The Yoga Sutras are an ancient Indian philosophical text which were systematized and codified by the sage Maharishi Patanjali. The Yoga Sutras are based on the understanding of the Samkhya philosophy and takes it into the realm of experience.
Samkhya is one of the six major philosophical systems of India. It describes the full spectrum of human existence by explaining the basic elements that make up the macrocosm and the microcosm. Samkhya deconstructs the building blocks of the body and explains effectively, the elements that comprise the physical and the subtle aspects of the body. It is like a map of the human being. Based on the understanding gained from the Samkhya philosophy, Yoga provides us an understanding of our complete self, beginning from the gross, to the subtle – that is, the mind and the spirit.
The Elements of Samkhya
According to the Samkhya philosophy, there exist, two ‘distinct, irreducible, innate and independent realities,’
- Purusha ~ the witness-consciousness
AND
2. Prakṛti ~ the ‘matter’ which encompasses the activities of mind and perception (including all cognitive, moral, psychological, emotional, sensorial, and physical aspects of reality).
Puruṣa:
the witness-consciousness, is described as absolute, independent, free, imperceptible, and unknowable through other agencies, above any experience by mind or senses and beyond any words or explanations. Purusha is also referred to as ‘Pure Consciousness’.
Prakṛti :
is described as the first cause of the world of our experiences or the first principle (tattva) of the universe thus being referred to as the pradhāna, but, as it is the unconscious and unintelligent principle, it is also called the jaDa.
Prakrti is composed of three essential characteristics (trigunas). These are:
A. Sattva – poise, fineness, lightness, illumination, and joy
B. Rajas – dynamism, activity, excitation, and pain
C. Tamas – inertia, coarseness, heaviness, obstruction, and sloth
Unmanifested Prakriti is infinite, inactive, and unconscious, with the three gunas in a state of equilibrium.
However, the Samkhya philosophy states that this “equilibrium of the gunas is disturbed when Prakṛti comes into contact with Pure Consciousness or Purusha, and thereby gives rise to the manifestation of the world of experience”.
Prakriti becomes manifested as twenty-three tatvas:
a. intellect (buddhi, mahat)
b. ego (ahamkara)
c. mind (manas)
d. the five sensory capacities: hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, smelling
e. the five action capacities: speaking, holding, moving, procreating, eliminating
f. the five subtle elements or ‘modes of sensory content’ (tanmatras): form (rūpa), sound (shabda), smell (gandha), taste (rasa), touch (sparsha)), from which emerge
g. the five ‘gross elements’: (earth (Prithvi), water (Jala), fire (Agni), air (Vāyu), ether (Ākāsha).
However, it is important to state here that Prakriti is the source of our experience. It is a description of experience and the relations between its elements, not an explanation of the origin of the universe.
Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati says, “The Samkhya philosophy views anything that is subject to change, death, decay or decomposition as being ‘unreal’ rather than ‘real.’ This does not mean that the objects are not there in front of you. Rather, they are not ultimately ‘real’ in that their form keeps morphing from this to that to the other. What is considered ‘real’ is that final substratum which never changes, cannot die, and cannot possibly decay or decompose.
It is the direct experience of that ‘absolute reality’ which is being sought.”
Samkhya is the foundation of Yoga.
It provides the roadmap into the journey towards understanding the self.
References-
1. Sankhya Yoga, Prakriti and its Evolutes: Returning to Self-realization- https://www.swamij.com/prakriti-purusha-sankhya.htm
2. Samkhya and Yoga: Two Classical Hindu paths of Insight –https://faculty.franklin.uga.edu/kirkland/sites/faculty.franklin.uga.edu.kirkland/files/YOGA.pdf
3. Wikipedia- Samkhya- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya
4. Yoga and Samkhya- Purifying the Elements of the Human Being- https://www.yogajournal.com/teach/yoga-and-samkhya-purifying-the-elements-of-the-human-being/
5. Yoga Sutras 101: Everything You Need to Know- https://chopra.com/articles/yoga-sutras-101-everything-you-need-to-know
