The Samkhya System: A History of the Samkhya Philosophy c5.26

c5.26

The pessimism which is assumed by the Sāṃkhya must likewise be derivative. In the Upaniṣads there is no general pessimism visible in the earlier expositions of doctrine; the marked pessimism of the Maitrāyaṇī is a clear indication of its posteriority to the influence of Buddhism, which had evidently a very considerable part in spreading the doctrine. The underlying view of the Upaniṣads is, indeed, that the Ātman in itself is perfect, and that, accordingly, all else is filled with trouble, as the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (iii, 4, 2; 5, 1; 7, 23) expressly says; and with this expression of opinion may be set such remarks as that the knower of the self overcomes sorrow; nor is there any lack of references to old age and trouble. But it is one thing to admit this, and quite another to hold that the general tone of the Upaniṣads is pessimistic; rather the joy of the discovery of the new knowledge is the characteristic of the teachers, while they regard the self as in itself bliss. Since the knowledge of the self is open to all, and since by that knowledge bliss is to be obtained, the older Upaniṣads could not be and are not pessimistic. While, however, the Sāṃkhya shares with them the belief in the possibility of freedom being obtained in the course of man’s lifetime, and thus has a less pessimistic side, it denies that there is bliss in the state of the released spirit, and like Buddhism dwells on the reality of human misery.