Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER VIII
THE CONSTRUCTIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COSMOS
In short, when the faculty of Individuation begins to create diverse objects, there is sometimes a preponderance of the sattuka constituent, leading to the creation of the five organs of Perception, the five organs of Action, and the Mind, making in all the eleven fundamental organs of the organic world ; and at other times, there is a preponderance of the tarnas constituent, whereby the five fundamental Fine Elements (tanmalra) of the inorganic world come into existence. But in as much as Matter still continues to remain in a Bubtle form, these sixteen elements, which are a result of Individuation, are still subtle elements[1] The fine Elements (tanmatras) of sound, touch, colour, taste and smell— that is to say, the extremely subtle fundamental forms of each of these properties which do not mix with each other— are the fundamental elements of the inorganic creation, and the remaining eleven organs, including the Mind, are the seeds of the organic creation. The explana- tion given in the Samkhya philosophy as to why there are -only five of the first kind and only eleven of the second kind deserves consideration. Modern natural scientists have divided the substances in the world into solid, liquid, and gaseous. But the principle of classification of substances according to Sarhkhya philosophy is different. Samkhya philosophers say that man acquires the knowledge of all worldly objects by means of the five organs of Perception; and the peculiar construction of these organs is such that any one organ perceives only one quality. As the eyes cannot smell, the ears cannot see, the skin cannot distinguish between sweet and bitter, the tongue does not recognise sound, and the nose cannot distinguish between black and white. If the five organs of Perception and their five objects, namely, sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell, are in this way fixed, one cannot fix the number of the properties of matter at more than five. Because, even if we imagine that there are more than five such properties, we have no means to perceive them. Each of these five objects of sense can of course be sub-divided into many divisions.
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References And Context
- ↑ If I were to convey this import in the English language, I would say :- The Primeval matter ( Pralriti ) was at first homogeneous. It resolved (Buddhi) to unfold itself, and by the principle of differentiation (Ahamkara) became heterogeneous. It then branched off into two sections-one organic (Sendriya) and the otter inorganic (Nirindriya). There are eleven elements of the organic and five of the inorganio creation. Punish" or the observer is different from all these and falls under none of the above categories.