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{{Short description|Āstika school of Hindu philosophy}}
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'''Samkhya''' or '''Sankhya''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɑː|ŋ|k|j|ə}}; {{langx|sa|सांख्य|Sāṅkhya}}) is a [[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|dualistic]] [[Āstika and nāstika|orthodox school]] of [[Hindu philosophy]].<ref>[[Knut A. Jacobsen]], ''Theory and Practice of Yoga,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120832329}}, pages 100–101.</ref><ref>"Samkhya", ''American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,'' Fifth Edition (2011), Quote: "Samkhya is a system of Hindu philosophy based on a dualism involving the ultimate principles of soul and matter."</ref><ref>"Samkhya", ''Webster's College Dictionary'' (2010), Random House, {{ISBN|978-0375407413}}, Quote: "Samkhya is a system of Hindu philosophy stressing the reality and duality of spirit and matter."</ref> It views [[reality]] as composed of two independent principles, ''[[purusha|Puruṣa]]'' ('[[consciousness]]' or spirit) and ''[[Prakṛti]]'' (nature or matter, including the human mind and emotions).{{sfn|Lusthaus|2018}}

''Puruṣa'' is the witness-consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, beyond perception, above any experience by mind or senses, and impossible to describe in words.{{sfn|Sharma|1997|pages=155–7}}{{sfn|Chapple|2008|p=21}}{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=203}}

''Prakṛti'' is matter or nature. It is active, unconscious, and is a balance of the three ''[[guṇa]]s'' (qualities or innate tendencies),{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=204–205}}<ref>Gerald James Larson (2011), ''Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, pages 154–206.</ref> namely ''[[Sattva]]'', ''[[Rajas]]'', and ''[[Tamas (philosophy)|Tamas]]''. When ''Prakṛti'' comes into contact with ''Puruṣa'' this balance is disturbed, and ''Prakṛti'' becomes manifest, evolving twenty-three [[tattva]]s,{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=204}} namely intellect (''[[buddhi]]'', ''mahat''), I-principle (''[[ahamkara]]''), mind (''[[Manas (early Buddhism)|manas]]''); the five sensory capacities known as ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose; the five action capacities known as hands (''hasta''), feet (''pada''), speech (''vak''), anus (''guda''), and genitals (''upastha''); and the five "subtle elements" or "modes of sensory content" (''[[tanmatras]]''), from which the five "gross elements" or "forms of perceptual objects" (earth, water, fire, air and space) emerge,{{Sfn|Osto|2018|p=204–205}}{{sfn|Haney|2002|page=42}} in turn giving rise to the manifestation of sensory experience and cognition.{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=205}}{{sfn|Larson|1998|page=11}}

''[[Jiva]]'' ('a living being') is the state in which ''Puruṣa'' is bonded to ''Prakṛti''.<ref name=sambri/> Human experience is an interplay of the two, ''Puruṣa'' being conscious of the various combinations of cognitive activities.<ref name=sambri>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia = [[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |title = Samkhya |date = 2015-05-05 |orig-date = 1998-07-20 |url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samkhya |access-date = 2023-06-08}}</ref> The end of the bondage of ''Puruṣa'' to ''Prakṛti'' is called ''[[Moksha]]'' (Liberation) or ''[[Kaivalya]]'' (Isolation).<ref name="Gerald James Larson 2011 pages 36-47">[[Gerald James Larson]] (2011), ''Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, pages 36–47.</ref>

Samkhya's [[epistemology]] accepts three of six ''[[Pramana|Pramaṇa]]s'' (proofs) as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge, as does [[yoga]]. 

These are P''ratyakṣa'' ([[perception]]), A''numāṇa'' ([[inference]]) and ''Śabda'' (''āptavacana'', meaning, 'word/testimony of reliable sources').<ref name="Lpage9" /><ref name="eliottjag" /><ref name="jag">John A. Grimes, ''A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English,'' State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791430675}}, page 238.</ref> Sometimes described as one of the [[rationalism|rationalist]] schools of [[Indian philosophy]], it relies exclusively on reason.<ref>[[Mikel Burley]] (2012), ''Classical Samkhya and Yoga – An Indian Metaphysics of Experience,'' Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, pages 43–46.</ref><ref>David Kalupahana (1995), ''Ethics in Early Buddhism,'' University of Hawaii Press, {{ISBN|978-0824817022}}, page 8, Quote: The rational argument is identified with the method of '''Samkhya, a rationalist school''', upholding the view that "nothing comes out of nothing" or that "being cannot be non-being."</ref>

While Samkhya-like speculations can be found in the Rig Veda and some of the older Upanishads, some western scholars have proposed that Samkhya may have non-Vedic origins,{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217, 314}}{{refn|group=note|name="Zimmer"}} developing in ascetic milieus. Proto-Samkhya ideas developed c. 8th/7th BC and onwards, as evidenced in the middle Upanishads, the ''[[Buddhacharita]]'', the ''Bhagavad Gita'', and the ''Mokshadharma''-section of the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4}} It was related to the early ascetic traditions and meditation, spiritual practices, and religious cosmology,{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} and methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge (''vidya'', ''jnana'', ''viveka'') that end the cycle of ''[[Duḥkha]]'' (suffering) and rebirth{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4–5}} allowing for "a great variety of philosophical formulations".{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} Pre-''Karika'' systematic Samkhya existed around the beginning of the first millennium CE.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9–11}} The defining method of Samkhya was established with the [[Samkhyakarika]] (4th c. CE).

Samkhya might have been theistic or nontheistic, but with its classical systematization in the early first millennium CE, the existence of a deity became irrelevant.<ref>{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|page=264}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Sen Gupta|1986|page=6}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1957|page=89}}.</ref><ref name="andrew">Andrew J. Nicholson (2013), ''[[Unifying Hinduism|Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History]]'', Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0231149877}}, chapter 4, page 77.</ref> Samkhya is strongly related to the [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] school of [[Hinduism]], for which it forms the theoretical foundation, and it has influenced other schools of Indian philosophy.<ref name="royper">Roy Perrett, ''Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges,'' Volume 1 (Editor: P Bilimoria et al.), Ashgate, {{ISBN|978-0754633013}}, pages 149–158.</ref>

==Etymology==
{{Quote box |width=20em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right  |quote="Samkhya is not ''one'' of the systems of Indian philosophy. Samkhya ''is'' the philosophy of India!" | salign = right|source =Gopinath Kaviraj{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=xi}}}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}

''Sāṃkhya'' (सांख्य) or ''sāṅkhya'', also transliterated as ''samkhya'' and ''sankhya'', respectively, is a [[Sanskrit grammar|Sanskrit word]] that, depending on the context, means 'to reckon, count, enumerate, calculate, deliberate, reason, reasoning by numeric enumeration, relating to number, rational'.<ref>[http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html saMkhya] ''Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary,'' Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, Germany</ref> In the context of ancient Indian philosophies, ''Samkhya'' refers to the philosophical school in Hinduism based on systematic enumeration and rational examination.<ref>[[Mikel Burley]] (2012), ''Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience,'' Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, pages 47-48</ref>

The word ''samkhya'' means 'empirical' or 'relating to numbers'.<ref name="harvnb|Apte|1957|page=1664">{{harvnb|Apte|1957|page=1664}}</ref> Although the term had been used in the general sense of metaphysical knowledge before,<ref>{{harvnb|Bhattacharyya|1975|pages=419–20}}</ref> in technical usage it refers to the Samkhya school of thought that evolved into a cohesive philosophical system in early centuries CE.<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|pages=4, 38, 288}}</ref> The Samkhya system is called so because 'it "enumerates'" twenty five ''Tattvas'' or true principles; and its chief object is to effect the final emancipation of the twenty-fifth Tattva, i.e. the Puruṣa or soul'.<ref name="harvnb|Apte|1957|page=1664"/>

==Philosophy==

===''Puruṣa'' and ''Prakṛti''===
Samkhya makes a distinction between two "irreducible, innate and independent realities",{{sfn|Sharma|1997|pages=149–168}} ''[[Purusha|Puruṣa]]'', the witness-consciousness, and ''[[Prakṛti]]'', "matter", the activities of mind and perception.{{sfn|Lusthaus|2018}}{{sfn|Haney|2002|page=17}}{{sfn|Isaac|Dangwal|1997|page=339}} According to Dan Lusthaus,
{{blockquote|In Sāṃkhya puruṣa signifies the observer, the 'witness'. Prakṛti includes all the cognitive, moral, psychological, emotional, sensorial and physical aspects of reality. It is often mistranslated as 'matter' or 'nature' – in non-Sāṃkhyan usage it does mean 'essential nature' – but that distracts from the heavy Sāṃkhyan stress on prakṛti's cognitive, mental, psychological and sensorial activities. Moreover, subtle and gross matter are its most derivative byproducts, not its core. Only prakṛti acts.{{sfn|Lusthaus|2018}}}}

''Puruṣa'' is considered as the conscious principle, a passive enjoyer (''bhokta'') and the ''Prakṛti'' is the enjoyed (''bhogya''). Samkhya believes that the puruṣa cannot be regarded as the source of inanimate world, because an intelligent principle cannot transform itself into the unconscious world. It is a pluralistic spiritualism, atheistic realism and uncompromising dualism.<ref name="Sharma">{{harvnb|Sharma|1997|pages=149–168}}</ref>

====''Puruṣa'' – witness-consciousness====
[[File:Purusha-Pakriti.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|Purusha-prakriti]]

''[[Purusha|Puruṣa]]'' is the witness-consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, imperceptible, unknowable through other agencies, above any experience by mind or senses and beyond any words or explanations. It remains pure, "nonattributive consciousness". ''Puruṣa'' is neither produced nor does it produce.{{sfn|Sharma|1997|pages=155–7}} No appellations can qualify ''Puruṣa'', nor can it be substantialized or objectified.{{sfn|Chapple|2008|p=21}} It "cannot be reduced, can't be 'settled'". Any designation of ''Puruṣa'' comes from ''Prakṛti'', and is a limitation.{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=203}} Unlike [[Advaita Vedanta]], and like [[Mīmāṃsā|Purva-Mīmāṃsā]], Samkhya believes in plurality of the ''Puruṣas''.{{sfn|Sharma|1997|pages=155–7}} However, while being multiple, ''Puruṣas'' are considered non-different because their essential attributes are the same.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nicholson |first=Andrew J. |date=2007-08-01 |title=Reconciling dualism and non-dualism: three arguments in Vijñānabhikṣu’s Bhedābheda Vedānta |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10781-007-9016-6 |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=383 |doi=10.1007/s10781-007-9016-6 |issn=1573-0395|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

====''Prakṛti'' - cognitive processes====
[[File:Evolution in Samkhya.jpg|thumb|160px|Elements in Samkhya philosophy]]
{{Main|Prakṛti}}

''Prakṛti'' is the first cause of the world of our experiences.{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=204}} Since it is the first principle (''tattva'') of the universe, it is called the ''pradhāna'' (chief principle), but, as it is the unconscious and unintelligent principle, it is also called the ''jaḍa'' (unintelligent). It is composed of three essential characteristics (''triguna''s). These are:
* ''[[Sattva]]'' – poise, fineness, lightness, illumination, and joy;
* ''[[Rajas]]'' – dynamism, activity, excitation, and pain;
* ''[[Tamas (philosophy)|Tamas]]'' – inertia, coarseness, heaviness, obstruction, and sloth.<ref name="Sharma" />{{sfn|Hiriyanna|1993|pages=270–272}}{{sfn|Chattopadhyaya|1986|pages=109–110}}

Unmanifested ''Prakṛti'' is infinite, inactive, and unconscious, with the three gunas in a state of equilibrium. When this equilibrium of the ''guṇas'' is disturbed then unmanifest ''Prakṛti'', along with the omnipresent witness-consciousness, ''Puruṣa'', gives rise to the manifest world of experience.{{sfn|Osto|2018|p=205}}{{sfn|Larson|1998|page=11}} ''Prakṛti'' becomes manifest as twenty-three ''[[tattva]]s'':{{Sfn|Osto|2018|p=204}} intellect ([[Buddhi]], mahat), ego ([[ahamkara]]) mind (''[[Manas (early Buddhism)|manas]]''); the five sensory capacities; the five action capacities; and the five "subtle elements" or "modes of sensory content" (''tanmatras'': form (''[[rūpa]]''), sound (''shabda''), smell (''gandha''), taste (''rasa''), touch (''sparsha'')), from which the five "gross elements" or "forms of perceptual objects" emerge (earth (prithivi), water (jala), fire (Agni), air (Vāyu), ether (Ākāsha)).{{Sfn|Osto|2018|p=204-205}}{{sfn|Haney|2002|page=42}} ''Prakṛti'' is the source of our experience; it is not "the evolution of a series of material entities," but "the emergence of experience itself".{{Sfn|Osto|2018|p=205}} It is description of experience and the relations between its elements, not an explanation of the origin of the universe.{{Sfn|Osto|2018|p=205}}

All ''Prakṛti'' has these three ''guṇas'' in different proportions. Each ''guṇa'' is dominant at specific times of day. The interplay of these ''guṇa'' defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life.<ref name=jamesg>James G. Lochtefeld, Guna, in ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M,'' Vol. 1, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|9780823931798}}, page 265</ref><ref>T Bernard (1999), ''Hindu Philosophy'', Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-1373-1}}, pages 74–76</ref> The Samkhya theory of ''guṇa'' was widely discussed, developed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies. Samkhya's philosophical treatises also influenced the development of various theories of Hindu ethics.<ref name=royper/>

Thought processes and mental events are conscious only to the extent they receive illumination from ''Puruṣa''. In Samkhya, consciousness is compared to light which illuminates the material configurations or 'shapes' assumed by the mind. So intellect, after receiving cognitive structures from the mind and illumination from pure consciousness, creates thought structures that appear to be conscious.<ref name="Isaac">{{harvnb|Isaac|Dangwal|1997|page=342}}</ref> Ahamkara, the ego or the phenomenal self, appropriates all mental experiences to itself and thus, personalizes the objective activities of mind and intellect by assuming possession of them.<ref>{{harvnb|Leaman|2000|page=68}}</ref> But consciousness is itself independent of the thought structures it illuminates.<ref name="Isaac" />

===Liberation or ''mokṣa''===
{{Quote box |width=20em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right  |quote=The Supreme Good is mokṣa which consists in the permanent impossibility of the incidence of pain... in the realisation of the Self as Self pure and simple. |salign = right
|source =—Samkhyakarika I.3<ref>{{harvnb|Sinha|2012|page=App. VI,1}}</ref>}}
Samkhya school considers ''[[moksha]]'' as a natural quest of every jiva. The [[Samkhyakarika]] states,

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
As the unconscious milk functions for the sake of nourishment of the calf,
so the Prakriti functions for the sake of moksha of the spirit.
</poem>
|Samkhya karika|Verse 57<ref>Gerald James Larson (2011), ''Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning,'' Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, page 273</ref><ref name=colebrookesktrans>Original Sanskrit: [http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_major_works/IshvarakRiShNasAnkyakArikA.pdf Samkhya karika] Compiled and indexed by Ferenc Ruzsa (2015), Sanskrit Documents Archives;<br />[http://www.kouroo.info/kouroo/transclusions/18/37/1837_SankhyaKarikaHTColebrook.pdf Samkhya karika] by Iswara Krishna, Henry Colebrooke (Translator), Oxford University Press, page 169</ref>}}

Samkhya regards ignorance ([[Avidyā (Hinduism)|Avidyā]]) as the root cause of suffering and bondage (''[[Saṃsāra|Samsara]]''). Samkhya states that the way out of this suffering is through knowledge (viveka). ''Mokṣa'' (liberation), states Samkhya school, results from knowing the difference between ''Prakṛti'' (avyakta-vyakta) and ''Puruṣa'' (jña).<ref name="Lpage9" /> More specifically, the ''Puruṣa'' that has attained liberation is to be distinguished from a ''Puruṣa'' that is still bound on account of the liberated ''Puruṣa'' being free from its subtle body (synonymous with buddhi), in which is located the mental dispositions that individuates it and causes it to experience bondage.<ref name="ref1">{{Cite web |title=Sāṁkhya thought in the Brahmanical systems of Indian philosophy {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/613798605 |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=www.worldcat.org |page= |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|58}}

''Puruṣa'', the eternal pure consciousness, due to ignorance, identifies itself with products of ''Prakṛti'' such as intellect (buddhi) and ego (ahamkara). This results in endless transmigration and suffering. However, once the realization arises that ''Puruṣa'' is distinct from ''Prakṛti'', is more than empirical ego, and that puruṣa is deepest conscious self within, the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Self]] gains isolation (''kaivalya'') and freedom (''moksha'').<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|page=13}}</ref>

Though in conventional terms the bondage is ascribed to the ''Puruṣa'', this is ultimately a mistake. This is because the Samkhya school (Samkhya karika Verse 63) maintains that it is actually ''Prakṛti'' that binds itself, and thus bondage should in reality be ascribed to ''Prakṛti'', not to the ''Puruṣa'':<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colebrooke |first=Henry Thomas |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/61647186 |title=The Sānkhya kārika : or, Memorial verses on the Sānkhya philosophy |date=1887 |publisher=Chatterjea |pages=178 |oclc=61647186}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=By seven modes nature binds herself by herself: by one, she releases (herself), for the soul's wish (Samkhya karika Verse 63) ·}}

Vacaspati gave a metaphorical example to elaborate the position that the ''Puruṣa'' is only mistakenly ascribed bondage: although the king is ascribed victory or defeat, it is actually the soldiers that experience it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dasti |first=Matthew R., Bryant, Edwin F. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/852227561 |title=Free will, agency, and selfhood in Indian philosophy |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-992275-8 |pages=28 |publisher=Oup USA |oclc=852227561}}</ref> It is then not merely that bondage is only mistakenly ascribed to the ''Puruṣa'', but that liberation is like bondage, wrongly ascribed to the ''Puruṣa'' and should be ascribed to ''Prakṛti'' alone.<ref name="ref1" />{{rp|60}}

Other forms of Samkhya teach that ''Mokṣa'' is attained by one's own development of the higher faculties of discrimination achieved by meditation and other yogic practices. ''Moksha'' is described by Samkhya scholars as a state of liberation, where ''sattva guṇa'' predominates.<ref name="Gerald James Larson 2011 pages 36-47" />

=== Epistemology ===
[[File:3 Pramana Epistemology Samkhya Yoga Hindu schools.svg|thumb|The Samkhya school considers perception, inference and reliable testimony as three reliable means to knowledge.<ref name="Lpage9"/><ref name=eliottjag/>]]
Samkhya considered ''Pratyakṣa'' or ''Dṛṣṭam'' (direct sense perception), ''Anumāna'' (inference), and  ''Śabda'' or ''Āptavacana'' (verbal testimony of the sages or shāstras) to be the only valid means of knowledge or ''pramana''.<ref name="Lpage9">{{harvnb|Larson|1998|page=9}}.</ref> Unlike some other schools, Samkhya did not consider the following three ''pramanas'' to be epistemically proper: ''Upamāṇa'' (comparison and analogy), ''Arthāpatti'' (postulation, deriving from circumstances) or ''Anupalabdi'' (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof).<ref name=eliottjag/>
* '''''Pratyakṣa''''' (प्रत्यक्ष) means perception. It is of two types in Hindu texts: external and internal. External perception is described as that arising from the interaction of five senses and worldly objects, while internal perception is described by this school as that of inner sense, the mind.<ref name=kamal>MM Kamal (1998), The Epistemology of the Carvaka Philosophy, Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies, 46(2): 13-16</ref><ref>B Matilal (1992), Perception: An Essay in Indian Theories of Knowledge, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0198239765}}</ref> The ancient and medieval Indian texts identify four requirements for correct perception:<ref name=kpmat/> ''Indriyarthasannikarsa'' (direct experience by one's sensory organ(s) with the object, whatever is being studied), ''Avyapadesya'' (non-verbal; correct perception is not through [[hearsay]], according to ancient Indian scholars, where one's sensory organ relies on accepting or rejecting someone else's perception), ''Avyabhicara'' (does not wander; correct perception does not change, nor is it the result of deception because one's sensory organ or means of observation is drifting, defective, suspect) and ''Vyavasayatmaka'' (definite; correct perception excludes judgments of doubt, either because of one's failure to observe all the details, or because one is mixing inference with observation and observing what one wants to observe, or not observing what one does not want to observe).<ref name=kpmat>Karl Potter (1977), "Meaning and Truth," in ''Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies'', Volume 2, Princeton University Press, Reprinted in 1995 by Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0309-4}}, pages 160-168</ref> Some ancient scholars proposed "unusual perception" as ''pramana'' and called it internal perception, a proposal contested by other Indian scholars. The internal perception concepts included ''pratibha'' (intuition), ''samanyalaksanapratyaksa'' (a form of induction from perceived specifics to a universal), and ''jnanalaksanapratyaksa'' (a form of perception of prior processes and previous states of a 'topic of study' by observing its current state).<ref>Karl Potter (1977), Meaning and Truth, in Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 2, Princeton University Press, Reprinted in 1995 by Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0309-4}}, pages 168-169</ref> Further, some schools considered and refined rules of accepting uncertain knowledge from ''Pratyakṣa-pranama'', so as to contrast ''nirnaya'' (definite judgment, conclusion) from ''anadhyavasaya'' (indefinite judgment).<ref>Karl Potter (1977), "Meaning and Truth," in ''Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies,'' Volume 2, Princeton University Press, Reprinted in 1995 by Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0309-4}}, pages 170-172</ref>
* '''''Anumāna''''' (अनुमान) means inference. It is described as reaching a new conclusion and truth from one or more observations and previous truths by applying reason.<ref>W Halbfass (1991), Tradition and Reflection, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-7914-0362-9}}, page 26-27</ref> Observing smoke and inferring fire is an example of ''Anumana''.<ref name=kamal/> In all except one Hindu philosophies,<ref>Carvaka school is the exception</ref> this is a valid and useful means to knowledge. The method of inference is explained by Indian texts as consisting of three parts: ''pratijna'' (hypothesis), ''hetu'' (a reason), and ''drshtanta'' (examples).<ref name=jl4647>James Lochtefeld, "Anumana" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing. {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 46-47</ref> The hypothesis must further be broken down into two parts, state the ancient Indian scholars: ''sadhya'' (that idea which needs to proven or disproven) and ''paksha'' (the object on which the ''sadhya'' is predicated). The inference is conditionally true if ''sapaksha'' (positive examples as evidence) are present, and if ''vipaksha'' (negative examples as counter-evidence) are absent. For rigor, the Indian philosophies also state further epistemic steps. For example, they demand ''Vyapti'' - the requirement that the ''hetu'' (reason) must necessarily and separately account for the inference in "all" cases, in both ''sapaksha'' and ''vipaksha''.<ref name=jl4647/><ref>Karl Potter (2002), Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|81-208-0779-0}}</ref> A conditionally proven hypothesis is called a ''nigamana'' (conclusion).<ref>Monier Williams (1893), Indian Wisdom - Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindus, Luzac & Co, London, page 61</ref>
* '''''Śabda''''' (शब्द) means relying on word, testimony of past or present reliable experts.<ref name="eliottjag">* Eliott Deutsche (2000), in ''Philosophy of Religion: Indian Philosophy,'' Volume 4 (Editor: Roy Perrett), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0815336112}}, pages 245–248.
* John A. Grimes, A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791430675}}, page 238.</ref><ref name=dpsb>DPS Bhawuk (2011), Spirituality and Indian Psychology (Editor: [[Anthony J. Marsella]]), Springer, {{ISBN|978-1-4419-8109-7}}, page 172</ref> Hiriyanna explains ''Sabda-pramana'' as a concept which means reliable expert testimony. The schools which consider it epistemically valid suggest that a human being needs to know numerous facts, and with the limited time and energy available, he can learn only a fraction of those facts and truths directly.<ref name=mhir>M. Hiriyanna (2000), The Essentials of Indian Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120813304}}, page 43</ref>  He must cooperate with others to rapidly acquire and share knowledge and thereby enrich each other's lives. This means of gaining proper knowledge is either spoken or written, but through ''Sabda'' (words).<ref name=mhir/> The reliability of the source is important, and legitimate knowledge can only come from the ''Sabda'' of [[Vedas]].<ref name=eliottjag/><ref name=mhir/> The disagreement between the schools has been on how to establish reliability. Some schools, such as [[Carvaka]], state that this is never possible, and therefore ''Sabda'' is not a proper ''pramana''. Other schools debate means to establish reliability.<ref>P. Billimoria (1988), ''Śabdapramāṇa: Word and Knowledge, Studies of Classical India,'' Volume 10, Springer, {{ISBN|978-94-010-7810-8}}, pages 1-30</ref>

=== Causality ===
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2012}}
The Samkhya system is based on [[Satkaryavada|Sat-kārya-vāda]] or the theory of causation. According to Satkāryavāda, the effect is pre-existent in the cause. There is only an apparent or illusory change in the makeup of the cause and not a material one, when it becomes effect. Since, effects cannot come from nothing, the original cause or ground of everything is seen as ''Prakṛti''.<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|page=10}}</ref>

More specifically, Samkhya system follows the ''Prakṛti-Parināma Vāda''. ''Parināma'' denotes that the effect is a real transformation of the cause. The cause under consideration here is ''Prakṛti'' or more precisely ''Moola-Prakṛti'' ("Primordial Matter"). The Samkhya system is therefore an exponent of an evolutionary theory of matter beginning with primordial matter. In evolution, ''Prakṛti'' is transformed and differentiated into multiplicity of objects. Evolution is followed by dissolution. In dissolution the physical existence, all the worldly objects mingle back into ''Prakṛti'', which now remains as the undifferentiated, primordial substance. This is how the cycles of evolution and dissolution follow each other. But this theory is very different from the modern theories of science in the sense that ''Prakṛti'' evolves for each Jiva separately, giving individual bodies and minds to each and after liberation these elements of ''Prakṛti'' merges into the ''Moola-Prakṛti''. Another uniqueness of Sāmkhya is that not only physical entities but even mind, ego and intelligence are regarded as forms of Unconsciousness, quite distinct from pure consciousness.

Samkhya theorizes that ''Prakṛti'' is the source of the perceived world of becoming. It is pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty four ''[[tattva]]s'' or principles. The evolution itself is possible because ''Prakṛti'' is always in a state of tension among its constituent strands or gunas – ''sattva'', ''rajas'' and ''tamas''. In a state of equilibrium of three gunas, when the three together are one, "unmanifest" ''Prakṛti'' which is unknowable. A ''guṇa'' is an entity that can change, either increase or decrease, therefore, pure consciousness is called nirguna or without any modification.

The evolution obeys [[causality]] relationships, with primal Nature itself being the material cause of all physical creation. The cause and effect theory of Samkhya is called "''Satkārya-vāda''" ("theory of existent causes"), and holds that nothing can really be created from or destroyed into nothingness – all evolution is simply the transformation of primal Nature from one form to another.

Samkhya [[Religious cosmology|cosmology]] describes how life emerges in the universe; the relationship between ''Puruṣa'' and ''Prakṛti'' is crucial to [[Patanjali]]'s yoga system. The strands of Samkhya thought can be traced back to the [[Vedas|Vedic]] speculation of creation. It is also frequently mentioned in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and ''[[Yoga Vasistha|Yogavasishta]]''.

== Historical development ==
Larson (1969) discerns four basic periods in the development of Sankhya:{{sfn|Larson|1998|p=75}}
# 8/9th c. BCE - 5th c. BCE: "ancient speculations," including speculative Vedic hymns and the oldest prose Upanishads
# 4th.c. BCE-1st c. CE: proto-Sankhya speculations, as found in the middle Upanishads, the [[Buddhacarita]], the Bhagavad Gita, and the Mahabharata
# 1st-10/11th c. CE: classical Sankhya
# 15th-17th c.: renaissance of later Sankhya

Larson (1987) discerns three phases of development of the term ''Sankhya'', relating to three different meanings:{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3}}
# [[Vedic period]] and the Mauryan Empire, {{Circa|1500 BCE}} until the 4th and 3rd c. BCE:{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3}} "relating to number, enumeration or calculation."{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3}} Intellectual inquiry was "frequently cast in the format of elaborate enumerations;{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3}} references to ''samkhya'' do not denote integrated systems of thought.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4}}
# 8th/7th c. BCE - first centuries CE:{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4}} as a masculine noun, referring to "someone who calculates, enumerates, or discriminates properly or correctly."{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3}} Proto-samkhya,{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9}} related to the early ascetic traditions,reflected in the ''Moksadharma'' section of the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, and the cosmological speculations of the Puranas.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4}} The notion of ''samkhya'' becomes related to methods of reasoning that result in liberating knowledge (''vidya'', ''jnana'', ''viveka'') that end the cycle of ''dukkha'' and rebirth.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4-5}} During this period, ''Sankhya'' becomes explicitly related to meditation, spiritual practices, and religious cosmology,{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} and is "primarily a methodology for attaining liberation and appears to allow for a great variety of philosophical formulations."{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} According to Larson, "Sankhya means in the Upanishads and the Epic simply the way of salvation by knowledge."{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=5}} As such, it contains "psychological analyses of experience" that "become dominant motifs in Jain and Buddhist meditation contexts."{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=6}} Typical Samkhya terminology and issues develop.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=6}} While yoga emphasizes ''asanas'' breathing, and ascetic practices, ''samkhya'' is concerned with intellectual analyses and proper discernment,{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=6}} but ''samkhya''-reasonong is not really differentiated from yoga.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9}} According to Van Buitenen, these ideas developed in the interaction between various ''sramanas'' and ascetic groups.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=6-7}} Numerous ancient teachers are named in the various texts, including Kapila and Pancasikha.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=7}}
# 1st c. BCE - first centuries CE:{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9}} as a neuter term, referring to the beginning of a technical philosophical system.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3, 9}} Pre-''karika-''Sankhya (ca. 100 BCE – 200 CE).{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=14-18}} This period ends with [[Ishvara Krishna]]'s (Iśvarakṛṣṇa, 350 CE) ''[[Samkhyakarika]]''.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9}} According to Larson, the shift of Samkhya from speculations to the normative conceptualization hints—but does not conclusively prove—that Samkhya may be the oldest of the Indian technical philosophical schools (e.g. [[Nyaya]], [[Vaisheshika]] and Buddhist ontology), one that evolved over time and influenced the technical aspects of Buddhism and [[Jainism]].{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3-11}}{{refn|group=note|With the publication of previously unknown editions of ''Yuktidipika'' about mid 20th century, Larson{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=10-11}} has suggested what he calls as "a tempting hypothesis", but uncertain, that Samkhya tradition may be the oldest of the Indian technical philosophical schools (Nyaya, Vaisheshika).{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=10-11}}}}

===Ancient speculations===
{{Quote box |width=20em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right  |quote=In the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape of a person (puruṣa). He looking around saw nothing but his Self ([[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]). He first said, "This is I", therefore he became I by name.|salign = right
|source =—Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.1<ref>Max Muller, [https://archive.org/details/SacredBooksEastVariousOrientalScholarsWithIndex.50VolsMaxMuller Brihadaranyaka Upanishad], Oxford University Press, page 85</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|1953|page=163}}</ref>}}

The early, speculative phase took place in the first half of the first millennium BCE,{{sfn|Larson|1998|p=75}} when ascetic spirituality and monastic (''sramana'' and ''yati'') traditions came into vogue in India, and ancient scholars combined "enumerated set[s] of principles" with "a methodology of reasoning that results in spiritual knowledge (''vidya, jnana, viveka'')."{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4-5}} These early non-Samkhya speculations and proto-Samkhya ideas are visible in earlier Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas,{{refn|group=note|Early speculations such as Rg Veda 1.164, 10.90 and 10.129; see {{harvtxt|Larson|2014|p=5}}.}} early [[Upanishads]] such as the [[Chandogya Upanishad]],{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=4-5}}<!-- **START OF NOTE** -->{{refn|group=note|name="Upanishads"|Older authors have noted the references to ''samkhya'' in the Upanishads. [[Surendranath Dasgupta]] stated in 1922 that Samkhya can be traced to Upanishads such as [[Katha Upanishad]], [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] and [[Maitrayaniya Upanishad]], and that the 'extant Samkhya' is a system that unites the doctrine of permanence of the Upanishads with the doctrine of momentariness of Buddhism and the doctrine of relativism of Jainism.<ref name="Dasgupta1975">{{cite book|author=Surendranath Dasgupta|title=A History of Indian Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoaMFmS1_lEC|year=1975|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0412-8|page = 212}}</ref> Arthur Keith in 1925 said, '[That] Samkhya owes its origin to the Vedic-Upanisadic-epic heritage is quite evident',<ref>Gerald Larson (2011), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, pages 31-32</ref> and 'Samkhya is most naturally derived out of the speculations in the Vedas, Brahmanas and the Upanishads'.<ref>Gerald Larson (2011), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, page 29</ref> Johnston in 1937 analyzed then available Hindu and Buddhist texts for the origins of Samkhya and wrote, '[T]he origin lay in the analysis of the individual undertaken in the [[Brahmanas]] and earliest Upanishads, at first with a view to assuring the efficacy of the sacrificial rites and later in order to discover the meaning of salvation in the religious sense and the methods of attaining it. Here – in [[Kaushitaki Upanishad]] and [[Chandogya Upanishad]] – the germs are to be found (of) two of the main ideas of classical Samkhya'.<ref>EH Johnston (1937), Early Samkhya: An Essay on its Historical Development according to the Texts, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume XV, pages 80-81</ref>}}<!-- **END OF NOTE** --> and the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]''.{{sfn|Burley|2006|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Larson|1998|p=75}} However, these early speculations and proto-Samkhya ideas had not distilled and congealed into a distinct, complete philosophy.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3-4}}

====Ascetic origins====
While some earlier scholars have argued for Upanishadic origins of the Sankhya-tradition,{{refn|group=note|name="Upanishads"}} and the Upanishads contain dualistic speculations which may have influenced proto-sankhya,{{sfn|Burley|2006|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Larson|1998|pages=82–90}} other scholars have noted the dissimilarities of Samkhya with the Vedic tradition. As early as 1898, [[Richard Karl von Garbe]], a German professor of philosophy and Indologist, wrote in 1898,
{{blockquote|The origin of the Sankhya system appears in the proper light only when we understand that in those regions of India which were little influenced by Brahmanism [political connotation given by the Christian missionary] the first attempt had been made to solve the riddles of the world and of our existence merely by means of reason. For the Sankhya philosophy is, in its essence, not only atheistic but also inimical to the Veda'.<ref>{{cite book|title=Aniruddha's Commentary and the original parts of Vedantin Mahadeva's commentary on the Sankhya Sutras Translated, with an introduction to the age and origin of the Sankhya system|author=Richard Garbe|pages=xx-xxi|year=1892}}</ref>}}

[[Ramchandra Narayan Dandekar|Dandekar]], similarly wrote in 1968, 'The origin of the Sankhya is to be traced to the pre-Vedic non-Aryan thought complex'.<ref>{{cite book|title='God in Indian Philosophy' in Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|author=R.N. Dandekar|pages=444|year=1968|jstor=41694270 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/41694270}}</ref> [[Heinrich Zimmer]] states that Samkhya has non-Aryan origins.{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217, 314}}{{refn|group=note|name="Zimmer"|Zimmer: "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India - being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems."{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=217}}}}

[[A. K. Warder|Anthony Warder]] (1994; first ed. 1967) writes that the Sankhya and [[Mīmāṃsā]] schools appear to have been established before the Sramana traditions in India ({{circa}}500 BCE), and he finds that "Samkhya represents a relatively free development of speculation among the Brahmans, independent of the Vedic revelation."{{sfn|Warder|2009|p=63}} Warder writes, '[Sankhya] has indeed been suggested to be non-Brahmanical and even anti-Vedic in origin, but there is no tangible evidence for that except that it is very different than most Vedic speculation – but that is (itself) quite inconclusive. Speculations in the direction of the Samkhya can be found in the early Upanishads."{{sfn|Warder|2009|pp=63–65}}

According to Ruzsa in 2006, "Sāṅkhya has a very long history. Its roots go deeper than textual traditions allow us to see,"{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}} stating that "Sāṅkhya likely grew out of speculations rooted in cosmic dualism and introspective meditational practice."{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}} The dualism is rooted in agricultural concepts of the union of the male sky-god and the female earth-goddess, the union of "the spiritual, immaterial, lordly, immobile fertilizer (represented as the Śiva-liṅgam, or phallus) and of the active, fertile, powerful but subservient material principle (Śakti or Power, often as the horrible Dark Lady, Kālī)."{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}} In contrast,

{{blockquote|The ascetic and meditative yoga practice, in contrast, aimed at overcoming the limitations of the natural body and achieving perfect stillness of the mind. A combination of these views may have resulted in the concept of the ''Puruṣa'', the unchanging immaterial conscious essence, contrasted with ''Prakṛti'', the material principle that produces not only the external world and the body but also the changing and externally determined aspects of the human mind (such as the intellect, ego, internal and external perceptual organs).{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}}}}

According to Ruzsa,
{{blockquote|Both the agrarian theology of Śiva-Śakti/Sky-Earth and the tradition of yoga (meditation) do not appear to be rooted in the Vedas. Not surprisingly, classical Sāṅkhya is remarkably independent of orthodox Brahmanic traditions, including the Vedas. Sāṅkhya is silent about the Vedas, about their guardians (the Brahmins) and for that matter about the whole caste system, and about the Vedic gods; and it is slightly unfavorable towards the animal sacrifices that characterized the ancient Vedic religion. But all our early sources for the history of Sāṅkhya belong to the Vedic tradition, and it is thus reasonable to suppose that we do not see in them the full development of the Sāṅkhya system, but rather occasional glimpses of its development as it gained gradual acceptance in the Brahmanic fold.{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}}}}

Burley argues for an [[Ontogeny|ontegenetic]] or incremental development of Samkhya, instead of being established by one historical founder.<ref>[[Mikel Burley]] (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, pages 37-38</ref> Burley states that India's religio-cultural heritage is complicated and likely experienced a non-linear development.<ref name=burleyorigins/> Sankhya is not necessarily non-Vedic nor pre-Vedic nor a 'reaction to Brahmanic hegemony', states Burley.<ref name=burleyorigins/> It is most plausibly in its origins a lineage that grew and evolved from a combination of ascetic traditions and Vedic ''guru'' (teacher) and disciples. Burley suggests the link between Samkhya and Yoga as likely the root of this evolutionary origin during the Vedic era of India.<ref name=burleyorigins>[[Mikel Burley]] (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, pages 37-39</ref> According to Van Buitenen, various ideas on yoga and meditation developed in the interaction between various ''sramanas'' and ascetic groups.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=6-7}}

====Rig Vedic speculations====
The earliest mention of [[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|dualism]] is in the ''[[Rigveda]]'', a text that was compiled in the late second millennium BCE.,{{sfn|Singh|2008|page=185}} in various chapters.

<!-- **START OF QUOTEBOX** -->{{Quote box |width=26em | bgcolor=#FFE0BB |align=right |salign = right
|quote=[[Nasadiya Sukta]] (Hymn of non-Eternity, origin of universe):

There was neither non-existence nor existence then;<br />
Neither the realm of space, nor the sky which is beyond;<br />
What stirred? Where? In whose protection?

There was neither death nor immortality then;<br />
No distinguishing sign of night nor of day;<br />
That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse;<br />
Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;<br />
Without distinctive marks, this all was water;<br />
That which, becoming, by the void was covered;<br />
That One by force of heat came into being;

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?<br />
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?<br />
Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.<br />
Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;<br />
Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;<br />
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,<br />
Only He knows, or perhaps He does not know.
|source =—''[[Rigveda]]'' 10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian)<ref name=3translations>
* Original Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेद:_सूक्तं_१०.१२९ Rigveda 10.129] Wikisource;
* '''Translation 1''': {{cite book|author=[[Max Muller]]|title=A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature|date=1859|publisher=Williams and Norgate, London|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofancient00mluoft#page/564/mode/2up|pages=559–565}}
* '''Translation 2''': {{cite book|author=Kenneth Kramer|title=World Scriptures: An Introduction to Comparative Religions|url=https://archive.org/details/worldscripturesi0000kram|url-access=registration|date=1986|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=0-8091-2781-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldscripturesi0000kram/page/21 21]}}
* '''Translation 3''': {{cite book|author=David Christian|title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History|url=https://archive.org/details/mapstimeintroduc00chri_515|url-access=limited|date=2011|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95067-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mapstimeintroduc00chri_515/page/n45 17]–18}}</ref><br /><br />The hymn, as [[Mandala 10]] in general, is late within the Rigveda Samhita, and expresses thought more typical of later [[Satkaryavada|Vedantic philosophy]].<ref>"Although, no doubt, of high antiquity, the hymn appears to be less of a primary than of a secondary origin, being in fact a controversial composition levelled especially against the ''{{IAST|Sāṃkhya}}'' theory."  Ravi Prakash Arya and K. L. Joshi. ''{{IAST|Ṛgveda Saṃhitā}}: Sanskrit Text, English Translation, Notes & Index of Verses''. (Parimal Publications: Delhi, 2001) {{Listed Invalid ISBN|81-7110-138-7}} (Set of four volumes). Parimal Sanskrit Series No. 45; 2003 reprint: 81-7020-070-9, Volume 4, p. 519.</ref>}}<!-- **END OF QUOTEBOX** -->

At a mythical level, dualism is found in the [[Indra]]–[[Vritra]] myth of [[Rigveda 1.32|chapter 1.32 of the Rigveda]].{{sfn|Larson|1998|page=79}} Enumeration, the etymological root of the word ''samkhya'', is found in numerous chapters of the Rigveda, such as 1.164, 10.90 and 10.129.{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=5-6, 109-110, 180}} According to Larson, it is likely that in the oldest period these enumerations were occasionally also applied in the context of meditation themes and religious cosmology, such as in the hymns of 1.164 (Riddle Hymns) and 10.129 (Nasadiya Hymns).{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=5}} However, these hymns present only the outline of ideas, not specific Samkhya theories and these theories developed in a much later period.{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=5}}

The Riddle hymns of the Rigveda, famous for their numerous enumerations, structural language symmetry within the verses and the chapter, enigmatic word play with [[anagram]]s that symbolically portray parallelism in rituals and the cosmos, nature and the inner life of man.<ref name=jamison1164>Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199370184}}, pages 349-359</ref> This hymn includes enumeration (counting) as well as a series of dual concepts cited by early Upanishads . For example, the hymns 1.164.2 - 1.164-3 mention "seven" multiple times, which in the context of other chapters of Rigveda have been interpreted as referring to both seven priests at a ritual and seven constellations in the sky, the entire hymn is a riddle that paints a ritual as well as the sun, moon, earth, three seasons, the transitory nature of living beings, the passage of time and spirit.<ref name=jamison1164/><ref>William Mahony (1997), The Artful Universe: An Introduction to the Vedic Religious Imagination, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791435809}}, pages 245-250</ref>

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
Seven to the one-wheeled chariot yoke the Courser; bearing seven names the single Courser draws it.
Three-naved the wheel is, sound and undecaying, whereon are resting all these worlds of being.
The seven [priests] who on the seven-wheeled car are mounted have horses, seven in tale, who draw them onward.
Seven Sisters utter songs of praise together, in whom the names of the seven Cows are treasured.
Who hath beheld him as he [Sun/Agni] sprang to being, seen how the boneless One [spirit] supports the bony [body]?
Where is the blood of earth, the life, the spirit? Who will approach the one who knows, to ask this?
</poem>
|Rigveda 1.164.2 - 1.164.4|
<ref name="Rigveda 1.164">
* Original Sanskrit: {{cite wikisource |title = ऋग्वेदः सूक्तं १.१६४ |trans-title = Rigveda Sukta |language = sa |wslink = ऋग्वेदः_सूक्तं_१.१६४ |sa}}
* '''Translation 1''': {{cite book |translator-last1 = Jamison |translator-first1 = Stephanie W. |translator-link = Stephanie W. Jamison |translator-last2 = Brereton |translator-first2 = Joel P. |date = 2014 |orig-date = c. 1500–1000 BCE |title = The Rigveda |publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] |pages = 349–359 |isbn = 978-0-19-937018-4}}
* '''Translation 2''': {{cite wikisource |translator-last = Griffith |translator-first = Ralph T. H. |translator-link = Ralph T. H. Griffith |title = The Rig Veda: Mandala 1, Hymn 164 |date = 1896 |orig-date = c. 1500–1000 BCE |wslink = The Rig Veda/Mandala 1/Hymn 164}}
</ref>}}

The chapter 1.164 asks a number of metaphysical questions, such as "what is the One in the form of the Unborn that created the six realms of the world?".<ref>Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199370184}}, pages 349-355</ref><ref>[[s:The Rig Veda/Mandala 1/Hymn 164|Rigveda 1.164.6]] Ralph Griffith (Translator), Wikisource</ref> Dualistic philosophical speculations then follow in chapter 1.164 of the Rigveda, particularly in the well studied "allegory of two birds" hymn (1.164.20 - 1.164.22), a hymn that is referred to in the [[Mundaka Upanishad]] and other texts .<ref name=jamison1164/>{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=295-296}}<ref>Ram Nidumolu (2013), Two Birds in a Tree, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, {{ISBN|978-1609945770}}, page 189</ref> The two birds in this hymn have been interpreted to mean various forms of dualism: "the sun and the moon", the "two seekers of different kinds of knowledge", and "the body and the atman".<ref>Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton (2014), The Rigveda, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199370184}}, page 352</ref><ref>Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka (2005), Logos of Phenomenology and Phenomenology of The Logos, Springer, {{ISBN|978-1402037061}}, pages 186-193 with footnote 7</ref>

{{Blockquote|
<poem>
Two Birds with fair wings, knit with bonds of friendship, embrace the same tree.
One of the twain eats the sweet fig; the other not eating keeps watch.
Where those fine Birds hymn ceaselessly their portion of life eternal, and the sacred synods,
There is the Universe's mighty Keeper, who, wise, hath entered into me the simple.
The tree on which the fine Birds eat the sweetness, where they all rest and procreate their offspring,
Upon its top they say the fig is sweetest, he who does not know the Father will not reach it.
</poem>
|Rigveda 1.164.20 - 1.164.22|<ref name="Rigveda 1.164"/>}}
The emphasis of duality between existence (sat) and non-existence (asat) in the [[Nasadiya Sukta]] of the ''Rigveda'' is similar to the vyakta–[[avyakta]] (manifest–unmanifest) polarity in Samkhya. The hymns about Puruṣa may also have had some influence on Samkhya.{{sfn|Larson|1998|pp=59, 79–81}} The Samkhya notion of buddhi or mahat is similar to the notion of [[hiranyagarbha]], which appears in both the ''Rigveda'' and the ''[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]''.{{sfn|Larson|1998|p=82}}

====Early Upanishads====
{{Quote box |width=20em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right  |quote=Higher than the senses, stand the objects of senses. Higher than objects of senses, stands mind. Higher than mind, stands intellect. Higher than intellect, stands the great self. Higher than the great self, stands ''Avyaktam''(unmenifested or indistinctive). Higher than ''Avyaktam'', stands Purusha. Higher than this, there is nothing. He is the final goal and the highest point. In all beings, dwells this Purusha, as Atman (essence), invisible, concealed. He is only seen by the keenest thought, by the sublest of those thinkers who see into the subtle.|salign = right
|source =—Katha Upanishad 3.10-13<ref>[[Paul Deussen]], Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 288-289</ref><ref>Michele Marie Desmarais (2008), Changing minds: Mind, Consciousness and Identity in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120833364}}, page 25</ref>}}

The oldest of the [[Mukhya Upanishads|major Upanishads]] (c. 900–600 BCE) contain speculations along the lines of classical Samkhya philosophy.{{sfn|Burley|2006|pp=15–16}} The concept of [[ahamkara]] was traced back by Van Buitenen to chapters 1.2 and 1.4 of the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] and chapter 7.25 of the ''[[Chāndogya Upaniṣad]]'', where it is a "cosmic entity," and not a psychological notion.{{sfn|Burley|2006|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Larson|1998|p=82}} Satkaryavada, the theory of causation in Samkhya, may in part be traced to the verses in sixth chapter which emphasize the primacy of sat (being) and describe creation from it. The idea that the three gunas or attributes influence creation is found in both Chandogya and [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]s.{{sfn|Larson|1998|pages=82–84}}

[[Yajnavalkya]]'s exposition on the Self in the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'', and the dialogue between [[Uddalaka Aruni]] and his son Svetaketu in the ''[[Chandogya Upanishad]]'' represent a more developed notion of the essence of man (''Atman'') as "pure subjectivity - i.e., the knower who is himself unknowable, the seer who cannot be seen," and as "pure conscious," discovered by means of speculations, or enumerations.{{sfn|Larson|1998|pages=88–89}} According to Larson, "it seems quite likely that both the monistic trends in Indian thought and the dualistic samkhya could have developed out of these ancient speculations."{{sfn|Larson|1998|pages=89}} According to Larson, the enumeration of [[tattva]]s in Samkhya is also found in [[Taittiriya Upanishad]], [[Aitareya Upanishad]] and Yajnavalkya–Maitri dialogue in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.{{sfn|Larson|1998|pages=88–90}}

===Proto classical samkhya===

====Buddhist and Jainist influences====
[[Jainism]] was re-organised in 9th century BCE and [[Buddhism]] had developed in eastern India by the 5th century BCE. It is probable that these schools of thought and the earliest schools of Samkhya influenced each other.<ref name=larson9193/> According to Burely, there is no evidence that a systematic samkhya-philosophy existed prior to the founding of Buddhism and Jainism, sometime in the 5th or 4th century BCE.{{sfn|Burley|2006|pp=16}} A prominent similarity between Buddhism and Samkhya is the greater emphasis on suffering ([[dukkha]]) as the foundation for their respective [[soteriological]] theories, than other Indian philosophies.<ref name=larson9193/> However, suffering appears central to Samkhya in its later literature, which likely suggests a Buddhist influence. [[Eliade]], however, presents the alternate theory that Samkhya and Buddhism developed their soteriological theories over time, benefiting from their mutual influence.<ref name=larson9193/>

Likewise, the Jain doctrine of plurality of individual souls ([[jiva]]) could have influenced the concept of multiple purushas in Samkhya. However Hermann Jacobi, an Indologist, thinks that there is little reason to assume that Samkhya notion of Purushas was solely dependent on the notion of jiva in Jainism. It is more likely, that Samkhya was moulded by many ancient theories of soul in various Vedic and non-Vedic schools.<ref name=larson9193>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|pages=91–93}}</ref>

{{Quote box |width=20em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right  |quote=This declared to you is the Yoga of the wisdom of Samkhya. Hear, now, of the integrated wisdom with which, Partha, you will cast off the bonds of karma. |salign = right
|source =—Bhagavad Gita 2.39<ref>{{harvnb|Fowler|2012|page=39}}</ref>}}
Larson, Bhattacharya and Potter state it to be likely that early Samkhya doctrines found in oldest Upanishads ({{circa}}700-800 BCE) provided the contextual foundations and influenced Buddhist and Jaina doctrines, and these became contemporaneous, sibling intellectual movements with Samkhya and other schools of Hindu philosophy.<ref>GJ Larson, RS Bhattacharya and K Potter (2014), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691604411}}, pages 2-8, 114-116</ref> This is evidenced, for example, by the references to Samkhya in ancient and medieval era Jaina literature.<ref>GJ Larson, RS Bhattacharya and K Potter (2014), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691604411}}, pages 6-7, 74-88, 113-122, 315-318</ref>

====Middle upanishads====
Samkhya and [[Yoga]] are mentioned together for first time in chapter 6.13 of the Shvetashvatra Upanishad,<ref name="Burley2"/> as ''samkhya-yoga-adhigamya'' (literally, "to be understood by proper reasoning and spiritual discipline").<ref>GJ Larson, RS Bhattacharya and K Potter (2014), ''The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies'', Volume 4, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691604411}}, pages 6–7</ref>

The [[Katha Upanishad]] (5th-1st c. BCE) in verses 3.10–13 and 6.7–11 describes a concept of puruṣa, and other concepts also found in later Samkhya.<ref name=pauldeussen>[[Paul Deussen]], ''Sixty Upanishads of the Veda'', Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 273, 288–289, 298–299</ref> The ''Shvetashvatara Upanishad'' in chapter 6.13 describes samkhya with Yoga philosophy, and Bhagavad Gita in book 2 provides axiological implications of Samkhya, therewith providing textual evidence of samkhyan terminology and concepts.<ref name="Burley2">{{harvnb|Burley|2006|pages=15–18}}</ref> Katha Upanishad conceives the ''Puruṣa'' (cosmic spirit, consciousness) as same as the individual soul ([[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]], Self).<ref name=pauldeussen />{{sfn|Larson|1998|page=96}}

====Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata====
The [[Bhagavad Gita]] identifies Samkhya with understanding or knowledge.<ref>{{harvnb|Fowler|2012|page=34}}</ref> The three gunas are also mentioned in the Gita, though they are not used in the same sense as in classical Samkhya.<ref>{{harvnb|Fowler|2012|page=37}}</ref> The Gita integrates Samkhya thought with the devotion ([[bhakti]]) of theistic schools and the impersonal [[Brahman]] of [[Vedanta]].<ref name="King1">{{harvnb|King|1999|page=63}}</ref>

The ''Mokshadharma'' chapter of [[Shanti Parva]] (Book of Peace) in the Mahabharata epic, composed between 400 BCE to 400 CE, explains Samkhya ideas along with other extant philosophies, and then lists numerous scholars in recognition of their philosophical contributions to various Indian traditions, and therein at least three Samkhya scholars can be recognized – [[Kapila]], [[Asuri (Samkhya)|Asuri]] and [[Panchashikha|Pancasikha]].{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=3-11}}<ref>Mircea Eliade et al. (2009), ''Yoga: Immortality and Freedom'', Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691142036}}, pages 392–393</ref> The 12th chapter of the  ''[[Buddhacarita]]'', a buddhist text composed in the early second century CE,<ref>Willemen, Charles, transl. (2009), Buddhacarita: In Praise of Buddha's Acts, Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, p. XIII.</ref> suggests Samkhya philosophical tools of reliable reasoning were well formed by about 5th century BCE.{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=3-11}} According to Rusza, "The ancient Buddhist [[Aśvaghoṣa]] (in his [[Buddhacarita|Buddha-Carita]]) describes [[Āḷāra Kālāma]], the teacher of the young Buddha (ca. 420 B.C.E.) as following an archaic form of Sāṅkhya."{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}}

===Classical Samkhya===
According to Ruzsa, about 2,000 years ago "Sāṅkhya became the representative philosophy of Hindu thought in Hindu circles",{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}} influencing all strands of the Hindu tradition and Hindu texts.{{sfn|Ruzsa|2006}}

====Traditional credited founders====
Sage [[Kapila]] is traditionally credited as a founder of the Samkhya school.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharma|1997|page=149}}</ref> It is unclear in which century of the 1st millennium BCE Kapila lived.<ref name=geraldl>Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0691604411}}, pages 107-109</ref> Kapila appears in [[Rigveda]], but context suggests that the word means 'reddish-brown color'. Both Kapila as a 'seer' and the term ''Samkhya'' appear in hymns of section 5.2 in [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]] ({{circa}}300 BCE), suggesting Kapila's and Samkhya philosophy's origins may predate it. Numerous other ancient Indian texts mention Kapila; for example, Baudhayana Grhyasutra in chapter IV.16.1 describes a system of rules for ascetic life credited to Kapila called ''Kapila Sannyasa Vidha''.<ref name=geraldl/> A 6th century CE Chinese translation and other texts consistently note Kapila as an [[Sannyasa|ascetic]] and the founder of the school, mention Asuri as the inheritor of the teaching and a much later scholar named Pancasikha<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sreenivasaraos.com/2012/10/03/samkhya-part-two-samkhya-teachers/|title=Samkhya: Part Two: Samkhya Teachers|date=2012-10-03|website=sreenivasarao's blogs|language=en|access-date=2019-05-15}}</ref> as the scholar who systematized it and then helped widely disseminate its ideas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bilimoria |first=Purushottama |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781317356189 |title=History of Indian Philosophy: Routledge history of world philosophies |last2=Mohanty |first2=J. N. |last3=Rayner |first3=Amy |last4=Powers |first4=John |last5=Phillips |first5=Stephen |last6=King |first6=Richard |last7=Chapple |first7=Christopher Key |date=2017-11-22 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-66679-2 |editor-last=Bilimoria |editor-first=Purushottama |edition=1 |location=1 [edition]. {{!}} New York : Routledge, 2017. {{!}} |pages=131-132 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781315666792}}</ref> [[Isvarakrsna]] is identified in these texts as the one who summarized and simplified Samkhya theories of Pancasikha, many centuries later (roughly 4th or 5th century CE), in the form that was then translated into Chinese by [[Paramartha]] in the 6th century CE.<ref name=geraldl/>

====Samkhyakarika====
{{Main|Samkhyakarika}}

The earliest surviving authoritative text on classical Samkhya philosophy is the ''[[Samkhyakarika|Samkhya Karika]]'' (c. 200 CE{{sfn|Bagchi|1989}} or 350–450 CE<ref name="King1"/>) of Īśvarakṛṣṇa.<ref name="King1"/> There were probably other texts in early centuries CE, however none of them are available today.<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|page=4}}</ref> Iśvarakṛṣṇa in his ''Kārikā'' describes a succession of the disciples from Kapila, through ''Āsuri and ''Pañcaśikha to himself. The text also refers to an earlier work of Samkhya philosophy called Ṣaṣṭitantra (science of sixty topics) which is now lost.<ref name="King1"/> The text was imported and translated into Chinese about the middle of the 6th century CE.<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|pages=147–149}}</ref> The records of [[Al Biruni]], the Persian visitor to India in the early 11th century, suggests Samkhyakarika was an established and definitive text in India in his times.<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|1998|pages=150–151}}</ref>

''Samkhyakarika'' includes distilled statements on epistemology, metaphysics and soteriology of the Samkhya school. For example, the fourth to sixth verses of the text states it epistemic premises,<ref name=henrysamkhya/>

{{Blockquote|Perception, inference and right affirmation are admitted to be threefold proof; for they (are by all acknowledged, and) comprise every mode of demonstration. It is from proof that belief of that which is to be proven results.

Perception is ascertainment of particular objects. Inference, which is of three sorts, premises an argument, and deduces that which is argued by it. Right affirmation is true revelation (''Apta vacana'' and ''Sruti'', testimony of reliable source and the Vedas).

Sensible objects become known by perception; but it is by inference or reasoning that acquaintance with things transcending the senses is obtained. A truth which is neither to be directly perceived, nor to be inferred from reasoning, is deduced from ''Apta vacana'' and ''Sruti''.
|Samkhya Karika Verse 4–6|<ref name=henrysamkhya>[http://www.kouroo.info/kouroo/transclusions/18/37/1837_SankhyaKarikaHTColebrook.pdf Samkhyakarika of Iswara Krishna] Henry Colebrook (Translator), Oxford University Press, pages 18-27;<br /> Sanskrit Original [https://archive.org/stream/SamkhyaKarikaGaudapada/sankhya_karika_gaudapada#page/n0/mode/2up Samkhya karika with Gaudapada Bhasya], Ashubodh Vidyabushanam, Kozhikode, Kerala</ref>}}

The most popular commentary on the Samkhyakarika was the Gauḍapāda Bhāṣya attributed to [[Gaudapada|Gauḍapāda]], the proponent of [[Advaita Vedanta]] school of philosophy. Other important commentaries on the karika were ''Yuktidīpīka'' (c. 6th century CE) and [[Vachaspati Misra|''Vācaspati''’s]] ''Sāṁkhyatattvakaumudī'' (c. 10th century CE).<ref>{{harvnb|King|1999|page=64}}</ref>

====Yuktidipika====
Between 1938 and 1967, two previously unknown manuscript editions of ''Yuktidipika'' (ca. 600–700 CE) were discovered and published.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9-11}} ''Yuktidipika'' is an ancient review by an unknown author and has emerged as the most important commentary on the ''[[Samkhyakarika]]'', itself an ancient key text of the Samkhya school.{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=3-4}}{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=3-4}} This commentary as well as the reconstruction of pre-''karika'' epistemology and Samkhya emanation text (containing cosmology-ontology) from the earliest Puranas and ''Mokshadharma'' suggest that Samkhya as a technical philosophical system existed from about the last century BCE to the early centuries of the Common Era. ''Yuktidipika'' suggests that many more ancient scholars contributed to the origins of Samkhya in ancient India than were previously known and that Samkhya was a polemical philosophical system. However, almost nothing is preserved from the centuries when these ancient Samkhya scholars lived.{{sfn|Larson|2014|p=9-11}}

===Samkhya revival===

The 13th century text ''[[Sarva-Darsana-Sangraha|Sarvadarsanasangraha]]'' contains 16 chapters, each devoted to a separate school of Indian philosophy. The 13th chapter in this book contains a description of the Samkhya philosophy.{{Sfn|Cowell|Gough|1882|p=22}}

The ''[[Samkhyapravachana Sutra|Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra]]'' (c. 14th century CE) renewed interest in Samkhya in the medieval era. It is considered the second most important work of Samkhya after the karika.<ref>{{harvnb|Eliade|Trask|White|2009|page=370}}</ref> Commentaries on this text were written by Anirruddha (''Sāṁkhyasūtravṛtti'', c. 15th century CE), Vijñānabhikṣu (''Sāṁkhyapravacanabhāṣya'', c. 16th century CE), Mahādeva (vṛttisāra, c. 17th century CE) and Nāgeśa (''Laghusāṁkhyasūtravṛtti'').<ref>{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|1923|pages=253–56}}</ref> In his introduction, the commentator Vijnana Bhiksu stated that only a sixteenth part of the original Samkhya Sastra remained, and that the rest had been lost to time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sinha |first1=Nandalal |title=The Samkhya Philosophy |date=1915 |publisher=Mushiram Manoharlal |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-215-1097-X |page=3 |edition=2003}}</ref> While the commentary itself is no doubt medieval, the age of the underlying sutras is unknown and perhaps much older. According to [[Surendranath Dasgupta]], scholar of Indian philosophy, [[Charaka Samhita]], an ancient Indian medical treatise, also contains thoughts from an early Samkhya school.<ref>{{harvnb|Dasgupta|1922|pages=213–7}}</ref>

== Views on God ==
{{Atheism sidebar}}

Burley and Gopal suggest distinguishing between theistic and non-theistic streams of Samkhya traditions as "seśvara ('with lord')" and "nirīśvara ('without lord')" respectively.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gopal |first=Lallanji |title=Retrieving Sāṁkhya history: an ascent from dawn to meridian |date=2000 |publisher=D.K. Printworld |isbn=978-81-246-0143-3 |series=Contemporary researches in Hindu philosophy and religion |location=New Delhi |pages=301-317}}</ref> Burley suggests that the Svetasvatara Upanishad is a paradigmatic example of seśvara Samkhya whereas the Samkhyakarika is a paradigmatic example of nirīśvara Samkhya.<ref name=":2" />

Daniel Sheridan suggests that a theistic form of Samkhya, older than the classical system, is found in the Upanishads. This form is also present in the Vaisnava Puranas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gupta |first=Gopal K. |title=Māyā in the Bhāgavata Purāna: human suffering and divine play |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford university press |isbn=978-0-19-885699-3 |series=Oxford theology and religion monographs |location=Oxford New York (N.Y.) |pages=49}}</ref>

The oldest commentary on the [[Samkhyakarika]], the Yuktidīpikā, asserts the existence of God, stating:
"We do not completely reject the particular power of the Lord, since he assumes a majestic body and so forth. Our intended meaning is just that there is no being who is different from prakrti and purusa and who is the instigator of these two, as you claim. Therefore, your view is refuted. The conjunction between prakrti and purusa is not instigated by another being."<ref name="andrew" />

Chandradhar Sharma in 1960 affirmed that Samkhya in the beginning was based on the theistic absolute of Upanishads, but later on, under the influence of Jaina and Buddhist thought, it rejected theistic monism and was content with spiritualistic pluralism and atheistic realism. This also explains why some of the later Samkhya commentators, e.g. [[Vijnanabhiksu]] in the sixteenth century, tried to revive the earlier theism in Samkhya.<ref name="Sharma2000">{{cite book |author=Chandradhar Sharma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3gQVd5WogsC |title=A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=2000 |isbn=978-81-208-0365-7}}</ref>{{rp|137}}

A key difference between the Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars,<ref name="lpfl" /><ref>[[Mikel Burley]] (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, page 39, 41</ref> is that the Yoga school accepts a 'personal, yet essentially inactive, deity' or 'personal god'.<ref>Kovoor T. Behanan (2002), Yoga: Its Scientific Basis, Dover, {{ISBN|978-0486417929}}, pages 56-58</ref> However, Radhanath Phukan, in the introduction to his translation of the ''Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrsna'' has argued that commentators who see the unmanifested as non-conscious make the mistake of regarding Samkhya as atheistic, though Samkhya is equally as theistic as Yoga.<ref name=":1">Radhanath Phukan, ''Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrsna'' (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1960), pp.36-40</ref> A majority of modern academic scholars are of view that the concept of Ishvara was incorporated into the ''nirishvara'' (atheistic) Samkhya viewpoint only after it became associated with the [[Yoga]], the [[Pasupata]] and the [[Bhagavata]] schools of philosophy.{{Uncited|date=October 2025}} Others have traced the concept of the emergent Isvara accepted by Samkhya to as far back as the Rig Veda, where it was called Hiranyagarbha (the golden germ, golden egg).<ref name="Larson">{{cite book |last1=Larson |first1=Gerald |title=Classical Samkhya |date=1969 |publisher=Motilal Banrsidass |isbn=81-208-0503-8 |edition=2005 |location=New Delhi |page=82}}</ref><ref name="Hariharananda Aranya">{{cite book |last1=Aranya |first1=Hariharananda |title=Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali With Bhasvati |date=1963 |publisher=Calcutta University Press |isbn=81-87594-00-4 |location=Calcutta |pages=676–685}}</ref> This theistic Samkhya philosophy is described in the [[Mahabharata]], the [[Puranas]] and the [[Bhagavad Gita]].<ref>{{harvnb|Karmarkar|1962|pages=90–1}}</ref>

Although the Samkhya school considers the [[Vedas]] a reliable source of knowledge, samkhya accepts the notion of higher selves or perfected beings but rejects the notion of God, according to [[Paul Deussen]] and other scholars,<ref name=":0">Mike Burley (2012), Classical Samkhya and Yoga - An Indian Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415648875}}, page 39</ref><ref name="lpfl">Lloyd Pflueger, Person Purity and Power in Yogasutra, in Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120832329}}, pages 38-39</ref> although other scholars believe that Samkhya is as much theistic as the [[Yoga]] school.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="andrew" /> 

According to [[Rajadhyaksha]], classical Samkhya argues against the existence of God on [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] grounds. Samkhya theorists argue that an unchanging God cannot be the source of an ever-changing world and that God was only a necessary metaphysical assumption demanded by circumstances.<ref>{{harvnb|Rajadhyaksha|1959|page=95}}</ref>

A medieval commentary of Samkhyakarika such as ''{{IAST |Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra}}'' in verse no. 1.92 directly states that existence of "Ishvara (God) is unproved". Hence there is no philosophical place for a creationist God in this system. It is also argued by commentators of this text that the existence of Ishvara cannot be proved and hence cannot be admitted to exist.<ref name="Sinha">{{harvnb|Sinha|2012|pages=xiii-iv}}</ref> However, later in the text, the commentator Vijnana Bhiksu clarified that the subject of dispute between the Samkhyas and others was the existence of an ''eternal'' Isvara. Samkhya did accept the concept of an ''emergent'' Isvara previously absorbed into ''Prakṛti''.<ref name="Nandalal Sinha">{{cite book |last1=Sinha |first1=Nandalal |title=The Samkhya Philosophy |date=1915 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-215-1097-X |page=332 |edition=2003}}</ref>
=== Arguments against Ishvara's existence ===

According to Sinha, the following arguments were given by Samkhya philosophers against the idea of an eternal, self-caused, creator God:<ref name="Sinha"/>
* If the existence of [[Karma (Hinduism)|karma]] is assumed, the proposition of God as a moral governor of the universe is unnecessary. For, if God enforces the consequences of actions then he can do so without karma. If however, he is assumed to be within the law of karma, then karma itself would be the giver of consequences and there would be no need of a God.
* Even if karma is denied, God still cannot be the enforcer of consequences. Because the motives of an enforcer God would be either egoistic or altruistic. Now, God's motives cannot be assumed to be altruistic because an altruistic God would not create a world so full of suffering. If his motives are assumed to be egoistic, then God must be thought to have desire, as agency or authority cannot be established in the absence of desire. However, assuming that God has desire would contradict God's eternal freedom which necessitates no compulsion in actions. Moreover, desire, according to Samkhya, is an attribute of prakṛti and cannot be thought to grow in God. The testimony of the [[Vedas]], according to Samkhya, also confirms this notion.
* Despite arguments to the contrary, if God is still assumed to contain unfulfilled desires, this would cause him to suffer pain and other similar human experiences. Such a worldly God would be no better than Samkhya's notion of higher self.
* Furthermore, there is no proof of the existence of God. He is not the object of perception, there exists no general proposition that can prove him by inference and the testimony of the Vedas speak of prakṛti as the origin of the world, not God.
Therefore, Samkhya maintained that the various cosmological, ontological and teleological arguments could not prove God.

== Influence on other schools ==

===Vaisheshika and Nyaya===

The [[Vaisheshika]] atomism, [[Nyaya]] epistemology may all have roots in the early Samkhya school of thought; but these schools likely developed in parallel with an evolving Samkhya tradition, as sibling intellectual movements.{{sfn|Larson|Bhattacharya|Potter|2014|p=10-11}}

=== Yoga ===
[[File:Siddhasana.svg|thumb|[[Yoga]] is closely related to Samkhya in its philosophical foundations.]]
The Yoga school derives its [[ontology]] and [[epistemology]] from Samkhya and adds to it the concept of [[Isvara]].<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|2008|page=33}}</ref> However, scholarly opinion on the actual relationship between Yoga and Samkhya is divided. While [[Jakob Wilhelm Hauer]] and [[Georg Feuerstein]] believe that Yoga was a tradition common to many Indian schools and its association with Samkhya was artificially foisted upon it by commentators such as [[Vyasa]]. [[Johannes Bronkhorst]] and Eric Frauwallner think that Yoga never had a philosophical system separate from Samkhya. Bronkhorst further adds that the first mention of Yoga as a separate school of thought is no earlier than [[Adi Shankara|Śankara]]'s (c. 788–820 CE)<ref>{{harvnb|Isayeva|1993|page=84}}</ref> Brahmasūtrabhaśya.<ref>{{harvnb|Larson|2008|pages=30–32}}</ref>

=== Tantra ===

The dualistic metaphysics of various [[Tantra|Tantric]] traditions illustrates the strong influence of Samkhya on Tantra. [[Shaiva Siddhanta]] was identical to Samkhya in its philosophical approach, barring the addition of a transcendent theistic reality.<ref>{{harvnb|Flood|2006|page=69}}</ref> Knut A. Jacobsen, Professor of Religious Studies, notes the influence of Samkhya on [[Srivaishnavism]]. According to him, this Tantric system borrows the abstract dualism of Samkhya and modifies it into a personified male–female dualism of [[Vishnu]] and [[Sri Lakshmi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobsen|2008|pages=129–130}}</ref> Dasgupta speculates that the Tantric image of a wild [[Kali]] standing on a slumbering [[Shiva]] was inspired from the Samkhyan conception of prakṛti as a dynamic agent and Purusha as a passive witness. However, Samkhya and Tantra differed in their view on liberation. While Tantra sought to unite the male and female ontological realities, Samkhya held a withdrawal of consciousness from matter as the ultimate goal.<ref>{{harvnb|Kripal|1998|pages=148–149}}</ref>

According to Bagchi, the Samkhya Karika (in karika 70) identifies Sāmkhya as a [[Tantra]],<ref>{{harvnb|Bagchi|1989|page=6}}</ref> and its philosophy was one of the main influences both on the rise of the [[Tantra]]s as a body of literature, as well as Tantra [[sadhana]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bagchi|1989|page=10}}</ref>

===Advaita Vedanta===

The Advaita Vedanta philosopher [[Adi Shankara]] called ''Samkhya'' as the 'principal opponent' (''pradhana-malla'') of Vedanta. He criticized the ''Samkhya'' view that the cause of the universe is the unintelligent ''Prakṛti'' (''Pradhan''). According to Shankara, the Intelligent Brahman only can be such a cause.<ref name="Sharma2000" />{{rp|242–244}} Although ancient Samkhya philosophers claimed Vedic authority for their views,<ref>Gerald Larson (2011), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, page 213</ref> Shankara considered dualism in the Samkhyakarika to be inconsistent with the Vedas.<ref>Gerald Larson (2011), Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805033}}, pages 67-70</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Advaita Vedanta]] of [[Adi Shankara]], a non-dualist strand within Hinduism
* [[Darshana (Hinduism)|Darshanas]]
* [[Khyativada]]
* [[Ratha Kalpana]]
* [[Subtle body]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

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==Further reading==
* {{cite book |author=Mikel Burley |author-link=Mikel Burley |title=Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3B9AgAAQBAJ|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-15978-9}}
* {{cite book |author=Jeaneane D. Fowler|title=Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dRZ4E-qgz8C&pg=PA160|year=2002|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-93-6|chapter=Chapter Six: '''Samkhya'''}}
* {{cite book |author=Michel Hulin |author-link=Michel Hulin |title=Sāṃkhya Literature |date=1978 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3447018999}}
* {{cite book | author=Gerald James Larson |author-link=Gerald James Larson |title=Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih2aGLp4d1gC |year=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0503-3}} [''first edition, 1968; second revised edition, 1979'']
* {{cite book |author=Max Müller | author-link= Max Müller |year = 1919 | title = Six Systems of Indian Philosophy | publisher = Longmans Green And Co | url=https://archive.org/stream/sixsystemsofindi005498mbp#page/n7/mode/2up }}
* {{cite book |author=Jens Lauschke | author-link= Jens Lauschke |year = 2023 | title = SAMKHYA YOGA: An Interpretation of Iswara Krishna's Samkhya Karika | publisher = Taxila Publications |isbn=978-3948459604}}

== External links ==
* Ferenc Ruzsa, {{cite IEP |url-id=sankhya |title=Samkhya}}
* Dan Lusthaus, [http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/schools/samkhya.html Samkhya]
* [https://faculty.franklin.uga.edu/kirkland/sites/faculty.franklin.uga.edu.kirkland/files/YOGA.pdf Samkhya and Yoga: An Introduction], Russell Kirkland, University of Georgia
* [http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~djones/documents/Samkhya.pdf PDF file of Ishwarkrishna's Sankhyakarika], in English
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/xhome.htm Bibliography of scholarly works: see &#91;S&#93; for Samkhya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613053819/http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/xhome.htm |date=13 June 2021 }} by Karl Potter, University of Washington
* [https://ochs.org.uk/lectures/ Lectures on Samkhya], The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford University

*[https://yinyoga.com/yinsights/purusha-prakriti/  Samkhya philosophy on Purusha and Prakriti]

{{Hindudharma}}
{{Indian Philosophy}}

[[Category:Samkhya| ]]
[[Category:Āstika]]
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Schools and traditions in ancient Indian philosophy]]