Yoga and Samkhya

The Theory and Practice

Classical yoga, as presented by Patanjali, rests on the philosophical foundation of Samkhya - one of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy. Samkhya provides the theoretical framework; Yoga provides the practical path. Understanding this relationship illuminates the depth and precision of the yogic system.

What is Samkhya?

Samkhya (from samkhya, meaning “enumeration” or “number”) is attributed to the sage Kapila and is among the oldest of the Indian philosophical systems. It analyzes reality into its constituent categories, offering a complete map of existence.

Samkhya is dualistic, recognizing two fundamental principles:

Purusha: Pure consciousness, the witness, unchanging and eternal Prakriti: Primordial nature, matter, the source of all manifest phenomena

Liberation in Samkhya is the discrimination (viveka) between these two - recognizing that pure consciousness was never bound, and all suffering belongs to the realm of Prakriti.

The Twenty-Five Tattvas

Samkhya enumerates twenty-five fundamental categories (tattvas) that comprise all of existence:

1. Purusha (Consciousness)

Pure awareness, the Seer, the witness. Purusha is characterized by:

Purusha is plural in classical Samkhya - there are infinite individual consciousness centers, each eternal and free.

2. Prakriti (Primordial Nature)

The unmanifest source of all material existence. Prakriti is:

From Prakriti arise all the other tattvas.

3. Mahat/Buddhi (Cosmic/Individual Intelligence)

The first manifestation from Prakriti - cosmic intelligence that becomes individual intelligence (buddhi). This is the faculty of discrimination and will.

4. Ahamkara (Ego-sense)

The “I-maker” - the sense of individual identity. Ahamkara appropriates experience as “mine” and creates the sense of a separate self.

Ahamkara has three aspects based on which guna predominates:

5-15. The Eleven Indriyas (Faculties)

Five Jnanendriyas (Knowledge Faculties):

Five Karmendriyas (Action Faculties):

Plus Manas (Sensory Mind): The coordinating faculty that organizes sense data and directs action.

16-20. The Five Tanmatras (Subtle Elements)

The subtle potentials of sensory experience:

21-25. The Five Mahabhutas (Gross Elements)

The material elements that compose the physical world:

The Three Gunas

All of Prakriti’s manifestations are composed of three fundamental qualities or gunas:

Sattva (Illumination)

The principle of clarity, knowledge, and lightness. Sattva manifests as:

Rajas (Activity)

The principle of movement, passion, and change. Rajas manifests as:

Tamas (Inertia)

The principle of heaviness, darkness, and stability. Tamas manifests as:

The gunas are always present together, but their proportions vary, creating the infinite variety of manifest existence.

How Samkhya Explains Suffering

The root of suffering in Samkhya is avidya - ignorance or misidentification. Purusha (consciousness) becomes associated with Prakriti (nature) and forgets its true nature.

This forgetting happens through:

  1. Reflection: Consciousness “reflects” in the buddhi, creating the appearance of a conscious ego
  2. Identification: The ego (ahamkara) claims this reflection as “I”
  3. Binding: Through this identification, the free Purusha appears bound

The suffering is Prakriti’s suffering, but Purusha “owns” it through misidentification. The solution is discrimination - recognizing that consciousness is distinct from what it illuminates.

Yoga as Applied Samkhya

If Samkhya provides the diagnosis, Yoga provides the treatment:

Samkhya says: Suffering arises from misidentification of Purusha with the activities of Prakriti.

Yoga responds: Here are the practical means to dissolve that identification.

The Yoga Sutras’ Integration

Patanjali adopts Samkhya metaphysics almost entirely:

What Patanjali adds is the detailed methodology - the eightfold path, the techniques of meditation, the analysis of mental states that Samkhya does not provide.

A Key Difference

Classical Samkhya is atheistic - it does not require a God for its explanatory framework. Classical Yoga adds Ishvara - a special Purusha untouched by afflictions, the “teacher of teachers.”

This is not a contradiction but an expansion. Yoga recognizes that the practical path benefits from devotion, and Ishvara provides an object for that devotion.

Practical Implications

Understanding Samkhya enriches yoga practice:

In Meditation

The goal becomes clearer: not to achieve a special state but to recognize what is already true - that pure awareness (Purusha) is distinct from all it witnesses.

In Self-Inquiry

The question “Who am I?” has a framework. You are not the body (elements), not the senses (indriyas), not the mind (manas/buddhi), not the ego (ahamkara). What remains is what you are.

In Working with Experience

Every experience can be understood as a modification of the gunas. By recognizing the guna predominating, response becomes more skillful.

In Liberation

Freedom is not something to achieve but something to recognize. Purusha was never bound; only Prakriti suffered its own transformations.

The Complete Vision

Samkhya and Yoga together offer a complete system:

Theory (Samkhya): What is the nature of reality? What causes suffering? What is liberation?

Practice (Yoga): How do we move from theoretical understanding to direct realization?

Neither is complete without the other. Theory without practice remains intellectual. Practice without theory may lack direction.

Together, they form one of humanity’s most sophisticated systems for understanding the nature of consciousness and the path to freedom.

← Back to Writing