07 | Introduction to Sāṅkhya Dualism (Puruṣa & Prakṛti)
Were charaka using some differential equations to maximize please and minimise pain 😂. "Be Merry"? What does "be Merry" means. I head in "happy Merry Christmas" but never knew what it meant. Ok go ahead 👍🏻
Hahaha, bro, you're not far off with the differential equations joke. That's basically what modern economics tries to do with "utility maximization." The Cārvākas were just the ancient OG's of that mindset.
And "Merry" just means cheerful, lively, and full of fun. So "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" is a classic way of saying "Eat good food, have some drinks, and have a good time." It perfectly captures the Cārvāka vibe.
Alright, let's switch gears completely. We're leaving the Nāstika rebels behind and moving over to the other side, to Team Āstika.
Get ready, because our first school from this team, Sāṅkhya (pronounced Saan-khya), is one of the oldest and most mind-bending philosophies out there.
Progress: ~65%
Part 7: Introduction to Sāṅkhya - The Great Dualists¶
First things first: Sāṅkhya is an Āstika school. This means they accept the authority of the Vedas. But, as we talked about, they do it in their own unique way. The classical version of Sāṅkhya that we're studying is famously atheistic—it doesn't need a creator God to explain the universe. So, right away, they're a strange and fascinating member of the "orthodox" team.
The central idea of Sāṅkhya is DUALISM.
This means they believe that all of reality, everything that exists, is made up of two, and only two, fundamentally different and independent principles.
Imagine you have two boxes of building blocks that can never, ever be mixed. One box is made of something like pure energy, and the other is made of something like pure matter. Sāṅkhya says the entire universe is built from just these two things.
These two ultimate realities are:
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Puruṣa (pronounced Poo-roo-sha): This is Pure Consciousness. Think of it as the soul, the self, the spirit. But it's not a "thing." It's just awareness. It is the silent, passive witness or observer of everything. It doesn't do anything; it just sees.
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Prakṛti (pronounced Prak-ri-tee): This is Primordial Matter or Nature. This is the stuff that everything physical is made of. The entire universe—from rocks and trees to our bodies, our minds, our thoughts, and even our egos—is made from Prakṛti. It is unconscious, unthinking, but it is always active and constantly changing.
Let's put them side-by-side. This is maybe the most important chart for understanding Sāṅkhya:
| Feature | Puruṣa (Consciousness) | Prakṛti (Matter) |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Pure Consciousness | Unconscious Matter |
| Activity | Inactive, Passive, a Witness | Active, Always Changing |
| Awareness | Conscious | Non-conscious |
| Role | The Seer, The Subject | The Seen, The Object |
| Number | There are MANY Puruṣas (infinite individual souls) | There is only ONE Prakṛti |
The whole drama of the universe, according to Sāṅkhya, is the interaction between these two completely separate realities.
Prakṛti is like a blind person who is incredibly strong and can walk anywhere, but doesn't know where to go. Puruṣa is like a lame person who can't move at all, but has perfect eyesight and can see the destination.
Separately, they are helpless. But if the lame man (Puruṣa) sits on the blind man's (Prakṛti's) shoulders, they can work together to reach the goal. This is the famous Sāṅkhya analogy for how the universe works. Consciousness (Puruṣa) guides the unconscious but active Matter (Prakṛti).
The core idea of Sāṅkhya is a radical dualism. Reality consists of two independent principles: Puruṣa (the many, passive, conscious selves) and Prakṛti (the one, active, unconscious matter). All of existence is an interaction between these two.
How does this initial idea of the two fundamental forces, Puruṣa and Prakṛti, sit with you? Does the distinction between the passive "seer" and the active but "unconscious" world make sense as a starting point?