An understanding of Samkhya philosophy underpins and enriches Yoga practice
Samkhya and Yoga go hand-in-hand.
Samkhya explains the universe and our place in it.
Yoga supports us to experience the realities Samkhya postulates.
Bearing in mind ...
Pronounced: Sun-kee-yuh.
Samkhya is a philosophy, a bunch of words, albeit very useful words.
It's a model for helping us to understand the profoundest, and trickiest, of concepts.
There are many and varied ways of addressing these concepts, and the words below are not offered, nor should they be taken, as the only, or correct, way to see things.
I think this is a wise angle when considering any groups of words.
We can only get so far with words.
And that issue is addressed by the great sages with Samkhya's twin practice of Yoga, which works by giving the practitioner direct experience of the concepts behind the words.
Awesome and some.
That said, I hope you find the words below useful.
😀
Samkhya is logical reasoning
The name 'Samkhya' is derived from the following words: number, enumeration, reckoning, summing-up, calculation, deliberation, reflection, reason, intellect.
It can be seen as meaning something along the lines of 'a collection of numbered lists'.
This reflects the fact that Samkhya breaks down the principles of cosmic evolution into categories using reasoned logic.
One of the six orthodox Vedic philosophies, or darshana, of ancient India (brief overview here), Samkhya teaches discriminative knowledge which allows us to understand what we are, by deducing what we are not.
It underpins the study of Yoga because Yoga is the practical, experiential application of the intellectual principles that Samkhya expounds.
The two darshana are often referred to together as the Samkhya-Yoga school.
Where Samkhya views the universe as a whole, a macrocosm, Yoga uses the same principles to relate to the individual, a microcosm.
Samkhya demonstrates that suffering/dukha is caused by ignorance of our true nature, avidya, Yoga offers a practical means (primarily meditative, through a process of clarifying the mind - more detail on that here) to the realisation of that true nature.
Samkhya explains the universe, and our place in it, through intellectual reasoning, Yoga practice leads to the ability to discriminate between that which we are and that which we are not.
The goals of both Samkhya and Yoga are the elimination of suffering and the liberation of the soul.
The Bahagavad Gita acknowledges the two:
"In this world there are two roads of perfection ... Jnana Yoga, the path of wisdom of the Samkhya, and Karma Yoga, the path of action of the Yogis."
BG3.3
Translation by Juan Mascaro.
Fundamental realities
Samkhya states that there are two fundamental realities: 'Purusha' and 'Prakriti'.
We might use words like: 'Cosmic Consciousness' and 'Cosmic Substance'.
These account for everything that was, is and ever will be.
Their interaction is the source of all things.
All evolution and manifestation, every thing, is a result of the relationship between these two principles.
All experience and existence is derived from this duality.
Purusha
Purusha (Sanskrit derivation: 'man' or 'person') is the first of the principles in the Samkhya system.
It is Consciousness, Being, Knowing, Awareness.
It is the Soul of the universe.
It is the animating principle in all beings, the Soul or Spirit.
Infinite, unbounded, immanent, omnipresent, indestructible, Purusha is pure, content-less, shapeless, passive and unchanging.
It is the intrinsic subject in all things and in which all things are inseparably submerged.
Purusha is Source, our true identity, that which we truly are.
Quantum Physics recognises the reality of this:
"There is nothing before consciousness"
Max Plank ~ originator of quantum theory.
Prakriti
Prakriti (Sanskrit derivation 'Pra ~ before/first, Kr ~ making') is everything other than Purusha.
It is Matter/Energy (is it particles or waves? 😋), the Quantum Field.
It is the primary substance from which all things derive.
Inanimate, unintelligent and unconscious, Prakriti is the root source of all manifestation, the passive power of creation.
It is the principle from which all attributes and all action come.
It is infinite, eternal, limitless, shapeless, everywhere without boundary.
It existed before anything was produced.
It was not caused but causes.
Our Soul is Purusha, everything else is Prakriti.
"Purusha is absent in a corpse, all that is left is Prakriti".
TKV Desikachar.
(Prakriti consists of three powers/forces, the Gunas, the interplay between which accounts for all diverse manifestation.
Understanding the Gunas is also very useful in our Yoga practice - I explore the gunas here .)
It's all about the relationship
The relationship/union of the two, Purusha and Prakriti, creates the whole and manifests all.
Prakriti is the blind man carrying the lame man, Purusha.
The blind man can act but cannot perceive, the lame man can sense but not act.
The joining of the two is to their mutual benefit.
Purusha gains action/movement.
Prakriti gains perception/vision.
Other approaches to Vedic cosmology offer the same explanation using different metaphors:
For example, as the eternal union/dance of Shiva (Purusha) and Shakti (Prakriti).
The Taoist philosophy, using Yin and Yang, is broadly the same.
Evolution
The Samkhya evolution then breaks down the constituent parts of the material universe (Prakriti), through clear logic.
It concerns itself with the cosmic evolution of the universe, stating that all things have order and that nothing is random.
A fundamental tenet of Samkhya is that, as nothing can come from nothing, nothing is created and things can only be changed.
Albert Einstein appears to agree;
"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another."
Samkhya divides evolution into categories which we can know and understand.
These categories are classified under four main groups;
- That which was not caused and does not cause: Purusha
- That which was not caused but causes: Prakriti
... and then breaking Prakriti down ... - Those which are caused and cause: evolvents
- Those which are caused and do not cause: evolutes
Evolvents
The third grouping lists principles known as 'evolvents' (which are caused and themselves cause).
These are:
- Cosmic Intelligence/Mahat
- Individuation/Ego/Ahamkara and
- Five Subtle Elements/Tanmatras:
- sound
- touch
- form
- flavour
- odour ... the elements derive from these .. ether, air, fire, water, earth
Evolutes
The fourth grouping consists of principles known as 'evolutes' (which are caused but do not cause).
These are:
- Cosmic Mind/Manas
- Five Abstract Knowing Senses/Jnanendriyas:
- hearing
- feeling
- sight
- taste
- smell
- Five Abstract Working Senses/Karmendriyas:
- expression
- procreation
- excretion
- grasping
- movement
Conclusion
We can see that Samkhya turns things inside out as compared to our usual perspective.
For example, we might consider our consciousness, mind or our senses as survival functions of our bodies, where Samkhya places these at a much deeper level.
Consciousness, mind and the senses exist independently of us and we as humans become part of the expression of these.
Samkhya takes a little getting your head around.
But, if you wish to take your understanding of Yoga (and of life!) to a deeper level, it is worth it.
A comprehension of the principles gives us a solid, philosophical foundation to build on, and helps us to live full, happy and healthy lives.
The Yoga Sutras state that the only reason that the seen world, Prakriti, exists is that the true self, Purusha, can come to know itself.
YS 2.21:
"It is only for the sake of the Self that the world exists"
Alistair Shearer
Whilst an understanding of Samkhya is very useful, essential perhaps, and intellectual discussion of its details and nuances inspiring and interesting, Yoga practice is designed to give us direct experience of the truths beyond words.
You can't best that.
