Samkhya-Yoga Philosophy and Practice

There are several factors that give modern western culture a unique perspective on the Samkhya philosophy. The first factor is modern technology and the success of materialism. The second is our freedom from the religious constraints that bound the keepers of the Indian darsanas, and which still exist today, although to a lesser extent. Another factor is our own religious and cultural heritage, and finally, there is the great distance in time that separates the originators of the Samkhya philosophy from our own civilization.

Science, Technology and the Success of Materialism

Modern science has given us an understanding of the world that was not possible for ancient people. The ancient Indians had theories of atoms and parts of atoms, but it was not until the twentieth century that people were able to truly understand and harness the power of the atom. Samkhya contained theories of valid knowledge and taught that it was better to rely on evidence and reason than to simply accept revealed knowledge from scriptures. Today, scientific methods of research and discovery radically alter our lives at a rapid pace, proving that the Samkhya theories were, at the very least, on the right track.  It may be that only now are we able to understand and interpret correctly certain aspects of the Samkhya philosophy.

On the other hand, our scientific knowledge shows us that certain other aspects of Samkhya philosophy are clearly wrong, at least on the surface. We know, for example, that there are more than five elements, and we know that the elements do not arise from the five tan-matras of sound, color, form, taste, and smell as taught by Samkhya. It’s easy in these cases to dismiss the philosophy as the naïve beliefs of simple people. But we know that these were not merely simple people and so we need to look closely at these ideas in order to find what truth they may contain before we write them off.

Freedom from Religious Constraints

The keepers of Indian philosophical thought were the priests and Brahmins of the Vedic religion. They were bound by their belief in the supernatural origin and authority of the Vedas, and rejected any philosophy that appeared to conflict with them. In the ancient world, to challenge the authority of the Vedas would have been risky, to say the least.

Vijnana-Bhiksu, who wrote the most extensive commentary on the Samkhya-Pravachana-Sutram, took great pains to show that Samkhya had its roots in the Vedas. He apparently believed that Samkhya originated from the Vedas, and tried to show that Samkhya did not conflict with the Vedas, so that the philosophy could be acceptable to his audience. For this reason, some of his interpretation is suspect, because the modern view is that Samkhya did not originate in the Vedic culture, and was in fact opposed to many aspects of it.

Today we are not bound by adherence to the Vedic religion. We are able to look at the texts in a way that is free from the bias of the commentators, and place it in the context of what has been learned over time. In particular, the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization has shed a new light on the origin of Samkhya. We are now able to recognize its influence in the Vedic literature, and conversely to recognize the Vedic influence on it. Perhaps most significantly, we are free to view Samkhya as opposed to the dominant Vedic thinking in many ways. 

Western Culture and Judeo-Christian Heritage

Our scientific advancements have caused many in the west to re-evaluate our own Judeo-Christian heritage. Many of us appreciate the more rational approach of Eastern philosophies. We like ideas like karma and reincarnation as opposed to a God who judges and rewards us with heaven or hell.  We prefer Darwin’s theory of evolution to the idea of a creator God. But our culture and heritage may make us reluctant to associate ourselves with the various gods, goddesses, and other divinities of Vedic religions.   Hard-core materialists may be reluctant to associate with any philosophy that resembles religion at all.

The materialists among us may be happy to learn that Samkhya itself is considered to be a materialist philosophy, complete with its own theory of evolution, although it is a theory much different from Darwin’s.  The charge of atheism has often been used against it, but Samkhya did not deny the existence of God. It did, however, challenge some of the prevalent ideas about the nature of a God, and contains a theory of a single God, similar to the Judeo-Christian concept. In that respect, Samkhya may be more compatible with Christianity than it is with Hinduism and its pantheon of gods and goddesses. But religious ideology notwithstanding, Samkhya is, first and foremost, a rational system.  In that way it is also similar to western materialism.

Conclusion

It is remarkable that such an ancient system would contain so many ideas that are similar to our own. It is also remarkable that the philosophy would survive in a culture that was hostile to it and become known in this day and age. At the same time Yoga, which was practiced at least as far back in time as the Indus Valley Civilization, has become popular in our own culture, and along with it the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. But for us, a work like the Yoga Sutras is difficult to understand without interpretation and commentary.

Today we find ourselves with many different and sometimes conflicting interpretations of the Yoga Sutras, and it is hard to distinguish between Patanjali’s intent and the bias of the interpreters.  Knowledge of the Samkhya philosophy solves that problem. The Samkhya and Yoga philosophies are closely related. Once one understands Samkhya, many of the concepts that appear in the Yoga Sutras become more clear. This allows us to recognize and eliminate the bias of the interpreters.  

If that were the only benefit to be derived from the study of Samkhya, it would be enough. But knowledge of Samkhya will be found to have other benefits as well. Samkhya provides a firm basis on which to examine and evaluate various teachings and practices from many sources. It is a critical tool that we can use to help separate knowledge from ignorance and superstition, and serves to broaden our knowledge and deepen our understanding in many ways. But above all, Samkhya is the study of the self, and many seekers on the path of self-realization will find it to be illuminating.