Karma Yoga Sastra -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) Therefor, just as when there is a partnership between a blind man and a lame man, the lame man sits on the shoulders of the blind man, and both of them begin to follow the road, so also when lifeless Matter becomes united with the vitalised Spirit, all the activities in the world come into existence [1] and just as in a drama an actress once takes one part and after some time again another part and performs her dance for the entertain- ment of the audience, so also prakrti for the benefit of the purusa ( for 'purusartha' ), and though the purusa gives nothing in return, takes up numerous parts in the drama by changing the mutual ratio of the sattva, rajas, and tamas constituents, and continually performs its dance before the purusa [2] But so long as the Spirit, being entranced by this dance of Matter or Ky false pride [3]unjustifiably arrogates to itself this activity of Matter, and enmeshes itself in the strands of pain and happiness, it will never attain salvation. But on that day, when the Spirit realises that Matter with its three constituents is different and that it, the Spirit, is something different, the Spirit may well be said to be released, [4] Because, strictly speaking, the Spirit is fundamentally neither a doer nor is it bound. It is independent and by its very nature isolated, that is,- it is non-active. Whatever happens is being done by Matter. . Nay, in as much as the Mind and even Reason are manifestations of Matter, whatever knowledge is acquired by Reason is the result of the activity of matter . This knowledge is three-fold, namely, sattvika, rajasa and tamasa [5]Out of these, when Reason acquires the sattvika kind of knowledge, the spiritrealises that it is different from Matter, not of the spirit. The spirit is qualityless and prakrti with its three constituents,is its mirror [6] When this mirror become clear, that is to say, when the reason, which is a manifestation of matter, become sattvika, then the spirit sees in this clear mirror its own clear identity, namely, that it is different from matter, and Dame matter, becoming shame- faced, stops her dance before the spirit. When this state is acquired, the spirit is released from all bonds and attains its inherent isolation. Isolation (kaivalya) means the state of being 'kevala' (isolated), that is being single and not being joint with matter; and it is this natural state of the spiritWhich is called moksa ( Release ) or salvation by the samkhya philosophers. But some samkhya philosophers have raised the delicate question whether in this state, it is the spirit which abandons Matter or Matter which abandons the spirit.
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