For a school of philosophy that shares its roots with Yoga, it is interesting that Samkhya is unknown to the vast majority of modern-day Hindus. Today, Samkhya as a Hindu philosophical system, appears to be mostly confined to academic circles.
What is Samkhya and why is it important?
Samkhya is one of the six darshanas – philosophies that are considered orthodox and foundational to Hinduism, the other being Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, Vedanta and Yoga. Samkhya is important as it forms the basis for the earliest doctrines of Yoga, as referred to in the Bhagavad-gita, Mahabharata and later in Patānjali’s Yoga Sutras. In other words, to understand Samkhya is to understand classical Yoga. Modern day Yoga is largely influenced by tantric ideas and seems to have philosophically drifted towards Vedanta.
The Samkhya philosophy appears to have taken roots during the Upanishadic era and finds its earliest references in the same places as Yoga does – in the Katha Upanishad & Svetasvatara Upanishad. The Samkhya of this time-period is referred to as proto-Samkhya. It evolves and expands in later texts – most notably in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad-gita (which makes noteworthy references to Samkhya).
Passages in the Mahabharata make references to a few early teachers of Samkhya – Kapila, Asuri, and Panchasikha. Kapila is mentioned as the founder of the Samkhya system and references to him can also be found in the Bhagavata Purana.
However, the text that is cited as authoritative by most is Samkhya-karika, composed by Isvara Krishna – who possibly lived in the 4th or 5th century AD. Later, Vachaspati Misra (possibly 9-10 CE) wrote a commentary on Samkhya-karika.
The metaphysics of Samkhya
In simple terms – Samkhya makes clear distinction between matter and spirit. In explaining how the world came about, it clings to the principle of satkaryavada – which states that the effect already exists in the cause. So, for Samkhya, the world as we know it already existed as part of the unmanifested (avyakta) universe. Samkhya calls the world as prakriti. It remains unmanifested as long as the gunas (qualities) – Sattva (purity), Rajas (action) and Tamas (dullness) – remained in balance. When this balance is disturbed however, evolution begins. Prakriti evolves into 24 elements listed below – with elements evolving from one another – such as buddhi (intellect) evolving from ahamkara (ego). The last 5 elements of evolution being air, water, fire,earth and space – vital elements that make up the world.
- Avyakta prakriti in its unevolved form
- Mahat or buddhi, the intellect or personality
- Ahamkara, ego or sense of personal identity
- Manas, the mind that is regarded as distinct from buddhi
- The sense of taste
- The sense of smell
- The sense of touch
- The sense of sight
- The sense of hearing
- The feet
- The hands
- The voice
- The anus
- The genitals
- Flavor
- Aroma
- Touch sensations
- Color and form
- Sound
- Space
- Water
- Air
- Fire
- Earth
Samkhya then goes on to postulate a 25th element – purusha – an individual soul that is unaffected by prakriti. Consciousness is stated as the result of the association between buddhi (a Prakriti evolute) and Purusha. The nature of this association, however, is not clear.
The identification of purusha with buddhi is said to be due to avidya (ignorance). This is considered a false association, one that causes the soul to transmigrate through various body forms and experience the fruits of good or bad karma. Like in most Hindu philosophies, here too the goal of life is to seek release of the soul and free oneself from the cycle of rebirth. This release (separation) of the soul (purusha or atman) from matter (prakriti) is called kaivalya.
Samkhya vs. Vedanta
Samkhya prioritizes direct perception or inferences based on direct perception over sabda-pramana (relying on trustworthy sources such as Vedic scriptures). So while Vedic sources may be considered as the basis of Vedanta, references to Vedas are largely absent from Samkhya texts such as Samkhya-Karika.
Samkhya is also considered atheistic as it does not talk about any deity who creates the world. For Samkhya, the world manifests from an undifferentiated state when the equilibrium of the three qualities (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) is disturbed. Some Samkhya commentators attribute the cause of this disturbance to the work of a deity (thus injecting theism), however most Samkhya teachers believe this to be a natural process.
Samkhya differs from Shankaracharya’s Advaita Vedanta in that Samkhya is inherently dualistic. While Advaita Vedanta believes in oneness of everything, Samkhya makes clear distinction between spirit (purusha) and matter (prakriti). The purusha, referred to here, is in an individual entity; unlike the brahman (absolute oneness) of Advaita Vedanta. Samkhya considers the manifested world to be real. However, just like Vedanta, Samkhya seeks disidentification from the world to release oneself from the cycle of rebirth. Even after this freedom (kaivalya) is attained, however, purusha’s individual entity is maintained (This state of kaivalya is not elaborated upon). Samkhya, in this dualism, is closer to Ramanuja’s and Madhava’s interpretation of Vedanta.