The philosophy of Sankhya

                                 A  LUCID COMMENTARY

                                      By Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A.,Ph.D

Sankhyaam prakurvathe chaiva  prakrthim cha prchakshathe

thathvaani cha chathurvimsat thenasaankhyam prakirthiham        -    Vijnjana Bhikshu - preface to

                                                                                                          Sankhya pravachana bhashya.

     The saankhya philosophy is so called because  it deals with thinking  with reference to some basic principles of the knowledge of Purusha and enumerates thethe twenty four principle born out of Prakrthi. So saankhya means knowledge of Self through right discrimination and in this sense Lord Krishna uses the term in the Baghavatgita. Saankhya is the most ancient school of thought. The categories and the terms used in saankhya are mentioned in the upaishads which denotes  its ancient origin.

        Saankhya philosophy holds a prominent place in the Indian philosophical system as all the other schools are found to either refute or agree with its concepts. Sankara says that he finds it necessary to refute saankhya doctrins specially because it is akin to vedanta in some respects but differs from the main concept of vedanta, namely ,the causality of  Brahman.

    Sage Kapila is universally accepted as the founder of the Saankhya philosophy. The saankhya philosophy  stands   between the idealistic Advaita and  the realistic Purvamimaamsa, since it is both realistic and dualistic as it holds the view that Prakrthi  and Purusha are eternal and real.

     Only three of the works of Saankhya are available now , namely, Saankhya suthra, Thaththvasamaasa and saankhya karika  of Isvara krishna, which is held as the sole authoritative  text of Saankhya philosoph at present.

                                       Saankhya Kaarika

                                       of   Isvara Krishna

        The prime goal of mankind is to get release from duhkha , misery. If there is no duhkha  no  one will start looking for the mans of removing it. So, the author says that since the study of saankhya will result in the removal  of   misery of the samsara, the transmigratory existence, the study of it is encouraged.  There are three kinds of torments experienced in this world, .Aadhibhouthika,  suffering due to the action of other living beings or natural elements, Aadhidhaiviika, due to supernatural forces or planetary influences according to one's fate, Aadhyaathmika,  due to internal disturbances like physical and mental disorders. So to become free from these three kinds of duhkha the study of saankhya has to be undertaken. Duhkhathrayaabhighaathaath jijnaasa thadhapaghaathake hethou

    Here the author foresees a possible objection and answers it.. Dhrshte saapaarthaa chet na ekaanthaathyanthathah abhaavaath. The objection raised is this. The study of  Saankhya may bring about the release from pain but the same can be achieved by other easy means and hence where is the need to undertake the study which is time consuming and also strenuous. The trouble from other beings or natural elements can be protected against by taking safety measures and the suffering due to planetary forces can be mitigated  through recourse to japa, worship etc. Even the internal  sufferings can be alleviated by adopting secular measures  in order to forget them.

    The aforesaid view is rejected because  the remedy  from all these means are neither certain ekaantha nor permanent, athyantha. Since the enquiry into the saankhyan principles and the resultant knowledge from them can alone bring permanent relief from suffering the  study of Saankhya is advised. the means of alleviating pain set down in the vedas are also rejected as they are also subjected to impurity , decay and excess. The vedic means mentioned here are those specified in the karmakanda, that is, Purvamimamsa and not vedanta, the Utthara mimamsa,  The Sankhya does not accept the concept of Brahman as the absolute reality. Prakrthi and Purusha are the two realities of Sankhya. The vedic means are the yajnas and other ritualistic practices which do not give permanent release from pain and also involve impure actions like animal sacrifice . Hence they are rejected as impure and impermanent. Hence the only from the right knowledge of the Unmanifested,  Prakrthi, the Manifested,  evolutes of Prakrthi in the form of the gross world and the Cogniser, Purusha, one can get release from pain which is synonymous with Apavarga, that is Moksha .

     Now the Prakrthi and its evolutes are  enumerated  while the detailed description follows later.

    Moolaprakrthimahadhadhyaah prkrthivikrthayah saptha;

    shodasakasthu vikaarah na prakrthih na vikrthih purushah .                   

     The evolutes of Prakrthi are as follows.

                                                         Prakrthi

                                                            |

                                                        Mahath ( Buddhi )

                                                             |

                                                    Ahamkaara

                             ---------------------------------------------------------------

                             |                                       |                                                   |

                  Saatvik                             Rajasik                                           Thamasik

                      |                                                                                                 |

     Five jnanendhriya (sense organs)                                           Pancha thanmaathra (subtle elements)

    Five karmendhriya (organs of action)   

     Manas (mind)                                                                                             |

                                                                                                    Pqnchabhootha (gross elements.)

     The evolvent moola prakrthi, the  Primal Nature is non-evolute. Mahath, Ahamkaara and the Panchathanmathra are both evolvent and evolutes as they are caused by and are the cause of others. Mahath is the effect, evolute  of Moola prakrthi, while being the cause of Ahamkaara, which itself is the cause  of the sense organs, organs of action and mind  on one hand and the cause of the five subtle elements on the other.  Similarly the five subtle elements are the cause of the five gross elements.  Thus the evolvent-evolutes are seven beginning with Mahath. The rest are only evolutes. Purusha, the spirit is neither an evolute nor an evolvent. These are explained later in the Saankhyakaarika.

    Isvarakrishna sets about to prove the principles involved in Sankhya philosophy through valid means of cogniion. Pramana , means of cognition accepted by Sankhya are dhrshtam, perception, anumaanam, inference and aapthavachanam, valid testimony. Perception is the ascertainment of facts  through the senses. Inference  depends on perception as it is inferring a fact by the reception of another like inferring the presence of fire in a hill  by seeing the smoke coming out of it. Valid testimony is the statement of a reliable person or  a valid scripture. The knowledge of supersensible things, that is, things which cannot be perceived through the senses, is obtained  through inference based on general observation. When the knowledge of supersensory things are not available through inference it is established by Testimony and Revelation.

    The knowledge of  Prakrthi and Purusha  cannot be inferred through general observations but for that reason they cannot be taken as being non-existent like the horn of a hare or a skyflower.  A thing does not become non-existent just because it is not directly perceived. The non-existence is determined of only such things  that are capable of perception  but are not perceived. due to some reason. Isvarakrishna enumerates such contingencies when a thing capable of perception  is not perceived.

1.Athidhooraath - due to excessive distance as a bird flying  very high in the sky.

2.Saameepyaath- due to proximity like the eyelash not being perceived being very near the eye.

3.Indhriyaghaathaath - due to impaired senses like blindness deafness etc.

4.Mano anavasthaanaath - from absentmindedness.

5.Soukshmyaath - Due to their subtleness as in the case of atoms

6. Vyavadhaanaath - due to some intervention like a wall in between..

7. Abhbhavaath -  being suppressed by other things as when the stars are not seen due to daylight.

8. Samaanaabhihaaraath - Due to the intermixture with other objects  as the salt in water.

       Based on the above, the Prakrthi can also be inferred from its effects  though it is not perceived due to its subtle nature. The relation of cause and effect is the basis of the tenets of any philosophy and the various views are examined in order to establish the principle of causality of the Sankhyas.

    The existence of Prkrthi, the primordial nature is inferred from its effects, Mahath and the rest, some of them similar and some of them are dissimilar to Prakrthi, which is not perceptible because of its subtlety. There are different versions with different schools of philosophy with regard to the relationship between cause and effect.

    1. Buddhists claim that the existent effect emanates from non-existent cause. According to Buddhism everything is momentary and hence a cause cannot exist long enough to produce an effect. 

     2. To advaitin, effects are only illusory appearance of Brahman which is the sole absolute Reality.  Brahman is the cause of the universe in the same sense as the rope is the cause of the serpent, which it appears to be,  for one who is deluded  about its real nature.

     3. The school of Nyaya-Vaiseshika holds that the effect is a new entity   and not  modification of the cause

    Sankhya theory is proved by successful refutation of the above views. 

Asadhakaranaath upaadhaanagrahanaath sarvasambhaa abhaavaath

sakthasya sakyakaranaath kaaranabhaavaath cha sath kaaryam  

    The arguments for proving thatn the effect is real and preexistent in the cause are;

1.   Asath akaranaath, what is non-existent can never be brought to existence .If it were possible to produce   a positive entity from mere negation as the Buddhists claim, then everything can be produced everywhere at all times.   But it is not so, sarvasambhava abhaavaath, because of the absence of  the production of everything  everywhere.

2.    Upaadhaanagrahanaath , there is a definite relation between the cause and the effect as the matrial, upaadhaana determines the nature of the cause. For instance, if one wants to produce a pot he takes only  mud and not thread. So the view that the effect is a new entity  and not  a mere modification of the cause as held by Nyaya-Vaiseshika is refuted.

3.Sakthasya skyagrhanaath, a particular effect can only be produced by a cause which is capable of producing it.

4. Finally the effect is of the same nature as its cause, Kaaranabhaavaath.

     Hence on the above grounds it is proved that the effect is real and existent, Sath Kaaryam. As  a real effect must have real cause, the existence  of cause, Prakrthi or Pradhaana, as it is termed in Sankhya  is also proved.

     Thus effectively proving that Pradhana  is the cause of the universe because the latter is made up of three gunas, the constituents of Pradhana now the author of Sankhya karika proceeds to point out the similarities and differences between the cause and the effect, namely, the universe which is manifest,vyaktha and the Pradhana, the Primordial nature whch is unmanifest.