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7/28/2019 Johnson Lynnette the Sankhya Philosophy Yes
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SankhyaPhilosophy
SankhyaPhilosophyisbestdescribedasaformofsubstancedualism.Thisformof
substancedualismhasadivisionbetweenconsciousnessandmatter,whichisseenas
independentfromoneanotherandrelyingononeanotheratthesametime(Schweizer846).
Thisdivisionisdescribedinseveralways,suchas:thoughtsandfeelingsversusintellect,nature
versussoul,non-eternalversuseternal,non-spiritualversusspiritual,andimpureversuspureto
nameafew(Majumdar1926a:255)(Everett311).Themostsignificantdivisionrelatedto
SankhyaPhilosophyisbetweentheentityPurusaandtheentityPrakriti.Theotherlisted
divisionsareusedtodescribeorexplainPurusaandPrakriti(Majumdar1926a:255).
InordertounderstandSankhyaPhilosophyitisnecessarytounderstandthatPurusa
andPrakritiaretwoseparateelementsofconsciousness(Everett314).However,Purusaand
Prakritiarenotandcannotbeindependentfromoneanother....Purusahasthepowerof
perceiving,butnopowerofacting,whereasPrakritihasthepowerofacting,butnopowerof
perceiving(Majumdar1925:52).Thisquotedescribestheguidanceversusactivityrelationship
thatPurusaandPrakritishare.Moreover,thisquotedemonstratesthepointthatPurusaneeds
PrakritijustasPrakritineedsPurusa.TheunionbetweenPurusaandPrakritiisrequiredto
movethroughoneslife(Majumdar1925:53).
AlthoughPurusaandPrakritiareunited,eachhasdistinctfeaturesoftheirown.Prakriti
isinreferencetoobjects,matter,allmaterialthatincludesthemindandbody.Antahkarana
meansinnerinstrumentandreferstothethreecomponentsofthemind,whichisassociated
withPrakriti.Thefirstcomponentismanas,whichmeansmind.Manasisdescribedas
cognition,perception,andlowintellect.Thesecondcomponentisbuddhi,whichmeans
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intellectorreason.Buddhiisdescribedasahighlevelofintellectfunctionthatusesintuition,
insight,andreflection.Thefinalcomponentisahamkara,whichmeansego.Ahamkarais
describedaswhatclaimsownershipandwhatmakessomethingpersonal(Schweizer848).
Prakritialoneissubconscious,butiscapableofconsciousnessthroughtheinfluenceofPurusa.
Thisisclarifiedthroughanexample;...fireburnsonlywhenincontactwithacombustible
thing...PrakritiisthefireandPurusabeingwhatmakesfireburn(Majumdar1926b:56).
SincePrakritiismostlyinreferencetothesubconsciousitisunderstandablethatPurusa
ismostlyinreferencetoconsciousness.EachindividualisthoughttohavetheirownPurusaand
eachPurusaisuniquefromthenext,butallPurusashavesimilarcharacteristics(Majumdar
1925:61).Purusaisdescribedasawareness,intelligence,thesubject,theself,andthesoul
(Schweizer849)(Everett311).AlookatthefeaturesofbothPrakritiandPurusagivesfurther
knowledgeininterpretingtheSankhyaphilosophicalviewofPrakritiandPurusasunionwith
eachother.
TheunionbetweenPurusaandPrakritiisadditionallyexplainedthroughtheconceptof
bandha,whichmeansbondage.Therearethreekindsofpainassociatedwithbondage.These
painsareintrinsic,extrinsic,andsupernatural.ThepainsarisefromPurusasexperiencewith
Prakriti(Majumdar1926a:253).PurusaiseternallyboundandneverseparatefromPrakriti.
Prakritiisemotions,possessions,wants,desires,etc.PurusaisconsumedwithPrakriti.Purusais
aforgottenselfandonlyidentifiesitselfcombinedwithwhatPrakritiis.Miseryiswhatresults
fromthedelusionofwhatPurusaidentifiesitselfas(Majumdar1926a:254).
AccordingtotheSankhyaPhilosophytherearedifferentkindsofknowledge.The
delusionthatPurusahasofwhatitidentifiesitselfasisduetoavidya,whichmeansfalse
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knowledge(Majumdar1926a:255).ThefalseknowledgethatPurusaholdsisthatitneedsto
separateitselffromPrakritiandidentifyitselfasanindividualentity.However,separationof
PrakritiandPurusaisnotpossible.Whatmusthappenisamodificationofonesviewor
perspective.Thiscanbeachievedthroughvidya,whichisdiscriminativeknowledgeorthe
knowledgeofdistinction.Vidyacanbefoundthroughextensivereligioustrainingandpractices.
WhenvidyaisattaineditisthenpossibletoseethatPrakritiandPurusaareboththesameand
separate.Furthermore,therelationshipbetweenPrakritiandPurusaisrelativenotabsolute
(Majumdar1926a:266).
TheunionofPrakritiandPurusaisnotperfect.TheSankhyaPhilosophycommentson
theimperfectunionbyreflectingthatthingsdonotbeginasperfect,buthavethepossibilityto
becomeperfect(Majumdar1926b:63).Thegoalistoachieveliberationorrelease.However,
liberationorreleasecannotbeachievedthroughjustonelife.Liberationandreleasemaybe
achievedthroughmanylivesoftrueknowledge(Majumdar1926a:259).
TheunionofPrakritiandPurusainSankhyaPhilosophyviewisequaltocreation
(Majumdar1925:57).Thecreationofthisunionallowsonetomovethroughoneslife.Thisis
donebymeansofactionsandguidanceinteractingwithoneanother.Prakritiproduces
deliberateactionsbecauseithasthedesiretoreleasePurusa,butthisisonlymadepossible
becausePurusaguidesPrakrititodoso.However,thisisonlyworkableafterPurusahashad
completesatisfactionofknowledgeandenjoymentbyPrakriti.Onlythencanliberationor
releasecome(Majumdar1925:55).
SinceSankhyaPhilosophyconsiderstheunionofPrakritiandPurusaascreationanda
beginningthatconsistsofimperfection,SankhyaPhilosophyalsoconsiderstheunionofPrakriti
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andPurusaasevolution.TheperspectiveofPrakritiandPurusabeingreferredtoasevolution
comesfromthemanyexperiencesPurusagoesthroughwithPrakriti(Majumdar1926a:253).
Aswithanyotherbeliefsystem,thisphilosophyisnotdifferentinacknowledgingthatevery
experiencebringschangeandgrowth.Thedifference,however,isthatthisphilosophyviews
thatchangeandgrowthisdonethroughmanylivesfullofmanyexperiencesandacquirement
ofknowledge,notjustonelifesworthofexperiencesandknowledge(Majumdar1926a:259).
Therefore,accordingtoSankhyaPhilosophy,theunionofPrakritiandPurusafromcreationto
liberationorreleaseisasystemthatevolvesthroughtime.
References
Everett,C.C.(1899)ThePsychologyoftheVedantaandSankhyaPhilosophies.Journalof
theAmericanOrientalSociety,20,309-316.
Majumdar,A.K.(1925)TheDoctrineofEvolutionintheSankhyaPhilosophy.The
PhilosophicalReview,34(1),51-69.
Majumdar,A.K.(1926a)TheDoctrineofBondageandReleaseintheSankhyaPhilosophy.
ThePhilosophicalReview,35(3),253-266.
Majumdar,A.K.(1926b)ThePersonalisticConceptionofNatureasExpoundedinthe
SankhyaPhilosophy.ThePhilosophicalReview,35(1),53-63.
Schweizer,P.(1993)Mind/ConsciousnessDualisminSankhya-YogaPhilosophy.
PhilosophyandPhenomenologicalResearch,53(4),845-859.
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RelatedTopicsforFurtherInvestigation
Antahkarana
Kaivalya
Vachaspati
Purusartha
TheSankhyaPravachanaSutram
YogaSutram
TheSankhyaKarika
Bhagabatgita
Manas
Gunas
Ahamkara
TheEkadasaIndriya
Pan-psychism
NoteworthyWebsitesRelatetotheTopic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/philo/samkhyavrg.asp
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/24principles.asp
http://www.swamij.com/six-schools-indian-philosophy.htm
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Sankhya/id/23117
http://www.archive.org/details/thesamkhyaphilos00sinhuoft
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http://www.indianetzone.com/9/samkhya_philosophy.htm
http://www.indopedia.org/Samkhya.html
http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/gss/sadhu/vedanta/kapila.htm
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2179479
WrittenbyLynnetteJohnson(Spring2009),whoissolelyresponsibleforitscontent.