Samkhya Darshana
In Ayurveda, the whole of life’s journey is considered to be sacred. The word philosophy refers to love of truth and in Ayurveda, truth is Being - the source of all life. According to this science of life, philosophies are known as Darshana. This is a Sanskrit word that translates to that which can be observed, not as a hypothesis. There are six main philosophic schools known as Shad Darshana: Nyaya (logic and analytical philosophy), Vaisheshika (atomic and metaphysics), Samkhya (cosmology), Yoga (practice of meditation and samadhi for renunciation), Mimamsa (critical interpretation of Vedas), and Vedanta (the “essence” of Vedas.)
All Ayurvedic literature is based on the Samkhya philosophy of creation. The root of the term Samkhya are two Sanskrit words meaning “truth” and “to know”. Rishis, or seers of truth, discovered truth by means of religious practices and disciplines. These seers perceived in the close relationship between man and the universe how cosmic energy manifests in all living and nonliving things. They also discovered that the source of all existence is Cosmic Consciousness, which manifests as male and female energy - Shiva and Shakti. The Rishi Kapila, who realized the Samkhya philosophy of creation, discovered twenty-four Tattvas, or principles of the universe.
According to Ayurveda the source of all existence is cosmic consciousness defined as Purusha. Purusha is male energy associated with choice-less, formless, unmanifested, pure awareness, beyond cause and effect which does not take an active part in creation but remains a silent witness. It is ultimate truth, healing power, enlightenment, the transcendental of being and existence.
Prakruti is female energy that is divine creative which has form, as well as attributes. It creates all forms in the universe as primordial physical energy containing the three Maha Gunas, or great qualities, found in all nature. Sattva is potential energy, stability, purity, wakefulness, essence, clarity and light. Rajas is kinetic energy, dynamic movement which causes sensation of feeling and emotions. Tamas is stagnant energy with tendency towards inertia, darkness, ignorance, heaviness and confusion. These three aspects combine in variable proportions to create manifest phenomena. These Maha Guna are the foundation for all existence.
The universe is the child born out of the womb of Prakruti, the divine mother. It creates all forms of the universe, while Purusha is the witness to this creation. Prakruti cannot exist without Purusha. This is the journey from consciousness to matter. They are connected for the purpose of creation.
In the presence of Purusha, when Prakruti becomes conscious of consciousness, Prakruti creates the first expression of creation, Mahad, or Cosmic Intellect. Mahad has self-awareness, it is supreme, cosmic intelligence. It puts everything in its proper place. Each cell has intelligence and a unique function. There is communication between cells which is the flow of intelligence called Prana, the life force. Mahad is the collective intelligence and outcome of Purusha and Prakruti.
From Mahad comes Ahamkara which means the feeling of “I AM”, the ego. We all live in a tiny enclosure of consciousness which is centered upon Ahamkara, the “I former.” The moment we identify with an object, there is the birth of “I”, the birth of Ahamkara. It is a process of identification based upon previous accumulated experience.
When “I” is formed, which is a center created in the consciousness, then that creative intelligence which is Mahad, becomes Buddhi - reasoning capacity, intellect, individual awareness. Mahad is the universal principle and Buddhi is the individual principle. Jivatman discerns through this active faculty. Citta is an individual expression of Mahad. It arises from the mind conjugating inward with Jivatman. It allows for self-awareness and awareness of being self-aware.
Atman or Jivatman is when individuation arises in the form of individual soul entity. It is the soul faculty beyond the realm of mind and matter.
From all of this comes Manas, or the mind. The mind is universal and directs experience. It is awareness functioning through the senses. Mind directs awareness to an object or goal and then perceives the outer object. The content of Manas can be consciousness or subconsciousness like the atomic mind. Experiences are perceived through the senses and collected in Manas.
From the Sattvic and Rajasic aspect of Ahamkara evolve the set of eleven Indriya, or senses: the five sense faculties called Jnanendriya, the five organs of actions called Karmendriya and Manas. The Jnanendriya are the potential for experience of nature, we experience the manifest world through the senses. They are the faculty of hearing, touch, vision, taste and smell. They operate on a subtle and gross level; the ears perceive sound moving in space, the skin perceives touch carried by air, the eyes see light generated by fire, the tongue carries taste that manifests through water and the nose observes smell exuding from earth. Through these senses we know about the world, they are the interface between the inner and outer world. The Karmendriyas allow for certain actions which direct certain experiences. They are pure expression and allow the manifestation of ideas. There are five total: speech, hands, feet, genitals and excretory organs. The mouth is responsible for expression that is carried by ether and sound, the hands are instruments of grasping that utilize air and touch, the feet allow for motion which requires the dynamics of heat and direction of sight, the reproductive organs are the potential for reproduction held in water and taste, and the anus allows for expression of elimination relating to earth and smell. How we perform these expressive actions is a product of Ahamkara.
The Tamasic aspect of Ahamkara that is propelled by the dynamism of Rajas, generates the Tanmantras. These are the subtle elements that are objects of sensory perception. There are five total: sound, touch, form, taste and odor. They are the causal root energies that hold the potential of all sensory and elemental manifestation. They define the structure of the universe having five main constructive elements. These Tanmantra combine in specific configurations resulting in the gross elemental atoms, the Bhutas.
From here the Panchamahabhuta are born, the five great elements. There are five total: Akasha (ether/space), Vayu (air), Agni/Tejas (fire), Ap/Jala (water) and Prithvi (earth). These elements combine in different proportions to make up the material universe. They are relevant to Ayurveda as they form the substrate for the constitutional humors, tissues, channels, wastes, as well as the framework for determining tastes and properties of herbs and foods.
According to Ayurveda cosmology, each matter in this universe is a combination of the five great elements. To understand this matter, one must understand it’s Guna, or attributes/qualities. There is twenty Guna, or ten pairs of opposites.
Ayurveda develops the twenty-four Tattvas of Samkhya to create an infrastructure for understanding the flow of vitality in the body and universe. It explains the anatomy of Dhatus, or tissues, Srotamsi, or channels and Prakruti, the physiology of constitution through a Dosha, a humoral scheme derived from combinations of the elements. Samskhya is a scientific philosophy directed at explaining the human predicament of suffering and the evolution of consciousness and nature.
