Gita Rahasya -Tilak
|
CHAPTER VII
THE KAPILA SAMKHYA PHILOSOPHY OR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE MUTABLE AND THE IMMUTABLE
(KAPILA SAMKHYA-SASTRA OR KSARAKSARA-VICARA) The followers of Kanada are known as Kanadas. In their opinion the root cause of the world is Atoms. The definition of atoms given by Kanada and the one given by Western natural scientists is the fame. When after dividing and sub-dividing things you come to the stage when division is no more possible, you have reached the atom or 'paramanu' ( parama + anu ), that is, the ultimate entity. As these atoms coalesce, they acquire new qualities as a result of the union, and new things are created. There are also atoms of the Mind and of the Body, and when these unite, life results. The atoms of the earth, water, fire and air are fundamentally different from each other. The fundamental atoms of the earth, have four qualities, namely, form, taste, smell, and touch ; those of water have three such qualities, those of fire, two, and those of air, only one. In this way the entire cosmos is from the very beginning filled with permanent and subtle atoms. There is no other root cause of the world except the atoms. The commencement (arambha) of the mutual coalition or union of the original and permanent atoms results in all the perceptible things in the world coming into existence. This theory propounded by the Nyaya school regarding the creation of the perceptible universe is technically known as ' arambha-vada ' (Theory of Commence- ment), and some followers of that school never go beyond this. There is a story about one of them, that when those who were around him at the moment of his death, asked him to take the name of God, he uttered the words: "pilavah ! pilavah ! pilavah ! " " atoms ! atoms ! atoms ! ". Nevertheless, other followers of the Nyaya school believe that Isvara is responsible for bringing' about the fusion or union of atoms and they in that way complete the chain of the creation of the universe; and these are known as theistic Logicians. In the second sub-division of the second chapter of the Vedanta-Sutras [1] this Atomic theory, and immediately thereafter, also the theory that the Isvara is merely the immediate cause [2] has been refuted. Reading what is stated above regarding this Atomic theory, those of my readers who have studied English will at once think of the Atomic theory advanced by the modern chemist Dalton. But in the Western countries, the Atomic theory of Dalton has now been put into shade by the' Evolution theory of the well-known biologist Darwin. In the same way, in India in ancient times, the Samkhya philosophy has put into the background the theories of Kanada. Not only can the Kanada school not explain satisfactorily how Activity was first imparted to atoms, but their theories cannot also- explain how the rising gradation of living things like trees, animals, and man came into existence, nor also how that which was lifeless became living, and several other things. This explanation was given in the 19th Century in the Western count- ries by Lamarque and Darwin, and in our country in ancient times by Kapila. |
|