inference and sabda aptavacana meaning word testimony of reliable sources 16 17 18 Sometimes described as one of the rationalist schools of Indian philosophy it relied exclusively on reason 19 20 While samkhya like speculations can be found in the Rig Veda and some of the older Upanishads some western scholars have proposed that Samkhya may have non Vedic origins 21 note 1 and developed in ascetic milieus Proto samkhya ideas developed from the 8th 7th c BCE onwards as evidenced in the middle Upanishads the Buddhacharita the Bhagavad Gita and the Mokshadharma section of the Mahabharata 22 It was related to the early ascetic traditions and meditation spiritual practices and religious cosmology 23 and methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge vidya jnana viveka that end the cycle of dukkha suffering and rebirth 24 allowing for a great variety of philosophical formulations 23 Pre karika systematic Samkhya existed around the beginning of the first millennium CE 25 The defining method of Samkhya was established with the Samkhyakarika 4th c CE The oldest strands of Samkhya may have been theistic or nontheistic but with its classical systematization in the early first millennium CE the existence of a deity became irrelevant 26 27 28 29 Samkhya is strongly related to the Yoga school of Hinduism for which it forms the theoretical foundation and it was influential on other schools of Indian philosophy 30 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Philosophy 2 1 Puruṣa and Prakṛti 2 1 1 Puruṣa witness consciousness 2 1 2 Prakṛti cognitive processes 2 2 Liberation or mokṣa 2 3 Epistemology 2 4 Causality 3 Historical development 3 1 Vedic speculations and Upanishadic enumerations 3 1 1 Rig Vedic speculations 3 1 2 Upanishads 3 2 Proto Samkhya 3 2 1 Ascetic origins 3 2 2 Textual references 3 2 3 Traditional credited founders 3 2 4 Buddhist and Jainist influences 3 3 Pre karika Samkhya 3 4 Classical Samkhya Samkhyakarika 3 5 Samkhya revival 4 Views on God 4 1 Arguments against Ishvara s existence 5 Influence on other schools 5 1 Vaisheshika and Nyaya 5 2 Yoga 5 3 Tantra 5 4 Advaita Vedanta 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksEtymology EditSaṃkhya स ख य or saṅkhya also transliterated as samkhya and sankhya respectively is a Sanskrit word that depending on the context means to reckon count enumerate calculate deliberate reason reasoning by numeric enumeration relating to number rational 31 In the context of ancient Indian philosophies Samkhya refers to the philosophical school in Hinduism based on systematic enumeration and rational examination 32 The word samkhya means empirical or relating to numbers 33 Although the term had been used in the general sense of metaphysical knowledge before 34 in technical usage it refers to the Samkhya school of thought that evolved into a cohesive philosophical system in early centuries CE 35 The Samkhya system is called so because it enumerates twenty five Tattvas or true principles and its chief object is to effect the final emancipation of the twenty fifth Tattva i e the puruṣa or soul 33 Philosophy EditPuruṣa and Prakṛti Edit Samkhya makes a distinction between two irreducible innate and independent realities 36 purusha the witness consciousness and prakṛti matter the activities of mind and perception 4 37 38 According to Dan Lusthaus In Saṃkhya puruṣa signifies the observer the witness Prakṛti includes all the cognitive moral psychological emotional sensorial and physical aspects of reality It is often mistranslated as matter or nature in non Saṃkhyan usage it does mean essential nature but that distracts from the heavy Saṃkhyan stress on prakṛti s cognitive mental psychological and sensorial activities Moreover subtle and gross matter are its most derivative byproducts not its core Only prakṛti acts 4 Puruṣa is considered as the conscious principle a passive enjoyer bhokta and the prakṛti is the enjoyed bhogya Samkhya believes that the puruṣa cannot be regarded as the source of inanimate world because an intelligent principle cannot transform itself into the unconscious world It is a pluralistic spiritualism atheistic realism and uncompromising dualism 39 Puruṣa witness consciousness Edit Purusha prakriti Puruṣa is the witness consciousness It is absolute independent free imperceptible unknowable through other agencies above any experience by mind or senses and beyond any words or explanations It remains pure nonattributive consciousness Puruṣa is neither produced nor does it produce 5 No appellations can qualify purusha nor can it substantialized or objectified 6 It cannot be reduced can t be settled Any designation of purusha comes from prakriti and is a limitation 7 Unlike Advaita Vedanta and like Purva Mimaṃsa Samkhya believes in plurality of the puruṣas 5 Prakṛti cognitive processes Edit Elements in Samkhya philosophy Main article Prakṛti Prakṛti is the first cause of the world of our experiences 10 Since it is the first principle tattva of the universe it is called the pradhana chief principle but as it is the unconscious and unintelligent principle it is also called the jaḍa unintelligent It is composed of three essential characteristics trigunas These are Sattva poise fineness lightness illumination and joy Rajas dynamism activity excitation and pain Tamas inertia coarseness heaviness obstruction and sloth 39 40 41 Unmanifested prakriti is infinite inactive and unconscious with the three gunas in a state of equilibrium This equilibrium of the gunas is disturbed when prakṛti comes into contact with consciousness or Purusha giving rise to the manifestation of the world of experience from unmanifested prakṛti 12 13 Prakriti becomes manifest as twenty three tattvas 10 intellect buddhi mahat ego ahamkara mind manas the five sensory capacities the five action capacities and the five subtle elements or modes of sensory content tanmatras form rupa sound shabda smell gandha taste rasa touch sparsha from which the five gross elements or forms of perceptual objects emerge earth prithivi water jala fire Agni air Vayu ether Akasha 8 11 Prakriti is the source of our experience it is not the evolution of a series of material entities but the emergence of experience itself 12 It is description of experience and the relations between its elements not an explanation of the origin of the universe 12 All prakriti has these three gunas in different proportions Each guna is dominant at specific times of day The interplay of these gunas defines the character of someone or something of nature and determines the progress of life 42 43 The Samkhya theory of gunas was widely discussed developed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies Samkhya s philosophical treatises also influenced the development of various theories of Hindu ethics 30 Thought processes and mental events are conscious only to the extent they receive illumination from Purusha In Samkhya consciousness is compared to light which illuminates the material configurations or shapes assumed by the mind So intellect after receiving cognitive structures from the mind and illumination from pure consciousness creates thought structures that appear to be conscious 44 Ahamkara the ego or the phenomenal self appropriates all mental experiences to itself and thus personalizes the objective activities of mind and intellect by assuming possession of them 45 But consciousness is itself independent of the thought structures it illuminates 44 Liberation or mokṣa Edit The Supreme Good is mokṣa which consists in the permanent impossibility of the incidence of pain in the realisation of the Self as Self pure and simple Samkhyakarika I 3 46 Samkhya school considers moksha as a natural quest of every jiva The Samkhyakarika states As the unconscious milk functions for the sake of nourishment of the calf so the Prakriti functions for the sake of moksha of the spirit Samkhya karika Verse 57 47 48 Samkhya regards ignorance avidya as the root cause of suffering and bondage Samsara Samkhya states that the way out of this suffering is through knowledge viveka Mokṣa liberation states Samkhya school results from knowing the difference between prakṛti avyakta vyakta and puruṣa jna 16 More specifically the puruṣa that has attained liberation is to be distinguished from a puruṣa that is still bound on account of the liberated puruṣa being free from its subtle body synonymous with buddhi in which is located the mental dispositions that individuates it and causes it to experience bondage 49 58 Puruṣa the eternal pure consciousness due to ignorance identifies itself with products of prakṛti such as intellect buddhi and ego ahamkara This results in endless transmigration and suffering However once the realization arises that puruṣa is distinct from prakṛti is more than empirical ego and that puruṣa is deepest conscious self within the Self gains isolation kaivalya and freedom moksha 50 Though in conventional terms the bondage is ascribed to the puruṣa this is ultimately a mistake This is because the Samkhya school Samkhya karika Verse 63 maintains that it is actually prakriti that binds itself and thus bondage should in reality be ascribed to prakriti not to the puruṣa 51 By seven modes nature binds herself by herself by one she releases herself for the soul s wish Samkhya karika Verse 63 Vacaspati gave a metaphorical example to elaborate the position that the puruṣa is only mistakenly ascribed bondage although the king is ascribed victory or defeat it is actually the soldiers that experience it 52 It is then not merely that bondage is only mistakenly ascribed to the puruṣa but that liberation is like bondage wrongly ascribed to the puruṣa and should be ascribed to prakriti alone 49 60 Other forms of Samkhya teach that Mokṣa is attained by one s own development of the higher faculties of discrimination achieved by meditation and other yogic practices Moksha is described by Samkhya scholars as a state of liberation where Sattva guna predominates 15 Epistemology Edit The Samkhya school considers perception inference and reliable testimony as three reliable means to knowledge 16 17 Samkhya considered Pratyakṣa or Dṛṣṭam direct sense perception Anumana inference and Sabda or Aptavacana verbal testimony of the sages or shastras to be the only valid means of knowledge or pramana 16 Unlike some other schools Samkhya did not consider the following three pramanas to be epistemically proper Upamaṇa comparison and analogy Arthapatti postulation deriving from circumstances or Anupalabdi non perception negative cognitive proof 17 Pratyakṣa प रत यक ष means perception It is of two types in Hindu texts external and internal External perception is described as that arising from the interaction of five senses and worldly objects while internal perception is described by this school as that of inner sense the mind 53 54 The ancient and medieval Indian texts identify four requirements for correct perception 55 Indriyarthasannikarsa direct experience by one s sensory organ s with the object whatever is being studied Avyapadesya non verbal correct perception is not through hearsay according to ancient Indian scholars where one s sensory organ relies on accepting or rejecting someone else s perception Avyabhicara does not wander correct perception does not change nor is it the result of deception because one s sensory organ or means of observation is drifting defective suspect and Vyavasayatmaka definite correct perception excludes judgments of doubt either because of one s failure to observe all the details or because one is mixing inference with observation and observing what one wants to observe or not observing what one does not want to observe 55 Some ancient scholars proposed unusual perception as pramana and called it internal perception a proposal contested by other Indian scholars The internal perception concepts included pratibha intuition samanyalaksanapratyaksa a form of induction from perceived specifics to a universal and jnanalaksanapratyaksa a form of perception of prior processes and previous states of a topic of study by observing its current state 56 Further some schools considered and refined rules of accepting uncertain knowledge from Pratyakṣa pranama so as to contrast nirnaya definite judgment conclusion from anadhyavasaya indefinite judgment 57 Anumana अन म न means inference It is described as reaching a new conclusion and truth from one or more observations and previous truths by applying reason 58 Observing smoke and inferring fire is an example of Anumana 53 In all except one Hindu philosophies 59 this is a valid and useful means to knowledge The method of inference is explained by Indian texts as consisting of three parts pratijna hypothesis hetu a reason and drshtanta examples 60 The hypothesis must further be broken down into two parts state the ancient Indian scholars sadhya that idea which needs to proven or disproven and paksha the object on which the sadhya is predicated The inference is conditionally true if sapaksha positive examples as evidence are present and if vipaksha negative examples as counter evidence are absent For rigor the Indian philosophies also state further epistemic steps For example they demand Vyapti the requirement that the hetu reason must necessarily and separately account for the inference in all cases in both sapaksha and vipaksha 60 61 A conditionally proven hypothesis is called a nigamana conclusion 62 Sabda शब द means relying on word testimony of past or present reliable experts 17 63 Hiriyanna explains Sabda pramana as a concept which means reliable expert testimony The schools which consider it epistemically valid suggest that a human being needs to know numerous facts and with the limited time and energy available he can learn only a fraction of those facts and truths directly 64 He must cooperate with others to rapidly acquire and share knowledge and thereby enrich each other s lives This means of gaining proper knowledge is either spoken or written but through Sabda words 64 The reliability of the source is important and legitimate knowledge can only come from the Sabda of Vedas 17 64 The disagreement between the schools has been on how to establish reliability Some schools such as Carvaka state that this is never possible and therefore Sabda is not a proper pramana Other schools debate means to establish reliability 65 Causality Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Samkhya system is based on Sat karya vada or the theory of causation According to Satkaryavada the effect is pre existent in the cause There is only an apparent or illusory change in the makeup of the cause and not a material one when it becomes effect Since effects cannot come from nothing the original cause or ground of everything is seen as prakṛti 66 More specifically Samkhya system follows the prakṛti Parinama Vada Parinama denotes that the effect is a real transformation of the cause The cause under consideration here is prakṛti or more precisely Moola prakṛti Primordial Matter The Samkhya system is therefore an exponent of an evolutionary theory of matter beginning with primordial matter In evolution prakṛti is transformed and differentiated into multiplicity of objects Evolution is followed by dissolution In dissolution the physical existence all the worldly objects mingle back into prakṛti which now remains as the undifferentiated primordial substance This is how the cycles of evolution and dissolution follow each other But this theory is very different from the modern theories of science in the sense that prakṛti evolves for each Jiva separately giving individual bodies and minds to each and after liberation these elements of prakṛti merges into the Moola prakṛti Another uniqueness of Samkhya is that not only physical entities but even mind ego and intelligence are regarded as forms of Unconsciousness quite distinct from pure consciousness Samkhya theorizes that prakṛti is the source of the perceived world of becoming It is pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty four tattvas or principles The evolution itself is possible because prakṛti is always in a state of tension among its constituent strands or gunas Sattva Rajas and Tamas In a state of equilibrium of three gunas when the three together are one unmanifest prakṛti which is unknowable A guna is an entity that can change either increase or decrease therefore pure consciousness is called nirguna or without any modification The evolution obeys causality relationships with primal Nature itself being the material cause of all physical creation The cause and effect theory of Samkhya is called Satkarya vada theory of existent causes and holds that nothing can really be created from or destroyed into nothingness all evolution is simply the transformation of primal Nature from one form to another Samkhya cosmology describes how life emerges in the universe the relationship between Purusha and prakṛti is crucial to Patanjali s yoga system The strands of Samkhya thought can be traced back to the Vedic speculation of creation It is also frequently mentioned in the Mahabharata and Yogavasishta Historical development EditLarson 1979 discerns four basic periods in the development of Samkhya 67 8 9th c BCE 5th c BCE ancient speculations including speculative Vedic hymns and the oldest prose Upanishads 4th c BCE 1st c CE proto Samkhya speculations as found in the middle Upanishads the Buddhacarita the Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata 1st 10th c CE classical Samkhya 15th 17th c renaissance of later SamkhyaLarson 1987 discerns three phases of development of the term samkhya relating to three different meanings 68 Vedic period and the Mauryan Empire ca 1500 BCE until the 4th and 3rd c BCE 68 relating to number enumeration or calculation 68 Intellectual inquiry was frequently cast in the format of elaborate enumerations 68 references to samkhya do not denote integrated systems of thought 22 8th 7th c BCE first centuries CE 22 as a masculine noun referring to someone who calculates enumerates or discriminates properly or correctly 68 Proto samkhya 69 related to the early ascetic traditions reflected in the Moksadharma section of the Mahabharata the Bhagavad Gita and the cosmological speculations of the Puranas 22 The notion of samkhya becomes related to methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge vidya jnana viveka that end the cycle of dukkha and rebirth 24 During this period samkhya becomes explicitly related to meditation spiritual practices and religious cosmology 23 and is primarily a methodology for attaining liberation and appears to allow for a great variety of philosophical formulations 23 According to Larson Samkhya means in the Upanishads and the Epic simply the way of salvation by knowledge 23 As such it contains psychological analyses of experience that become dominant motifs in Jain and Buddhist meditation contexts 70 Typical Samkhya terminology and issues develop 70 While yoga emphasizes asanas breathing and ascetic practices samkhya is concerned with intellectual analyses and proper discernment 70 but samkhya reasonong is not really differentiated from yoga 69 According to Van Buitenen these ideas developed in the interaction between various sramanas and ascetic groups 71 Numerous ancient teachers are named in the various texts including Kapila and Pancasikha 72 1st c BCE first centuries CE 69 as a neuter term referring to the beginning of a technical philosophical system 73 Pre karika Samkhya ca 100 BCE 200 CE 74 This period ends with Ishvara Krishna s Isvarakṛṣṇa 350 CE Samkhyakarika 69 According to Larson the shift of Samkhya from speculations to the normative conceptualization hints but does not conclusively prove that Samkhya may be the oldest of the Indian technical philosophical schools e g Nyaya Vaisheshika and Buddhist ontology one that evolved over time and influenced the technical aspects of Buddhism and Jainism 75 note 2 Vedic speculations and Upanishadic enumerations Edit In the beginning this was Self alone in the shape of a person puruṣa He looking around saw nothing but his Self Atman He first said This is I therefore he became I by name Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1 4 1 77 78 The early speculative phase took place in the first half of the first millennium BCE 67 when ascetic spirituality and monastic sramana and yati traditions came into vogue in India and ancient scholars combined enumerated set s of principles with a methodology of reasoning that results in spiritual knowledge vidya jnana viveka 24 These early non Samkhya speculations and proto Samkhya ideas are visible in earlier Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas note 3 early Upanishads such as the Chandogya Upanishad 24 note 4 and the Bhagavad Gita 83 67 However these early speculations and proto Samkhya ideas had not distilled and congealed into a distinct complete philosophy 84 Anthony Warder 1994 first ed 1967 writes that the Samkhya and Mimaṃsa schools appear to have been established before the Sramana traditions in India 500 BCE and he finds that Samkhya represents a relatively free development of speculation among the Brahmans independent of the Vedic revelation 85 Warder writes Samkhya has indeed been suggested to be non Brahmanical and even anti Vedic in origin but there is no tangible evidence for that except that it is very different than most Vedic speculation but that is itself quite inconclusive Speculations in the direction of the Samkhya can be found in the early Upanishads 86 Rig Vedic speculations Edit The earliest mention of dualism is in the Rigveda a text that was compiled in the second millennium BCE 87 in various chapters Nasadiya Sukta Hymn of non Eternity origin of universe There was neither non existence nor existence then Neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond What stirred Where In whose protection There was neither death nor immortality then No distinguishing sign of night nor of day That One breathed windless by its own impulse Other than that there was nothing beyond Darkness there was at first by darkness hidden Without distinctive marks this all was water That which becoming by the void was covered That One by force of heat came into being Who really knows Who will here proclaim it Whence was it produced Whence is this creation Gods came afterwards with the creation of this universe Who then knows whence it has arisen Whether God s will created it or whether He was mute Perhaps it formed itself or perhaps it did not Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows Only He knows or perhaps He does not know Rigveda 10 129 Abridged Tr Kramer Christian 88 The hymn as Mandala 10 in general is late within the Rigveda Samhita and expresses thought more typical of later Vedantic philosophy 89 At a mythical level dualism is found in the Indra Vritra myth of chapter 1 32 of the Rigveda 90 Enumeration the etymological root of the word samkhya is found in numerous chapters of the Rigveda such as 1 164 10 90 and 10 129 91 According to Larson it is likely that in the oldest period these enumerations were occasionally also applied in the context of meditation themes and religious cosmology such as in the hymns of 1 164 Riddle Hymns and 10 129 Nasadiya Hymns 92 However these hymns present only the outline of ideas not specific Samkhya theories and these theories developed in a much later period 92 The Riddle hymns of the Rigveda famous for their numerous enumerations structural language symmetry within the verses and the chapter enigmatic word play with anagrams that symbolically portray parallelism in rituals and the cosmos nature and the inner life of man 93 This hymn includes enumeration counting as well as a series of dual concepts cited by early Upanishads For example the hymns 1 164 2 1 164 3 mention seven multiple times which in the context of other chapters of Rigveda have been interpreted as referring to both seven priests at a ritual and seven constellations in the sky the entire hymn is a riddle that paints a ritual as well as the sun moon earth three seasons the transitory nature of living beings the passage of time and spirit 93 94 Seven to the one wheeled chariot yoke the Courser bearing seven names the single Courser draws it Three naved the wheel is sound and undecaying whereon are resting all these worlds of being The seven priests who on the seven wheeled car are mounted have horses seven in tale who draw them onward Seven Sisters utter songs of praise together in whom the names of the seven Cows are treasured Who hath beheld him as he Sun Agni sprang to being seen how the boneless One spirit supports the bony body Where is the blood of earth the life the spirit Who will approach the one who knows to ask this Rigveda 1 164 2 1 164 4 95 The chapter 1 164 asks a number of metaphysical questions such as what is the One in the form of the Unborn that created the six realms of the world 96 97 Dualistic philosophical speculations then follow in chapter 1 164 of the Rigveda particularly in the well studied allegory of two birds hymn 1 164 20 1 164 22 a hymn that is referred to in the Mundaka Upanishad and other texts 93 98 99 The two birds in this hymn have been interpreted to mean various forms of dualism the sun and the moon the two seekers of different kinds of knowledge and the body and the atman 100 101 Two Birds with fair wings knit with bonds of friendship embrace the same tree One of the twain eats the sweet fig the other not eating keeps watch Where those fine Birds hymn ceaselessly their portion of life eternal and the sacred synods There is the Universe s mighty Keeper who wise hath entered into me the simple The tree on which the fine Birds eat the sweetness where they all rest and procreate their offspring Upon its top they say the fig is sweetest he who does not know the Father will not reach it Rigveda 1 164 20 1 164 22 95 The emphasis of duality between existence sat and non existence asat in the Nasadiya Sukta of the Rigveda is similar to the vyakta avyakta manifest unmanifest polarity in Samkhya The hymns about Puruṣa may also have had some influence on Samkhya 102 The Samkhya notion of buddhi or mahat is similar to the notion of hiranyagarbha which appears in both the Rigveda and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad 103 Upanishads Edit Higher than the senses stand the objects of senses Higher than objects of senses stands mind Higher than mind stands intellect Higher than intellect stands the great self Higher than the great self stands Avyaktam unmenifested or indistinctive Higher than Avyaktam stands Purusha Higher than this there is nothing He is the final goal and the highest point In all beings dwells this Purusha as Atman essence invisible concealed He is only seen by the keenest thought by the sublest of those thinkers who see into the subtle Katha Upanishad 3 10 13 104 105 The oldest of the major Upanishads c 900 600 BCE contain speculations along the lines of classical Samkhya philosophy 83 The concept of ahamkara was traced back by Van Buitenen to chapters 1 2 and 1 4 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and chapter 7 25 of the Chandogya Upaniṣad where it is a cosmic entity and not a psychological notion 83 103 Satkaryavada the theory of causation in Samkhya may in part be traced to the verses in sixth chapter which emphasize the primacy of sat being and describe creation from it The idea that the three gunas or attributes influence creation is found in both Chandogya and Shvetashvatara Upanishads 106 Yajnavalkya s exposition on the Self in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and the dialogue between Uddalaka Aruni and his son Svetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad represent a more developed notion of the essence of man Atman as pure subjectivity i e the knower who is himself unknowable the seer who cannot be seen and as pure conscious discovered by means of speculations or enumerations 107 Acdording lo Larson it seesm quite likely that both the monistic trends in Indian thought and the duslistic samkhya could have developed out of these ancient speculations 108 According to Larson the enumeration of tattvas in Samkhya is also found in Taittiriya Upanishad Aitareya Upanishad and Yajnavalkya Maitri dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 109 The Katha Upanishad in verses 3 10 13 and 6 7 11 describes a concept of puruṣa and other concepts also found in later Samkhya 110 The Shvetashvatara Upanishad in chapter 6 13 describes samkhya with Yoga philosophy and Bhagavad Gita in book 2 provides axiological implications of Samkhya therewith providing textual evidence of samkhyan terminology and concepts 111 Katha Upanishad conceives the Purusha cosmic spirit consciousness as same as the individual soul Atman Self 110 112 Proto Samkhya Edit Ascetic origins Edit While some earlier scholars have argued for Upanishadic origins of the Samkhya tradition note 4 and the Upanisads contain dualistic speculations which may have influenced proto samkhya 83 113 other scholars have noted the dissimilarities of Shamkhya with the Vedic tradition As early as 1898 Richard Karl von Garbe a German professor of philosophy and Indologist wrote in 1898 The origin of the Sankhya system appears in the proper light only when we understand that in those regions of India which were little influenced by Brahmanism political connotation given by the Christian missionary the first attempt had been made to solve the riddles of the world and of our existence merely by means of reason For the Sankhya philosophy is in its essence not only atheistic but also inimical to the Veda 114 Dandekar similarly wrote in 1968 The origin of the Sankhya is to be traced to the pre Vedic non Aryan thought complex 115 Heinrich Zimmer states that Samkhya has non Aryan origins 21 note 1 According to Ruzsa in 2006 Saṅkhya has a very long history Its roots go deeper than textual traditions allow us to see 117 stating that Saṅkhya likely grew out of speculations rooted in cosmic dualism and introspective meditational practice 117 The dualism is rooted in agricultural concepts of the union of the male sky god and the female earth goddess the union of the spiritual immaterial lordly immobile fertilizer represented as the Siva liṅgam or phallus and of the active fertile powerful but subservient material principle Sakti or Power often as the horrible Dark Lady Kali 117 In contrast The ascetic and meditative yoga practice in contrast aimed at overcoming the limitations of the natural body and achieving perfect stillness of the mind A combination of these views may have resulted in the concept of the Puruṣa the unchanging immaterial conscious essence contrasted with Prakṛti the material principle that produces not only the external world and the body but also the changing and externally determined aspects of the human mind such as the intellect ego internal and external perceptual organs 117 According to Ruzsa Both the agrarian theology of Siva Sakti Sky Earth and the tradition of yoga meditation do not appear to be rooted in the Vedas Not surprisingly classical Saṅkhya is remarkably independent of orthodox Brahmanic traditions including the Vedas Saṅkhya is silent about the Vedas about their guardians the Brahmins and for that matter about the whole caste system and about the Vedic gods and it is slightly unfavorable towards the animal sacrifices that characterized the ancient Vedic religion But all our early sources for the history of Saṅkhya belong to the Vedic tradition and it is thus reasonable to suppose that we do not see in them the full development of the Saṅkhya system but rather occasional glimpses of its development as it gained gradual acceptance in the Brahmanic fold 117 Burley argues for an ontegenetic or incremental development of Shamkya instead of being established by one historical founder 118 Burley states that India s religio cultural heritage is complicated and likely experienced a non linear development 119 Samkhya is not necessarily non Vedic nor pre Vedic nor a reaction to Brahmanic hegemony states Burley 119 It is most plausibly in its origins a lineage that grew and evolved from a combination of ascetic traditions and Vedic guru teacher and disciples Burley suggests the link between Samkhya and Yoga as likely the root of this evolutionary origin during the Vedic era of India 119 According to Van Buitenen various ideas on yoga and meditation developed in the interaction between various sramanas and ascetic groups 71 Textual references Edit The Mokshadharma chapter of Shanti Parva Book of Peace in the Mahabharata epic composed between 400 BCE to 400 CE explains Samkhya ideas along with other extant philosophies and then lists numerous scholars in recognition of their philosophical contributions to various Indian traditions and therein at least three Samkhya scholars can be recognized Kapila Asuri and Pancasikha 120 121 The 12th chapter of the Buddhist text Buddhacarita suggests Samkhya philosophical tools of reliable reasoning were well formed by about 5th century BCE 120 According to Rusza The ancient Buddhist Asvaghoṣa in his Buddha Carita describes Aḷara Kalama the teacher of the young Buddha ca 420 B C E as following an archaic form of Saṅkhya 117 Samkhya and Yoga are mentioned together for first time in chapter 6 13 of the Shvetashvatra Upanishad 111 as samkhya yoga adhigamya literally to be understood by proper reasoning and spiritual discipline 122 Bhagavad Gita identifies Samkhya with understanding or knowledge 123 The three gunas are also mentioned in the Gita though they are not used in the same sense as in classical Samkhya 124 The Gita integrates Samkhya thought with the devotion bhakti of theistic schools and the impersonal Brahman of Vedanta 125 Traditional credited founders Edit Sage Kapila is traditionally credited as a founder of the Samkhya school 126 It is unclear in which century of the 1st millennium BCE Kapila lived 127 Kapila appears in Rigveda but context suggests that the word means reddish brown color Both Kapila as a seer and the term Samkhya appear in hymns of section 5 2 in Shvetashvatara Upanishad 300 BCE suggesting Kapila s and Samkhya philosophy s origins may predate it Numerous other ancient Indian texts mention Kapila for example Baudhayana Grhyasutra in chapter IV 16 1 describes a system of rules for ascetic life credited to Kapila called Kapila Sannyasa Vidha 127 A 6th century CE Chinese translation and other texts consistently note Kapila as an ascetic and the founder of the school mention Asuri as the inheritor of the teaching and a much later scholar named Pancasikha 128 as the scholar who systematized it and then helped widely disseminate its ideas Isvarakrsna is identified in these texts as the one who summarized and simplified Samkhya theories of Pancasikha many centuries later roughly 4th or 5th century CE in the form that was then translated into Chinese by Paramartha in the 6th century CE 127 Buddhist and Jainist influences Edit Buddhism and Jainism had developed in eastern India by the 5th century BCE It is probable that these schools of thought and the earliest schools of Samkhya influenced each other 129 According to Burely there is no evidence that a systematic samkhya philosophy existed prior to the founding of Buddhism and Jainism sometime in the 5th or 4th century BCE 130 A prominent similarity between Buddhism and Samkhya is the greater emphasis on suffering dukkha as the foundation for their respective soteriological theories than other Indian philosophies 129 However suffering appears central to Samkhya in its later literature which likely suggests a Buddhist influence Eliade however presents the alternate theory that Samkhya and Buddhism developed their soteriological theories over time benefiting from their mutual influence 129 Likewise the Jain doctrine of plurality of individual souls jiva could have influenced the concept of multiple purushas in Samkhya However Hermann Jacobi an Indologist thinks that there is little reason to assume that Samkhya notion of Purushas was solely dependent on the notion of jiva in Jainism It is more likely that Samkhya was moulded by many ancient theories of soul in various Vedic and non Vedic schools 129 This declared to you is the Yoga of the wisdom of Samkhya Hear now of the integrated wisdom with which Partha you will cast off the bonds of karma Bhagavad Gita 2 39 131 Larson Bhattacharya and Potter state it to be likely that early Samkhya doctrines found in oldest Upanishads 700 800 BCE provided the contextual foundations and influenced Buddhist and Jaina doctrines and these became contemporaneous sibling intellectual movements with Samkhya and other schools of Hindu philosophy 132 This is evidenced for example by the references to Samkhya in ancient and medieval era Jaina literature 133 Pre karika Samkhya Edit According to Ruzsa about 2 000 years ago Saṅkhya became the representative philosophy of Hindu thought in Hindu circles 117 influencing all strands of the Hindu tradition and Hindu texts 117 Between 1938 and 1967 two previously unknown manuscript editions of Yuktidipika ca 600 700 CE were discovered and published 25 Yuktidipika is an ancient review by an unknown author and has emerged as the most important commentary on the Samkhyakarika itself an ancient key text of the Samkhya school 134 84 This commentary as well as the reconstruction of pre karika epistemology and Samkhya emanation text containing cosmology ontology from the earliest Puranas and Mokshadharma suggest that Samkhya as a technical philosophical system existed from about the last century BCE to the early centuries of the Common Era Yuktidipika suggests that many more ancient scholars contributed to the origins of Samkhya in ancient India than were previously known and that Samkhya was a polemical philosophical system However almost nothing is preserved from the centuries when these ancient Samkhya scholars lived 25 Classical Samkhya Samkhyakarika Edit Main article Samkhyakarika The earliest surviving authoritative text on classical Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya Karika c 200 CE 135 or 350 450 CE 125 of isvarakṛṣṇa 125 There were probably other texts in early centuries CE however none of them are available today 136 Isvarakṛṣṇa in his Karika describes a succession of the disciples from Kapila through Asuri andPancasikha to himself The text also refers to an earlier work of Samkhya philosophy called Ṣaṣṭitantra science of sixty topics which is now lost 125 The text was imported and translated into Chinese about the middle of the 6th century CE 137 The records of Al Biruni the Persian visitor to India in the early 11th century suggests Samkhyakarika was an established and definitive text in India in his times 138 Samkhyakarika includes distilled statements on epistemology metaphysics and soteriology of the Samkhya school For example the fourth to sixth verses of the text states it epistemic premises 139 Perception inference and right affirmation are admitted to be threefold proof for they are by all acknowledged and comprise every mode of demonstration It is from proof that belief of that which is to be proven results Perception is ascertainment of particular objects Inference which is of three sorts premises an argument and deduces that which is argued by it Right affirmation is true revelation Apta vacana and Sruti testimony of reliable source and the Vedas Sensible objects become known by perception but it is by inference or reasoning that acquaintance with things transcending the senses is obtained A truth which is neither to be directly perceived nor to be inferred from reasoning is deduced from Apta vacana and Sruti Samkhya Karika Verse 4 6 139 The most popular commentary on the Samkhyakarika was the Gauḍapada Bhaṣya attributed to Gauḍapada the proponent of Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy Other important commentaries on the karika were Yuktidipika c 6th century CE and Vacaspati s Saṁkhyatattvakaumudi c 10th century CE 140 Samkhya revival Edit The 13th century text Sarvadarsanasangraha contains 16 chapters each devoted to a separate school of Indian philosophy The 13th chapter in this book contains a description of the Samkhya philosophy 141 The Saṁkhyapravacana Sutra c 14th century CE renewed interest in Samkhya in the medieval era It is considered the second most important work of Samkhya after the karika 142 Commentaries on this text were written by Anirruddha Saṁkhyasutravṛtti c 15th century CE Vijnanabhikṣu Saṁkhyapravacanabhaṣya c 16th century CE Mahadeva vṛttisara c 17th century CE and Nagesa Laghusaṁkhyasutravṛtti 143 In his introduction the commentator Vijnana Bhiksu stated that only a sixteenth part of the original Samkhya Sastra remained and that the rest had been lost to time 144 While the commentary itself is no doubt medieval the age of the underlying sutras is unknown and perhaps much older According to Surendranath Dasgupta scholar of Indian philosophy Charaka Samhita an ancient Indian medical treatise also contains thoughts from an early Samkhya school 145 Views on God EditAlthough the Samkhya school considers the Vedas a reliable source of knowledge samkhya accepts the notion of higher selves or perfected beings but rejects the notion of God according to Paul Deussen and other scholars 146 147 although other scholars believe that Samkhya is as much theistic as the Yoga school 148 29 According to Rajadhyaksha classical Samkhya argues against the existence of God on metaphysical grounds Samkhya theorists argue that an unchanging God cannot be the source of an ever changing world and that God was only a necessary metaphysical assumption demanded by circumstances 149 The oldest commentary on the Samkhakarika the Yuktidipika asserts the existence of God stating We do not completely reject the particular power of the Lord since he assumes a majestic body and so forth Our intended meaning is just that there is no being who is different from prakrti and purusa and who is the instigator of these two as you claim Therefore your view is refuted The conjunction between prakrti and purusa is not instigated by another being 29 A medieval commentary of Samkhakarika such as Saṁkhyapravacana Sutra in verse no 1 92 directly states that existence of Ishvara God is unproved Hence there is no philosophical place for a creationist God in this system It is also argued by commentators of this text that the existence of Ishvara cannot be proved and hence cannot be admitted to exist 150 However later in the text the commentator Vijnana Bhiksu clarified that the subject of dispute between the Samkhyas and others was the existence of an eternal Isvara Samkhya did accept the concept of an emergent Isvara previously absorbed into Prakriti 151 A key difference between the Samkhya and Yoga schools state scholars 147 152 is that the Yoga school accepts a personal yet essentially inactive deity or personal god 153 However Radhanath Phukan in the introduction to his translation of the Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrsna has argued that commentators who see the unmanifested as non conscious make the mistake of regarding Samkhya as atheistic though Samkhya is equally as theistic as Yoga 148 A majority of modern academic scholars are of view that the concept of Ishvara was incorporated into the nirishvara atheistic Samkhya viewpoint only after it became associated with the Yoga the Pasupata and the Bhagavata schools of philosophy Others have traced the concept of the emergent Isvara accepted by Samkhya to as far back as the Rig Veda where it was called Hiranyagarbha the golden germ golden egg 154 155 This theistic Samkhya philosophy is described in the Mahabharata the Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita 156 Chandradhar Sharma in 1960 affirmed that Samkhya in the beginning was based on the theistic absolute of Upanishads but later on under the influence of Jaina and Buddhist thought it rejected theistic monism and was content with spiritualistic pluralism and atheistic realism This also explains why some of the later Samkhya commentators e g Vijnanabhiksu in the sixteenth century tried to revive the earlier theism in Samkhya 157 137 Arguments against Ishvara s existence Edit According to Sinha the following arguments were given by Samkhya philosophers against the idea of an eternal self caused creator God 150 If the existence of karma is assumed the proposition of God as a moral governor of the universe is unnecessary For if God enforces the consequences of actions then he can do so without karma If however he is assumed to be within the law of karma then karma itself would be the giver of consequences and there would be no need of a God Even if karma is denied God still cannot be the enforcer of consequences Because the motives of an enforcer God would be either egoistic or altruistic Now God s motives cannot be assumed to be altruistic because an altruistic God would not create a world so full of suffering If his motives are assumed to be egoistic then God must be thought to have desire as agency or authority cannot be established in the absence of desire However assuming that God has desire would contradict God s eternal freedom which necessitates no compulsion in actions Moreover desire according to Samkhya is an attribute of prakṛti and cannot be thought to grow in God The testimony of the Vedas according to Samkhya also confirms this notion Despite arguments to the contrary if God is still assumed to contain unfulfilled desires this would cause him to suffer pain and other similar human experiences Such a worldly God would be no better than Samkhya s notion of higher self Furthermore there is no proof of the existence of God He is not the object of perception there exists no general proposition that can prove him by inference and the testimony of the Vedas speak of prakṛti as the origin of the world not God Therefore Samkhya maintained that the various cosmological ontological and teleological arguments could not prove God Influence on other schools EditVaisheshika and Nyaya Edit The Vaisheshika atomism Nyaya epistemology may all have roots in the early Samkhya school of thought but these schools likely developed in parallel with an evolving Samkhya tradition as sibling intellectual movements 158 Yoga Edit Yoga is closely related to Samkhya in its philosophical foundations The Yoga school derives its ontology and epistemology from Samkhya and adds to it the concept of Isvara 159 However scholarly opinion on the actual relationship between Yoga and Samkhya is divided While Jakob Wilhelm Hauer and Georg Feuerstein believe that Yoga was a tradition common to many Indian schools and its association with Samkhya was artificially foisted upon it by commentators such as Vyasa Johannes Bronkhorst and Eric Frauwallner think that Yoga never had a philosophical system separate from Samkhya Bronkhorst further adds that the first mention of Yoga as a separate school of thought is no earlier than Sankara s c 788 820 CE 160 Brahmasutrabhasya 161 Tantra Edit The dualistic metaphysics of various Tantric traditions illustrates the strong influence of Samkhya on Tantra Shaiva Siddhanta was identical to Samkhya in its philosophical approach barring the addition of a transcendent theistic reality 162 Knut A Jacobsen Professor of Religious Studies notes the influence of Samkhya on Srivaishnavism According to him this Tantric system borrows the abstract dualism of Samkhya and modifies it into a personified male female dualism of Vishnu and Sri Lakshmi 163 Dasgupta speculates that the Tantric image of a wild Kali standing on a slumbering Shiva was inspired from the Samkhyan conception of prakṛti as a dynamic agent and Purusha as a passive witness However Samkhya and Tantra differed in their view on liberation While Tantra sought to unite the male and female ontological realities Samkhya held a withdrawal of consciousness from matter as the ultimate goal 164 According to Bagchi the Samkhya Karika in karika 70 identifies Samkhya as a Tantra 165 and its philosophy was one of the main influences both on the rise of the Tantras as a body of literature as well as Tantra sadhana 166 Advaita Vedanta Edit The Advaita Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara called Samkhya as the principal opponent pradhana malla of the Vedanta He criticized the Samkhya view that the cause of the universe is the unintelligent Prakriti Pradhan According to Shankara the Intelligent Brahman only can be such a cause 157 242 244 He considered Samkhya philosophy as propounded in Samkhyakarika to be inconsistent with the teachings in the Vedas and considered the dualism in Samkhya to be non Vedic 167 In contrast ancient Samkhya philosophers in India claimed Vedic authority for their views 168 See also EditAdvaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara a non dualist strand within Hinduism Darshanas Khyativada Ratha Kalpana Subtle bodyNotes Edit a b Zimmer Jainism does not derive from Brahman Aryan sources but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre Aryan upper class of northeastern India being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga Sankhya and Buddhism the other non Vedic Indian systems 116 With the publication of previously unknown editions of Yuktidipika about mid 20th century Larson 76 has suggested what he calls as a tempting hypothesis but uncertain that Samkhya tradition may be the oldest of the Indian technical philosophical schools Nyaya Vaisheshika 76 Early speculations such as Rg Veda 1 164 10 90 and 10 129 see Larson 2014 p 5 a b Older authors have noted the references to samkhya in the Upanishads Surendranath Dasgupta stated in 1922 that Samkhya can be traced to Upanishads such as Katha Upanishad Shvetashvatara Upanishad and Maitrayaniya Upanishad and that the extant Samkhya is a system that unites the doctrine of permanence of the Upanishads with the doctrine of momentariness of Buddhism and the doctrine of relativism of Jainism 79 Arthur Keith in 1925 said That Samkhya owes its origin to the Vedic Upanisadic epic heritage is quite evident 80 and Samkhya is most naturally derived out of the speculations in the Vedas Brahmanas and the Upanishads 81 Johnston in 1937 analyzed then available Hindu and Buddhist texts for the origins of Samkhya and wrote T he origin lay in the analysis of the individual undertaken in the Brahmanas and earliest Upanishads at first with a view to assuring the efficacy of the sacrificial rites and later in order to discover the meaning of salvation in the religious sense and the methods of attaining it Here in Kaushitaki Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad the germs are to be found of two of the main ideas of classical Samkhya 82 References Edit Knut A Jacobsen Theory and Practice of Yoga Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120832329 pages 100 101 Samkhya American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fifth Edition 2011 Quote Samkhya is a system of Hindu philosophy based on a dualism involving the ultimate principles of soul and matter Samkhya Webster s College Dictionary 2010 Random House ISBN 978 0375407413 Quote Samkhya is a system of Hindu philosophy stressing the reality and duality of spirit and matter a b c Lusthaus 2018 a b c Sharma 1997 pp 155 7 a b Chapple 2008 p 21 a b Osto 2018 p 203 a b c Osto 2018 p 204 205 Gerald James Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 pages 154 206 a b c Osto 2018 p 204 a b Haney 2002 p 42 a b c d Osto 2018 p 205 a b Larson 1998 p 11 a b Samkhya Definition Doctrines Philosophy amp Buddhism Britannica www britannica com Retrieved 1 January 2023 a b Gerald James Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 pages 36 47 a b c d Larson 1998 p 9 a b c d e Eliott Deutsche 2000 in Philosophy of Religion Indian Philosophy Vol 4 Editor Roy Perrett Routledge ISBN 978 0815336112 pages 245 248 John A Grimes A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy Sanskrit Terms Defined in English State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791430675 page 238 John A Grimes A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy Sanskrit Terms Defined in English State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791430675 page 238 Mikel Burley 2012 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 0415648875 pages 43 46 David Kalupahana 1995 Ethics in Early Buddhism University of Hawaii Press ISBN 978 0824817022 page 8 Quote The rational argument is identified with the method of Samkhya a rationalist school upholding the view that nothing comes out of nothing or that being cannot be non being a b Zimmer 1951 p 217 314 a b c d Larson 2014 p 4 a b c d e Larson 2014 p 5 a b c d Larson 2014 p 4 5 a b c Larson 2014 p 9 11 Michaels 2004 p 264 Sen Gupta 1986 p 6 Radhakrishnan amp Moore 1957 p 89 a b c Andrew J Nicholson 2013 Unifying Hinduism Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0231149877 Chapter 4 pg 77 a b Roy Perrett Indian Ethics Classical traditions and contemporary challenges Volume 1 Editor P Bilimoria et al Ashgate ISBN 978 0754633013 pages 149 158 Sanskrit and Tamil Dictionaries www sanskrit lexicon uni koeln de Retrieved 1 January 2023 Mikel Burley 2012 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 0415648875 pages 47 48 a b Apte 1957 p 1664 Bhattacharyya 1975 pp 419 20 Larson 1998 pp 4 38 288 Sharma 1997 pp 149 168 Haney 2002 p 17 Isaac amp Dangwal 1997 p 339 a b Sharma 1997 pp 149 168 Hiriyanna 1993 pp 270 272 Chattopadhyaya 1986 pp 109 110 James G Lochtefeld Guna in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism A M Vol 1 Rosen Publishing ISBN 9780823931798 page 265 T Bernard 1999 Hindu Philosophy Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1373 1 pages 74 76 a b Isaac amp Dangwal 1997 p 342 Leaman 2000 p 68 Sinha 2012 p App VI 1 Gerald James Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 page 273 Original Sanskrit Samkhya karika Compiled and indexed by Ferenc Ruzsa 2015 Sanskrit Documents Archives Samkhya karika by Iswara Krishna Henry Colebrooke Translator Oxford University Press page 169 a b Saṁkhya thought in the Brahmanical systems of Indian philosophy WorldCat org www worldcat org Retrieved 16 February 2023 Larson 1998 p 13 Colebrooke Henry Thomas 1887 The Sankhya karika or Memorial verses on the Sankhya philosophy Chatterjea p 178 OCLC 61647186 Dasti Matthew R Bryant Edwin F 2014 Free will agency and selfhood in Indian philosophy p 28 ISBN 978 0 19 992275 8 OCLC 852227561 a b MM Kamal 1998 The Epistemology of the Carvaka Philosophy Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 46 2 13 16 B Matilal 1992 Perception An Essay in Indian Theories of Knowledge Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0198239765 a b Karl Potter 1977 Meaning and Truth in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 2 Princeton University Press Reprinted in 1995 by Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81 208 0309 4 pages 160 168 Karl Potter 1977 Meaning and Truth in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 2 Princeton University Press Reprinted in 1995 by Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81 208 0309 4 pages 168 169 Karl Potter 1977 Meaning and Truth in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 2 Princeton University Press Reprinted in 1995 by Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81 208 0309 4 pages 170 172 W Halbfass 1991 Tradition and Reflection State University of New York Press ISBN 0 7914 0362 9 page 26 27 Carvaka school is the exception a b James Lochtefeld Anumana in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism Vol 1 A M Rosen Publishing ISBN 0 8239 2287 1 page 46 47 Karl Potter 2002 Presuppositions of India s Philosophies Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81 208 0779 0 Monier Williams 1893 Indian Wisdom Religious Philosophical and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus Luzac amp Co London page 61 DPS Bhawuk 2011 Spirituality and Indian Psychology Editor Anthony Marsella Springer ISBN 978 1 4419 8109 7 page 172 a b c M Hiriyanna 2000 The Essentials of Indian Philosophy Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120813304 page 43 P Billimoria 1988 Sabdapramaṇa Word and Knowledge Studies of Classical India Volume 10 Springer ISBN 978 94 010 7810 8 pages 1 30 Larson 1998 p 10 a b c Larson 1998 p 75 a b c d e Larson 2014 p 3 a b c d Larson 2014 p 9 a b c Larson 2014 p 6 a b Larson 2014 p 6 7 Larson 2014 p 7 Larson 2014 p 3 9 Larson 2014 p 14 18 Larson 2014 p 3 11 a b Larson 2014 p 10 11 Oriental Scholars of Sanskrit Chinese Sacred Books East Various Oriental Scholars with Index 50 vols Max Muller Oxford 1879 1910 Radhakrishnan 1953 p 163 Surendranath Dasgupta 1975 A History of Indian Philosophy Motilal Banarsidass p 212 ISBN 978 81 208 0412 8 Gerald Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 pages 31 32 Gerald Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 page 29 EH Johnston 1937 Early Samkhya An Essay on its Historical Development according to the Texts The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Volume XV pages 80 81 a b c d Burley 2006 pp 15 16 a b Larson 2014 p 3 4 Warder 2009 p 63 Warder 2009 pp 63 65 Singh 2008 p 185 Original Sanskrit Rigveda 10 129 Wikisource Translation 1 Max Muller 1859 A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature Williams and Norgate London pp 559 565 Translation 2 Kenneth Kramer 1986 World Scriptures An Introduction to Comparative Religions Paulist Press p 21 ISBN 0 8091 2781 4 Translation 3 David Christian 2011 Maps of Time An Introduction to Big History University of California Press pp 17 18 ISBN 978 0 520 95067 2 Although no doubt of high antiquity the hymn appears to be less of a primary than of a secondary origin being in fact a controversial composition levelled especially against the Saṃkhya theory Ravi Prakash Arya and K L Joshi Ṛgveda Saṃhita Sanskrit Text English Translation Notes amp Index of Verses Parimal Publications Delhi 2001 ISBN 81 7110 138 7 Set of four volumes Parimal Sanskrit Series No 45 2003 reprint 81 7020 070 9 Volume 4 p 519 Larson 1998 p 79 Larson Bhattacharya amp Potter 2014 p 5 6 109 110 180 a b Larson Bhattacharya amp Potter 2014 p 5 a b c Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton 2014 The Rigveda Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0199370184 pages 349 359 William Mahony 1997 The Artful Universe An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0791435809 pages 245 250 a b ऋग व द स क त १ १६४ व क स र त sa wikisource org in Sanskrit Retrieved 1 January 2023 Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton 2014 The Rigveda Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0199370184 pages 349 355 Rigveda 1 164 6 Ralph Griffith Translator Wikisource Larson Bhattacharya amp Potter 2014 p 295 296 Ram Nidumolu 2013 Two Birds in a Tree Berrett Koehler Publishers ISBN 978 1609945770 page 189 Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton 2014 The Rigveda Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0199370184 page 352 Anna Teresa Tymieniecka 2005 Logos of Phenomenology and Phenomenology of The Logos Springer ISBN 978 1402037061 pages 186 193 with footnote 7 Larson 1998 pp 59 79 81 a b Larson 1998 p 82 Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814684 pages 288 289 Michele Marie Desmarais 2008 Changing minds Mind Consciousness and Identity in Patanjali s Yoga Sutra Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120833364 page 25 Larson 1998 pp 82 84 Larson 1998 pp 88 89 Larson 1998 pp 89 Larson 1998 pp 88 90 a b Paul Deussen Sixty Upanishads of the Veda Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120814684 pages 273 288 289 298 299 a b Burley 2006 pp 15 18 Larson 1998 p 96 Larson 1998 pp 82 90 Richard Garbe 1892 Aniruddha s Commentary and the original parts of Vedantin Mahadeva s commentary on the Sankhya Sutras Translated with an introduction to the age and origin of the Sankhya system pp xx xxi R N Dandekar 1968 God in Indian Philosophy in Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute p 444 JSTOR 41694270 Zimmer 1951 p 217 a b c d e f g h Ruzsa 2006 Mikel Burley 2012 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 0415648875 pages 37 38 a b c Mikel Burley 2012 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 0415648875 pages 37 39 a b Larson Bhattacharya amp Potter 2014 p 3 11 Mircea Eliade et al 2009 Yoga Immortality and Freedom Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691142036 pages 392 393 GJ Larson RS Bhattacharya and K Potter 2014 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 4 Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691604411 pages 6 7 Fowler 2012 p 34 Fowler 2012 p 37 a b c d King 1999 p 63 Sharma 1997 p 149 a b c Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 4 Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691604411 pages 107 109 Samkhya Part Two Samkhya Teachers sreenivasarao s blogs 3 October 2012 Retrieved 15 May 2019 a b c d Larson 1998 pp 91 93 Burley 2006 pp 16 Fowler 2012 p 39 GJ Larson RS Bhattacharya and K Potter 2014 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 4 Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691604411 pages 2 8 114 116 GJ Larson RS Bhattacharya and K Potter 2014 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 4 Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691604411 pages 6 7 74 88 113 122 315 318 Larson Bhattacharya amp Potter 2014 p 3 4 Bagchi 1989 Larson 1998 p 4 Larson 1998 pp 147 149 Larson 1998 pp 150 151 a b Samkhyakarika of Iswara Krishna Henry Colebrook Translator Oxford University Press pages 18 27 Sanskrit Original Samkhya karika with Gaudapada Bhasya Ashubodh Vidyabushanam Kozhikode Kerala King 1999 p 64 Cowell and Gough p 22 Eliade Trask amp White 2009 p 370 Radhakrishnan 1923 pp 253 56 Sinha Nandalal 1915 The Samkhya Philosophy 2003 ed New Delhi Mushiram Manoharlal p 3 ISBN 81 215 1097 X Dasgupta 1922 pp 213 7 Mike Burley 2012 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 0415648875 page 39 a b Lloyd Pflueger Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra in Theory and Practice of Yoga Editor Knut Jacobsen Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120832329 pages 38 39 a b Radhanath Phukan Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrsna Calcutta Firma K L Mukhopadhyay 1960 pp 36 40 Rajadhyaksha 1959 p 95 a b Sinha 2012 pp xiii iv Sinha Nandalal 1915 The Samkhya Philosophy 2003 ed New Delhi Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd p 332 ISBN 81 215 1097 X Mikel Burley 2012 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 0415648875 page 39 41 Kovoor T Behanan 2002 Yoga Its Scientific Basis Dover ISBN 978 0486417929 pages 56 58 Larson Gerald 1969 Classical Samkhya 2005 ed New Delhi Motilal Banrsidass p 82 ISBN 81 208 0503 8 Aranya Hariharananda 1963 Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali With Bhasvati Calcutta Calcutta University Press pp 676 685 ISBN 81 87594 00 4 Karmarkar 1962 pp 90 1 a b Chandradhar Sharma 2000 A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0365 7 Larson Bhattacharya amp Potter 2014 p 10 11 Larson 2008 p 33 Isayeva 1993 p 84 Larson 2008 pp 30 32 Flood 2006 p 69 Jacobsen 2008 pp 129 130 Kripal 1998 pp 148 149 Bagchi 1989 p 6 Bagchi 1989 p 10 Gerald Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 pages 67 70 Gerald Larson 2011 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120805033 page 213Sources EditApte Vaman Shivaram 1957 The practical Sanskrit English dictionary Poona Prasad Prakashan Bagchi P C 1989 Evolution of the Tantras Studies on the Tantras Kolkata Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture ISBN 81 85843 36 8 Bhattacharyya Haridas ed 1975 The cultural heritage of India Vol III The philosophies Calcutta The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture Burley Mikel 2006 Classical Samkhya And Yoga The Metaphysics Of Experience Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 0 415 39448 2 Chapple Christopher Key 2008 Yoga and the Luminous Patanjali s Spiritual Path to SUNY Press Chattopadhyaya Debiprasad 1986 Indian Philosophy A popular Introduction New Delhi People s Publishing House ISBN 81 7007 023 6 Cowell E B Gough A E 1882 The Sarva Darsana Samgraha or Review of the Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy Trubner s Oriental Series vol 4 Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 0 415 24517 3 Dasgupta Surendranath 1922 A history of Indian philosophy Volume 1 New Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publ ISBN 978 81 208 0412 8 Eliade Mircea Trask Willard Ropes White David Gordon 2009 Yoga Immortality and Freedom Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 14203 6 Flood Gavin 2006 The Tantric Body The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 84511 011 6 Fowler Jeaneane D 2012 The Bhagavad Gita A Text and Commentary for Students Eastbourne Sussex Academy Press ISBN 978 1 84519 520 5 Haney William S 2002 Culture and Consciousness Literature Regained New Jersey Bucknell University Press ISBN 1611481724 Hiriyanna M 1993 Outlines of Indian Philosophy New Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publ ISBN 81 208 1099 6 Isaac J R Dangwal Ritu 1997 Proceedings International conference on cognitive systems New Delhi Allied Publishers Ltd ISBN 81 7023 746 7 Isayeva N V 1993 Shankara and Indian Philosophy SUNY Press ISBN 978 0 7914 1281 7 Jacobsen Knut A 2008 Theory and Practice of Yoga Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 3232 9 Karmarkar A P 1962 Religion and Philosophy of Epics in S Radhakrishnan ed The Cultural Heritage of India Vol II Calcutta The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture ISBN 81 85843 03 1 King Richard 1999 Indian Philosophy An Introduction to Hindu and Buddhist Thought Edinburgh University Press ISBN 978 0 7486 0954 3 Kripal Jeffrey J 1998 Kali s Child The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 226 45377 4 Larson Gerald James 1998 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning London Motilal Banarasidass ISBN 81 208 0503 8 Larson Gerald James 2008 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Yoga India s philosophy of meditation Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 3349 4 Larson G J 2014 Introduction to the Philosophy of Samkhya in Larson G J Bhattacharya R S eds The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 4 Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691604411 Larson G J Bhattacharya R S Potter K 2014 The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Volume 4 Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0691604411 Leaman Oliver 2000 Eastern Philosophy Key Readings New Delhi Routledge ISBN 0 415 17357 4 Lusthaus Dan 2018 Samkhya acmuller net Resources for East Asian Language and Thought Musashino University Michaels Axel 2004 Hinduism Past and Present Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 08953 1 Osto Douglas January 2018 No Self in Saṃkhya A Comparative Look at Classical Saṃkhya and Theravada Buddhism Philosophy East and West 68 1 201 222 doi 10 1353 pew 2018 0010 S2CID 171859396 Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Moore C A 1957 A Source Book in Indian Philosophy Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 01958 4 Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli 1953 The principal Upaniṣads Amherst New York Prometheus Books ISBN 978 1 57392 548 8 Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli 1923 Indian Philosophy Vol II New Delhi Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 563820 4 Rajadhyaksha N D 1959 The six systems of Indian philosophy Bombay Mumbai OCLC 11323515 Ruzsa Ferenc 2006 Saṅkhya Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Sen Gupta Anima 1986 The Evolution of the Samkhya School of Thought New Delhi South Asia Books ISBN 81 215 0019 2 Sharma C 1997 A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy New Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publ ISBN 81 208 0365 5 Singh Upinder 2008 A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India From the Stone Age to the 12th Century Pearson Education India ISBN 978 81 317 1120 0 Sinha Nandlal 2012 The Samkhya Philosophy New Delhi Hard Press ISBN 978 1407698915 Warder Anthony Kennedy 2009 A Course in Indian Philosophy Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 8120812444 Zimmer Heinrich 1951 Philosophies of India reprint 1989 Princeton University PressFurther reading EditMikel Burley 2007 Classical Samkhya and Yoga An Indian Metaphysics of Experience Routledge ISBN 978 1 134 15978 9 Jeaneane D Fowler 2002 Chapter Six Samkhya Perspectives of Reality An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism Sussex Academic Press ISBN 978 1 898723 93 6 Michel Hulin 1978 Saṃkhya Literature Otto Harrassowitz Verlag ISBN 978 3447018999 Gerald James Larson 2001 Classical Saṃkhya An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0503 3 Max Muller 1919 Six Systems of Indian Philosophy Longmans Green And Co External links EditFerenc Ruzsa Samkhya Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Dan Lusthaus Samkhya Samkhya and Yoga An Introduction Russell Kirkland University of Georgia PDF file of Ishwarkrishna s Sankhyakarika in English Bibliography of scholarly works see S for Samkhya by Karl Potter University of Washington Lectures on Samkhya The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Oxford University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samkhya amp oldid 1145893229, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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