Lecture Sāṃkhya as the Philosophy of India and the story of its many lives

Normally Vedānta comes to our mind when we think of Indian philosophy, but if we reflect properly, it is not difficult to find that it is Sāṃkhya which permeates all knowledge systems of India including Vedānta itself. The Great Epic Mahābhārata bears crucial witness to Sāṃkhya’s popularity and among many others Yāska’s Nirukta, Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita, Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya, Carakasaṃhitā and Suśrutasaṃhitā testify to Sāṃkhya’s wide-arching influence on Indian knowledge systems. The Sāṃkhya worldview in its original form is ancient, and being built on the Vedic-Upaniṣadic worldview it is aligned with it. Therefore, the first three Sāṃkhya teachers Kapila, Āsuri and Pañcaśikha are remembered in the Vedic Smārta tradition along with the first three Yoga teachers Sanaka, Sanātana, and Sanandana as deified human ancestors. This talk will elaborate on these points and also present the story of many lives of Sāṃkhya philosophy in different time periods.