The Samkhya System

More about the book

In the diverse content of the Upanisads, key ideas emerge, notably the identity of the individual self, Atman, with the universal essence, Brahman. This concept represents the ultimate unity of the universe, although the two terms may stem from different philosophical traditions. Brahman embodies various aspects, including the devotion of priests, sacred hymns, and magical spells, illustrating the intertwined nature of religion and magic. The Atman, often interpreted as the trunk of the body in earlier Brahmana texts, evolves to signify the essential self of a person. The Upanisads, particularly through Yajnavalkya's teachings, assert that the Atman as the knowing subject is unknowable, suggesting that the empirical world is an illusion. This profound idea, however, is not consistently upheld throughout the texts. Despite the doctrine of identity between individual and universal self, there remains an irreducible element that is not the self but is integral to reality. The Atman’s all-pervasiveness does not negate the existence of something to be pervaded. To address this complexity, the concept of creation is often invoked, as seen in the Chdndogyo Upanisad, where the self desires multiplicity and creates the material world. This notion allows for a reality to matter and the individual soul, leading to the development of qualified duality, Visistadvaita, which accommodates both the individual soul and matter alongside the sup