The Samkhya System: Accounting for the Real

Explores the Saṃkhya system and the delicate relationship it articulates between witness consciousness (Puruṣa) and manifest realities (Prakṛti), providing a path to freedom through knowledge.

The Saṃkhya System brings new life to an ancient Hindu system of thought. Saṃkhya spans the fields of philosophy, physics, metaphysics, psychology, and ethics. Although notably not theological, its key premises can be found in virtually all religious traditions that originate from India. Saṃkhya espouses a reciprocity between Prakṛti, the realm of activity, and Puruṣa, the silent witness. It also delineates the phenomenal experiences that arise from Prakṛti, including the operations of the human body, the five great elements, and the eight mental states. Saṃkhya proclaims that knowledge of world and self can lead to freedom.

This book presents a new translation of Isvarakṛṣṇa's Saṃkhya Karika, with grammatical analysis. It includes interpretive essays that explore the philosophical aspects of the Saṃkhya system by Geoffrey Ashton, Ana Funes Maderey, Mikel Burley, Christopher Key Chapple, and Srivatsa Ramaswami, as well as its sociological and psychological applications as delineated by Marzenna Jakubczak, McKim Marriott, and Alfred Collins.