Sankhya accepts as three sources of knowledge. They are: Perception, Inference and Testimony. As by-products of these, there are comparison, self-evident conclusions, and rejection of false conceptions.
Acceptable knowledge includes three elements (1) Pramata, the subject, this means whatever is doing the learning, (2) Prameya, the object, this means the knowledge being presented and (3) Pramana, the medium, this means the modification of the intellect by which the knowledge is understood.
Cause and Effect; Sankhya sums up the nyaya and vaisesika concepts of reality (except for God), into two fundamental principles: Purusa and Prakrti. Nontheistic sankhya is thus a dualistic philosophy. Satkaryavada and asatkaryavada are the two fundamental views that are the base for all Indian philosophical explanations of the manifestation of the universe of cause and effect.
Sankhya philosophy accepts the satkaryavada view of causation. Regarding satkaryavada, there are two schools of thought: vivartavada and parinamavada. Vivartavada accepted by Advaita vedantins, who hold that the change of a cause into an effect is merely apparent and not factual. This theory serves as the basis for the Advaitist explanation of the universe and the individual soul.
Sankhya philosophy upholds the view of parinamavada, which means the cause transforms into the effect in reality, as in milk into yogurt. According to the parinamavada version of satkaryavada, a cause actually changes into its effect. The whole sankhya system contains explanations for this which proceed from the premise that the effect exists in its material cause even before the effect is produced. This is supported by five basic arguments;
Asadakaranat, states that the effect exists in its material cause before its manifestation because no one can produce an effect from a material cause in which that effect does not exist. You cannot produce an aircraft carrier from a tube of toothpaste because it doesn’t contain any aircraft carriers.
Upadanagrahanat, which states that because there is an invariable relationship between cause and effect, material cause can only produce something to which it is related. For example only a cow can produce cow’s milk. If an effect does not exist in any way before its production, then it cannot be related to its cause. So, an effect must already exist in its cause before it is manifest.
Sarvasambhavabhavat, explains that a certain thing can be produced only by a certain other thing; it cannot be produced from just anything or anywhere. This establishes that all effects exist within their particular causes and cannot appear from a random location.
Saktasya-sakya-karanat, holds that what manifests from a cause must exist in an unmanifested form before it is produced. The cause must hold the potential for the effect. The potentiality of cause cannot, however, be related to an effect if the effect does not exist in that particular cause in some form. A well-stocked kitchen can produce a meal, but not a nuclear missile.
Karanabhavat, is the premise that if the cause does not contain the effect then the effect would be appearing from nothing. In this way Sankhya establishes that what is produced must exist in its cause in order for it to be produced.
Carvaka, Nyaya, and Vaisesika posit that atoms of earth, water, fire, and air are the material causes of the world. Sankhya holds that mind intellect and ego cannot be explained simply by atoms. It is clear that gross manifestations proceed from subtle causes so the cause of the subtle aspects of the world must come from a cause more subtle than mind and intelligence, and said cause must contain the potential for everything that is manifest, like the mind, senses, and intelligence. Sankhya calls this prakrti and bases it’s existence on five primary arguments.
Prakrti; It is accepted that all the objects of the world are limited and dependent on something else, so there must be an unlimited and independent cause for their existence. All the objects of the world possess a common characteristic: they are capable of producing the effect of pleasure, pain, or indifference. These are common reactions to all objects of the world.
Therefore, the cause of the universe must possess the characteristics of pleasure, pain, and indifference. Everything in the world has the potential to change. Therefore, their cause must also have the potential to change.
Objects we experience must arise from a certain cause, which must, in turn, have arisen from a certain cause, and so on until one reaches the primal cause of the creative process itself. That is primordial nature according to Sankya.
To go before primordial nature invites the fallacy of infinte regression. One has to identify a cause as the first cause of the universe. In Sankhya that first cause is called prakrti.
Prakrti consists of the three gunas or modes of material nature. They are entwined into a rope of three strands, always three. How they work is too complicated for me, but it should be known that the whole material universe is a product of prakriti.
Prakriti is unconscious. The other part of the two aspects of reality recognized as knowledge by Sankhya is consciousness. Consciousness is not held to be an emergent quality of matter, it is an uncaused eternal reality in and of itself. The effects of Prakriti are to take birth, change, die, mutate, transform, but consciousness itself does not. Prakriti is unconscious, Purusa is not.
The aggregate of the following 24 elements is called Prakrti as : The 5 gross elements; The 5 objects of the senses; The 5 working senses; The 5 knowledge-acquiring senses; Mind; Intelligence; Ego and Mahattattva. All our ordinary actions and perceptions depend on various forms of energy supplied to us by nature in various combinations. The truth that is above and beyond all these is called "transcendental truth.”
Our senses of perception and of action, that is to say, our five perceptive senses of (1) hearing, (2) touch, (3) sight, (4) taste and (5) smell, as well as our five senses of action, namely (1) hands, (2) legs, (3) speech, (4) evacuation organs and (5) reproductive organs, and also our three subtle senses, namely (1) mind, (2) intelligence and (3) ego (thirteen senses in all), are supplied to us by various arrangements of gross or subtle forms of natural energy. And it is equally evident that our objects of perception are nothing but the products of the inexhaustible permutations and combinations of the forms taken by natural energy - Bhagvad Gita (2.35).
Purusa; Sankhya distinguishes Purusa from the ever-changing transformations of Prakriti, and the subsequent happiness and distress of material conditions caused by misidentifying with the changes of Prakriti. Purusa is established by five points;
Nothing in the world is produced for use by itself. Cars are not made for cars, and cell phones are not made for cell phones. They cannot use themselves nor benefit from themselves. They exist for something other than themselves. Nor can any material object use another material object. They exist because there is something else that can use and enjoy them. That is called purusa.
Prakriti cannot cause itself to suffer or enjoy, it can only offer the potential for experience, thus there must be something separate from Prakriti which can enjoy or suffer. It must be different from the three modes of nature. That is Purusa; The mind, senses, and intelligence evolve from Prkriti, but they are unconscious and cannot be used by Prakriti, they can only be used by Purusa.
There is no meaning to the experiences of happiness, distress, and neutrality unless Purusa exists. The desire for freedom from misery cannot exist in Prakriti. Only if Purusa exists is there meaning to the desire to escape suffering.
There are also arguments for the existence of many purusas as opposed to only one, if one purusa experiences death, the rest stay alive instead of all simultaneously experiencing death. No need to elaborate on that.
The manifestation of the universe; Purusa is conscious but inactive. Prakriti is unconscious but fertile ground for activity. When consciousness interacts with the three modes of nature, the perfect equilibrium between them all is destroyed and one after another the different modes of nature rise and fall generating creation, maintenance, and destruction. From this interaction, 23 things evolve from Prakriti and those things have their own qualities, for example, Buddhi is one such thing
According to the sankhya system, buddhi possesses the eight qualities: virtue (dharma); knowledge (jnana); detachment (vairagya); excellence (aisvarya); nonvirtue (adharma); ignorance (ajnana); attachment (avairagya); imperfection or incompetency (anaisvarya). The first four are sattvic forms of buddhi, while the last four are overpowered by inertia (rajas-tamas).
From Buddhi evolves ahankara which is of three types according to the modes of nature; Then mind; Then the five senses of perception; Then the five senses of action and the subtle forms of these, touch, sound, smell, form and taste, but this is more incomprehensible stuff for me so enough of that.
Purusa combines with Prakriti and becomes aware of its existence and then tries to understand its distinction from Prakriti through Prakriti, but if Purusa is careless it becomes further bound by Prakriti and loses sight of the goal. When he regains sight of the goal and is successful he is freed from the ropes (gunas) of material nature and achieves liberation which can be of two kinds.
Liberation; jivana mukti and videha mukti. The jivana mukti continues his existence in this world as a liberated being until he leaves his body at which point he achieves videha mukti. Practically all material work is performed in ignorance, but because there are three qualities, sometimes the quality of ignorance is covered with goodness or passion.
The taste of these material fruits is accepted through five senses. The five sense organs through which knowledge is acquired are subjected to six kinds of whips: lamentation, illusion, infirmity, death, hunger and thirst. This material body, or the material manifestation, is covered by seven layers: skin, flesh, blood, marrow, bone, fat and semen.
The branches of the tree are eight: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego. There are nine gates in this body: the two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, one genital, one rectum. And there are ten kinds of internal air passing within the body: prana, apana, udana, vyana, samana, etc. The two birds seated in this tree, as explained above, are the living entity and the localized Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramatma. Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krisna in the Womb.
As per Bhagvat Gita (13:6/7) The five great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses and the mind, the five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions-all these are considered, in summary, to be the field of activities and its interactions.
As the living being acts he becomes conditioned by the four activities, eating sleeping, mating, and defending, which tempt him to eating meat, illicit relationship, intoxication, and gambling which destroy the religious principles of mercy, cleanliness, austerity, and truthfulness, leading him to fall prey to lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and jealousy, opening the gates to hell. He can escape by following the four regulated stages of material life, dharma, artha, kama and moksha which can free him from birth, death, old age and disease.
Hindi Translation
सांख्य दर्शन में प्रकृति पुरूष सृष्टि क्रम बन्धनों व मोक्ष कार्य - कारण सिद्धान्त का सविस्तार वर्णन किया गया है इसका संक्षेप में वर्णन इस प्रकार है।
सांख्य दर्शन में वर्णित 25 तत्व ; (पुरूष + प्रकृति) > महत् या बुद्धि > अहंकार (सात्विक, राजसिक & तामसिक) + 5 ज्ञानेन्द्रिय + 5 तन्मात्रा + 5 कमेन्द्रिय + 5 महाभूत + 1 मन
प्रकृति- सांख्य दर्शन में प्रकृति को त्रिगुण अर्थात सत्व, रज, तम तीन गुणों के सम्मिलित रूप को त्रिगुण की संज्ञा दी गयी है। सांख्य दर्शन में इन तीन गुणो कों सूक्ष्म तथा अतेनद्रिय माना गया सत्व गुणो का कार्य सुख रजोगुण का कार्य लोभ बताया गया सत्व गुण स्वच्छता एवं ज्ञान का प्रतीक है यह गुण उर्ध्वगमन करने वाला है। इसकी प्रबलता से पुरूष में सरलता प्रीति,अदा,सन्तोष एवं विवेक के सुखद भावो की उत्पत्ति होती है।
रजोगुण दुःख अथवा अशान्ति का प्रतीक है इसकी प्रबलता से पुरूष में मान, मद, वेष तथा क्रोध भाव उत्पन्न होते है। तमोगुण दुख एवं अशान्ति का प्रतीक है यह गुण अधोगमन करने वाला है तथा इसकी प्रबलता से मोह की उत्पत्ति होती है इस मोह से पुरूष में निद्रा, प्रसाद, आलस्य, मुर्छा, अकर्मण्यता अथवा उदासीनता के भाव उत्पन्न होते है साँख्य दर्शन के अनुसार ये तीन गुण एक दूसरे के विरोधी है सत्व गुण स्वच्छता एवं ज्ञान का प्रतीक है तो वही तमो गुण अज्ञानता एवं अंधकार का प्रतीक है रजो गुण दुख का प्रतीक है तो सत्व गुण सुख का प्रतीक है परन्तु आपस मे विरोधी होने के उपरान्त भी ये तीनों गुण प्रकृति में एक साथ पाये जाते है साँख्य दर्शन में इसके लिए तेल बत्ती व दीपक तीनो विभिन्न तत्व होने के उपरान्त भी एक साथ मिलकर प्रकाश उत्पन्न करते है ठीक उसी प्रकार ये तीन गुण आपस मे मिलकर प्रकृति में बने रहते है।
पुरूष- सांख्य दर्शन प्रकृति और पुरूष की स्वतन्त्र सत्ता पर प्रकाश डालता है प्रकृति जड एवं पुरूष चेतन है। यह प्रकृति सर्म्पूण जगत को उत्पन्न करने वाली है, पुरूष चेतन्य है परम तत्व आत्मा तत्व है, यह पुरूष समस्त ज्ञान एवं अनुभव को प्राप्त करता है प्रकृति एवं प्राकृतिक पदार्थ जड होने के कारण स्वयं अपना उपभोग नहीं कर सकते इनका उपभोग करने वाला यह पुरूष है, प्रकृति के पदार्थ इस पुरूष में सुख दुख की उत्पत्ति करते है। जब इस पुरूष को ये पदार्थ प्राप्त होते है तब यह सुख का अनुभव करता है परन्तु जब ये पदार्थ दूर होते है तब यह पुरूष दुःख की अनुभूति करता है। साँख्य दर्शन उन आध्यात्मिक स्वभाव के ज्ञानी पुरूषों पर भी प्रकाश डालता है जो सदैव इन दुःखों से परे रहकर मोक्ष की इच्छा करते है...
सृष्टि क्रम- साँख्य दर्शन में सृष्टि क्रम पर प्रकाश डाला गया है तथा प्रकृति से सर्वप्रथम महत् तत्व अथवा बुद्धि की उत्पत्ति, तत्पश्चात अहंकार की उत्पत्ति एवं सात्विक, राजसिक एवं तामसिक अहंकार के रूप में अहंकारो के तीन भेद करते हुए सात्विक अहंकार से मन की उत्पत्ति के क्रम को समझाया गया। इसी से ही 5 ज्ञानेन्द्रियों एवं 5 कर्मेन्द्रियाँ की उत्पत्ति को तथा अहंकार के तामसिक भाग से पचं तन्मात्राओं एवं पचं महाभूतो की उत्पत्ति को समझाया गया है। इस प्रकार 24 तत्वों के साथ 25 वे तत्व के रूप में पुरूष तत्व को समझाया गया है। सांख्य दर्शन में वर्णित सृष्टि क्रम को इस प्रकार समझा जा सकता है।
बंधन एवं मोक्ष- सांख्य दर्शन के अनुसार अज्ञानता के कारण पुरूष बंधन में बंध जाता है जबकि यह पुरूष ज्ञान के द्वारा मोक्ष को प्राप्त करता है बंधन में बंधा हुआ पुरूष आध्यात्मिक, आधिभौतिक एवं आधिदैविक दुःखों से ग्रस्त्र रहता है मैं और मेरे भाव से युक्त होकर पुरूष इस बंधन में फस जाता है, परन्तु जब पुरूष का विवेक ज्ञान जाग्रत होता है ज्ञानरूपी प्रकाश से जब उसका अज्ञानतारूपी अन्धकार समाप्त हो जाता है। इस अवस्था में वह विशुद्ध चैतन्य (परमात्मा) का स्वरूप ग्रहण करने लगता है इसे ही मुक्ति एवं कैवल्य की संज्ञा दी गयी है।
योग का अर्थ परमतत्व (परमात्मा ) को प्राप्त करना है इसलिए दर्शनों में भिन्न-भिन्न मार्गों का उल्लेख किया गया है सांख्य दर्शन में पुरूष का उद्देश्य इसी परमतत्व को प्राप्त करना कहा गया है तथा परमात्मा प्राप्ति की अवस्था को मोक्ष, मुक्ति एवं कैवल्य की संज्ञा दी गयी है जिस प्रकार योग दर्शन में पंचक्लेशो का वर्णन किया गया है तथा अविद्या, अस्मिता, राग,द्वेष व अभिनिवेश नामक इन पाँच क्लेशों को मुक्ति के मार्ग में बाधक माना गया है ठीक उसी प्रकार अज्ञानता को सांख्य दर्शन में मुक्ति में बाधक माना गया तथा इसके विपरित ज्ञान को साँख्य दर्शन में मुक्ति का साधन माना गया अज्ञानता के कारण मनुष्य इस प्रकृति के साथ इस प्रकार जुड जाता है कि वह स्वयं में एवं प्रकृति में भेद ना कर पाना ही इसके बंधन का कारण है सांख्य दर्शन का मत है कि यद्पि पुरूष नित्य मुक्त है अर्थात स्वतन्त्र है।
परन्तु वह अज्ञानता के कारण स्वयं को अचेतन प्रकृति ये युक्त समझने लगता है इस कारण वह दुःखी होता है तथा भिन्न-भिन्न प्रकार की समस्याओं से घिरता है बन्धनों से युक्त होता है किन्तु आगे चलकर जब यह पुरूष ज्ञान प्राप्त करता हो तब वह अपने स्वरूप को पहचानने में सक्षम होता है तभी वह इस बंधन से मुक्त होता है।
यह मैं नही हूँ अर्थात मैं अचेतन विषय नही हूँ मैं जड नही हूँ, मैं अन्त: करण नही हूँ, यह मेरा नही है, मै अहंकार से रहित हूँ, मैं अहकार भी नही हूँ, जब साधक साधना के माध्यम से इस ज्ञान की प्राप्ति करता है तब से उसकी मुक्ति का मार्ग प्रशस्थ होता है तथा इसी के माध्यम सक वह कैवल्य की प्राप्ति करता है। सांख्य दर्शन में ज्ञान के माध्यम से पुरूष का अपने स्वरूप को जानकर प्रकृति से पृथक हो जाना है कैवल्य कहा गया है। Gratitude Murari Das ji for your valuable explanation...
Previous Part of Kapila Muni and Samkhya Philosophy
Authored by Anadi Sahoo
