08-03-2004, 11:49 PM
Sridhar,
sAMkhya is a complete philosophy. It has been called the first philosophy. Its elements are present in Gita as well as in upanishads. Even rigveda has couple of richas that lay the basics of samkhya. One being about the ajaa which is white, red and black in colour. Ajaa means 'unborn' here standing fo the prakriti, it also means a goat which is for the poetic beauty. The three colors are the three guNaas. Another mention is about the two birds living on the same tree. One bird that eats the sweet or sour fruits and feels happy or sad accordingly while the other watches without getting involved. (dvau suparnaa sayujaa sakhaayaa ). One represents the purusha when it gets involved in the play of prakriti and feels sad and happy accordingly, while the other remains unattached and just observes.
Sage kapila who is thought of as the originator of saamkhya system, is highly revered as one of the oldest philosopher sages.
Through saamkhya sage kapila established the separateness of the witness self from the ego, which is at the core of most of Indian philosophical systems. Terminology of saamkhya permeates all of Indian thought.
Vedanta arose from the realisation of the upanisadic sages that there is one self in the universe. Shwetaswatar upanisad has many elements of ssamkhya as well as yoga. It mentions that sages/rishis gathered to discuss the nature of reality. But after having discusing many hypotheseis they were not satisfied. Then they meditated and 'saw'. (te dhyaana-yoga-anugata-anupashyan).
As it stands, vedanta takes most of saamkhya and extends it. But ssamkhya does stand by itself as a complete philosophy.
sAMkhya is a complete philosophy. It has been called the first philosophy. Its elements are present in Gita as well as in upanishads. Even rigveda has couple of richas that lay the basics of samkhya. One being about the ajaa which is white, red and black in colour. Ajaa means 'unborn' here standing fo the prakriti, it also means a goat which is for the poetic beauty. The three colors are the three guNaas. Another mention is about the two birds living on the same tree. One bird that eats the sweet or sour fruits and feels happy or sad accordingly while the other watches without getting involved. (dvau suparnaa sayujaa sakhaayaa ). One represents the purusha when it gets involved in the play of prakriti and feels sad and happy accordingly, while the other remains unattached and just observes.
Sage kapila who is thought of as the originator of saamkhya system, is highly revered as one of the oldest philosopher sages.
Through saamkhya sage kapila established the separateness of the witness self from the ego, which is at the core of most of Indian philosophical systems. Terminology of saamkhya permeates all of Indian thought.
Vedanta arose from the realisation of the upanisadic sages that there is one self in the universe. Shwetaswatar upanisad has many elements of ssamkhya as well as yoga. It mentions that sages/rishis gathered to discuss the nature of reality. But after having discusing many hypotheseis they were not satisfied. Then they meditated and 'saw'. (te dhyaana-yoga-anugata-anupashyan).
As it stands, vedanta takes most of saamkhya and extends it. But ssamkhya does stand by itself as a complete philosophy.