A rich man, high on his achievements, identifies with his possessions. His possessions, wealth, status, titles, become his ‘identity-card’ – become him. He has become what he has, not what he is. Imagine this man driving his swanky sports car. Public adulation makes him ‘high’. He steps hard on the gas. Driving fast, burning the wheels, fueling his ego, he loses grip on the steering wheel and crashes into a tree. Thankfully he’s saved by airbags! Safe but shocked, he gets out of his car. The first thought that comes to his mind is “… the car is crushed but thank heavens I am alive”. The man whose car had become his very identity now breaks down in gratitude for being alive, even though his car is destroyed. This in short is the essence of Sankhya Karika, to realize our true identity and to release us from sufferings caused by false identification of our true-Self. My objective is to present the process of bondage and release as mentioned in Sankhya karika in a contemporary view.
Sankhya is one of the six classical Darshana (drishyate anene iti = through which one sees) of Vedic philosophical thought. As a philosophy it has influenced a wide range of literature, from Mahabharata, Yoga Sutra to Ayurveda. Tradition has it that the venerable sage Kapila formulated Sankhya system. In due course of time a number of commentaries, interpretations and expositions appeared. Unfortunately, even though Sankhya has percolated the Indian spiritual thought deeply, not many works have survived in the purest of sense. The only complete work is Sankhya Karika of Ishwar Krishna (5.AD) which is the reference book for this essay. ‘Karika’ in Sanskrit means a collection of verses elaborating a particular philosophy. The word “Samkhya” is composed of two terms, namely “sama” meaning correct and “khya” meaning knowing (samyak khyayate iti). It seeks to take the seeker closer to a correct understanding of things and Self. In short, Sankhya is Vivekajnana (fundamental, rational knowing), the knowledge through which one discriminates between who they are and who they are not in a deeper spiritual sense thus avoiding suffering which results from mistaken identity. This knowledge of fundamental self-knowing releases (apavarga or moksha) the seeker from repeated cycle of life and death. According to another interpretation, the term Sankhya is derived from the root ‘Sankhya’ which means enumeration. According to Prof C. D. Sharma, “Sankhya is the philosophy of numbers because it deals with 25 categories or fundamental constituents of the universe (tattvas).” These two meanings have also been given by Vijnana Bhikshu in his preface of Sankhya Pravanachana Bhashya.
1) Main aim of the Sankhya system: The main premise of putting forth this philosophy is to mitigate suffering caused by three kinds of misery/pain (dukhatraya-abhighata), namely adhyatmika, adhibhautika and adhidaivika, intra-organic, extra-organic and the ones caused by supernatural agencies respectively. Ishvara Krishna says that such an enquiry was necessitated because even though visible means of mitigating sufferings are available their effects are not lasting, not reliable and/or subject to impurity, decay and excess[1]. I feel Sankhya Karika is telling us that cosmetic solutions like shopping therapy or social media validations may be good to mask our psycho-physical sorrows but won’t really help eradicate our sufferings from the roots. To remove the root cause of suffering one needs to deeply understand the nature of suffering and who really suffers, or in the words of Sankhya Karika, have discriminative knowledge (vijnan) of manifest (vyakta), unmanifest (avyakta) and conscious cognizer (jna)[2]. Such line of enquiry will truly help many who have become addicted to unbridled consumeristic pursuits without questioning how much is too much.
2) Cause of suffering: According to Ishvara Krishna the Self (Purusha) is solitary, neutral, seer and non-agent (inactive)[3]. It is pure witnessing consciousness (sakshichaitanya). But due to false identification, the non-conscious (achetan) appears to be conscious (chetan) as if possessing sentiency, and although actions are performed through the power of Gunas (Prakriti) the neutral witness (Purusha) appears to be performing actions[4]. This false identification is caused by their association (samyoga) with each other because of which the solitary Self (Purusha) thinks of itself as the products of Prakriti. Due to this confusion we identify so strongly with our body, mind, emotions, identities and so on. Sometimes when we say, ‘I am angry’, we literally become the anger forgetting that we are an eternal witness. This core mis-identification continues to afflict pain on two main levels of human personality – the body (linga), the mind (bhava)[5]. The suffering continues to dominate the existence of Purusha[6]. In this manner the Self develops attachment to the objects of the world including physical things, thoughts, emotions, beliefs etc. As long as the association continues, the mis-identification continues, and as far as the mis-identification continues the Self will continue being ignorant of its true nature consequently continuing to be entangled in the cycle of birth and death. Thus, ignorance (avidya or ajnana) is the root cause of suffering and bondage in Sankhya karika.
3) Release from suffering: Release from suffering can happen when the association between the Purusha and Prakriti is broken, thereby realizing our true nature as non-acting, witnessing, conscious Purusha that is utterly different than the acting, doing, unconscious Prakriti. This knowledge that I am neither Prakriti nor any of its products, including mind, body and emotions, is known as vivekajnana, discriminative knowledge. Sankhya Karika declares, ‘Jnanena cha apavargah’ means, release is only through knowledge. This knowledge is not some ordinary knowing that comes through reading or hearing. It is a deep sense of knowing that I am truly different (anyoham) than what I think I am. The exploration of 25 principles that constitute all that there is, is known as tattvabhyasa[7]. It is said to lead to vivekajnana which is in form of ‘I am not’, ‘nothing is mind’, ‘this is not I’ and so on. These deny all activities of in the Self (purusha) where the ‘I’ represents agency. This knowledge is pure because it’s free from doubt and falsity which are the two impurities of Buddhi[8].
4) Some methods of release in Sankhya Karika: The way to gain vivekajnana is by working on improving three sattvic[9] dispositions (sattvic bhava) and reducing four tamasic dispositions (tamasic bhava) in our daily life. One of the bhava is Dharma, virtue or righteousness, with which we rise up (urdhva gaman).The others are, dispassion (vairagya) and power (aishwarya). Practice of these three leads to Jnana which ultimately leads to release (apavarga). Thankfully, these bhavas are innate in the Buddhi[10], so we don’t really have to go anywhere externally to work on ourselves. We just have to transmute our Buddhi from Rajasic-Tamasic dominance to Sattvic dominance. A detailed elaboration on techniques of such transmutation are mentioned in Yoga Sutra of Patanjali in form of Yama-Niyama as ethical-moral codes of conduct that hold the seeker on the path of Dharma and other essential Sattvic bhavas. Sankhya Karika also mentions some practical methods through which we can strengthen our success (siddhi) on the path of apavarga, they are, adhyayana (study of scriptures), shabda (oral instruction of teachings from the Guru), uha (reflection or investigation of what is studied and heard), suhrt prapti (acquisition of conducive friends) and dana (charity)[11].
5) Use the thorn to remove the thorn: Prakriti is the first cause (pradhana) of the world. Even though unconscious (achetana, a-jna) it is an active material basis of the universe. This activity is without awareness (jada), somewhat like the working of a lifeless machine where Purusha is the consciousness that operates the machine. Entire creation is a series of effects stemming from the primary cause that is Prakriti (Pradhana). Even though Prakriti is the primary cause, it in itself is causeless (akarana) and free, like a mother of all causes with its varied manifestations and effects. It proceeds through cause and effect and every effect has its own shade ex: an apple seed will bring forth an apple tree and not a mango tree. Here, the cause limits the effect and this is the beauty of diversity in multiplicity of Prakriti.
The question then arises is, for whom does Prakriti produce so many varieties and why? The answer is, for Purusha and for Purusha’s release[12]. Prakriti uses its power to multiply (kriyasheela) and manifest innumerable varieties. It is benevolent and helpful (upakarini)[13]. Sankhya karika says “as in the world people engage in actions to relieve desires, so also Prakriti engages in activity for the sake of Purusha (prati purusha vimokshartha)[14]”
All varieties in the world are here for our liberation but we need to be very cautious of this variety. Since Prakriti is infinite in its offering, a Buddhi that lacks clarity can get overwhelmed and hijacked by the options thus trapping a seeker in a blind pursuit of consumption (Bhoga). Perhaps one analogy to roughly understand this pertains to our relationship with food. We (Purusha) eat food (Prakriti in one of its manifestations) for two primary reasons (which interestingly are similar to the ‘job profile’ of Prakriti) bhoga (experience) and apavarga (release from hunger). The point to reflect here is how many times do we (Purusha) forget the primary role of food as the remover of hunger and get attached to the pleasures of tongue to the extent of being dependent, addicted and manipulated by it? Sankhya Karika is not wrong when it talks about manifestations of Prakriti becoming the sources of suffering and also the same manifestations becoming methods of getting rid of the suffering[15]. Every time we eat, let us be mindful and reflect on who is eating and why are we eating. This can allow us to move away from addictions and over-dependency pertaining to food. The state of self-sufficiency with respect to food and exercising our autonomy to decide how much to eat can be equated to the empowered autonomy of kaivalya. We use the same food that we are attached to, to release us from the attachments by regulating what we eat. Let us embrace the varieties of the world but be mindful to consume only that which helps us release from suffering. We need to work on gradually disassociating from clinging to the world of appearances (Prakriti) which is the cause of suffering and use the same Prakriti to reverse the process of mis-identification.
6) You are never really bound: Purusha is eternally free. Salvation is not a spacio-temporal, causally determined event. Salvation is to be realized here and now in this life. The one who has realized their true nature as Purusha is known as a Jivanmukta. In this state, even though there is a conjunction between the two, Prakriti’s varieties don’t lead the Purusha astray. The Jivanmukta is free from all doings and becomings, liberated from cycle of action-reaction (samskara chakra) that binds him to Prakriti[16]. His death is the final liberation from all forms of Prakriti (Pradhana), gross and subtle. It is absolute and final[17]. Such a state of final isolation from Prakriti is known as Kaivalya. Let us all remember that we create our own limitations in our mind (Buddhi) with our thoughts, perceptions and beliefs. How much ever suffering we may encounter, how much ever limiting stories our mind may tell us, in essence we are never bound as a true-Self (Purusha). The bondage and release, both, are only in the realm of Prakriti[18]. This is a positively reassuring point for our modern world that is fraught with ever increasing cases of depression, stress and mental health issues. Let us all accept these teachings as aptavachanam[19] (valid testimony) and keep working on ourselves till we taste the lasting freedom of Kaivalya.
[1] S.K 1
[2] S.K 2
[3] S.K 19
[4] S.K 20
[5] S.K 52
[6] S.K 55
[7] S.K 64
[8] S.K 64
[9] S.K 44
[10] S.K 43
[11] S.K 51
[12] S.K 57
[13] S.K 60
[14] S.K 56, 58
[15] S.K 63
[16] S.K 67
[17] S.K 68
[18] S.K 62
[19] S.K 5
Steady in the Purusha while being with the Prakriti
