The Samkhya Pravachana Sutra (Sanskrit: सांख्यप्रवचन सूत्र Sāṁkhyapravacanasūtra) is a collection of major Sanskrit texts of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. It includes the ancient Samkhya Sutra of Kapila, Samkhya karika of Ishvarakrishna, Samkhya Sutra Vritti of Aniruddha, the Bhasya (commentary) of Vijnana Bhikshu, the Vrittisara of Vedantin Mahadeva, Tattva Samasa and commentary of Narendra, and works of Gaudapada, Vachaspati Mishra, and Panchashikha.[1]
The text provides foundational doctrines of one of the influential schools of Hindu philosophy, such as "nothing can come out of nothing, and nothing can altogether vanish out of existence" in its doctrine of Sat-Karya-Siddhanta,[2] a debate on the two theories for the origin of the world - the creationists (Abhava Utpatti) and the evolutionists (Vivarta, changing from one state to another),[3] the doctrine of Parinama (transformation),[4] among others.
Samkhya Pravachana Sutra is also known as Samkhya Sutra.[5]
It describes the philosophy of the Samkhya school. The edition that survives in modern times is dated to the 14th century.[5][6]
The text consists of six chapters. The first three describe core Samkhya doctrines, the fourth chapter describes stories for illustration of the doctrines, the fifth reviews arguments and challenge by rival Indian philosophies particularly Buddhism on one side and Theistic philosophy on the other side, then provides its analysis and answers to those challenges. The last chapter recapitulates its thesis, summarizes its main points and makes conclusions.[5][7] Major sections and thesis presented in the text include (not exhaustive):
Theory of prakriti evolution, objection of logicians
The "root cause is rootless" doctrine
The chain of causality and the primary causality
Why Prakriti, not Purusha, is the material cause
The "world is not unreal" doctrine
The "why nothing come out of nothing" doctrine
The "rituals can never become the cause of moksha" doctrine
The "freedom from samsara is not the result of Karma" doctrine
The "knowledge leads to release, and this is not perishable" doctrine
Theory of "process of knowing" and three kinds of pramana (epistemology)
Theory of existent effects, what is existence and what is non-existence
The purpose of creation, the cause of successive creation
The theory of space and time
The theory of manas (mind), sensory organs, cognition, and human nature
Sources of knowledge
The rebirth doctrine
The Jivanmukti doctrine (liberation while alive) and the theory of Viveka
Fables
Review of opposite theories and objections, the Samkhya answers
The most important commentary on the text is Vijñānabhikṣu’s Sāṁkhyapravacanabhāṣya (16th century). Other important commentaries on this text include Anirruddha's Kāpilasāṁkhyapravacanasūtravṛtti (15th century), Mahādeva’s Sāṁkhyapravacanasūtravṛttisāra (c. 1600) and Nāgeśa’s Laghusāṁkhyasūtravṛtti.[8]
^ abcSC Banerji (1989), A Companion to Sanskrit Literature, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120800632, page 315
^Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore (1967), A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, Princeton University Press, ISBN978-0691019581, pages 426-452
^Samkhya Pravachana Sutra NL Sinha, The Samkhya Philosophy, Table of contents (Note: the actual text is missing in this archived version)
^Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy, Vol. II, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006, ISBN0-19-563820-4, pp.253-56
