SANKHYA, a Hindu system of philosophy, teaching the eternity of matter and spirit inde pendent of God, and apparently the earliest of all the systems that preceded the really philosophic age of the Hindu schools. Its author is said to have been Kapila, who is now fabled to have been a son of Brahma, and an incarnation of Vishnu ; he is numbered among the seven great saints, and many marvels are ascribed to hint. While using Vedic notions, he iu the tnain departed front Vedic theories, and in all important particulars comes to conclusions diametrically opposed to what the Vedas teach. The Sa.nkhya system contains two grand divisions, which differ on the vital question of the existence of a God. One is termed the Seswara Sankhya, that which OWTIS God ; the other is called Niriswara Sankliya, or that which denies the very existence of a God ; the Latter was Kapila's system, a system at that time entirely new. It taught that there were two primary agencies, nature or matter and souk but that there was no Supretne He asaerts as follows : Souls have existed in multitudes from eternity ; by their side stands nature or matter ; for eternal ages the two remained sepa rate ; at length they became united, and the uni verse in all its forms a as developed from their union.' The object of the Sankhya, as well ea of the other branches of the Hindu philosophy, is the removal of human pain by the final and complete liberation of tho individual souL The Sankliya system has 23 principles, to which the sold must apply itself aa objects of knowledge. and in respect to which true wisdom is to be acquired ; they are 1st. Nature, tertned • Pradhan ' or chief, from being the universal nutterial cause, the prime cause of all things.
2d. Intelligence, the first product of nature ; increase, prolific, itself productive of othera.
3d. Self•eonseiousness ; its peculiar function is the re cognition of the soul in its various states ; it is the product of intelligence, and itself produces.
9th to 8th. Five principles, subtle particles or atoms of things. These are imperceptible to the gross senses of human beings, but may be known by superior intelli gence. Then follow 9th to 19th. The organs of sense and action, of which ten are external and one is internal. Tho organs of
sense are five ; the organs of action are five. The mind serves both for sense and action.
20th to 24th are five elements produced from the five subtle particles, viz.— 1. Ether ; this has the property of audibleness, being the instrument of sound.
2. Air, which has two properties ; it is audible, and it can also be touched.
3. Fire ; this has three properties, — audibility, tangibility, and colour.
4. Water, possessed of four proporties,—audibility, tangibility, colour, and taste.
5. Earth, possessed of five properties, — audibility, tangibility, colour, taste, and smell.
25th. The last principle is soul ; like nature, it is not produced but is eternal ; but unlike nature, it produces nothing from itself. It is multitudinous, individual, sensitive, eternal, immaterial.
The great error that lies at the root of the Sankhya system is, that the products of matter and mind are blended and confounded together. Its text-books are the Sankhya Pravachana and the Tattwa Samasa, both attributed to Kapila himself, and the Sankhya, Karika to his disciple, Eswara Krishna. It consists of 68 aphorisms. Asuri and Paneha-shika are also mentioned as the earliest followers of this System.
The next Hindu system of philosophy is that attributed to Gautaina, namely, the Aryoya system, which considers by means of subtle and logical argument, the true mode of inquiring after truth ; and has surveyed the whole field of this argument more exactly and completely than any other of the Hindu systems. The first inquiry of this system is, 1Vhat is the way to attain perfect beatitude? And the answer given is, That de liverance is only to be secured by a knowledge of the truth.' It then proceeds to examine what instruments are best adapted for the acquisition of that deliverance, and comes to the conclusion that they are four in number, namely, perception, inference, comparison, and testimony. It then minutely examines the various objects of know ledge which are required to be proved and known, which objects are 12 in number,—soul, body, sense, object, knowledge, the mind, activity, fault, transmigration, fruit, pain, and beatitude.