Editing Samkhya (section)

{{Short description|Āstika school of Hindu philosophy}}
{{about|a school of philosophy|the statistics journal|Sankhya (journal)|the chapter of the Bhagavad Gita|Samkhya Yoga (Bhagavad Gita)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}

'''Samkhya''' or '''Sankhya''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɑː|ŋ|k|j|ə}}; {{langx|sa|सांख्य|sāṃkhya}}) is a [[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|dualistic]] [[Āstika and nāstika|orthodox school]] of [[Hindu philosophy]].<ref>[[Knut A. Jacobsen]], ''Theory and Practice of Yoga,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120832329}}, pages 100–101.</ref><ref>"Samkhya", ''American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,'' Fifth Edition (2011), Quote: "Samkhya is a system of Hindu philosophy based on a dualism involving the ultimate principles of soul and matter."</ref><ref>"Samkhya", ''Webster's College Dictionary'' (2010), Random House, {{ISBN|978-0375407413}}, Quote: "Samkhya is a system of Hindu philosophy stressing the reality and duality of spirit and matter."</ref> It views [[reality]] as composed of two independent principles, ''[[purusha|Puruṣa]]'' ('[[consciousness]]' or spirit) and ''[[Prakṛti]]'' (nature or matter, including the human mind and emotions).{{sfn|Lusthaus|2018}}

''Puruṣa'' is the witness-consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, beyond perception, above any experience by mind or senses, and impossible to describe in words.{{sfn|Sharma|1997|pages=155–7}}{{sfn|Chapple|2008|p=21}}{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=203}}

''Prakriti'' is matter or nature. It is inactive, unconscious, and is a balance of the three ''[[guṇa]]s'' (qualities or innate tendencies),{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=204–205}}<ref>Gerald James Larson (2011), ''Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, pages 154–206.</ref> namely ''[[sattva]]'', ''[[rajas]]'', and ''[[Tamas (philosophy)|tamas]]''. When ''Prakṛti'' comes into contact with ''Purusha'' this balance is disturbed, and ''Prakriti'' becomes manifest, evolving twenty-three [[tattva]]s,{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=204}} namely intellect (''[[buddhi]]'', ''mahat''), I-principle (''[[ahamkara]]''), mind (''[[Manas (early Buddhism)|manas]]''); the five sensory capacities known as ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose; the five action capacities known as hands (''hasta''), feet (''pada''), speech (''vak''), anus (''guda''), and genitals (''upastha''); and the five "subtle elements" or "modes of sensory content" (''[[tanmatras]]''), from which the five "gross elements" or "forms of perceptual objects" (earth, water, fire, air and space) emerge,{{Sfn|Osto|2018|p=204–205}}{{sfn|Haney|2002|page=42}} in turn giving rise to the manifestation of sensory experience and cognition.{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=205}}{{sfn|Larson|1998|page=11}}

''[[Jiva]]'' ('a living being') is the state in which ''Puruṣa'' is bonded to ''Prakriti''.<ref name=sambri/> Human experience is an interplay of the two, ''Puruṣa'' being conscious of the various combinations of cognitive activities.<ref name=sambri>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia = [[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |title = Samkhya |date = 2015-05-05 |orig-date = 1998-07-20 |url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samkhya |access-date = 2023-06-08}}</ref> The end of the bondage of ''Puruṣa'' to ''Prakriti'' is called ''[[Moksha]]'' (Liberation) or ''[[Kaivalya]]'' (Isolation).<ref name="Gerald James Larson 2011 pages 36-47">[[Gerald James Larson]] (2011), ''Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, pages 36–47.</ref>

Samkhya's [[epistemology]] accepts three of six ''[[Pramana|pramaṇa]]s'' ('proofs') as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge, as does [[yoga]]. These are ''pratyakṣa'' ('[[perception]]'), ''anumāṇa'' ('[[inference]]') and ''śabda'' (''āptavacana'', meaning, 'word/testimony of reliable sources').<ref name="Lpage9" /><ref name="eliottjag" /><ref name="jag">John A. Grimes, ''A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English,'' State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791430675}}, page 238.</ref> Sometimes described as one of the [[rationalism|rationalist]] schools of [[Indian philosophy]], it relies exclusively on reason.<ref>[[Mikel Burley]] (2012), ''Classical Samkhya and Yoga – An Indian Metaphysics of Experience,'' Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, pages 43–46.</ref><ref>David Kalupahana (1995), ''Ethics in Early Buddhism,'' University of Hawaii Press, {{ISBN|978-0824817022}}, page 8, Quote: The rational argument is identified with the method of '''Samkhya, a rationalist school''', upholding the view that "nothing comes out of nothing" or that "being cannot be non-being."</ref>

While Samkhya-like speculations can be found in the Rig Veda and some of the older Upanishads, some western scholars have proposed that Samkhya may have non-Vedic origins,{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217, 314}}{{refn|group=note|name="Zimmer"}} developing in ascetic milieus. Proto-Samkhya ideas developed c. 8th/7th BC and onwards, as evidenced in the middle Upanishads, the ''[[Buddhacharita]]'', the ''Bhagavad Gita'', and the ''Mokshadharma''-section of the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4}} It was related to the early ascetic traditions and meditation, spiritual practices, and religious cosmology,{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} and methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge (''vidya'', ''jnana'', ''viveka'') that end the cycle of ''[[duḥkha]]'' (suffering) and rebirth{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4–5}} allowing for "a great variety of philosophical formulations".{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} Pre-''Karika'' systematic Samkhya existed around the beginning of the first millennium CE.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9–11}} The defining method of Samkhya was established with the [[Samkhyakarika]] (4th c. CE).

Samkhya might have been theistic or nontheistic, but with its classical systematization in the early first millennium CE, the existence of a deity became irrelevant.<ref>{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|page=264}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sen Gupta|1986|page=6}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1957|page=89}}.</ref><ref name="andrew">Andrew J. Nicholson (2013), ''[[Unifying Hinduism|Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History]]'', Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231149877}}, chapter 4, page 77.</ref> Samkhya is strongly related to the [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] school of [[Hinduism]], for which it forms the theoretical foundation, and it has influenced other schools of Indian philosophy.<ref name="royper">Roy Perrett, ''Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges,'' Volume 1 (Editor: P Bilimoria et al.), Ashgate, {{ISBN|978-0754633013}}, pages 149–158.</ref>