One of six leading systems of spiritual Vedic philosophy, attributed to sage Kapila. Its chief object is the emancipation of the soul from the bonds of worldly existence. (Glossary for the Vahinis)
Being endowed with infinite sublime powers, it is not proper on the part of man to be satisfied with mere worldly life. A real philosopher is one who has cultivated ‘Dama’ (self control). The ancient seers, having envisioned the Truth, shared their joy with the people around.
The Samkhya philosophy did not accept the philosophical doctrines propounded by the ‘Nyaya and ‘Vaisheshika’ systems. The Samkhya system propounded that the world is a harmonious product of paradoxical dualities with inherent harmony of the world. Sage Kapila is the founder of the Samkhya system of philosophy. Hence, it is also know as ‘Kapala’. According to this philosophy, the world is marked by the harmony of numerals (Samkhya). Hence, it has been called Samkhya philosophy.
According to this system, ‘Paramatma’ is latent in the ‘Prakriti’, as oil is latent in the seeds, as fire in wood and as fragrance in flowers. The ‘Paramatma’ is the cause and ‘Prakriti’ is the consequence. The system upheld that ‘Prakriti’ is not separate from ‘Paramatma’. It is nothing but the physical form of the Lord. The Samkhya system employed ‘Tattva’ the power to discriminate between the eternal and the ephemeral, to explore the mysteries of Universe.
The Samkhya system held that the creation cannot be made of one entity alone and that it is the union of two entities, viz. nature and God. One cannot clap with one hand; one needs two hands to clap. Similarly Prakriti and Paramatma are essential for creation and without them, creation is impossible. Hence, it is sheer foolishness to consider Prakriti as a separate entity. The Samkhya system held that Divinity runs as an under-current everywhere in Prakriti.
According to this system the world consists of entities numbering twenty-four. The five organs of action, the five organs of sense perception, the five vital airs, the five sensation (Tanmatras) and the four inner organs (Antarendriyas) of Manas, Buddhi, Citta and Ahamkara add up to twenty four and constitute the world. The world is made of paradoxical dualities like air and fire, fire and water etc. It is these dualities, which make the Universe. It propounded that Moksha is not seclusion in the forest. ‘Moha’ + ‘Kshaya’ = ‘Moksha’ (the extinction of delusion is liberation). When Purusha joins the twenty -four principles, it becomes the twenty fifth principle. The twenty-sixth principle is Paramatma. After sincere enquiry into Prakriti, the Paramatma becomes the twenty-sixth Principle and merges into Ishvara.
According to the Samkhya system, the Universe is a harmonious union of Prakriti and Purusha. The Jiva (individual being) merges into the twenty-sixth principle of Paramatma (the Jiva is made of twenty- four principles and the Purusha makes the number twenty five). The Jiva, by separating itself from Prakriti and Purusha, should merge into the twenty-sixth principle, Ishvara (the absolute soul). Both Prakriti and Purusha are contained in Jiva.
The Jiva is in the body and the Lord is in the heart. They play their game and go apart. There is a puppeteer who directs this play. The puppets of good and bad co-exist in one.
How to grasp this unity wherein, the two exist in one? Seeing diversity in unity is human but seeing unity in diversity is Divine. The Samkhya system of philosophy propounds that humanity is nothing but Divine Unity.
‘In the human heart is the Kalpataru (wish fulfilling tree) but weeds in abundance grow around the tree. Clear the weeds and the tree can be seen. That indeed is the celestial cow which grants all your wishes’.
Both the celestial cow and the wish-fulfilling tree exist in man. Humanity is a bridge between the visible and the invisible. Since man is positioned in the middle state between the two entities, he is known as Martya’. Our life is a consequence of the unseen effects of our action.
The mind of man is a slate in the Citta (mind) is Prajna. He is the Chitragupta who records faithfully all the happenings in Citta. The Prajna is the radiation, which activates ‘Prana Shakti’ in the inert body. Man is a harmonious fusion of Materialization, Vibration and Radiation. Hence man is the unity of Jiva, Prakriti, and Purushatva.
The Samkhya system opined that Moksha (liberation) does not descend on man from the higher regions, nor does it ascend to man from the lower regions. Mohakshaya (extinction of delusion) is Moksha. Extinction of ignorance is liberation. Man is under the spell of Moha as long as he does not realise the Truth. Coming under the spell of delusion that, he is the body, man wastes his life in the pursuit of bodily pleasures. The Samkhya system exhorts man not to be deluded by the body. It states:
O ‘Man! The world is made of twenty-four tatwas (entities); the Jiva, the Purusha are made of diverse substances. Man cannot see Truth so long as he has these Tatwas; he should go beyond these Tatwas. Only then does he reach the state of the Super mind, from which he leaps from one mind to another, the crown being the over mind.
The Samkhya system professed that unless man destroys Prakriti Drishti (the worldly attitude) he cannot have ‘Paramatma Drishti’ (the Divine attitude). This system demonstrated the existence of the Self whether it is encased in the body or not. The Atmic current is a perennial force, though it is invisible to eye.
The bulb lights up as soon as it is put in a holder since the current is there all the time, though it is invisible to the eye. The current was there both before and after putting the bulb in the holder. Similarly, according to the philosophers of the Samkhya system, Atmic power is there both inside and outside the body.
One day or the other, man has to reach his destination. Saint Tyagaraja said: ‘O! Rama, howsoever high the bird may fly, it has to seek the shelter of a tree when it is tired. Similarly, man has to seek shelter at the Feet of the Lord, one day’. In this context the Samkhya exhorts, ‘O’ Man! Since you cannot help reaching your destination one day or the other, why not strive to reach it at the earliest, instead of delaying your advancement?
What is the Sadhana which man has to launch on? He need not do any other Sadhana than the Sadhana of fostering human temperament in man, by destroying the demoniac nature in him and ultimately merging in God. The Samkhya philosophers said that it is demoniac on the part of man to disregard Divinity. You need not make great efforts to see the fire covered by ash. Once the ash is blown away, the fire in the ember is visible to the eye. The sea of the human heart is covered by the moss of materialistic tendencies. The moss of materialistic tendencies can be removed only by ‘Namasmarana’ (chanting the Lord’s name). Jaya Deva said that in the Kali age, there is nothing more powerful than ‘Namasmarana’ to fight the adverse influences of Kali.
This system stated that unless we vanquish ‘Prakriti’ which is steeped in ‘Samkhyatva’, we cannot realise Divinity. Saint Ramdas expressed similar sentiments, ‘If you do not understand the twenty four ‘marmas’ (subtle secrets), you will come under the hold of maya of twenty five tatwas’. We will reach the twenty-sixth ‘Tattva’ (Ishvara) if we understand these twenty-five tatwas thoroughly. Hence, Samkhya philosophy asks us to keep the twenty-four Tattvas on the right track by observing discipline, since it is impossible to do away with them. (SSB 1993, pp. 81-85)