The Samkhya Catechism - Part 3

Q22: Very well; still if the Knowers are numerous how is it that each of them is infinite? If a room is filled by ten articles of the same size, each article will occupy one tenth of the room. Why will not the same logic apply to the case of Knowers as well ?

A22: Had the Knower been a spatial object then it would have been so, for the logic is applicable only to objects occupying space and not to others, such as cognition. For example, if ten persons standing together see an object, each of them will see not one tenth but the whole of it. Similarly the Knowers, though numerous, are not finite like spatial object. Apart from spatial objects there are temporal objects which likewise exist successively, i.e. they exist in successive moments of time. Thoughts exist in time and they limit one another by their sequence, i.e. by the break of one thought and the emergence of the next. But the absolute Knower being immutable is not a temporal object, and is only Consciousness which is singular, infinite and countless.

Q23: Notwithstanding all that has been said about the Self, how can it proved that a separate Seer exists?

A23: The answer to this question can be understood only after one has formed an idea of the knowable or drsya. (See Ans to Q50)

Q24: Into how many tattvas or principles is drsya classified and what are they?

A24: The principles are twenty-four in number. They are they five gross elemental principles viz. (1) ksiti (substratum of the property of smell) , (2) ap (substratum of the property of taste), (3) tejas (substratum of the property of light), (4) vayu (substratum of the property of touch) and (5) akasa (substratum of the property of sound); the five subtle monads (tanmatras) viz., (6) gandha tanmatra or the smell monad, (7) rasa tanmatra or the taste monad, (8) rupa tanmatra  or the light monad, (9) sparsa tanmatra or the thermal monad and (10) sabda tanmatra or the sound monad; the five organs of action viz. (11) vak or vocal organ, (12) pani or the organ of manual organ, (13) pada or the organ of locomotion, (14) payu or the excremental organ and (15) upastha or the genital organ; the five sense organs viz. (16) karna or the auditory sense, (17) tvak or the thermal sense, (18) chaksu or the visual sense, (19) jihva or the gustatory sense and (20) nasa or the olfactory sense; (21) manas or the mind; (22) ahamkara or the mutative ego; (23) mahat or buddhi-tattva or the pure I-sense and (24) prakrti or pradhana or the gunas which are different names of the ultimate constituent cause of all the above twenty-three principles.

These twenty-four principles and the (25) Knower Absolute beyond them make up the twenty-five principles of the Samkhyas.

Q25: How do we define bhutas or the five gross (1 to 5 in Ans 24) elemental principles?

A25: What we know of the external world through the five sense-organs are the five gross elements or bhutas. Objects endowed with qualities of sound, touch, form, taste and smell and exciting similar sensations in the five sense-organs are the five gross elements. Sound is the distinguishing  mark of akasa, thermal sensation of vayu, visibility of tejas, taste of ap, while smell is the characteristic of ksiti element. It should be noted that these words are used here in a special sense and do not mean the ordinary earth, water, etc. In the latter, all five bhutas are present together and hence they are called the bhautikas. The bhautikas are the objects of all the indriyas (i.e. sense-organs, organs of actions and vital energies) whereas bhutas are the objects of sense-organs only and are sense-data.

Q26: What are the tanmatras or subtle monads?

A26: Tanmatra means 'only that', i.e. the undiversified subtlest sensation of a gross element received by the sense-organs. Characteristics like the gross sound, touch, etc. are the aggregates of their subtle ones. The five tanmatras are therefore the constituents of the five gross elements of bhutas. the tanmatras are so subtle that diversities like different notes of octave, heat, cold, blueness, yellowness, etc. that are discerned in the bhutas are not found in them. It is this diversity in gross elements that produces feelings of pleasure or pain or stupor in us. According to our predilections and depending on external circumstances, certain sounds, sights, etc. appear as agreeable or disagreeable to us. Since no such diversity exists in tanmatras or subtle monads, they produce neither feelings of good or bad nor of pleasure or pain in us. That is why they are called avisesa or the undiversified.

Q27: How are the indriyas (sense-organs and organs of action) formed?

A27: Our mutative ego (abhimana) by dint of its latent energy appropriates to itself the five gross elements for building up three sets of organs or indriyas. Sentience is the dominating characteristic of sense-organs, mutation of organs of action and retentiveness of the vital energies or pranas.

Q28: How many classes of indriyas are there?

A28: There are broadly two classes: external and internal. Sense-organs, organs of action along with the pranas are the external organs. Mind is the internal organ.

Q29: How and of what are the sense-organs made?

A29: We can clearly see that the ears, eyes, etc. are physically formed out of conglomeration of the five bhutas, organized or arranged in such a way that they serve as instruments for receiving and perceiving sound etc. The powers which arrange or organize the bhutas and not the visible external organs are the real indriyas. Now the question arises as to the source of these powers. The ego is obviously the source as otherwise we could not have the feelings behind the expressions 'my ear' or 'I am endowed with the power of hearing'. So the sense-organs are nothing but modifications of the mutative ego. In other words, when the conglomeration of bhutas  or the external materials are so arranged by asmita or the mutative ego that it can receive and reveal sound etc. they can be said to have constituted the sense-organs. Through the five sense-organs we perceive respectively sound, temperature, light, taste and smell.

Q30: What is the real nature of the organs of action?

A30: Like the sense-organs and for the same reason, they are also modifications of the mutative ego. The specific powers that organize the parts of the body where voluntary action is dominant like the hands, the legs, etc. are the real organs of action and not the limbs of the body. Their functions are manipulation, locomotion, etc. which are all done of one's own volition.