1. The evolution of the world
2. The concept of god and liberation
3. The theory of Knowledge
His major finding was the division of reality into two main categories: Purusha (consciousness and energy) and Prakriti (matter made of atom-like substances). The entire world – including body, mind and senses – is produced by a combination of the above two effects. Even non-Vedic philosophies such as Charwak, Buddhism and Jainism and the Vedic philosophies Nayaya and Vaisesika followed this idea, agreeing that atoms of five different properties are the material cause of this world. (The mind, intellect and ego are made of a substance subtler than atoms.) The ultimate cause of the world must be a latent principle of potential, eternal and all pervading, and must be made of a subtler substance than mind, intellect and ego.
Arguments for prakriti are as follows:
1. All objects are dependent on something else for their existence, so there must be an unlimited or independent cause.
2. All objects in the world are capable of producing certain common effects like pleasure, pain, indifference etc. Like begets like, the common cause being Prakriti. Atoms are indifferent.
3. In the process of evolution, effects arise from a certain cause and then are again dissolved into their origins when creation is dissolved. Prakriti can be seen as the material cause of the universe, (whereas Purusha is the ultimate cause) primordial, unmanifested matter, the unconscious principle. Although Purusha is the ultimate cause, it needs Prakriti to become 'something.' Unmanifested atoms are like primordial soup, always there, indivisible particles, Pramanu (even smaller than atoms). Involution is the reverse process, physical matter being broken down into atoms, gross energies giving way to finer energies, all the way back to unmanifested Prakriti.
Purusha is consciousness and energy. Each human body contains a self or soul, which is different from the body and mind, a conscious spark that is both subject and object of knowledge and knowing. It is not a substance or an attribute of consciousness. It is at the same time self-illuminating, unchanging, not caused, all-pervading and eternal consciousness. (The self or soul is an observer which has no memory, although it may retain exceptionally strong impressions of mind or body and be primed from a former life.) The self is Purusha, a spark plus Karma.
Everything which is subject to time, death, decay, evolution and change is Prakriti. So everything we normally think of as 'I' (body, mind and intellect) and identify with is not our real self at all.
1.Theory of Creation and Evolution
Prakriti is the unconscious principle of matter, and Purusha the spark of life. Matter and energy are always found together. The meeting of Prakriti and Purusha disturbed the equilibrium of the 3 gunas - Sattva (purity) Rajas (activity) and Tamas (dullness/inertia). Without movement nothing happens, so it was the encounter of Prakriti and Purusha that disturbed the balance and started all activity in the universe. Prakriti and Purusha together make up Mahat (universal intelligence/ intelligent design or order) Certain things began finding their centre and boundary, ie the undifferentiated soup of Prakriti, fired up by Purusha, began to organise itself into separate objects, thereby creating individual forms, including an individual sense of 'I', that is,Ahankara (ego)
Five micro-elements, five macro-elements, five sensory organs, five motor organs, and one mind developed, and when added to Prakruti, Purusha, Mahat and Ahankara made up the human being (25 elements) This theory of evolution relates to the unmanifested and the manifested. The ego is separate and related to Prakriti and the idea of individual physical survival.
2. Concept of God and Liberation
There is some controversy about this concept. In the original Sankya texts there was no discussion of God. Instead it was said that the entire universe was purely a system of cause and effect. Later arguments centred around the idea that if Prakruti is the changing principle, there must be a need for a controlling intelligence of the universe, ie an unchanging and eternal God.
Sankya argued that if God were perfect, why was he inspired to create a world full of such misery? To imply that a perfect God would deliberately choose imperfection over perfection doesn't make sense. A perfect God would create a perfect world, ergo God does not exist and the concept of Purusha is sufficient. This concept already existed in Vedic thinking.
However, later Sankhya philosophies argued that this kind of metaphysical universe is difficult to accept without the presence of a supreme being.
3. Theory of Knowledge
Sankhya wanted to make people self-sufficient and courageous and explained that mind has three different states, lower mind, ego and intellect (similar to the concept of conscious, sub-conscious and super-conscious mind). The mind being in one of these three states is the root cause of suffering. It is better to go beyond all of them to the peaceful mind. The idea is not for us to renounce the world however, but to function well within it. This entails being ''in the world, but not of it'', accepting our physical presence here, but remembering that our true selves are timeless. Liberation and peace comes from the understanding that we are Purusha, not Prakriti. We are advised not to run away from the world, but to have perfect mental control through knowledge of the 25 elements and how they function together.
''He attains peace in whom all sensual experiences are just so many waves flowing into the ocean, which, though being ever filled remains unaffected, but he who is desirous of enjoyments never attains peace in this world.''
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