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111. 111]
AVIDYA IN THE SAMKHYA SCHOOL
93
these finished expositions must have been preceded by other earlier attempts at systematization. But unfortunately they are not available to us. Our enquiry of this section will be based on the Sankhyakārikā of īśvarakrsna, the Yuktidipika and the commentaries of Māthara, Gaudapāda and Vācaspati as well as Vijñānabhikṣu's works.
The Sankhya conception of avidyā is substantially the same as that of the Yoga. But we give a separate treatment to the subject only because of the difference of terminology. The selfsame five klešas viz. avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dvesa and abhiniveśa of the Yoga are respectively called tamas, moha, mahāmoha, tūmisra and andhatāmisra in the Sānkhya. The Sankhyakārikā enumerates tamas, moha etc. as the five varieties of viparyaya while the Yogabhāsya first enumerates avidyā, asmitā etc. as the varieties of the same and then gives the terms viz. tamas, moha etc. as their respective synonyms. Iśvarakrsna or even the commentators Māthara and Gaudapāda do not mention the terms avidyā, asmitā etc. It is only Vācaspati who expressly compares tamas, moha, etc. with avidyä, asmitā etc.?
In order to understand the nature of viparyaya (perverted knowledge, elsewhere known as avidyā or nescience) according to īśvarakrsna, it is necessary to state in brief the scheme of psychical factors that make up what is called pratyaya-sarga (psychical creation).3 Mahat or buddhi is the first evolute of prakyti, and it has eight forms— four sättvika and four tāmasa. Dharma (what leads to prosperity and emancipation),4 jñāna (discriminating knowledge), virāga (non-attachment), and aiśvarya (supernormal powers) are the sättvika forms. The opposites of these viz. adharma, ajñāna, avirāga and anaiśvarya are the tāmasa forms. These eight are called bhāvas or psychical factors. They determine the nature of the buddhi and lead the linga (subtle body) to various forms of existence. These psychical factors produce various psychical complexes which have been classified into four broad categories viz. viparyaya (perverted cognition), aśakti (mental disability due to deficiency of sense-organs), tuști (idle
1 See SKā 48. Cf. avidyā-'smitā-rāga-dveşā-'bhiniveśāḥ kleśā iti eta eva svasaññābhis tamo moho mahāmohas tāmisro 'ndhatāmisra iti-Bhāsya, YD, 1. 8. Also cf. Yuktidipikā (p. 154): se 'yam avidyā pañcaparvā.
2 See TKau on Skā, 47-48. The Yuktidipikā does so only implicitly.
3 Iśvarakļşpa mentions three distinct types of creation viz. lingasarga 'subtle physical creation' (Skā, 40-41), pratyaya-sarga (also called bhāva-sarga) 'psychical creation' (SKĀ, 46, 52), and bhautika-sarga gross physical creation' (SKā, 53-54). The psychical, according to the Sankhya, is an evolute of the nonconscious prakệti, and as such should not be confounded with immutable consciousness. (For an enumeration of nine types of sarga see śāntiparva, 310. 16-25). .
4 dharmo 'bhyudaya-niḥśreyasa-hetuh-TKau, Skā, 23. 5 See SK, 23. 6 Cf. SKä, 43. See also Mātharavrtti and TKau. - See Skā, 40-45. 8 Māțhara defines viparyaya as samsayabuddhi 'doubt'.-Vytti on Skā, 46.
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