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Samkhya, also Sankhya, Sāṃkhya, or Sāṅkhya (Sanskrit: सांख्य, IAST: sāṃkhya), is one of the six (original)[citation needed] schools of Hindu philosophy and classical Indian philosophy.
Sage Kapila is traditionally credited as a founder of the Samkhya school.[1]
There were two sages named Kapila. One, according to the Harivamsa, was the son of Sage Vitatha,[2] of the dynasty of Agni,[3] or an incarnation of Agni or Vishnu,[2] and an atheist who recognized spirit and matter but not the supreme spirit.[2][3] According to this Kapila all attributes ascribed by mystics to their lord are inappropriate for the lord is either an absolute unconditioned mukta (liberated) or a bound conditioned baddha(bound active).[4] Kapila argued if the lord is an absolute unconditioned mukta he cannot enter the condition of a creator for he would have no desire to create; and if he were an active baddha on entering the work of creation he no longer remains absolute and unchangeable.[4] The atheist Kapila is considered an impostor by the followers of ISKCON.[3][5] Others claim Kapila only discarded popular deities and was not an atheist in the sense of denying a supreme being.[2] However, there existed an other Kapila, the son of Kardama Muni and Devahuti,[3] who according to the Padma Purana was an incarnation of Vasudeva who taught Daivi-sankhyaor theistic Samkhya.[3]
Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy that is strongly dualist.[6][7][8] Sāmkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities; Puruṣa (consciousness) and prakriti (phenomenal realm of matter).Jiva is that state in which puruṣa is bonded to prakriti through the glue of desire, and the end of this bondage is moksha. Sāṃkhya denies the final cause of Ishvara (God).[9] Samkhya does not describe what happens after moksha and does not mention anything about Ishwara or God.
Though the existence of a supreme spirit or supreme being is not directly asserted by the Samkhya philosophers; their belief is based on the assumption of existence of souls, on 23 tatvas (atoms or entities) that spring from prakriti (nature) into which the purusha (soul) is instilled although no explanation is given for the instillation procedure or the production of a soul.[2] According to Sāṃkhya philosophers, "the soul and matter develop 3 gunas or qualities, 5 principles, 8 producers and 16 products from 11 organs".[2] However, the Padma Purana denounces the atheist Kapila who had a disciple named Asuri with "bad reasoning and false arguments" vis-à-vis the theist Kapila who also had a disciple named Asuri.[3] The theist Kapila is designated the "knower of 24 elements and inaugurator of Sāmkhya-yoga system."[3]
Historical development[edit]
The word samkhya means empirical or relating to numbers.[10] Although the term had been used in the general sense of metaphysical knowledge before,[11] in technical usage it refers to the Samkhya school of thought that evolved into a cohesive philosophical system in early centuries CE.[12] 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."[10]
Origins[edit]
Emergence as a distinct philosophy[edit]
Between 5th and 2nd century BCE,[16] Samkhya thought from various sources started coalescing into a distinct philosophy.[16] Philosophical texts from this era such as the Katha Upanishad, Shvetashvatara Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita have clear references to Samkhyan terminology and concepts.[17] Katha Upanishad conceives the purusha as an individual soul which Ātman (Self) inhabits. Other verses of the Upanishad consider purusha to be smaller than the thumb.[18]
Samkhya and Yoga are mentioned together for first time in the Shvetashvatra Upanishad.[17] Bhagavad Gita identifies Samkhya with understanding or knowledge.[19] The three gunas are also mentioned in the Gita, though they are not used in the same sense as in classical Samkhya.[20] The Gita integrates Samkhya thought with the devotion (bhakti) of theistic schools and the impersonal Brahman of Vedanta.[21]
According to Ruzsa, about 2,000 years ago "Sāṅkhya became the representative philosophy of Hindu thought in Hindu circles",[15] influencing all strands of the Hindu tradition and Hindu texts.[15]
Vedic influences[edit]
The ideas that were developed and assimilated into the classical Samkhya text, Samkhyakarika, are visible in earlier Hindu scriptures such as Vedas,Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita.[16][22] Earliest mention of dualism in the Rig Veda, a Hindu text that was compiled in second millennium BCE,[23] is in theIndra–Vritra myth. In this myth, Indra, leader of the gods, slays Vritra, a serpent demon, to unleash the creative forces held captive by him. Gerald James Larson, a scholar of religions and philosophies of India, believes that this myth contains twofold dualism. He writes
The emphasis of duality between existence (sat) and non-existence (asat) in the Nasadiya sukta of the Rig Veda is similar to the vyakta–avyakta (manifest–unmanifest) polarity in Samkhya. The hymn of Purusha sukta may also have influenced Samkhya. It contains the earliest conception of Purusha, a cosmic being from whom the manifestation arises.[25] Purusha also finds numerous mentions in the hymns of the Atharvaveda.[26] The Samkhya notion of buddhi or mahat is similar to the notion of hiranyagarbha which appears in both the Rig Veda and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.[27]
Upanishadic influences[edit]
In the beginning this (world) was only the self, in the shape of a person. Looking around he saw nothing else than the self. He first said, 'I am' (aham asmi).
—Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.1[28]
The oldest of the major Upanishads (c. 900–600 BCE) also contain speculations along the lines of classical Samkhya philosophy.[16] The concept of ahamkara in Samkhya can be traced back to the notion of ahamkara in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chhandogya Upanishad. Satkaryavada, the theory of causation in Samkhya, can 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 Svetashvatara Upanishads.[29] Upanishadic sages Yajnavalkya and Uddalaka Arunideveloped the idea that pure consciousness was the innermost essence of a human being. The purusha of Samkhya could have evolved from this idea. The enumeration of tattvas in Samkhya is also found in Taittiriya Upanishad, Aitareya Upanishad and Yajnavalkya–Maitri dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.[30]
He is the eternal amongst the eternals, the intelligent among the intelligences, the one among many, who grants desires. That cause which is to be apprehended by discrimination and discipline (samkhayogadhigamyam) - which God, one is freed from all fetters.
—Svetashvatara Upanishad VI.13[31]
Buddhist and Jainist influences[edit]
Buddhism and Jainism had developed in Northeastern India by the 5th century BCE. It is probable that these schools of thought and the earliest schools of Samkhya influenced each other. A prominent similarity between Buddhism and Samkhya is the emphasis on suffering (dukkha). However, suffering is not as central to Samkhya as it is to Buddhism. Therefore, it is likely that Samkhya imbibed this idea from Buddhism. 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.[32]
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[33]
Texts[edit]
The earliest surviving authoritative text on classical Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya Karika (c. 200 CE[34]or 350–450 CE[21]) of Iśvarakṛṣṇa.[21] There were probably other texts in early centuries CE, however none of them are available today.[35] 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.[21]
The most popular commentary on the Samkhyakarikia was the Gauḍapāda Bhāșya attributed to Gauḍapāda, the proponent of Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy. Richard King, Professor of Religious Studies, thinks it is unlikely that Gauḍapāda could have authored both texts, given the differences between the two philosophies. Other important commentaries on the karika were Yuktidīpīka (c. 6th century CE) and Vācaspati’s Sāṁkhyatattvakaumudī (c. 10th century CE).[36]
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.[37] 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).[38] AccordingSurendranath Dasgupta, scholar of Indian philosophy, Charaka Samhita, an ancient Indian medical treatise, also contains thoughts from an early Samkhya school.[39]
The Samkhyakarika (Sanskrit: सांख्यकारिका, Sāṁkhyakārikā) is the earliest extant text of the Samkhya school of Indian philosophy. Dated to the Gupta era(roughly 4th or 5th century C.E) and it is attributed to Ishvara Krishna (Iśvarakṛṣṇa, 350 C.E).[1]
In the text, the author described himself as being in the succession of the disciples from the great sage Kapila, through Āsuri and Pañcaśikha.[2] HisSāṁkhya Kārikā consists of 72 ślokas written in the Ārya metre. The last three ślokas were probably added later.[3]
The earliest important commentary on his Kārikā was written by Gaudapada. Another important commenatary is Vacaspati Mishra'sSāṁkhyatattvakaumudī (9th century CE), who also wrote a well-known commentary to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
The Sāṁkhya Kārikā was translated into Chinese in c. 6th century CE.[4] In 1832, Christian Lassen translated the text in Latin. H.T. Colebrooke first translated this text into English. Windischmann and Lorinser translated it into German, and Pautier and St. Hilaire translated it into French.
Authorship and historical note[edit]
Samkhya is an important pillar of Indian philosophical tradition, called shad-darshana, however, of the standard works of Samkhya only three are available at present. These are: Samkhya Sutras attributed to the founder of Samkhya, Kapila; Tattva Samasa, which some authors (Max Muller) consider prior toSamkhya Sutras,[5] and Samkhya Karika of Ishvara Krishna. Ishvara Krishna follows several earlier teachers of Samkhya and is said to come from Kausika family.[6] He taught before Vasubandhu and is placed following Kapila, Asuri, Panca Shikha, Vindhyavasa, Varsaganya, Jaigisavia, Vodhu, Devala and Sanaka.[7]
Most authors recognize that Samkhyakarika was authored sometime in the Classical Samkhya period between 300-500 C.E. That was followed by the Pramartha's Chinese version of Karikas together with a commentary[8] in 557-569 C. E. Gerald Larson, in Classical Samkhya, includes also a formative stage period between the death of Mahavira (468 B.C.) and Candra Gupta period 300-500 C. E., which he calls Proto-Samkhyan Speculations. Later developments include the 9th century Samkhya Tattva Kaumudi of Vacaspati Mishra.[9]