Sāṁkhya (also written as “Sankhya”) philosophy is the foundation of Ashtānga Yoga as expounded in the Yoga Sūtra of Patanjali. Its principles are discussed throughout the Bhagavad Gītā. It provides the entire theoretical foundation for Āyurveda.

So, especially for yoga practitioners and wellness professionals, Sāṁkhya is worth looking further into!

The Sānkhya Kārikā is an ancient text that rhythmically expounds the profound Sāṇkhya system of metaphysics, which itself can be traced to Vedic sage Kapila (6th-7th centuries BCE). In some of the Puranas, Kapila is described as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Viṣṇu).

The 70 philosophical verses of the actual Sāṇkhya Kārikā text were later composed by Īśvara Kṛṣṇa (possibly circa 350 CE) who learned this philosophy through a guru-shishya parampara, or succession of devoted teachers and disciples commencing with sage Kapila.

The very 1st kārikā (philosophical verse) from the Sāṇkhya Kārikā addresses suffering. It says that there are essentially three types of miseries, or duhkhatraya (duh-kha-try-a), that can afflict our lives:

1. ādhyātmika: suffering from internal causes - pertaining to the ātma in the sense of the individual psycho-physical mind-body 

2. ādhibhautika: suffering from external causes - pertaining to the bhuta, the external world and other living beings

3. ādhidaivika: suffering from supernatural causes - pertaining to the daiva, the gods and unseen forces

According to Ishvara Krishna, one should study Sāṁkhya philosophy as the best antidote to all the duhkhatraya because, unlike the otherwise exalted pursuits of science and technology and medicine, etc, only the actual knowledge realized through the study of Sāṁkhya is considered permanent and complete. It is asserted that all other means to end the miseries of the duhkhatraya offer merely limited and temporary freedom from suffering.

Sāṁkhya philosophy is a way of liberation through knowledge: jnana yoga, as it holds that certain knowledge or cognition can provide complete and permanent freedom from suffering. But what is this knowledge? What is this cognition? How can we become established in this knowing?

In the 4th kārikā, Ishvara Krishna states that there are essentially 3 means or pramāna (instruments of knowledge) by which right cognition can be established:

1. drshtam: direct perception, gaining certain knowledge through the sense organs

2. anumānam: inference, gaining indicative knowledge through indirect perception; there are 3 types of inference:

   1. purvavat = by inferring the cause from the effect (i.e. seeing smoke and inferring fire)

   2. sheshvat = by observing the cause and predicting the effect (i.e. seeing heavy clouds and predicting rain)

   3. samanyatodrishta = by inferring something through common relationship (i.e. hearing a rooster crow and concluding that it is early morning)

3. āptavachanam: verbal testimony (as from trustworthy sources and sacred scriptures, such as the Vedas for some or the Bible for others)

Note: Vedanta philosophy recognizes three additional instruments of knowledge: upamāna (comparison), arthāpatti (inference without a causal connection), and abhāva (absence). Sāṁkhya asserts that all these pramāna can be understood as included within the aforementioned essential three.

Have you directly perceived the knowledge that completely and permanently ends all suffering? Have you inferred it? Do you even think it’s real? If so, isn’t it worth seeking? Maybe you have heard about it or read about it from a trusted source? Can we consider Ishvara Krishna a trusted source? Why or why not? Whose testimony can we trust for that matter?

Perhaps the study of Sāṁkhya will help to answer such questions!

Reflections from my studies in “Sankhya Darshana through the Sankhya Karika” with Dr. Kuldip Dhiman at the Hindu University of America