The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s5.t5.3

c10.s5.t5.3

It is otherwise in the Sânkhya. Here matter is as truly real as the soul, and therefore cannot be recognised by the latter as an illusion, as in the Vedânta. The illusion, which has to be penetrated, is concerned in this case solely with the union between prakṛiti and purusha. This thought however cannot be sustained from a philosophical point of view. For a union either really subsists, or it does not. If it is real no advance of knowledge can lead to a dissolution of the union, but at the most to a clear consciousness of it, whereby however it is still far from being dissolved. The keen sword of knowledge can cleave the mist of an illusion, but cannot sever an actually existing union. If, on the other hand, the union between the two realities purusha and prakṛiti is not real, it has no existence at all. It is then not true that purusha “enlightens” prakṛiti, not true that prakṛiti “is reflected” in purusha; and this illumination or reflection may not be employed to explain the phenomenon of suffering, for it does not itself exist.