05 | Sankhya Prakrti

Sānkhya's theory of causation logically leads to the concept of Prakṛti as the ultimate cause of the world of objects.

• All objects of the world, including our body, mind, senses, and intellect, are limited and dependent things produced by the combination of certain elements.
• The world is a series of effects, and it must have a cause.
• What, then, is the cause of the world?
• It cannot be the puruṣa (the self), since the self is neither a cause nor an effect of anything.
• The cause of the world must be some principle that is other than and different from spirit, self, or consciousness.
• Can this non-self be the physical elements or material atoms?
• According to Cārvāka, the Buddhists, the Jainas, and the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣikas, the atoms of earth, water, light, and air are the material cause of the world.

According to Sānkhya, material atoms cannot explain the origin of the subtle products of nature, such as the mind, intellect, and ego. The ultimate cause of the world must be some unintelligent or unconscious principle which is:

• Uncaused
• Eternal
• All-pervading
• Very fine and always ready to produce the world of objects

That ultimate cause is Prakṛti.

• As the uncaused root cause, it is called prakṛti.
• As the first principle of this Universe, it is called Pradhāna.

The products of Prakṛti are caused, dependent, relative, many, and temporary, as they are subject to birth and death. In contrast, Prakṛti is:

• Uncaused, independent, absolute, one, and eternal, being beyond production and destruction.
• Motion is inherent in it in the form of Rajas.
• As the source of the inanimate world, it is unconscious.
• The entire world of objects is implicit in the bosom of Prakṛti.
• Evolution is the explicit manifestation of this world of objects.
• Dissolution is the return of this world to Prakṛti.

Sānkhya believes that consciousness cannot be regarded as the source of the inanimate world, as Vedānta believes, because an intelligent principle cannot transform itself into an unintelligent world. Unintelligent, unmanifest, uncaused, ever-active, imperceptible, eternal, and one, Prakṛti alone is the final source of world objects.

Arguments for the Existence of Prakṛti

The existence of Prakṛti as the ultimate subtle cause of the world is known by the following arguments:

1. All individual things in this world are limited, dependent, conditional, and finite.

   • The finite cannot be the cause of the universe.
   • Logically, we have to proceed from the finite to the infinite, from the limited to the unlimited, from the temporary to the permanent, and from the many to the one.

2. All worldly things possess certain common characteristics by which they are capable of producing pleasure, pain, and indifference.

   • Hence, there must be a common source composed of three Guṇas, from which all worldly things arise.

3. All effects arise from the activity of a potent cause.

   • Evolution means the manifestation of the hitherto implicit as the explicit.
   • The activity that generates evolution must be inherent in the world-cause.

4. The effect differs from the cause, and hence the limited effect cannot be regarded as its own cause.

   • The effect is the explicit state, and the cause is the implicit state of the same process.
   • The effect points to a world-cause where it is potentially contained.

5. The unity of the universe points to a single cause, and that cause is Prakṛti.

The Three Guṇas

Prakṛti is constituted by the three guṇas: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. It is a unity of these guṇas held in a state of equilibrium.

What are these guṇas?

• "Guṇa" means a constituent element, not an attribute or quality. They are the elements of the ultimate substance (Prakṛti).
• They are called guṇas because they are subservient to the ends of the puruṣa, or because they are intertwined like the strands of a rope that binds the soul to the world.
• The guṇas are not perceived by us directly. They are inferred from the objects of the world, which are their effects.
• Since there is an essential identity between an effect and its cause, we know the nature of the guṇas from the nature of their products.
• All objects are composed of three characters capable of producing pleasure, pain, and indifference, respectively. The same thing can be pleasurable to one person, painful to another, and neutral to a third.
• Therefore, the ultimate cause of things must also be constituted by the elements of pleasure, pain, and indifference.

Sānkhya calls these three sattva, rajas, and tamas. These are constitutive of both Prakṛti and the ordinary objects of the world.

Sattva

• Sattva is the element of Prakṛti that is of the nature of pleasure, light, and brightness or illumination.
• It is responsible for the manifestation of objects in consciousness, the tendency towards conscious manifestation in the senses, mind, and intellect, the luminosity of light, and the power of reflection.
• Pleasure in its various forms (satisfaction, joy, happiness, bliss, contentment) is produced in our mind through the operation of the power of sattva.

Rajas

• Rajas is the principle of activity in things.
• It always moves and makes other things move. It is mobile and stimulating.
• Because of rajas, fire spreads, the wind blows, the senses follow their objects, and the mind becomes restless.
• Rajas is the cause of all painful experiences and is itself of the nature of pain.
• It helps the elements of sattva and tamas, which are inactive and motionless, to perform their functions.

Tamas

• Tamas is the principle of passivity and negativity in things.
• It is opposed to sattva in being heavy and in obstructing the manifestation of objects.
• It also resists the principle of rajas.
• It counteracts the power of manifestation in the mind, intellect, and things, thereby producing ignorance and darkness, and leading to confusion.
• By obstructing the principle of activity in us, it induces sleep, drowsiness, and laziness.

The interaction of the guṇas is one of constant conflict as well as cooperation.

• They always go together and can never be separated from one another.
• None of them can produce anything without the help and support of the other two.
• Just as a wick, oil, and flame, which are relatively opposed to one another, cooperate to produce the light of a lamp, the guṇas cooperate to produce the objects of the world.
• All three guṇas are present in everything in the world.
• Each of them tries to suppress and dominate the others. The nature of a thing is determined by the predominant guṇa.