On the banks of the Ganges, in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, an old sage sits cross-legged under a banyan tree. Eyes closed, he seems lost in contemplation, impervious to the cacophony of temple bells and tourists around him. For centuries, philosophers and spiritual seekers like him have come to Varanasi to contemplate life’s deepest mysteries along the sacred river. But the answers this sage seeks do not lie in religious ritual or divine revelation. Rather, he looks within, using reason and logic to understand the true nature of existence. For he follows the ancient school of Samkhya, one of India’s oldest and most influential philosophical traditions.
Samkhya is a dualist and rationalist school of Indian philosophy that emphasizes discriminative knowledge and the self. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word “samkhya” meaning “enumeration” or “analysis,” reflecting its reliance on reason and categorization. Some scholars date Samkhya’s origins to the first millennium BCE, while traditional accounts attribute it to the legendary sage Kapila. Samkhya deeply influenced both Hindu and Buddhist thought, forming the philosophical basis of Ayurveda and yoga. Yet despite its seminal influence, Samkhya remains little known outside scholarly circles today.
The Sixfold Path to Truth
In the Vedas, there are six instruments referred to as the six pramanas (proofs), through which one can acquire correct knowledge about anything visible and invisible, manifested and unmanifested, or will be manifested in future. Knowledge about anything can be limited to these six pramanas in Vedic philosophy, which include
- pratyaksha (direct perception),
- anumana (inference),
- shabda (verbal testimony),
- upamana (comparison),
- arthapatti (postulation), and
- anupalabdhi (non-perception).
For centuries, these pramanas have been discussed and debated by Indian realists and idealists, dualists and monists, theists and atheists. Although their conclusions have sometimes been contradictory, they have generally agreed upon these six pramanas under the authority of the Vedas.
For centuries, these pramanas have been discussed and debated by Indian realists and idealists, dualists and monists, theists and atheists. Although their conclusions have sometimes been contradictory, they have generally agreed upon these six pramanas under the authority of the Vedas.
Kapila – The Enlightened Sage
One of the respected Munis who debated the six pramanas was Kapil, a highly regarded philosopher of the Vedic tradition. Krishna mentioned him as “siddhanam kapilo muniḥ” in the Bhagavad Gita 10.26, meaning he was one of the realised beings.
Kapil is known for many comprehensive works on Vedic understanding, including Sankhya-Smriti, where he provided commentary to explain the Gyan-Khand of the Vedas, describing the Samkhya philosophy. He developed a system of discrimination of the universe into twenty-five principles and explained the methods by which we can analyse and understand these principles and the creation through it.
In his Samkhya philosophy, there is no description of God or creator, nor are there any set rules one must follow. Kapil muni explained how the effect lies in the cause, propagating the universe and reasoning the existence of the cause in the effect.
The Evolution of Samkhya Thought
The Samkhya philosophy has evolved since the time of Kapil muni, and it is now one of the six orthodox (astika) schools of Hindu philosophy in the modern society of religious pluralism.
According to modern understanding, three of the pramanas (Pratyaksha, Anuman, and Shabda) are needed to understand the science of creation of the universe and the truth behind whatever has been created and what will be created as a result of the present creation. These three pramanas are mentioned in any ancient Samkhya scripture we can have access to now.
Drishtam anumanam aptavachanam cha sarvapramana siddhatvat |
Trividham pramanamishtam prameyasiddhih pramanaddhi ||
– Samkhya Karika
In Samkhya philosophy, three standards of proof are accepted: Pratyaksha (direct perception), Anumana (inference), and Apta vakya (the words or shabda of realized beings or scriptures). These three pramanas establish all other standards of proof. By using these three pramanas, propositions are established and knowledge can be acquired.
The Theory of Errors on the Path to Truth
Despite its significance, Samkhya is a complex and often debated philosophy that remains little understood in existing epistemologies. While it deals with the proof of the existence of true knowledge, it also acknowledges the theory of errors. Samkhya emphasizes the importance of transparency in understanding how one can recognize if one is wrong, and how to correct flawed epistemic methods or conclusions to reach correct knowledge. This process of self-correction is essential for reaching true understanding, and it is a common loop in which most philosophers find themselves.
To gain a deeper understanding of Samkhya, let us explore its elements of creation.
The 25 elements of creation according to Samkhya
The 25 elements of creation as described by Kapil are chronologically as below:
Two Pure Tatvas:
To gain a deeper understanding of Samkhya, let us explore its elements of creation.
The 25 elements of creation according to Samkhya are chronologically as below:
The Two Pure Principles
The pure tatvas are independently, ever present without any boundation of time, space, origin or end and hence they are called pure tatvas. Samkhya is dualist because it describes the evolution based on these two pure tatvas.
Purusha – The Cosmic Self
Purusha: The only being. Neither a physical body nor a predisposed mind. It is sometimes referred to as atman, jeeva, or khetragya, but it is not bound or limited to these terms. This existence pre-dates all existence and encompasses all existence, whether it is one entity or all entities combined, and it is known as Purusha. Think of it as a statue; if you trace it back to the raw stone, you can still go further back before the stone (assuming it had consciousness) or the architect was even aware of the stone’s existence, but Purusha is aware. You can keep tracing this stone back to its origin as far as your mind allows you, whether it’s to the mountain from which it was extracted or the creation of the mountain and beyond to infinity. The stone, the mountain, and all of creation that precedes and follows it, are all part of Purusha.
The Purush Sukta of Rig Veda states this very clearly as “sa bhumim vishvato vrtva atya” which means Purusha is one which pervades everything conscious and unconscious and envelops the whole creation from all directions. Purush Sukta states that everything manifested and unmanifested is Purusha alone.
Prakriti – The Primordial Force
Prakriti: Prakriti, the force, power, cause, energy, nature, or skill, is the origin of everything. In the analogy of the stone, Prakriti can be seen as the skill of the sculptor, driving the process of manifestation of the statue from the first thought of the architect to find a stone. Tracing it back with a trail of whys and hows to the origin of the cause, from the reason to learn the architecture skill to the cause of the birth of the architect or his forefathers, Prakriti plays its role in many forms.
Yuktidipika describes Prakriti as a dancing lady (nartaki) who appears on the stage to entertain, and after the performance ends, she vanishes. The two pure tatvas are timeless, existing before and after time.
The shloka is “rangasya darsayitva nivartate nartaki yatha nrityat”.
Samkhya’s Theory of Evolution
According to Samkhya, evolution means manifestation of an effect from it’s cause. And then again an evolution of a new cause from the result and an effect from this cause. Thus the effect is there in the cause and a cause is there in the effect which maintains a cycle of cause and effect and the evolution process propagates.
For example, a seed is the cause of a tree and the tree is an effect. So there is a potential tree in the seed. But as the tree evolves, it becomes the cause of the seed hence the tree is the cause for a seed. So the tree-seed cycle propagates. This is a straightforward example where the cause and effect takes exactly the same form in each alternate step. The cause and effect cycle can become more complex. For example, milk is caused to yogurt, yogurt to food, food to protein in an animal’s body and animal to milk. Thus the evolution which is even more complex.
Now Prakriti is the one who runs this cycle and Purusha takes all these forms.
This theory of evolution based on Samkhya philosophy is known as Satkaryavada, which explains the causality relationship of Prakriti and Purusha and is largely articulated with the help of Parinamavada which simply means ‘result of’. If you don’t wish to learn all those Sanskrit words then leave them. Just understand the theory of conservation of energy and replace energy with Prakriti and everything else which is driven by this energy as Purusha.
The Interaction of Purusha and Prakriti
As soon as Prakriti and Purusha start interacting, a cause is established. The effect (or ‘result of’ as per parinamavada) is the beginning of the manifestation of the conscious universe. Gradually Purusha takes multiple forms and so does Prakriti and with their billions of years of permutation the universe we witness now is derived and propagating.
Now it is very important at this point to understand the core nature of both Prakriti and Purusha. Prakriti is insentient (jada) and dynamic because it drives the action but does not participate into it. Prakriti binds itself with purusha with treegunas (satva, rajas, tamas) in its seven forms (dharma, vairagya, aishvarya, adharma, agyan, avairagya and anaishvarya) in variable proportions to take part in the ongoing manifestation process and retires from those forms when the job is done. This happens from a part of the infinite prakriti, but overall Prakriti is still insentient.
Purusha at those moments, binds with the Prakriti, manifests in different forms but strives for an end i.e. liberation and that’s how birth (janam) and death (maran), joy (sukh) and sorrow (dukh) etc are experienced in the moment by a form of Purusha manifested for that moment and liberated in the end. So Purusha is sentient (chetan) because all the actions are performed on and by Purusha in many forms.
After the first cause, when Prakriti interacts with Purusha, Kapil muni said that Purusha and Prakriti are conjoined like a lame (pangu) and a blind (andh), pangu-andhavat. That is without Prakriti, Purusha is blind and insensitive and without Purusha, Prakriti is lame and un-dynamic.
The 23 Evolutes of Prakriti and Purusha
From here on, all the remaining 23 elements of Samkhya are a characteristic (or form) of the effect of Prakriti and Purusha interacting as a result of the intervention and boundation applied by the infinite Prakriti on infinite Purusha and hence the 23 elements are finite and will merge back to Purusha and Prakriti once the job is done. A series of such cause and effect cycles can be witnessed as the evolution propagates and dissolution stifles.
The remaining 23 elements of evolution as per Samkhya are:
Mahat – The Cosmic Intellect
The first element which is manifested out of (unmanifested) Prakriti is Mahat. Mahat is the cosmic intelligence or the universal mind having a life cycle measured in the unit of Manvantara. Mahat is capable of reflecting the consciousness of Purusha. So Mahat becomes the first finite product according to Samkhya which is self conscious and has the ability to use the Pramanas of epistemology.
In Psychological aspect, Mahat is Buddhi or intellect.
Ahamkara – The Sense of Self
Mahat produces Ahamkara. Ahamkara, being a descendant of Prakriti, possesses three qualities of the Prakriti (sattva, rajas, tamas) and hence is divided into three forms:
- Vaikarika or Sattvika
- Taijasa or Rajas
- Bhutadi or Tamas
It is important though to note that although the three Ahamkaras are named after and possess the individual trigunas of Prakriti but these individual gunas are present along with the other two in a lighter intensity and support each other in the evolution process while the predominant one acts.
The Inner Elements of Perception
From Vaikarika Ahamkara evolves eleven elements, the Mind, the five Gyandendriya and five Karmendriya.
Psychologically though, we have three Antahkarana.
The Three Inner Elements (Antahkarana):
- Intelligence (Mahat or Buddhi): Ability to understand, reason, compare, imagine, know.
- Sense of self (Ahamkara): I am. The realisation of being with the knowledge of shape, size, origin or creation. A simple understanding that I exist.
- Mind (Manas): Thought, attention, sense-process, perception, preferences, memory or anything that I can recall if I am not aware of what is there beyond me.
The Five Elements of Knowing (Gyanendriya):
- Ears (srota): An instrument which can know about something by hearing.
- Skin (tvacha): An instrument which can know about something by touching.
- Eyes (chakshu): An instrument which can witness something by sight.
- Tongue (rasana): An instrument of taste.
- Nose (ghrana): An instrument of smell.
The Five Elements of Action (Karmendriya):
- Mouth (vaak): speech
- Hands (pani): manipulation
- Feet (pada): locomotion
- Genitals (upastha): procreation
- Bowels (payu): elimination
The Elements of Matter
From Taijasa Ahamkara (2nd Ahamkara) evolves the five Gross elements.
Five Gross Elements:
- Space (akasa): bija: HAM
- Air (vayu): bija: YAM
- Fire (tejas / agni): bija: RAM
- Water (apah): bija: VAM
- Earth (prithvi): bija: LAM
And, from the Bhutadi Ahamkara (the 3rd Ahamkara) evolves the five Tanmatras.
The Five Subtle Elements (Tanmatras):
- Sound (shabda)
- Touch (sparsa)
- Form (rupa)
- Taste (rasa)
- Smell (gandha)
The Epistemology of Samkhya
As stated earlier in the article, Samkhya takes only three Pramanas to establish the proof of true knowledge:
- Pratyksha (Sensory Perception)
- Anuman (Inference)
- Shabda (Testimony)
The evolution explained until now is completely in line with the three Pramamas.
Perception
Knowledge acquired through direct sensory experience is termed as Pratyaksha Pramana or Perception. Perception as per vedic philosophy is of two types, external or Bahya Gyan (or Savikalpa Gyan) and internal or Abhyantara Gyan (or Nirvikalpa Gyan). The external perception is one which is recognised through the five Gyanendriya (sense organs) while the internal perception is one arising from the three Antahkarana.
Samkhya has identified four requirements for correct perception:
- Indriyartha Sannikarsha (A direct and pure perception by five sensory organs)
- Avyapadesya (A correct perception is not acquired through hearsay)
- Avyabhichara (A correct perception cannot be acquired from a defective Gyanendriya)
- Vyavasayatmika (A correct perception excludes judgments of doubt)
Inference
Knowledge gained through an instrument of analysis, interpretation and/or guessing backed by reason is Anumana Pramana or Inference.
Anumana Pramana is of three kinds:
- Drastavat: To infer the existence through senses but the object is not detectable properly. For example, witnessing fire on a mountain from a long distance by watching smoke.
- Sesavat: To deduce the characteristic of the whole by sampling.
- Samanyatodrasta: Which can be induced logically.
Samkhya has identified three requirements for correct inference:
- Pratijna: There must be a hypothesis about the experience both in favour and against the experience and in case of the lack of one, the hypothesis cannot be validated.
- Hetu: There has to be a medium for the experience.
- Dristanta: There must be an explanation with examples.
Testimony
Some experiences are even beyond the reach of Inference so Samkhya has accepted a third mode of knowledge known as testimony (Shabda Pramana).
Shabda Pramana refers to the old and widely accepted scriptures such as the Vedas, Upnishads and Aranyakas and also includes Vedanta-sutra and Smrtis, such as the Gita etc. Shabda also refers to the intuitive revelation of the rishis.
Conclusion
Despite debates and disagreements between schools, Samkhya remains one of the most influential traditions within Hindu philosophy. Its rational analysis of reality and emphasis on discriminative knowledge continues to enlighten seekers on the path to self-realization. For those who walk the razors edge between reason and revelation, Samkhya provides an enumerated framework to analyze the material world, understand the distinction between self and nature, and ultimately attain liberation.
