Change
Thinking through Sāṅkhya
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3579358 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sthaneshwar Timalsina (0000-0001-8699-7611, San Diego State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 549 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel13060549 |
| OpenAlex | W4283022426 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
This paper explores the ways change is addressed in Sāṅkhya, one of the major Hindu schools of philosophy, specifically in light of the classical debate between Hindu and the Buddhist philosophers regarding intrinsic nature (svabhāva) and the concept of transformation (pariṇāma). When we closely analyze Sāṅkhya categories, the issue of temporality stands out, because for Sāṅkhya philosophers time is not a distinct category and is infrequently addressed in classical Sāṅkhya. Nonetheless, we can still extract two different notions related to time, dynamism intrinsic to rajas, and temporality that is enclosed within the notion of space and spatial objects. What this implies is that the temporality implicit within the concept of change is only applicable to the last of the evolutes, according to Sāṅkhya cosmology. However, the Sāṅkhyan idea of 16 transformations (pariṇāma) applies to all categories, except puruṣa. By exploiting the parameters of these arguments, this paper makes the case for a closer analysis of the category of transformation in classical Sāṅkhya. Reading about change in the light of svabhāva, the intrinsic nature of an entity, versus the idea of its termination, allows us to have a wider conversation on what it means for something to change from within the Sāṅkhya paradigm
Buddhism · Conversation · Epistemology · Hinduism · Linguistics · Philosophy of space and time · Physics · Spacetime · Temporality · Western philosophy · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
Framing Intellectual and Lived Spaces in Early South Asia
Dharmakīrti’s Criticism of Anityatva in the Sāṅkhya Theory
Nirodha, Yoga Praxis and the Transformation of the Mind
The Liberating Role of Samskāra in Classical Yoga
Natural Liberation in the Sāṃkhyakārikā and Its Commentaries
Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Theories of Temporality and the Pātañjala Yoga Theory of Transformation (pariṇāma)
Vedāntic Analogies Expressing Oneness and Multiplicity and their Bearing on the History of the Śaiva Corpus. Part I
The Gunas of Prakrti According to the Samkhya Philosophy
Toward Dualism
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |