2:38: Esteeming happiness and sorrow, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equals, engage in the battle and you will acquire no guilt. 2:39: This understanding is described for you in Sankhya [philosophy]. With your intellect hear the wisdom of taking refuge in the renunciation of the fruit (phala) of your deeds, O child of Partha, and you will be released from the bondage of action and reaction.
Classical Sankhya (or Samkhya) is one of the six principle schools of classical Indian philosophy (or darshanas). It focuses on the analytical investigation and classification of the material manifestation (Saguna Brahman) with the goal of thereby discovering first causes. The system is essentially non-theistic and scientific. Each of the darshanas seek to explain Dharma (Reality) and elucidate moksha or liberation/release from material suffering in various ways. Philosophers of the various darshanas held fierce debates seeking to both establish their own understandings and defeat those of their adversaries. The Six Darshanas:
- Yoga: Sometimes call Sankhya Yoga due to the analytical nature of the practices such as those described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
- Sankhya: Analytical study to establish the groundwork of material existence.
- Vedanta: Contemplative self inquiry.
- Vaisheshika: The study of the physical sciences as developed by Prashastapada.
- Nyaya: Founded by the sage Gautama it employs logic and the rejection of all assumptions in order to intellectually discover reality.
- Mimasa: This system was founded by Jaimini based on the foundation of Karma and the need for right action.
The determinations of these six philosophies laid the foundation for much of popular Hinduism.
What is usually termed "Classical Sankhya" is credited to the sage Maharishi Kapila as referenced in Srimad Bhagavatam (also known as Bhagavata Purana) and other sources such as the Kapila sankhya pravachana Sutra vritti, of Aniruddha. The source material of Classical Sankhya is the Sankhya Karika (which consists of 70 essential sutras or verses) although this body of work has grown to several volumes and commentaries. Pundit Kapila's life story is recounted in Canto 3, Chapter 33 of Srimad Bhagavatam.
According to the Gaudiya Vaisnava school of Swami AC Bhaktivedanta, Classical Sankhya and the celebrated Kapila is an Atheistic counterfeit of the original Kapila and philosophy. Harmonious with the Vishnu Purana, Srila Prabhupada maintained that Lord Kapila was actually an avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu and a strong proponent of Theism.
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