The Theory of Ignorance Illuminated: Ninety-Eight

In philosophy, 'parama purushartha' signifies the ultimate goal or highest attainment of human life. According to the scriptures, life has four purusharthas—dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. Dharma means righteousness and duty, artha means livelihood and wealth, kama means sensual pleasure and mental satisfaction, and moksha means liberation—the eternally free state from ignorance, suffering, and the bonds of birth and death. Among these four, moksha is the supreme purushartha, because dharma, artha, and kama are limited and changeable, but moksha is eternal, undivided, and complete.

Advaita Vedanta says that moksha is not a new state; it is establishment in one's true nature—where the soul and Brahman are realized as one. This realization itself is knowledge, and that knowledge itself is liberation. Hence it is said—"Liberation is in knowledge; knowledge itself is the supreme purushartha." In the state of liberation, ignorance disappears, the concepts of suffering, birth, death, and fear vanish, and the soul remains established in its self-luminous consciousness.

One of the most ancient and logic-based philosophical systems in Indian philosophy is Sankhya. Its founder is the sage Kapila. "Sankhya" means number or analysis—a numerically based explanation of the fundamental elements that constitute reality.

According to Sankhya philosophy, at the root of creation lie Prakriti and Purusha—these two fundamental principles. Purusha is pure consciousness, which is inactive and merely the seer or witness. On the other hand, Prakriti is active, tri-gunic (sattva, rajas, tamas), and the original cause of all creation. The creative process begins through the conjunction of these two, where from Prakriti itself, starting from mahat or buddhi (intellect), there is a gradual evolution of twenty-four principles up to the senses and the five elements.

First, from Prakriti emerges mahat or buddhi. This is the highest level of intelligence, which is the foundation of knowledge, memory, resolve, and doubt. From mahat emerges ahamkara (ego), which gives birth to the sense of 'I' or 'mine.' Ahamkara can be of three types—sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic—and based on this, the development of other principles occurs.

Sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic—these three are the gunas of Prakriti. The Gita says that sattva, rajas, and tamas, born from Prakriti, bind the jiva to the body (Gita, 14.5).

Sattvic means pure, peaceful, knowledge-filled, and balanced. The Gita says that sattva is spotless, luminous, and without impurity (14.6). One whose mind is sattvic becomes truthful, peaceful, compassionate, and equanimous. The sattvic quality leads toward liberation and elevates consciousness.

Rajasic means restless, desire-filled, and active. The Gita says that rajas arises from desire and attachment; it brings restlessness and binds one to action (14.7). The rajasic person remains busy with work, worries about results, is attracted to sensual pleasures. Rajas gives energy to people but destroys stability.

Tamasic means inertia, darkness, laziness, and ignorance. The Gita says that tamas is born from ignorance and brings delusion and laziness (14.8). The tamasic person becomes indifferent, lazy, confused, or violent. The tamasic quality covers the light of knowledge and brings consciousness down.

The Gita further says that the person established in sattva goes upward, the rajasic person remains at the middle level, and the tamasic person goes to the lower level (14.18).

All three gunas are mixed within every person; whichever gains more prominence determines character and tendencies. In sattvic-ness there is knowledge and peace, in rajasic-ness activity and desire, in tamasic-ness inertia and darkness. According to Advaita, the soul or consciousness is beyond these three gunas. The Gita says that when the seer sees that the gunas alone are doing everything, and the soul is merely a witness—then alone is one liberated (14.19).

From ahamkara develops the mind, which works as a bridge between the knowledge-senses and action-senses. Mind is the connecting power between the senses and intellect. External senses like eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin—these bring separate information. The mind gathers these scattered sensations together. The mind combines that information, compares it, and makes decisions to accept or reject. This process is called sankalpa-vikalpa, meaning the mind thinks, judges, hesitates—"this will happen, this won't happen," "this is good, this is bad"—and so forth, creating decisions.

Then the mind sends this gathered and preliminarily processed experience to the intellect. The intellect then makes the final decision—"what is this," "what does this mean," "what should be done." Therefore, the mind brings sensations together and delivers them to the intellect; mind is the mediating power, and intellect is the judge.

Then come the jnanendriyas (knowledge-senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin) and karmendriyas (action-senses: speech, hands, feet, anus, genitals). The knowledge-senses acquire knowledge of the external world, and the action-senses perform various actions.

Besides these, from Prakriti emerge the tanmatras—sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. These tanmatras are the subtle forms of the five elements and the cause of the emergence of the five elements. From the tanmatras emerge the gross five elements—kshiti (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire), marut (air), and vyoma (space). These five elements are the components of all objects in our visible world.

Thus from Prakriti emerge mahat, ahamkara, mind, five knowledge-senses, five action-senses, five tanmatras, and five elements—these twenty-four principles in total. All these twenty-four principles are active and changeable.

On the other hand, Purusha is the twenty-fifth principle, who is merely the observer or witness of this entire creative process. He is inactive, attribute-less, eternal, and unchangeable. The activity of Prakriti begins in the presence of Purusha, but Purusha himself does not participate in any creative process. Purusha is a non-doer and eternally infinite consciousness-nature.

The cause of suffering is forgetting the mixing of Prakriti with Purusha's own self. When it is understood through knowledge—I am consciousness, I am not Prakriti—then liberation or kaivalya occurs.

Classical Sankhya does not need God; the mutual connection between Prakriti and Purusha is sufficient as the cause of creation. Later "Sesvara Sankhya" accepted God as one pure Purusha, but original Sankhya is God-independent.

Sesvara Sankhya means God-acknowledging Sankhya philosophy. Here, keeping the fundamental principles of Sankhya unchanged, the existence and role of God has been added.

Original or classical Sankhya, called Nirisvara Sankhya, does not accept God. According to this view, the cause of creation is two eternal principles—Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is consciousness, many and detached observers; Prakriti is inert power, whose three qualities are sattva, rajas, tamas. The world is manifested through the conjunction of these two; there is no need for God.

Sesvara Sankhya changes this position and adds God. According to this view, God exists—He is a special Purusha, who is not like all other individual purushas. He is omniscient, omnipotent, and not attached to the modifications of Prakriti. His presence makes Prakriti effective, but He himself is not an experiencer of action-results.

The clear expression of this view is seen in the 24th sutra of the first chapter (Samadhipada) of the Yoga Sutras. Here Patanjali calls God "purusha-vishesha"—meaning like all individual purushas, He too is consciousness, but the difference is that He is never touched by the modifications of Prakriti, afflictions, or action-results. Other purushas are bound by ignorance and karma; God is eternally free. His existence in Sesvara Sankhya is an infallible, omniscient, beginningless consciousness, which is the ideal form for the yogi's meditation.—"Ishvarah purusha-visheshah." Patanjali's Yoga philosophy is mainly formed in the tradition of Sesvara Sankhya, because it keeps the theoretical framework of Sankhya intact while adding God.

Sesvara Sankhya means the synthesis of Sankhya philosophy and God. Here God is the controller and inspiring entity of the world, but not the direct creator. In Nirisvara Sankhya, creation happens due to the breaking of the equilibrium of Prakriti's qualities, and in Sesvara Sankhya, God is the detached, conscious protagonist of that process.

Sankhya is dualistic—Purusha and Prakriti are separate, realistic—Prakriti's principles are real, not maya, and knowledge-based—the cause of liberation is not worship but discriminative knowledge. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras are formed on the basis of Sankhya theory.

'Viveka-jnana' means correct discriminative knowledge or pure faculty of judgment, by which a person can understand the real difference between truth and falsehood, permanent and temporary, soul and non-soul.

In Advaita Vedanta, viveka-jnana is the primary means of liberation. Due to ignorance, people consider body, mind, and soul as one. Viveka-jnana removes this wrong notion and reveals—I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am that consciousness which is the witness of everything. When this knowledge becomes steady, liberation occurs.

In Sankhya and Yoga philosophy, viveka-jnana means the realization of the difference between Purusha and Prakriti. When the yogi knows—I am not a modification of Prakriti, I am merely a witness—then his viveka-jnana is born. Through this knowledge alone, afflictions and suffering end, and the yogi attains kaivalya, meaning complete freedom.

The Gita says that viveka-jnana is that understanding which correctly knows what is duty, what is non-duty, what is fear, what is fearlessness, what is bondage, and what is liberation (Gita, 18.30).

Viveka-jnana is that inner vision which teaches to see things as they are. It removes ignorance and clarifies the boundary between soul and non-soul. When this knowledge becomes permanent, a person is no longer deluded; then he knows himself as Brahman-form, and there is liberation.

Sankhya philosophy considers viveka-jnana or discriminative knowledge the most important path to liberation. According to Sankhya, humans suffer because they consider consciousness or Purusha and Prakriti or the world as one. They think, I am the body, I am the doer, I am the experiencer, whereas the truth is—body and mind are modifications of Prakriti, and I am merely a conscious witness.

Therefore Sankhya says that knowing the difference between consciousness and Prakriti is the path to liberation. That is, know what you are and what you are not. When this difference is clearly understood, attachment and delusion break.

"See, but don't get involved"—see the activities and changes of the world, but don't grasp them as your own. You are not that changeable part; you are the observer. "Know, but don't claim ownership"—remain established in knowledge, but don't claim anything as yours. The soul does nothing, gains nothing either; it is always complete and free.

When this state is reached, suffering no longer remains, because suffering always arises from attachment and wrong identity. When it is understood, I am not Prakriti, I am consciousness—then alone suffering ends and the soul's freedom occurs.

Outside of Advaita, in Sankhya the supreme goal is "kaivalya-labha"—the ultimate separation/dispassion of Purusha from Prakriti. In the 68th karika of Ishvarakrishna's Sankhyakarika, the characteristic of kaivalya is given—when Prakriti's activity becomes still, Purusha attains "supreme/perfect kaivalya"; meaning complete independence-self-sufficiency.

'Independence-self-sufficiency' means such a state or being that does not depend on anything else for its own existence. It is completely self-sufficient and self-luminous.

'Independence' means freedom, existing by oneself. 'Self-sufficiency' means having no support or refuge. Therefore 'independence-self-sufficiency' means that truth which is its own foundation, whose existence or knowledge is not dependent on any component or cause.