History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c94.85

v7.c94.85

The word 'Saṅkhyā' has another sense as the Amarakośa states ('carcā saṅkhyā vicāraṇā) viz. 'rational examination' or 'discernment'; and the word Sāṅkhya may be derived from it in the sense of 'system of rational examination' and in the sense of 'philosopher' (masculine) according to 'tadadhīte tadveda' (Pāṇ. IV. 2. 59) meaning 'Sāṅkhyaṁ veda'.²²⁵⁹ The Bhāmatī explains the word in the second sense. Sāṅkhya in a general sense means tattvajñāna (knowledge of ultimate reality, including Vedānta) or a 'person who knows the ultimate reality.' The word Sāṅkhya is frequently used in the Bhagavadgītā in the sense of *tattvajñāna* (as in II. 39, V. 5, XIII. 24) and in the sense of a person knowing ultimate reality (in III. 3, V. 5).