Indian Philosophy v2.c24.s23: I Introduction
Indian Philosophy v2.c24.s23
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I Introduction
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THE Sāṃkhya system represents a notable departure in thought from what may be called the formalistic habit of mind. By its emphasis on the principle of continuity, it marks, in some degree, the abandonment of the tendency to view the universe as tied up in neat parcels. Its rejection of the rigid categories of the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika as inadequate instruments for describing the complex and fluid universe, makes it a real advance on the theory of atomistic pluralism. It undermines the foundations of supernatural religion by substituting evolution for creation The world is not the act of a creator God, who summoned up by a single fiat of his will a world entirely distinct from himself, but is the product of the interaction between the infinite number of spirits and the ever-active prakṛti, or the potentiality of nature—what Plato calls "the receptacle and nurse of all generation."¹
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¹ See also *Enneads*, iii. 6. 13; E.T. by McKenna, vol. ii, p. 86.
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The Sāṃkhya philosophy assumes the reality of puruṣas and prakṛti from the fact of knowledge with its distinction between the subject and the object. No explanation of experience is possible if we do not assume the reality of a knowing self and an object known. The Sāṃkhya endeavours to give an intelligible account of all experience, why we have it and how we acquire it. Richard Garbe, who has made a special study of this school, says: “In Kapila’s doctrine, for the first time in the history of the world, the complete independence and freedom of the human mind, its full confidence in its own powers, were exhibited.”¹ It is “the most significant system of philosophy that India has produced.”² Even those who regard this estimate as exaggerated will concede that the Sāṁkhya is a notable attempt in the realm of pure philosophy.
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¹ *Philosophy of Ancient India*, p. 30. See also Davies : S.K., p. v.
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² S.P.B., p. xiv.
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The system takes its name from the fact that it arrives at its conclusions by means of theoretical investigation. The word “Sāṁkhya” is said by some to be derived from saṁkhyā, or number,³ and the name is justified as being appropriate to a system which gives an analytical enumeration of the principles of the cosmos. But this tendency to enumeration is common to all Hindu systems of thought. In the early texts, “Saṁkhyā” is used in the sense of philosophical reflection and not numerical reckoning.⁴ This particular system, which expounds by careful reflection the nature of puruṣa or spirit,⁵ and the other entities, acquired its significant title.⁶
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³ Garbe : *Philosophy of Ancient India*, p. 44. M.B. associates Sāṁkhya with parisamkhyāna, or exhaustive enumeration. See xii. 11393 ; xii. 11409, 11410. Winternitz says: “It seems to me to be proved that Pythagoras was influenced by the Indian Sāṁkhya” (*Calcutta Review*, 1924, p. 21).
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⁴ See I.P., p. 527. Cp. M.B., xii. 11934. Doṣāṇāṁ ca guṇānāṁ ca pramāṇam pravibhāgataḥ Kaṁcid artham abhipretya sā saṁkhyety upadhāryatām. The weighing of the defects and the merits severally, as one attempts some interpretation, should be understood as saṁkhyā. Sāṁkhya has not always a numerical reference. In his commentary on Viṣṇusahasranāma, Śaṁkara quotes a passage where Sāṁkhya means knowledge of the nature of pure spirit: “Śuddhātmatattvavijñānaṁ sāṁkhyam ity abhidhīyate.” See Hall : *Sāṁkhyasāra*, p. 5.
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⁵ Cp. Saṁyagvivekenātmakathanam.
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⁶ It is also suggested that the system derived its name from its first founder Sankha, though there is little evidence for this surmise. See Hall : *Sāṁkhyasāra*, p. 3.
Cites (2)
- Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Sāṃkhyakārikā — Īśvarakṛṣṇa, Sanskrit