Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER VII
THE KAPILA SAMKHYA PHILOSOPHY OR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE MUTABLE AND THE IMMUTABLE
(KAPILA SAMKHYA-SASTRA OR KSARAKSARA-VICARA) The word suksma does not here have its- ordinary meaning of ' small '; because, though ether is suksma, it has enveloped the entire universe. Therefore, suksma is to be taken to mean the opposite of ' sthula ', or even thinner than air. The words 'gross' or 'subtle' give one an idea about the conformation of the body of a particular thing ; and the words 'vyakta' (perceptible) and 'avyakta '(imperceptible) show whether or not a particular thing can be perceived by us in reality. Therefore, although two different things may both be subtle, yet one of them may be perceptible and the other imperceptible. For instance, though the air is subtle, yet as it is perceptible to the sense of touch, it is considered to be wjakta ; and prakrti (Matter), the fundamental substance of all things, being much more subtle than air itself, is not percept- ible by any of the organs and is, therefore, amjakla. Here a question arises, namely : if prakrti is not perceptible to any organ, then, what evidence is there that it exists ? To this the reply of the Samkhya philosophers is, that by considering the various objects, it is proved by inference by the law of ' satkuryaoada' that the root of all of them, though not actually perceptible to the organs, must nevertheless be in [1] existence in a subtle form [2]and the. Vedalita philosophers have accepted the same line of argument for proving the existence of the Brahman. [3] When you once in this way acknow- ledge prakrti to ba extremely subtle and imperceptible, the atomic theory of the Nyaya school naturally falls to the ground. Because, even if atoms are considered imperceptible and innumerable, yet, in as much as each atom is, according to the Nyaya theory, an independent entity or part, the question as to what matter any two atoms are composed of still remains. Therefore, the doctrine of the Saihkhya philosophy is, that in prakrti there are no different parts in the shape of atoms, that it ig consistent and homogeneous or unbroken in any part, and that it perpetually pervades everything in a form which is avyakta •{that is, not perceptible to the organs) and inorganic. In ^escribing the Parabrahman, Sri Samartha Ramadasa Svaml says in the Dusabodlia [4] :- " In whichever direction you see, it is endless; there " is no end or limit anywhere ; there is one independent "homogeneous substance; there is nothing else".' The same description applies to the prakrli of the Saihkhya philosophy. Matter, made up of three constituents, is im- perceptible, self-created, and homogeneous, and it eternally saturates everything on all sides. The Ether, the air, and other different things came into existence afterwards ; and although they may be subtle, yet they are perceptible; and 'prakrti ' which is the fundament or origin of all these is imperceptible, though it is homogeneous and all-pervading. |
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