A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1Dasgupta, Surendranath
Religion
A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1
Dasgupta, Surendranath
Hindu philosophy; India -- Religion
certain gross things and certain gross qualities [Footnote ref 1] prajñâ
has no such limitations, penetrating into the subtlest things, the
tanmâtras, the gu@nas, and perceiving clearly and vividly all their
subtle conditions and qualities [Footnote ref 2]. As the potencies
(_sa@mskâra_) of the prajñâ wisdom grow in strength the potencies of
ordinary knowledge are rooted out, and the yogin continues to remain
always in his prajñâ wisdom. It is a peculiarity of this prajñâ that
it leads a man towards liberation and cannot bind him to sa@msâra.
The final prajñâs which lead to liberation are of seven kinds,
namely, (1) I have known the world, the object of suffering and
misery, I have nothing more to know of it. (2) The grounds and
roots of sa@msâra have been thoroughly uprooted, nothing more
of it remains to be uprooted. (3) Removal has become a fact of
direct cognition by inhibitive trance. (4) The means of knowledge
in the shape of a discrimination of puru@sa from prak@rti has been
understood. The other three are not psychological but are rather
metaphysical processes associated with the situation. They are
as follows: (5) The double purpose of buddhi experience and
emancipation (_bhoga_ and _apavarga_) has been realized. (6) The
strong gravitating tendency of the disintegrated gu@nas drives
them into prak@rti like heavy stones dropped from high hill tops.
(7) The buddhi disintegrated into its constituents the gu@nas
become merged in the prak@rti and remain there for ever. The
puru@sa having passed beyond the bondage of the gu@nas shines
forth in its pure intelligence. There is no bliss or happiness in
this Sâ@mkhya-Yoga mukti, for all feeling belongs to prak@rti. It
is thus a state of pure intelligence. What the Sâ@mkhya tries to
achieve through knowledge, Yoga achieves through the perfected
discipline of the will and psychological control of the mental states.
___________________________________________________________________
[Footnote 1: The limitations which baffle perception are counted in the
_Kârikâ_ as follows: Extreme remoteness (e.g. a lark high up in the sky),
extreme proximity (e.g. collyrium inside the eye), loss of sense-organ
(e.g. a blind man), want of attention, extreme smallness of the object
(e.g. atoms), obstruction by other intervening objects (e.g. by
walls), presence of superior lights (the star cannot be seen in daylight),
being mixed up with other things of its own kind (e.g. water thrown
into a lake).]
[Footnote 2: Though all things are but the modifications of gu@nas yet the
real nature of the gu@nas is never revealed by the sense knowledge. What
appears to the senses are but illusory characteristics like those of magic
(mâyâ):
"_Gunânâ@m parama@m rûpam na d@r@s@tipatham@rcchati
Yattu d@rs@tipatham prâptam tanmâyeva sutucchakam._"
_Vyâsabhâ@sya_, IV. 13.
The real nature of the gu@nas is thus revealed only by _prajñâ._]
274
CHAPTER VIII
THE NYÂYA-VAIS'E@SIKA PHILOSOPHY
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