Part V — The Buddha and His Predecessors

Chapter II - Kapila —The Philosopher

•  Among the ancient philosophers of India the most pre-eminent was Kapila.
• His philosophical approach was unique, and as philosopher he stood in a class by himself. His philosophy was known as the Sankhya Philo-sophy.
• The tenets of his philosophy were of a startling nature.
• Truth must be supported by proof. This is the first tenet of the Sankhya system. There is no truth without proof.
• For purposes of proving the truth Kapila allowed only two means of proof—

1. perception and,
2.  inference.

• By perception is meant mental apprehension of a present object.
• Inference is threefold: 

1. from cause to effect, as from the presence of clouds to rain ; 
2. from effect to cause, as from the swelling of the streams in the valleys to rain in the hills, and 
3. by analogy, as when we infer from the fact that a man alters his place when he moves that the stars must also move, since they appear in different places.

• His next tenet related to causality—creation and its cause.
• Kapila denied the theory that there was a being who created the universe. In his view a created thing really exists beforehand in its cause just as the clay serves to form a pot, or the threads go to form a piece of cloth.
• This is the first ground on which Kapila rejected the theory that the universe was created by a being.
• But there are other grounds which he advanced in support of his point of view.
• The non-existent cannot be the subject of an activity : There is no new creation. The product is really nothing else than the material of, which it is composed : the product exists before its coming into being in the shape of its material of which it is composed. Only a definite product can be produced from such material ; and only a specific material can yield a specific result.
• What then is the source of the empirical universe ?
• Kapila said the empirical universe consists of things evolved (Vyakta) and things that are not evolved (Avyakta).
• Individual things (Vyakta Vastu) cannot be the source of unevolved things (Avyakta Vastu).
• Individual things are all limited in magnitude and this is incompatible with the nature of the source of the universe.
• All individual things are analogous, one to another and, therefore, no one can be regarded as the final source of the other. Moreover, as they all come into being from a source, they cannot constitute that source.
• Further, argued Kapila, an effect must differ from its cause, though it must consist of the cause. That being so, the universe cannot itself be the final cause. It must be the product of some ultimate cause.
• When asked why the unevolved cannot be perceived, why does it not show movement which would make it perceivable, Kapila replied :
• " It may be due to various causes. It may be that its fine nature makes, it imperceptible, just as other things of whose existence there is no doubt, cannot be perceived ; or because of their too great a distance or proximity ; or through the intervention of a third object, or through admixture with similar matter ; or through the presence of some more powerful sensation, or the blindness or other defect of the senses or the mind of the observer."
• When asked : "What then is the source of the universe ? What makes the difference between the evolved and unevolved part of the universe ?
• Kapila's reply was: 'Things that have evolved have a cause and the things that have not evolved have also a cause. But the source of both is uncaused and independent.'
• " The things that have evolved are many in number and limited in space and name. The source is one, eternal and all-pervasive. The things evolved have activities and parts : the source is imminent in all, but has neither activities nor parts."
• Kapila argued that the process of develop-ment of the unevolved is through the activities of three constituents of which it is made up, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. These are called three Gunas.
• The first of the constituents, or factors, corresponds to what we call as light in nature, which reveals, which causes pleasure to men ; the second is that impels and moves, what produces activity ; the third is what is heavy and puts under restraint, what produces the state of indifference or inactivity.
• The three constituents act essentially in close relation, they overpower and support one another and intermingle with one another. They are like the constituents of a lamp, the flame, the oil and wick.
• When the three Gunas are in perfect balance, none overpowering the other, the universe appears static (Achetan) and ceases to evolve.
• When the three Gunas are not in balance, one overpowers the other, the universe becomes dynamic (sachetan) and evolution begins.
• Asked why the Gunas become unbalanced, the answer which Kapila gave was this disturbance in the balance of the three Gunas was due to the presence of Dukha (suffering).
• Such were the tenets of Kapila's philosophy.
• Of all the philosophers the Buddha was greatly impressed by the doctrines of Kapila.
• He was the only philosopher whose teachings appeared to the Buddha to be based on logic and facts.
• But he did not accept everything which Kapila taught. Only three things did the Buddha accept from Kapila.
• He accepted that reality must rest on proof. Thinking must be based on rationalism.
• He accepted that there was no logical or factual basis for the presumption that God exists or that he created the universe.
• He accepted that there was Dukha (suffering) in the world.
• The rest of Kapila's teachings he just bypassed as being irrelevant for his purpose.