What is the Educational Philosophy of Samkhya Yoga?

Samkhya Yoga Educational Philosophy :

An ancient sage whose name was Kapil Muni propounded this philosophy of education. This philosophy does not mention anything about the creator of universe. The Samkhya explains the ultimate reality as made up of two independent realities, Purusha and Prakrit. Purusha is explained as a pure consciousness and prakriti as non-consciousness which takes a form and changes over time when purushasha acts upon it.

Purusha is the conscious light that operates on prakriti. Purusha is Chetanya and prakriti is Jada. The purusha is not considered as part of the Brahman the cosmic self, but all the different selves have their own independent identity. Purusha and Prakriti complement each other. This philosophy of education is called dualistic as well as pluralistic as it stresses on the presence of infinite number of atmans. The Samakhya-yoga represents cosmic development principle, which is systematic and sequential.

Aims of Education According to Samkhya Yoga:

There are two groups in which aims of education can be put according to Samkhya Yoga. These are

• Paramarthie or ultimate and
• Laukik or worldly.

Paramarthic or Ultimate Aims of Education:

Moksha is the ultimate aim of human life and therefore ultimate aim of education. Moksha i.e. liberation needs to be defined in their perspective. We have lost connection with our identity. My identity is that I am a soul and I have a body. But in the darkness of ignorance, I start believing that I am a body and I have a soul.

This misconception of who am I and what is mine leads to creation of Ahankar through which we get attached to our body and forget that the body is only a costume. This attachment to the body gives birth to five kleshas i.e. vices of Aviciya (wrong knowledge), Asmita (I ness), Raga (attachment), Dvesha (hatred, envy) and Abhivesh (fear of death).

Moksha is nothing, but the realization of our true identity that I am a soul and not the body. You might have heard it many times that body is just a costume of the soul but feel it and live by this feeling. When I say my name is Priya, it is the my name of my body, when I say I am Ph.D holder, it is the body that holds the degree, but the knowledge is stored in the soul.

When you will feel I am a soul, you will realize that my original qualities are peace, happiness, love, knowledge, purity, power and bliss. I am the child of Supreme Soul so I am Master Almighty authority. The one who lives with such high self- respect will always succeed in whatever he does.

Samkhya yoga talks about three Gunas in the body which are Sattva, rajas and tamas which represent Bliss, Pain and indifference respectively. All the experiences that a soul gets in this world through this body can be sattva, rajas or tamas depending on the quality of soul itself.

Therefore, first and foremost task is to purify your soul through the meditation. Meditation is remembrance of God in all relational form. Remember Him as Father, Teacher, Liberator, Friend, Guide and Priyatam (Lover). Bliss can be attained not by any external means but can be realized when we realize our true self that is soul conscious state of mind. Pleasure and pain are created either by body organs (vyadhi or mind (Adhi).

Laukik (worldly or proximate) Aims of Education:

Body is the means to reach at the state of self realization called Atmananubhuti, therefore, Samakya Yoga gave due importance to body as well. The Laukik aims of education are grouped under three heads which are

• Physical Development aims,
• Knowledge aims, and
• Buddhik Aims.

Physical Development Aims: It is very important to pay attention on the physical development of the body as well. It is the physical development which is the means to attain comfortable living. Unless one is physically comfortable, it is difficult to concentrate on anything especially concentrating on the Supreme. Yama, Niyama, Asan and Pranayama are the four means of yogic lifestyle to keep body fit and free from any kind of discomfort.

Knowledge Aims: Sensory organs are the means of perception. We have read it in previous units that perception as a source of knowledge has been accepted by the most. Without sense organs, we can’t perceive and accordingly can’t gain knowledge.

Bauddhik or Intellectual Development Aims: Mental knowledge and Bauddhik Jnana are different from each other. Mental knowledge is concerned with getting sensations, perceiving it and then conceiving ideas and concepts. It is concerned with the knowledge of external world.

But Bauddhik jnana enables a person to get detached from the ego and taking decisions without any influence of ego or its related functions. As Buddhi develops, a person transforms from God as i.e. slave of the body to the Goswami i.e. the owner of the sense organs. Such an intellectual development is purest, highest and therefore education must aim at developing such an intellect. It is important to develop Buddhi for stimulating discriminatory knowledge.