Samkhya thoughts in the Mahabharata
by Shini M.V. | 2017 | 51,373 words
This page relates ‘Findings of the study� of the study of Samkhya thought and philosophy as reflected in the Shanti-Parva of the Mahabharata. Samkhya represents one of the six orthodox schools of Indian Philosophy and primarily deals with metaphysical knowledge and explains the Universe without the need to introduce God. The Mahabharata is an ancient Sanskrit epic which includes many Sankhya theories while expounding twenty-five principles.
Chapter 5c - Findings of the study
-) Śāntiparva describes twenty five tattvas in five Sargas called Vidyāsarga, Asarga, ūٲ, ղṛt and Bhautikasarga.
-) Regarding the concept of and A in the Śāntiparva it is stated that the creation out of Avyakta is Vidyā sarga.
-) The creation of Mahat and consciousness, by ᾱṇy, is the creation of Ignorance and that is A sarga.
-) The creation of the elements from consciousness is the third that is Bhūta sarga.
-) In all the kinds of consciousness is the fourth creation which originates from modification of the third. This consists of Wind, Light, Ether, Water and Earth, with their properties of Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell. This aggregate of ten arose at the same time and it is called Vaikṛta sarga.
-) The fifth creation is that which has originated from combinations of the principal elements. This comprises the ear, the skin, the eyes the tongue and the nose forming the fifth, and speech and the two hands, and the two legs, and the lower canal and the organs of generation. The organs of knowledge and the organs of action with mind arose simultaneously. It is Bhautika sarga.
-) The twenty fifth tattva is վṣṇ.
-) ʰṛt of ṃkⲹ philosophy is insentient and ʳܰṣa is indifferent. So the union of these two can never create the world. Therefore the Ѳٲ considers the existence of Uttama ʳܰṣa, who provides over these two and induces them to create the world, as essential. It is obvious that this Uttama ʳܰṣa is the same as the Brahman of the Advaita Vedāntins.
-) Karāla Janaka compares here the relation of the ʳܰṣa and ʰṛt with that of a man and a woman. Man and woman give birth to the child by resorting to qualities of each other.
-) In the production of effects from causes primordial nature is said to be the cause. In experiencing pleasure and pain, ʳܰṣa is said to be the cause.
-) According to the Ѳٲ the three constituents Sattva, Rajas and Tamas have emanated from Nature. They exist in all the beings equally and they can be identified on the basis of their functioning in beings.
-) In the Ѳٲ there are two principal elements, the matter and the person. Ѳٲ calls the person as ṣeٰñ, who is passive and observes the creation by the Matter.
-) There are five sense organs in the body, the sixth element is Mind. Seventh is the intellect and ṣeٰñ, the embodied self in the eighth element. The self-sense in the body is the modification of intellect. The intellect, mind and self-sense have emanated out of their own impression of earlier existences.
-) Ѳٲ narrates that urged by the Āٳ created this universe through five gross elements. These five gross elements are āpah, teja, , ś and ṛt. The sixth is kāla. They are said to be eternal, steady and firm.
-) In the Ѳٲ references to all elements of ṃkⲹ systems appear in the 35th chapter of the īṣm貹, while explaining the Upaniṣadic concept of ṣeٰ and ṣeٰñ.
-) Though the Ѳٲ subscribes the idea of ʰṛt and ʳܰṣa to be eternal, it does not accept the view that both of them are independent and self created entities. According to Ѳٲ, it is Para Brahma which is the creator of all. The Matter is its part and creation takes place under its supervision.
-) Ѳٲ has synthesised ṃkⲹ and Advaita Vedanta philosophy and assigned the task of creation to the Brahman.
-) ʰṛt of the ṃkⲹ is not vitalized, is insentient and hence, logically it cannot create on its own. Whereas, ʳܰṣa is without qualities and it is not possible for ʳܰṣa to create the qualitative world. Moreover, ʳܰṣa is passive, uninterested. Hence he would not undertake the task of creation. Under these circumstances, creation by them would not be feasible. The Ѳٲ has therefore considered the supreme self to be one who presided over these two and impelled them to create the world.
-) These two elements viz. ʰṛt and ʳܰṣa, originated from the supreme self. Under his supervision, the creation of the world was brought about. Here the Ѳٲ has modified the ṃkⲹ doctrine of creation by bringing the two entities under the supreme self to make the creation of the world rationally possible.
More over the ṃkⲹ school of thought had a significant impact on Hindu thought for a variety of reasons:
-) It deeply influenced the practice of Rāja Yoga, which absorbed the ṃkⲹ concepts of ʳܰṣa and ʰṛt. Indeed, the relationship between ʳܰṣa and ʰṛt is crucial to ʲٲñᲹ's Yoga system, and the two philosophical schools are closely aligned.
-) The ṃkⲹ idea of հṇa present in all matter influenced other schools of Hindu thought. Eventually, the ṇa found its way into Hinduism's most popular scripture, the 岵ī. thus gaining widespread acceptance among the Hindu masses.
-) The ṃkⲹ school is significant because it provided an explanation of how the universe evolved into being, offering a cosmology arising from the interaction of ʳܰṣa with ʰṛt. Curiously enough, the ṃkⲹ school did not provide any detailed methodology concerning how to achieve the discrimination between ʳܰṣa and ʰṛt, which is one of the reasons that ṃkⲹ became aligned with the techniques of Yoga.
-) ṃkⲹ challenged the supremacy of the monistic schools of thought by arguing that the ontological ground of being is dualistic. In this way, ṃkⲹ opposed the schools of Vedanta Philosophy that stated Consciousness -Brahman is the cause of this world. ṃkⲹ denies the material world that is vehemently as the material world that is insentient cannot originate from a sentient element. The ṃkⲹ School offers a sharp contrast to the monism of the 貹Ծṣa and thereby illustrates that not all of Hindu philosophy is monistic in nature.
-) There is no philosophical place for a creator God in the ṃkⲹ philosophy; indeed, the concept of God was incorporated into the ṃkⲹ viewpoint only after it became associated with the theistic Yoga system of philosophy.