With reference to the history of philosophical thought in India, consider the following statements regarding Sankhya school:

1. Sankhya does not accept the theory of rebirth or transmigration of the soul.

2. Sankhya holds that it is the self-knowledge that leads to liberation and not any exterior influence or agent.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The correct answer is 2 only.

Key Points

• Sankhya means Enumeration.
  • The founder of the Sankya school of Philosophy was Maharishi Kapil.
  • There is some distinct feature of this philosophy:
• It strongly proponents Dualism.
  • There are only two realities viz. Purusha and Prakriti.
• By Purusha they mean Consciousness and by Prakriti, they mean substance or realm of matter.
• Jiva or life is that state in which puruṣa is bonded to Prakriti through the glue of desire, and the end of this bondage is moksha.
  • The above three points lead to the conclusion that this school does not believe in the existence of God.
• At the same point, it does not describe what happens after moksha and does not mention anything about Ishwara or God, because after liberation there is no essential distinction of individual and universal puruṣa.
  • So what happens after Moksha is the irrelevant thing for this school.
  • But at the same time, though godless, the Sankhya believes in the doctrine o£ Karma and of transmigration of souls.
• This philosophy adversely affected the Tantra sadhana a lot.
• Sankhya School of philosophy, dualism consists of the fundamental differences between consciousness and matter.
  • It is different from dualism in the west because that dualism differentiates between mind and body.
• According to this philosophy, the knowledge that leads to Liberation is Viveka Jnana (knowledge through discrimination).
  • ​Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • When a Jiva (individual self) identifies with Purusha and not with Prakriti (insentient principle – matter in its manifold expressions as names and forms) the individual becomes free.
• Sankhya accepts the theory of rebirth or transmigration of the soul.
  • Hence statement 1 is not correct.​