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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.