Sāṅkhya philosophy is one of the oldest philosophy of India. It was propounded by Sage Kapila. The word Samkhya is based upon the Sanskrit word samkhya which means 'number'. The school specifies the number and nature of the ultimate constituents of the universe and thereby imparts knowledge of reality. In fact, the term Samkhya also means perfect knowledge. Hence it is a system of perfect knowledge. The Samkhya proposes that some finest and subtlest stuff or principle underlies all physical existence. Samkhya names it as Prakriti. Prakriti is the primordial substance behind the world. Prakriti is constituted of three gunas, namely sattva, rajas and tamas. The term guna, in ordinary sense means quality or nature. But here, it is to be understood in the sense of constituent (component) in Samkhya. Sattva is concerned with happiness. While rajas is concerned with action, tamas is associated with ignorance and inaction.
Yoga is closely associated with Sāmkhya. Yoga is largely based on the Sāmkhya philosophy. They are two sides of the same coin. Sāmkhya is the theory, Yoga is the practice. It should be noted, however, that Samkhya is basically an atheistic system, but Yoga is theistic. Patañjali propagated his philosophy of Yoga in his great work – Yoga-Sūtra. Yoga-Sūtra consists of four parts. While Sāmkhya uses three terms - Mahat, ahaṅkāra and manas - to refer to antaḥkaraṇa, Yoga has only one word – Citta. Yoga adopts a single term, citta, to refer to a complex of Mahat, ahaṅkāra and manas. Citta is considered as being composed of intellect, ego and mind. Citta has a predominance of sattvaguna. Patañjali shows the way to emancipation by aṣtānga-yoga. Yoga is a self-disciplining process of concentration and meditation. Such a Yogic practice leads one to higher states of consciousness. This helps one in acquiring direct knowledge and the result is Self–Realization. Patañjali lays emphasis on the complete control and mastery of citta. He proposes the practice of certain physical and mental exercises. They form the basis of aṣtānga–yoga.
In this course we introduce these important concepts taken from great texts like Sāṅkhyakārika and Yogabhāṣya so that students can get better understanding of these concepts than relying on translated works.
- Teacher: Dr K E Gopala Desikan