Sankiya philosophy

Summary of Sankiya philosophy

23.Oct. 2020

 

The Sankiya philosophy originated from a figure from the 4th century B.C. called Kapila, and was inherited by Āsuri and Pāñcaśika. However, the writings of these early thinkers are not passed on.

The oldest and most important of the philosophical books of the Sankiya philosophy in existence is Sāṇkya-kārika, by Īśvarakṛṣṇa. This document is believed to have been built around the 4th century AD, and is evaluated as a philosophical systematization of the inherent dualism and atheistic position.

 

The metaphysics of the Sankiya

 

The concept of prakṛt has a special meaning in Sankiya's metaphysics. Prakriti is the same as the birthplace of all phenomena except for puruṣa. Prakṛti before the development of phenomenal existence.

Prakti has infinite creative power as the material cause from which everything develops. According to the Sankiya philosophy, since nothing can come from nothing, any effect is already in the cause, and the result is nothing but a visible phenomenon in which the cause, which was potentially inherent, is visible.

Prakriti consists of three attributes: sattva (purity), rajas (mobility, passion), and tamas (dullness). These three attributes exist in a balanced state in the unexpressed state, and then, as a certain element has a dominant influence, it transforms into the existence of a phenomenon world with increasingly clear limits and forms.

At that time, the first of all, Rajo guna shakes, and Sattva and Tamas follow along with the agitation of Rajas, and the evolution of the world begins.

The first thing that emerges through this process is the cognition(buddhi) with Sattva as the dominant character. This cognitive ability becomes the concrete principle of the phenomenal world that is first revealed in cosmological terms, and is also called the “mahat” because everything else is generated from it. Cognitive power is the principle that makes individual life possible as a majority, and retains the individual's own inclinations(saṃskāra) that have been latent into the Prakriti when the universe is disbanded.

These cognitive abilities change themselves according to the shape of objects that come through the sensory organs, and play a role as an intermediary linking Prakriti and Pursha. On the other hand, as the development of the world becomes more concrete, an individual principle called self-consciousness(ahaṁkāra) arises from the buddhi, from which the principle of mind(manas) and the five principles of recognition(jñāna-indrya). ) And five principles of action(karma-indrya) are existed.

As described above, the inner development from self-consciousness(ahaṁkāra) to 11 senses and agencies of action is completed. On the other hand, external development also begins with ahaṁkāra, in which the temper of tamas is dominant. Five unique things(tanmātra) as fine substances that form the essence of sound, texture, shape, taste, and smell, and the five elements (empty, wind, fire, water, and soil) that are produced by their combinatio (bhūta). In this way, the development of ten external phenomena from the self-consciousness(ahaṁkāra) is completed.