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Jaina and Sankhya
Philosophies : a Comparison
The Jaina and Sähkhya philosophies are very eminent. They belong to the framanic current of thought. Sankhya thought has no relation to the Vedic tradition. It is sometimes suggested that Kapila, the founder of Sähkhya thought was the disciple of Marici and Marici was the disciple of the first Tirthankara Rsabhadeva. This has been corroborated by scholars. We cannot say anything about it. The framanic tradition of Śrnkhya thought has been accepted by other philosophies in India. Sankarācārya was very clear that śānkhya thought was against the Vedic tradition, and also against the śruti and smrti coming from the Vedic tradition. The Padmapurāņa made it clear that Nyāya, Vaiseșika and Patañjali's Yoga philosophies also are contrary to the fruti. Therefore, it was unacceptable. The composition of Nyāya sūtra must have been in the second century or the third century B.C. Vaiseșika sütra must have been written during the same time and also the Yoga sutra of Patañjali. The writers of these sūtras were very much influenced by the gramaņic current of thought and the framanic thought was very popular during that period. This is also clear from the fact that several terms like kevali, sukladhyāna, jñanāvaraniya karma, samyagdarsana etc., are to be found in the Patañjala-Yoga; and these terms are nowhere in Vedic tradition.
Some scholars believe that the Sankhya is very ancient. Jainism must have been influenced by the Sankhya thought. If we glance at the Jaina āgamas, we do not find such evidence that it was influenced by the Sankhya darsana. Perhaps, those scholars who maintained the view of the antiquity of Sankhya darsana to the Jaina darsana,
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