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The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s5.t3: 3. Origin of the Evolutionary Series

The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s5.t3

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3. Origin of the Evolutionary Series

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As early as the cosmogony of the Ṛigveda there usually appears at the head of the development of the universe a triad of principles, in so far as (1) the primal being evolves from out of himself, (2) primitive matter, and himself takes form in the latter as (3) the first-born of creation.⁶ This series of the three first principles, which becomes more and more typical, is the ultimate basis of the three highest principles of the Sânkhya,--(1) purusha (2) prakṛiti, and (3) mahân (buddhi); except that the purusha, in consequence of its division into supreme and individual souls, and the consequent inevitable destruction of the first (the primal being), continues to exist only in its derivatives, the individual souls. And these last as such are no longer a first principle, but, as was shown in the previous section, appear in co-ordination contrasted with the prakṛiti. An early foreshadowing of this view may be found already in Bṛih. 1. 4. 6, when it is said:—"This only, food and eater, is this entire universe." These words are at any rate interpreted of prakṛiti and purusha in the oldest exposition of the Sâṅkhya philosophy known to us¹ in a chapter which by the direct contrast it sets up between purusha and prakṛiti opposes itself not only to the teaching of the Upanishads, even where a tendency towards the Sâṅkhya is already observable, but also to the remaining parts of the same Upanishad.² This origin of the three highest principles of the Sâṅkhya explains also the phenomenon which was formerly unintelligible, that the intellectual element, after having been assigned to the purusha (the knowing subject), and therefore apparently dismissed, re-appears on the objective side as *buddhi* or *mahân*, i.e. "the great." This term appears (as far as we know) in all the passages where the gender can be determined to be masculine,³ and is found as early as the Upanishads. So perhaps in the verse quotation Kaush. 1. 7 in the form *ṛishir brahmamayo mahân*; as the *mahân âtmâ* of Kâṭh. 3. 10, 13 and 6. 7; as the *agryaḥ purusho mahân* of S'vet. 3. 19, understanding the expression to mean "the first arisen great purusha," and therefore identifying it with the *hiraṇyagarbha* of 3. 4, 4. 12, the *ṛishiḥ kapilaḥ agre prasûtaḥ* of 5. 2, the *jñaḥ sarvagaḥ* of 6. 17, and the *Brahmân* of 6. 18, to whom the primal being delivered the Vedas, and from whom ancient wisdom has issued forth in 4. 18. It is, as a comparison of these passages proves, *Hiraṇyagarbha*, first-born in Ṛigv. X. 121 from the primeval waters, the intelligent principle of the universe, the mind as sustainer of the phenomenal universe, which divested of mythological form comes forth in the Sâṅkhya as the *mahân*, the cosmical *buddhi*, from the prakṛiti. From this in turn the *ahaṅkâra* as the individual principle is evolved, on which again depend the individual organs of knowledge (*manas* and *indriyas*), and their objects (*tanmâtras*, *bhûtas*). By its entrance into the liṅgam (the psychical organism) the *mahân* or *buddhi* acquires a psychical significance as the organ of judgement by the side of its original cosmical meaning.

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⁶ Hiraṇyagarbha, Brahmân; sup. p. 182 f.

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¹ Maitr. 6. 10.

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² e.g. 5. 2 and 6. 11-13.

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³ It occurs mostly in compounds as *mahad-âdi*, *mahat-tattvam*, "the essence of the great."

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At the basis of the entire formation of this series appears to be the thought that evolution from the primeval being adopts the same order as the return into it, only in a reverse direction. Now the Upanishads teach a threefold return into Brahman,—(1) in sleep, (2) in death, and (3) in yoga; and in the description of this threefold entrance into Brahman all the principles gradually come to light which in the evolutionary scheme of the Sâṅkhya are united into one. We will establish this in a few leading passages.

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(1) In the deep sleep, which is an entrance into Brahman, according to Chând. 4. 3. 3, speech, eye, ear and *manas* enter into the *prâṇa*; and according to Pras'na 4, in dream-sleep the *indriyas* enter into *manas*, and both in deep sleep into the *tejas*. In the words that follow¹ the entrance of the five *bhûtas* and the five *tanmâtras* into the *âtman* is described, together with the five organs of knowledge and the five of action, and also *manas*, *buddhi*, *ahaṅkâra*, *c'ittam*, *tejas*, *prâṇa*, and the functions that belong to them. It is not expressly stated that the order of entrance corresponds to the series given from last to first, but on the analogy of other passages it is quite admissible.

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¹ Pras'na 4. 7 ff.

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(2) At death, according to Chând. 6. 8. 6,¹ speech enters into manas, manas into prâṇa, prâṇa into tejas, tejas into the supreme godhead. Just as here by speech all the indriyas are apparently intended, so by tejas we seem to be obliged to understand all the three primeval elements (tejas, âpas, annam, of which indeed, according to Chând. 6. 5. 4, speech, prâṇa and manas consist), which, as we shall see later, have been developed into prakṛiti with its three guṇas.

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¹ cp. 6. 15. 2.

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(3) In yoga, according to Kâṭh. 3. 10–13,² the senses and their objects are absorbed into manas, the latter into buddhi (=jñânâ’ âtmâ = sattvam), this again into mahân âtmâ, and this finally into avyaktam (=s’ânta’ âtmâ), by which means the purusha is isolated from them all, and its deliverance is effected. We should thus obtain for the return into the first principle at death yoga and deep sleep respectively the following succession :³—

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² Kâṭh. 6. 7–11 is in essential agreement.

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³ The order in Pras’na 4 is doubtful.

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| AT DEATH (Chând. 6. 8. 6). | IN YOGA (Kâṭh. 3. 10–13, 6. 7–11). | IN DEEP SLEEP (Prâs’na 4. 7). |
| *parâ devatâ* | *purusha* | *âtman* |
| *tejas (âpas, annam)* | *avyaktam (s’ânta’ âtman)* | { *prâṇa* *tejas* |
| *prâṇa* | { *mahân âtmâ* *buddhi* | { *cittam* *ahaṅkâra* *buddhi* |
| *manas* | *manas* | *manas* |
| *vâc’ (etc.)* | *arthâḥ and indriyâṇi* | *tanmâtra, bhûta, indriya* |

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With these steps of the involution into the primeval essence (that are found at death, in deep sleep, and in yoga) should be compared the steps of the evolution of things from the primeval essence, as they appear first in Muṇḍ. 1. 1. 8–9, 2. 1. 2–3 (not yet perfectly distinct, a few points remaining doubtful) and in a more intelligible form in the later Sâṅkhya :¹—

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¹ First perhaps in Maitr. 6. 10.

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| Muṇḍ. 1. 1. 8–9. | Muṇḍ. 2. 1. 2–3. | The Later Sâṅkhya. |
| *yaḥ sarvajñaḥ, sarvavid* | *purusha* | } *prakṛiti* || *purusha* |
| *annam* (=*avyâkṛitam*, | *aksharam* | |
| *Sâṅk.*) | | |
| *prâṇa* (=*Hiraṇyagarbha*, | *prâṇa* | { *mahân* |
| *Sâṅk.*) | | *ahaṅkâra* |
| *manas* | *manas*, and | *tanmâtra* *manas* and *indriyas* |
| | organs of sense | |
| *satyam, lokâḥ, karmâṇi* | the elements | *bhûtas* |

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A comparison of these tables renders it very probable that the true motive for the order of evolution in the Sâṅkhya doctrine is, together with the triad of first principles adopted from the Ṛigveda (primal being, primitive matter, Hiraṇyagarbha, which become purusha, prakṛiti and mahân), the succession of entrance into Brahman in deep sleep, death and yoga, which is taught in the Upanishads. And thus it becomes intelligible that when the later followers of the Sâṅkhya endeavour to justify their order by the psychological process in learning, they can do it only in an artificial way that from a philosophical point of view is unsatisfactory.

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