Musing on Founders of Philosophy (II): Kapila by A. G. Krishna Warrier

School: Samkhya

According to many experts, Kapila is the greatest philosopher of India and his school, Samkhya is the greatest philosophical thought. But many question the historical existence of Kapila. The writer has quoted many sources to prove Kapila really lived and his time to be before Buddha and few Upanishads.

According to Kapila, the foundation of objective realm is Prakriti, literally means nature in English but it is not the colourful nature we see around us. It is a composite entity without any intelligence. The Prakriti has 3 constituents known as Guna. Guna literally in English means quality but these three Gunas are not qualities. They are constituent substances of Prakriti and latent in it. Prakriti goes through evolution. The three Gunas – Sattva, Rajas, Tamas then becomes dynamics. Prakriti with different permutations and combinations of these Gunas different things are created till the evolution reaches at the level of intelligent human beings. The individual intelligence, experience and spiritualism are created in Prakriti by Purusa. Purasa here does not mean masculinity but intelligence and spiritualism. Unlike Prakriti, Purusa is multiple. For each individual there is one Purusa.

There are two parallel streams of evolution – individual and cosmic. For each individual evolution there is one counterpart cosmic evolution.

Each individual is a microcosm with its ruling spirit and 24 material principles (prakriti, mahat, ahamkara, manasa, 5 organs of perception, 5 organs of actions, 5 tanmataras and 5 mahabhutas). So Purusa is in bondage with these material principles. The only solution is to realise the difference between spirit and matter. This realisation can be made while one is alive. One does not have to die and gain Moksha to get it. Once the realisation is cultivated and is stable, Purusa is free from matter or Prakriti.

Kapila’s theory is about conservation of energy with Prakriti (matter) always remaining fixed.

The Prakriti has been always there, it went through evolution to create the Universe. Everything in this world is continuous and connected. This takes one to the modern astrophysics, which has been trying to figure out what existed before time or before big bang. According to Kapila there is no beginning of time and also no ending. Time and Prakriti exist always.

Kapila discards the theory about the Universe being created from nothing in other words, as the Abrahamic creationists would say, the God created the Universe out of nothing.

Kapila was supposed to be not a believer of God although he was not vehemently opposed to the idea. His only point is nothing has irrefutably proved the existence of a personal God yet. The writer compares Kapila with western philosopher Kant for this idea about God.

Limitations:

(i) It is not clear how Buddhi, ahamkara, manas are deduced only from Prakriti. The psychological chronology is also not correct. How before becoming an individual there would be Ahamkara or Buddhi?

(ii) Prakriti is a passive or an active agent?

(iii) If Prakriti is treated as pure matter or material. We know will is created out of it through evolution. Then how can there be a free will to attain emancipation, although Kapila has pointed out how Buddhi can be channeled to get liberation.

(iv)The plurality of Purusa does not make sense unless Purusas are interpreted as the Jivas or empirical selves.

(v) The Purusas are mere spirits according to Kapila hence there is no question of being in bondage as nothing material can touch it.

(vi) Samkhya becomes too close to Advaita thought with Prakriti becoming Maya, which takes different shapes.

(vii) According to the critics the biggest limitation of Samkhya is without an intelligent coordinator (some sort of God) Prakriti and Purusa will stay away from each other. For evolution it is compulsory the body meets consciousness.

In spite of the limitations Kapila and Samkhya define Hinduism, as we know today. The spirits transmigrate from one form to another forms the basic idea of modern Hinduism that Atma (soul) is indestructible and it only changes outer body. And secondly the world never comes to a complete dissolution. There are cycles of involution and evolution.

This chapter is not written with the lucidity, which would help a layman. I had a tough time understanding the concepts.

(Continued in Musing on Founders of Philosophy (III): Patanjali by M. P. Pandit)