Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

“ Such discrimination can be arrived at only through knowledge. Any state of existence other than this emancipation through knowledge is to be shunned, as not precluding the recurrence of evil. Even the fabled bliss of heaven is not desirable, as decay and death follow there. Not even is absorption into the Final Cause (Nature) desirable, for there is emergence again out of it. But the Soul which emerges out of Nature, comes out "All-wise and All-powerful". If such a being can be called Iswara, the Sánkhya philosopher has no objection to such terminology. ”

“ But is that a reason for maintaining that the whole world has an orthodox belief in the existence of Indra or Vishnu? Indeed, on this view of the case, there has never been an atheistic system in the world; for no system, not even the Chárvákas whose atheism probably neither Vijnána Bhikshu nor Professor Max Müller would deny, ever went further than to assert that the existence of God cannot be proved. ”

“ Such a Being is of course not God, nor was ever intended to be recognised as God. Almost all systems of belief which recognise a God, recognise Him as an Eternal Being, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe. No such Being is recognised by the Sánkhya. ”

“ There is nothing from which an admission of the existence of an Eternal Being, a Creator and a Governor of the Universe, may be inferred. What is admitted is simply the first Soul emerging out of Nature, which has attained to Infinite Power and knowledge by its previous absorption into Nature, but which is nevertheless uncreative, itself reproduced by Nature, and subject to evil. Such is the Sánkhya conception of Iswara. ”

“ These two Aphorisms simply refer to the soul, absorbed into Nature. To understand this, a brief recapitulation of the leading doctrines of the Sánkhya philosophy is necessary.
The totality of all material existence, including the intellect and its products, is denominated by the Sánkhya, Nature or Prakriti. All that is not included in it, is Soul (Purusha) . The association of Soul with Nature is the cause of evil. The cessation of pain or evil is the supreme end of the Soul. This is emancipation. This emancipation can be obtained only by learning to discriminate between Nature and Soul. ”

“ Before we proceed to discuss any community of doctrines between a system of philosophy and a system of theology, it may be well to remind the general reader of the constant association which obtains in India between theological beliefs and philosophical speculations. ”

“ For, except in the case of impossible conceptions, as that of a round square, the denial of the existence of the proof is the utmost that can be urged by a philosopher against any conception which is rejected. There is nothing more which can be said against the wildest conceptions ever hatched by the human brain. You can say nothing more, if you wish to be logically correct, against the most extravagant conceptions of the Hindu mythology. ”

“ The whole world united cannot advance any philosophical argument (we do not speak of theological arguments) against the existence of such a fabulous Being as Indra, or Vishnu, which is not ultimately resolvable into a negation of proof. ”

“ You must admit that he can punish or reward only either according to the merit of the actions, or not according to the merit of the actions. If you suppose Him to reward and punish according to the acts, why can you not presume the acts themselves to be the cause of the reward and punishment which you see? ”

“ Developed into their proper length, they are as follows:—The Sánkhya admits three kinds of evidence or instruments of knowledge, viz., Perception, Inference, and the Testimony of the Vedas. Direct perception of God, of course there is none. Inference fails, as an inference can be made only where an invariable relation has been established; but no invariable relation between a God and anything else from which you can infer His existence has ever been established. Lastly, the Vedas themselves assert that creation proceeds from nature, and do not therefore countenance the supposition of a God. ”

“ Professor Max Müller himself, than whom no one can be more competent to pronounce on the question, doubts whether the founder of the Buddhist religion cared much about philosophical speculations. [2] But in India the relation between theology and philosophy has always been peculiar. In other countries, popular systems of religious belief have rarely borrowed their theological tenets from the abstruse teachings of philosophers; but in India religious dogmas have produced systems of philosophy, and systems of philosophy have in their turn given birth to religious dogmas. ”

“ If emancipated, he would be without motive for the work; for he is free from all affections. If unemancipated, he would be wanting in the power and knowledge necessary for the production of such perfect works. ”

“ Or if you insist on internal perception being included within the definition, you have only to understand "conjunction" in the sense given to it in Aphorism 91, and the Yogins' perception of the Lord would be found included. If Kapila had intended to evade the objection founded on mystical perception, he would have said that he would not alter his definition, not because the existence of the Mystic's Lord was not proved, but because the reality of the Mystic's perception was not proved. Admitting due perception, he gains nothing by denying only one of its objects. ”

“ If ever any philosophical system ventured further than this, that system was the Sánkhya. It not only denies that the existence of God can be proved, but asserts that he can not exist; that the conception of God as Creator) is an impossible conception. (Aphorisms 93 and 94, Book I) . The arguments in these two Aphorisms are thus paraphrased by Professor Max Müller himself. Iswara, "is either absolute and unconditioned (mukta) , or he is bound and conditioned (baddha) . If he is absolute and unconditioned, he cannot enter into the condition of Creator ”

“ They are therefore nobody's work. If they are nobody's work, they must be self-existent and eternal, as no other supposition is possible. But even this is denied, because they themselves contain texts for their being productions. ”

“ Now it is not correct to say that Kapila's celebrated Aphorism refer to the Iswara of the Yogins, as distinguished from the God of other sects or systems. The two preceding Aphorisms do indeed refer to the perceptions of the Yogins, as distinguished from ordinary perception, but there is no reference whatever anywhere to the Yoga conception of Iswara as distinguished from ordinary conceptions of him. Kapila defines perception to be "the knowledge which portrays the form of that which is in conjunction" or as Dr. ”