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.