Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t12: Hiran Yasaptati

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s10.t12

Language: English

Hiran Yasaptati

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**Hiran Yasaptati** is an important work of Sankhya in ancient Indian philosophy and is one of the main reference of *Samkhya-karika* which is the ancient fundamental literature of Sankhya. It was written around the 5th century CE, but the author is unknown, and the original Indian Sanskrit cannot be found now. It was translated into Chinese by Paramartha master staying in China in the 6th century CE. The Chinese version is divided into three volumes, namely, Volume I, Volume II and Volume III. *Hiran Yasaptati* is the more ancient reference among the five existing references of *Samkhya-karika*, and it is very important for people to understand the philosophy of ancient Sankhya. According to its record, *Samkhya-karika* has 72 parts. In main contents, it is consistent with other references, but there are also some differences. In the explanation of Sankhya thought, it is not completely the same with other references. The main theory of Sankhya is the two realities and 25 truths, the two realities refer to Prakriti and Purusha, 25 truths refer to Parinama-vada, causality, three-component theory and reincarnation and liberation theory.

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*Samkhya-karika* contained in *Hiran Yasaptati* and its corresponding reference think that everything in the world or life phenomenon is changed from the interaction or combination of two entities. These two entities are Prakriti and Purusha. Prakriti, also known as “nature”, is the entity of materiality. Purusha, also known as “Atman”, is the entity of spirituality. Both are the fundamental causes to create things, therefore they are called as “two realities”. When Purusha acts on Prakriti, Prakriti interior will begin to change and gradually develop a variety of phenomena in the world. Prakriti first evolves consciousness (be equivalent to the rationality or intellectuality which is deterministic and crucial), then consciousness evolves “me” (that is self-awareness or ego), and on one hand, “me” evolves “eleven organs” (eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, voice, hand, foot, excretory organ, reproductive organ and heart), on the other hand, it also evolves “five subtle elements” (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch). Finally, “five subtle elements” create five gross elements (earth, water, fire, wind and space). Thus, Prakriti, Purusha, consciousness, me, eleven organs, five subtle elements and five gross elements form the so-called “twenty-five truths”.

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According to the *Hiran Yasaptati*, Prakriti interior evolved into the fundamental entities consists of three components, being called “trigunas”, namely, Satta, Rajas and Tamas, and their respective characteristics are joy, pain and sloth. Purusha represents the cripple who can only see the direction but cannot walk, while Prakriti represents the blind that can only walk but cannot see the direction. Only by the cooperation that the cripple rides on the blind, can both go forward smoothly.

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Annotated *Hiranyasaptati*

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Similarly, only combine the Prakriti which only have materiality with Purusha which only have spirituality (Purusha plays an observation and caring role on Prakriti), can they create twenty-three truths, that is, evolves the everything in the world or life phenomena.

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The causality theory in *Hiran Yasaptati* holds that “the cause contains the effect”. That is to say, the ever-changing things in the world have the nature of the effect, and any effect is just the evolution from the cause. The effects have been contained in the causes of all things. The effect hides in the cause, cause and effect are respectively the hidden state and visible state of the same thing, and the cause condition and effect condition of the same thing.

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As to the reincarnation, *Hiran Yasaptati* divides it into three categories, namely natural law, animal law and humanity.

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As to the liberation, *Hiran Yasaptati* holds that the fundamental way of shuffling off this suffering is to know the truth revealed by Sankhya. That is, people can know the theory of “two realities and 25 truths” of Sankhya by the learning and experience of the truth of Sankhya philosophy to prevent the integration of Prakriti and Purusha, thus, completely annihilate Samsara to achieve the liberation. The theories put forward in *Hiran Yasaptati* and other literatures of Sankhya exert a great influence upon the Indian intellectual history. Until the modern times, many Indian thinkers still refer to or adopt the opinions of Sankhya in building the theoretical system.

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*Hiran Yasaptati* exerts certain influence on ancient Chinese ideology history, and receives many attention from the Buddhists. The famous translator of Buddhist scripture - Paramartha completes its translation. It is also brought into the Buddhist Tripitaka in later generations. In the eyes of Buddhists, it is a complete foreign literature, and receiving such attention in ancient China is extremely rare.

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*Hiran Yasaptati* also receives the attention of the modern Chinese scholars. There are many scholars studying it, and they have published many papers on this aspect in Chinese academic journals. Many Indian philosophy or religious writings published in China also involve its study or introduction. And it also appears in the Indian philosophy courses opened in China’s colleges and universities.

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(*Yao Weiqun*)

Cites (1)

Sāṃkhyakārikā — Īśvarakṛṣṇa, Sanskrit