Gita Rahasya -Tilak 166

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

CHAPTER VII THE KAPILA SAMKHYA PHILOSOPHY OR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE MUTABLE AND THE IMMUTABLE (KAPILA SAMKHYA-SASTRA OR KSARAKSARA-VICARA) Out of these three states, the state of perfection is called by the Samkhya philosophers the sattviki state, the inperfect state is called the iamasi state, and the state of progression is called the rajasi state; and according to them the ihree qualities, sattva, rajas and tamas, are to be found from the very beginning in Matter (prakrti), which is the fundamental substance of all things. Nay, it may even be said, that these three constituents together make up Matter. In as muoh the strength of each of these qualities is the same jn the beginning, Matter is originally equable. This equability exist- ed in the beginning of the world and will come again when the world comes to an end. In this equability, there is no activity and everything is at rest ; but, later on, when these three constituents begin to vary in intensity, various things spring out of Matter as a result of the progressive constituent, and the creation begins. Here the question arises as to how the difference arises in the intensity of the three constituents, sattva, rajas and tamas, which were originally equal in intensity. To this the reply of the Samkhya philosophers is, that that is the inherent characteristic of Matter Though Matter is gross, yet it carries out all this activity ■of its own accord. Out of theBe three constituents, knowledge or intelligence is the sign of the sattva, and the rajas constituent, has an inspirational tendency, that is to say, it inspires a, person to do some good or evil act. [These three constituents- can never exist by themselves independently. In everything, there is a mixture of all the three constituents ; and in as much as the mutual ratio of the three constituents in this mixture always varies, the fundamental Matter, though originally one,, assumes the various forms of gold, earth, iron, water, sky, the human body etc. as a result of this diversity in constituents. As the intensity or proportion of the sattva constituent is higher than that of the rajas and tamas constituents in the object which we consider as sattvika, all that happens Sb that these constituents being kept in abeyance are not noticed by us. But strictly speaking, it must be understood that the three constituents sattva, rajas and tamas are to be found even in those objects which are sattvika by nature.