Sankhya philosophy

  The utility of philosophy has prominent place in the life of people in India. The history of Indian culture is the developed form of Indian philosophy. New thoughts have been poured in on the thoughtful land of India since time immemorial.

The philosophy is the flow of thought. It has been flowing in the entire country for thousands of years. It has been satisfying the seekers since time immemorial.

First of all, the human being had a glance at the existence and found the vivid diversity. The nature had started to play its role. There were many constellations and planets in the sky. The people were amazed at sun and the moon. There were green trees, forests, various types of birds and animals and fresh water in the river. They were curious to know its reality.

Maharshi Kapil pondered over it and presented the esoteric of nature before us. It has been known as sankhya philosophy which is also called as mokshashashtra. It defines the esoteric of materialism and spiritualism very logically. The sankhya philosophy defines the process of existence in the nature very easily and provides solution to irregularities in the nature. It also defines duties of the animals. It also focuses on the means to get rid of sorrow and bring prosperity in the life. The logical definition makes this holy scripture great. It’s full of nectar of Vedanta. The human being becomes immortal by drinking it. Vigyan  Bhikshu said that—

Sadkhyakulyah samapurya
Vedanamathitamritaih I

Kapilarshirgyanayaga rshinapayat pura II

It means that Mahamuni Kapil provided that nectar to saints.

Meaning of sankhya philosophy

‘Khya’ metal means knowledge. The suffix ‘sam’ has been linked in the word sankhya. It means that ‘to know without prejudice’.

The sankhya philosophy accepts two elements-male and nature. It means that to know the form of nature and male very well. It’s known as satvapurushanyatakhyati or nature male vivek khyati. It means that the world is made of two elements--nature and male which are pole apart. The nature is senseless, while the male experiences joy and sorrow. The word ‘sankhya’ means to understand the element in its original form. In the ancient shloka of Mahabharata – the indication of word ‘sankhya’ has been found-

Sankhyam prakurvate chaiva prakritim cha prachakshate I
Tatvani cha chaturvishattena sankhyah prakirtitah II

It means that those who define the nature mentions 24 elements and those who preach on knowledge are the proponent of sankhya scripture.

Many scholars are of view that sankhya scripture contains 24 elements and one male. Therefore is known as sankhya. As it was given in a sutra of the first chapter of this scripture—

Satvarajastamasam samyavastha prakritih
Prakritermahan mahatoahangkaroahnkarat panchatanmatrnyubhayamindriyam,
Tanmatrebhyah sthulabhutani purush iti panchavishatirganah II

The sutra mentions the number of 25 elements including irregularities in nature and male. However, on the basis of the number, it can be said as sankhya. It seems inappropriate to define it on the basis of number. Similarly, nyaya scripture mentions sixteen elements, while vaisheshik philosophy highlights six materials. Whatever goes is known as cow.

The word sankhya has been used in serious meaning. It has been mentioned. The sankhya means to know the nature and male in their original form.

Generally, when we have a glance at materialistic world, it looks like in good shape. But when we see ourselves, it gives illusion. Therefore, we understand either body as chetan or manas element as soul. Somebody refutes even the existence of soul.

The sankhya scripture aims at eradicating all these misconceptions.