The Samkhya Philosophy

29 May 1993, Summer Course 1993, Brindavan

Published English.

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Being endowed with infinite sublime powers, it is not proper on the part of man to be satisfied with mere worldly life. A real philosopher is one who has cultivated ‘ ’ (self control). The ancient sages, having envisioned the Truth and harmonising their lives with the melody of the Truth, shared their joy with the people around.

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The philosophy did not accept the philosophical doctrines propounded by the ‘’ and ‘’ systems. The system propounded that the world is a harmonious product of paradoxical dualities with inherent harmony of the world. Sage is the founder of the system of philosophy. Hence, it is also know as ‘.’ According to this philosophy, the world is marked by the harmony of numerals (). Hence, it has been called philosophy.

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AND According to this system, ‘’ is latent in the ‘,’ as oil is latent in the seeds, as fire in wood and as fragrance in flowers. The ‘’ is the cause and ‘’ is the consequence. This system upheld that ‘’ is not separate from ‘.’ It is nothing but the physical form of the Lord. The system employed ‘’ the power to discriminate between the eternal and the ephemeral, to explore the mysteries of the Universe.

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The system held that the creation cannot be made of one entity alone and that it is the union of two entities, viz. nature and God. One cannot clap with one hand; one needs two hands to clap. Similarly and are essential for creation and without them, creation is impossible. Hence, it is sheer foolishness to consider as a separate entity. The system held that Divinity runs as an undercurrent everywhere in .

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According to this system the world consists of entities numbering twenty-four. The five organs of action, the five organs of sense perception, the five vital airs, the five sensation () and the four inner organs () of , , and add up to twenty-four and constitute the world.

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The world is made of paradoxical dualities like air and fire, fire and water etc. It is these dualities which make the Universe. It propounded that is not seclusion in the forest.

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‘’ + ‘’ = ‘’ (the extinction of delusion is liberation).

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When joins the twenty-four principles, it becomes the twenty-fifth principle. The twenty-sixth principle is . After sincere enquiry into , the becomes the twenty-sixth Principle and merges into .

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AND : According to the system, the Universe is a harmonious union of and . The (individual being) merges into the twenty-sixth principle of (the is made of twenty-four principles and the makes the number twenty-five). The , by separating itself from and , should merge into the twenty-sixth principle, (the absolute soul). Both and are contained in

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The is in the body and the Lord is in the heart. They play their game and go apart. There is a puppeteer who directs this play. The puppets of good and bad coexist in one.

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How to grasp this unity wherein the two exist in one? Seeing diversity in unity is human, but seeing unity in diversity is Divine. The system of philosophy propounds that humanity is nothing but Divine Unity.

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In the human heart is the (wish-fulfilling tree) But weeds in abundance grow around the tree. Clear the weeds and the tree can be seen. That indeed is the celestial cow which grants all your wishes.

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Both the celestial cow and the wish-fulfilling tree exist in man. Humanity is a bridge between the visible and the invisible. Since man is positioned in the middle state between the two entities, he is known as ‘.’ Our life is a consequence of the unseen effects of our action.

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The mind of man is a slate containing the writings of our many past lives. Deep seated in the (mind) is . He is the who records faithfully all the happenings in . The is the radiation which activates ‘’ in the inert body. Man is a harmonious fusion of Materialisation, Vibration and Radiation. Hence man is the unity of , , and .

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The system opined that (liberation) does not descend on man from the higher regions, nor does it ascend to man from the lower regions. (extinction of delusion) is . Extinction of ignorance is liberation. Man is under the spell of as long as he does not realise the Truth. Coming under the spell of delusion that he is the body, man wastes his life in the pursuit of bodily pleasures. The system exhorts man not to be deluded by the body. It states:

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O Man! the world is made of twenty-four (entities); the , the are made of diverse substances. Man cannot see Truth so long as he has these ; he should go beyond these . Only then does he reach the state of the Supermind, from which he leaps from one mind to another, the crown being the Overmind.

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The system professed that unless man destroys (the worldly attitude) he cannot have ‘’ (the Divine attitude). This system demonstrated the existence of the Self whether it is encased in the body or not. The Atmic current is a perennial force, though it is invisible to the eye. The bulb lights up as soon as it is put in a holder since the current is there all the time, though it is invisible to the eye. The current was there both before and after putting the bulb in the holder. similarly, according to the philosophers of the system, Atmic power is there both inside and outside the body.

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One day or the other, man has to reach his destination. Saint said: “O! , howsoever high the bird may fly, it has to seek the shelter of a tree when it is tired. Similarly, man has to seek shelter at the Feet of the Lord, one day.” In this context the exhorts, “O Man! Since you cannot help reaching your destination one day or the other, why not strive to reach it at the earliest, instead of delaying your advancement?

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What is the which man has to launch on? He need not do any other than the of fostering human temperament in man, by destroying the demoniac nature in him and ultimately merging in God. The philosophers said that it is demoniac on the part of man to disregard Divinity. You need not make great efforts to see the fire covered by ash. Once the ash is blown away, the fire in the ember is visible to the eye. The sea of the human heart is covered by the moss of materialistic tendencies. The moss of materialistic tendencies can be removed only by ‘’ (chanting the Lord’s name). said that in the age, there is nothing more powerful than ‘’ to fight the adverse influences of .

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This system stated that unless we vanquish ‘’ which is steeped in ‘,’ we cannot realise Divinity. Saint expressed similar sentiments, “If you do not understand the twenty-four ‘’ (subtle secrets), you will come under the hold of of twenty-five .” We will reach the twenty-sixth ‘’ () if we understand these twenty-five thoroughly. Hence, philosophy asks us to keep the twenty-four on the right track by observing discipline, since it is impossible to do away with them.

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Effect of Food on the Mind: Take for example the discipline regarding food. Food decides the nature of your mind. If you are afflicted by evil thoughts at the time of eating, these evil thoughts affect the food you are taking and consequently affects your mind. Mind is born of the food you take. As is the food, so is the mind. That is why our ancestors recommended the partaking of Sathwic food. The gross part of the food we take is converted into excreta; the subtle part of it goes into the making of muscles; the subtlest part of the food becomes the mind. Similarly, the gross part of the water we drink becomes urine; the subtle part of it becomes blood. The subtlest part becomes ‘.’ We can say for certain that water contains ‘.’ That is why when anybody faints, water is splashed on his face. Water enables the fainted man to recover as it contains in it.

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Prayer To God Before Partaking of Food: We should partake of food with a Sathwic mind. Our ancestors recommended the offering of food to God before partaking. Food so partaken becomes ‘’ (consecrated offering). Prayer cleanses the food of the three impurities caused by the absence of ‘’ (cleanliness of the vessel), ‘’ (cleanliness of the food stuff and ‘’ (cleanliness in the process of cooking). It is necessary to get rid of these three impurities to purify the food; for, pure food goes into the making of a pure mind. It is not possible to ensure the purity of the cooking process, since we do not know what thoughts rage in the mind of the man who prepares the food. Similarly, we cannot ensure ‘’ (cleanliness of the food ingredients) as we do not know whether this food grains were acquired in a righteous way by the seller who had sold it to us. Hence, it is essential on our part to offer food to God in the form of prayer, so that these three impurities do not afflict our mind. The prayer:

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The food thus offered to God is digested by ‘’ in the digestive system. Since God exists in the form of fire as , He digests the food along with impurities. So, man will not be affected even if the impurities enter the food. That is why it is a practice in hostels to chant “” before it is partaken.

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THE PURITY OF : The three systems of , and affirm their faith in the existence of God in unmistakable terms.

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The Universe is a harmonious fusion of and . But man in his ignorance, thinks that deceives him. But, it is you who is deceiving . The fault lies in the mind of man who entertains false ideas about . Man cannot change unless his mind changes. A good man makes good use of the gift given by . A good man makes use of the gifts of education and wealth. But the same education and wealth in the hands of an evil man is used in evil ways. The five elements, the five senses, the five vital airs are sacred entities. But they become pure or impure when they enter into the human system. The human system is composed of . Hence, it is most essential to purify ourselves first. The impurities are not in but in ourselves. We should not develop unsacred feelings like ego, pomposity, envy etc. Once they enter into the system, we must throw them out as fast as we pick out the thorn which has entered into our flesh. The evil qualities, if they are not nipped in the bud, assume gigantic proportions afterwards.

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The professed the philosophy of unity and harmony, not discord and difference. We are all the children of the same Mother Earth; we are the flowers of the same creepers; we are the birds of the same nest; we are the citizens of the same nation. If at all we see differences in , the differences are none but the reflection of our mind. In disturbed water, the reflection of the sun also appears to be disturbed. There is no disturbance in the sun. But it is the disturbance of the water which is the cause of the disturbed image. We see ourselves in others. Our own defects and shortcomings prompt us to see these qualities in others. Hence, we should make right effort to nourish noble and pure qualities, so that we may become noble.

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The knower of (God) becomes verily