Orthodox Darshana (Astika)
सांख्य
Samkhya
Founder
Maharshi Kapila
Era
c. 6th–4th century BCE (sutras codified later)
Category
Orthodox Darshana (Astika)
Central thesis
Reality consists of two eternal, irreducible principles: purusha (pure conscious witness) and prakriti (unconscious primordial nature composed of three gunas — sattva, rajas, tamas). All evolution of mind, intellect, ego, and the material world unfolds from prakriti; suffering arises from the mistaken identification of purusha with prakriti. Discriminative knowledge of their distinctness liberates.
Key texts
- Samkhya Karika of Ishvarakrishna
- Samkhya Sutras of Kapila (later attribution)
- Tattva-kaumudi of Vacaspati Mishra
- Yuktidipika (anonymous commentary)
Pramana (accepted means of valid knowledge)
- Pratyaksha (perception)
- Anumana (inference)
- Shabda (verbal testimony)
View of liberation (moksha)
Kaivalya — the isolation (aloneness) of purusha from prakriti, achieved by viveka-khyati, the discriminative discernment that the conscious self is forever distinct from the evolutes of nature.
Modern exponents
- Gerald J. Larson
- Knut A. Jacobsen
- Mikel Burley
Key concepts
- Purusha–prakriti dualism
- Three gunas — sattva, rajas, tamas
- Twenty-five tattvas (evolutes)
- Satkaryavada (effect pre-exists in cause)
- Viveka-khyati (discriminative knowledge)
- Classical Samkhya is nirishvara (non-theistic)