Each philosophical system in Hinduism has its own proscription for the achievement of final liberation. Samkhya describes liberation as kaivalya , a condition of isolation or final aloofness. 1 An examination of the Samkhya system can show what is meant by liberation and how one is to achieve it.
Purusa and Prakriti are key in the system. Purusa is pure spirit while Prakriti is Nature. Without the two, neither bondage nor liberation can occur. The Samkhya-Pravacana Sutra says that Purusa is eternally pure, enlightened, and unbound. Without a conjunction of Purusa and Prakriti there can be no conjunction of bondage for Purusa . 2
It may seem that Prakriti is working contrary to the release of Purusa . This is not the case. The Samkhya-Karika explains that Prakriti acts for the emancipation of Purusa . 3 Purusa needs experience, but on its own cannot succeed in gaining any experience. Prakriti provides the experience needed by Purusa . 4 Since Purusa is already a pure, unbound spirit, without the help of Prakriti , Purusa has no way of gaining the experience it needs.
Since Purusa is an unbound spirit, how can it be bound at all? The appearence that Purusa is bound is an illusion. It results from the confusion of Purusa and Prakriti , the mistaking of one for the other. 5 Prakriti is what is actually bound, liberated, and what migrates from body to body on the cycle of rebirth. 6 Purusa is never really bound at all. It is always free, but its conjunction with Prakriti provides a confusion of itself for Prakriti .
This bondage comes about from seven forms. Through virtue, vice, error, dispassion, passion, power, and weakness, Prakriti binds herself. 7 There is only one way that this bondage can be dispelled. It is by wisdom, or discriminative knowledge, that freedom can be attained. 8 Discriminative knowledge is the key to finding freedom in the Samkhya system. This knowledge is the recognition that there is a distinction between Purusa and Prakriti . It is the realization by Purusa that it is not Prakriti . 9 Once this realization is made, freedom can be attained.
Discriminative knowledge seems like a simple enough thing to attain. Renunciation of the physical world would seem to be the obvious cure. Discriminative knowledge is not so easily attained, however. There is a defect in human experience which commits an error of omission which in turn gives rise to incomplete knowledge. 10 The empirical self only grasps certain objects of any particular object at any one time. Subjective limitations due to past lives and personal characteristics prevent complete apprehension of any particular object. 11
Complete knowledge comes when subjective limitations cease to be a hinderance. There is an integration of all aspects of knowledge about an object which supplement and correct each other. 12 This integration provides the needed discriminative knowledge to attain freedom. Discriminative knowledge is recognized as coming from three possible sources: perception, inference, and valid testimony. 13
Knowledge in the Samkhya system is a modification of the empirical self. 14 This knowledge is not immediate, though. The internal organ acts as a mediator between Purusa and an object. Objects are known via a form presented by the internal organ which Purusa then illuminates by its eternal wisdom. 15 Through modification of the empirical self, integration of correct knowledge can take place which can lead to freedom.
There is a specific practice designated within the system that can lead to discriminative knowledge. The practice of yoga is seen as leading to this wisdom. 16 The ultimate purpose of yoga is to realize the separation of Purusa and Prakriti . 17 The guidelines for this practice are specifically laid out and all must be followed with complete discipline if discriminative knowledge is to be attained, hence, freedom.
Yogic practice is described as having eight limbs. They are self-restraint, observance, posture, regulation of breath, withdrawal of the senses, steadying the mind, contemplation, and meditative trance. 18 The practice is characterized by two stages. The first stage places emphasis on a strong moral foundation while the second stage is geared towards specific practice of gaining control of one's mind and body. 19 By following the outlined practices of yoga, one can reach a point of going beyond mediate knowledge of an object to having an immediate knowledge. Following immediate knowledge comes the transcendence of that knowledge. 20
The transcendence of knowledge is what gives the practitioner the discriminative knowledge necessary for liberation. At this point, one attains freedom while still alive, or jivanmukta . 21 In this state one still remains within the body, but there is no longer any entrapment by Prakriti . The body may continue on for a while longer due to momentum induced by past impressions, but once death comes, that particular Purusa will achieve kaivalya . 22
There are some complications within the system, though, in terms of explaining freedom. Purusa is already a pure and unbound entity. Why does Purusa need to gain experience at all if it is already an enlightened entity? The conjunction of Purusa and Prakriti as well needs to be addressed. Potter points out that there is pressure to combine Purusa and Prakriti into a single entity since it is not possible to explain how it is conjunction occurs. Bondage is impossible if the two are separated because bondage assumes one thing is limited by another. 23 He also points out that if the relation of Purusa and Prakriti is an identity relation, then the separation of the two destroys the two which is "cosmic suicide." 24
Another question is how can there be multiple Purusas yet Purusa is described as an eternal entity? The need for multiple Purusas is obvious. If there is only one eternal Purusa , then at the point when Purusa attains discriminative knowledge, all beings would find freedom. Samkhya gets around this problem by describing a plurality of Purusas as evidenced by distinctions in temperaments, although all beings are seen as non-distinct in the liberated state. 25 If there are multiple Purusas , it is a contradiction to say there is an eternal Purusa .
Samkhya does believe in an observable world. 26 Prakriti is, of course, the observable world, but this also becomes a problem. The world is seen mediately via the internal organ. Only forms are known, but not the objects themselves. How can it be safely said that there is an observable world when only mediate forms are available? Yoga does give the practitioner immediate knowledge, but this knowledge is a realization of Purusa , not of Prakriti .
Yet the return of Purusa to itself is the purpose of liberation within the system. Although conjunction of Purusa and Prakriti does raise some questions, as far as liberation is concerned, Samkhya does provide a satisfactory escape plan in line with its beliefs. To find freedom, one needs only to recognize the distinction of Purusa and Prakriti. Once this distinction is recognized, one is eternally free and Prakriti will never again bring about bondage for that particular Purusa. 27
End Notes
1 M. Hiriyanna, The Essentials of Indian Philosophy (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1955) 116.
2 Sarvapelli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore, eds., A Source Book in Indian Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1957) 446.
3 Radhakrishnan 443.
4 Karl H. Potter, Presuppositions of India's Philosophies (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991) 153.
5 Potter 151.
6 Radhakrishnan 444.
7 Radhakrishnan 444.
8 Radhakrishnan 444.
9 Hiriyanna 119.
10 Hiriyanna 118.
11 Hiriyanna 117.
12 Hiriyanna 118.
13 Radhakrishnan 427.
14 Hiriyanna 120.
15 Hiriyanna 120.
16 Hiriyanna 124.
17 Hiriyanna 122.
18 Hiriyanna 122.
19 Hiriyanna 123.
20 Hiriyanna 124.
21 Hiriyanna 124.
22 Radhakrishnan 445.
23 Potter 151.
24 Potter 152-3.
25 Hiriyanna 115.
26 Hiriyanna 117.
27 Radhakrishnan 444
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