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htm

The Atreya Tantra

(draft 8th may 2007 - largely uncorrected - positive feedback welcome)

Being an introduction to the gnostic philosophy

of the medico-tantrik tradition

(C) Mogg Morgan

In ancient India what we now call a philosophy was termed a view (skt darshan). This
is in contrast to the western tradition where philosophy can be more doctrinaire in its
approach. The Indian intellectual tradition is relativist, any philosophy is a point of
view, correct only on the basis of a set of presuppositions. The six most important
views were, according to one important text said to be:

Nyaya or the logical school;

Its close relative the school of Vaisheshika or Atomism;

Mimamsa, literally 'enquiry', a school dedicated to the defence of the authenticity of

the Vedas;

The Vedanta non-dualist school;

Yoga (1)

The Samkhya or Reasoning School.

Samkhya is widely believed to be one of the oldest of the six and along with the
Vaisheshika Atomic school the main influence on the medico-scientific (Ayurveda)
tradition and Tantrism. Samkhya represents an extremely important philosophical
tendency in Indian thought. All of the later philosophies defined themselves in relation
to its theories, either for them or against.

In reality there were many more than six philosophies in India. One important view
was preserved by the Raseshvara (mercury lords), ranked as about eighth in an
imaginary league table of important views.(2) This system almost certainly comprises
alchemical practitioners like Nagarjuna and is closely akin to the later Tantrik and
Ayurvedic views. It is worth noting that ideas connected with medical science
(Ayurveda) are also extremely pervasive and very authoritative. In fact, there is hardly
any text in the Indian intellectual tradition from the Late Upanishads onwards that
does not make some reference either directly or otherwise, to Ayurveda.

The Atreya-Tantra
Haribhadra-Sûri II, a Jain* author of c.1120, in his commentary on the Shat
Darshana- Samuccaya ("Summary of the Six Views"), mentions a seminal text of
the Samkhya tradition, written by a physician called Atreya and called simply
the Atreya-Tantra.(3) The doctrine of Ayurveda was said to have been received
from the god Indra as a Tantra.(4) This important book is now lost, but for

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certain technical reasons I think that a chapter in a medical treatise by

celebrated physician Caraka may be either a part or the whole of the lost
Samkhya work the Atreya-Tantra.

There is very little biographical information available concerning its author

Atreya.(5) He is widely associated with the famous ancient 'university' city of
Taxila, which was situated in the north-west of India near modern-day
Kalakasarai. He is described in several Buddhist texts as the teacher of Jivaka,
the Buddha's personal physician.(6) His name is listed along with the line of
teachers of the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad, although there is no mention here of
a doctrine called Ayurveda in that text's standard list of known 'sciences' (7).
There is a clear reference to him in the Mahabharata:

The science of medicine was acquired by the dark-

complexioned son of Atri. (8)

'Atreya' means 'son of Atri'.(9) Atri was one of the seers of both the Rig Veda and
the Atharva Veda. Atreya is also referred to as Krishna-Atreya: 'dark-skinned'.
This very obvious reference to his skin colour, seems to mark Atreya out as being
non-Aryan, perhaps bringing into the tradition secret sources of knowledge from
older, more powerful origins.

The Atreya Tantra is a dialogue between Atreya and his most gifted pupil
Agnivesha. This feature alone makes an interesting point of comparison between
later magical tantrik texts which are also dialogues usually between Shiva and
Shakti. The Atreya Tantra sets out to defend the Samkhya view of the Self
(atman) against its detractors, which may include Buddhists. The dialogue is
constructed around twenty-three questions of the utmost importance. Dialectical
exercises like this are a common feature of Samkhya and and other points of view.
In the more famous Samkhya Karika, 'sixty topics' are dealt with, giving it its
alternative name 'shashtitantra'.(10) The Ahirbyudhna Samhita divides these
topics into 'prakrita' and 'vaikrita' mandalas, i.e. primary and secondary
questions.(11) A similar list of questions is to be found in the Vishnu Purana,
which like all of the Puranas is of uncertain date.(12) (13) This latter work is said
to be heavily influenced by the Ayurvedic tradition. (14)

The Questions of the Atreya-Tantra

Question (from: CS.IV.I)

i) Into how many elements is the empirical man*

split?

ii) In what way is man a cause?

iii) What is the origin of man?

iv) Is he sentient or Insentient?

v & vi) Is he eternal or finite?

vii & viii) What is his nature and his modifications?

ix) What is the signifier of a man said to be?

x) How can action be derived from the 'action-less'

soul?

xi) If he is independent why is he born in

undesirable wombs? '

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xii) If sovereign why is he forcibly overcome by

unpleasant feelings?

xiii) Why doesn't the omnipresent know all

experiences?

xiv) Why doesn't the 'pervader' see that which is

concealed by mountain or wall?

xv) Which comes first the body or the knower of the

body?

xvi) Of what is this a witness

xvii, xviii ix) Which of the thre pains of the

afflicted, does the physician seek to cure: past present or future ones?

xx, xxi, xxii) What is the cause of pain where is its

location and when do all pains disappear completely?

xxiii) By what signs is the 'Self' grasped?

These are important questions and lead right into the mystery of existence. For
example 'Which comes first' asks Agnivesha, 'The body or the knower of the
body. For without the co- operation of 'The knower of the body', the body is not
known; and if the body is first then 'the knower of the body' is not eternal'. (16)
The atman has no beginning, neither does the body's cycle of existence. Therefore
due to beginninglessness, it is not possible to say which of these two has
precedence. (17) In tantrism these two principles, the body and the knower of the
body are personified as Shiva and Shakti. Applying this argument, we can say
that it is not possible to say which has precedence.

Classical Samkhya
The philosophical speculations found in what I have called the Atreya-Tantra are
a pre-classical Samkhya text, a precursor of the more famous Samkhya Karika of
Ishvara Krishna. The latter is an exposition of the system as taught by the
philosopher Kapila (18) and is widely considered to be is the most authoritative
record of Samkhya views. Kapila is supposed to have lived sometime before 200
AD at the end of the 'Epic' period of Indian cultural history. D Chattopadhyaya
advances the theory that the name Kapila is a derivative of Kapilâ (long 'a' as in
father) (19) which indicates that at least one of the original Samkhya adepts was
female.(20) This would be an important characteristic of the view. It may indeed
be possible to identify, in the Samkhya views, elements that represent a female
sensibility. For example the role of (female) nature and its abhorence of warfare.
There is a passage in the Mahabharata concerning Pañcashikha, one of many
great Samkhya masters. It relates that:

Pañcashikha became a disciple of Asuri. He lived on human

milk. There was a certain brahmani called Kapilâ. She was the
wife of Asuri. Pañcashikha was accepted by her as a son and he
used to suck her breasts. In consequence of this, he came to be
known as the son of Kapilâ and his understanding became fixed on
Brahman. All this, about the circumstances of his birth and
those that lead to his becoming the son of Kapilâ, was told to
me by a divine sage. (21)

Pañcashikha, whose name means, "five-crested one", is himself a bit of a strange

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character and may, like his teacher Asuri, have been of the race of elder gods or,
as the Brahmins called them demons, who ruled before the coming of the Aryans.
(see Demon Doctrine of Tantra). The reference to his diet of human milk is also
very strange and suggests demonic origins, unless we are to suppose he became a
student whilst still a baby, not such a far fetched idea in the Indian tradition..
Suckling is a common metaphor for the flow of life giving knowledge, although
the usually an ordinary cow and its calf is the subject. Indeed, the fate of the cow
is very dear to Kapila's heart as we shall see in one of the stories related below.
This suckling metaphor also suggests to me some of the later tantrik practices in
which spiritual knowledge is passed to the initiate via bodily fluids.

One of the strongest pieces of evidence for the dating of the Samkhya view is
anecdote found in the Buddhist tradition concerning the birthplace of the
Buddha, which was named after Kapila. The Buddha died in 544BCE, so the system
of Kapila must have been formulated at least before that time in about the
seventh century before the present era.

Thus the town named after Kapila rejoiced with its surrounding
territory at the prosperous birth of the prince. (23)

These lines are from the Buddha-Carita, a 'biography' of the Buddha, written
during the reign of the potentate Kanishka and therefore lst-2nd century. This
same document tells of the apprenticeship of the Boddhisattva, and how he visited
the hermitage of Arada, another adept of the Samkhya lineage. The Buddha-to-be
is supposed to have repudiated Arada with these words:

I have listened to this doctrine of yours, which grows more subtle and
auspicious in its successive stages, but I consider it not to lead to final
beatitude, since the 'knower of the field' is not abandoned. (24) Thus
he was not satisfied on learning the doctrine of Arada and, discerning
that it was incomplete, he turned away from there. (25)

The above passages along with others indicate that the Buddha studied Samkhya
philosophy and that his own view is in fact a development from a Samkhya base.
And indeed the Samkhya found in the Atreya Tantra, contains notable passages of
what could be anti-Buddhist critique. (27)

Samkhya is clearly the name of a very ancient Indian philosophical view; one of
two that superceded the Upanishads. According to at least one modern-day
commentator it was a reaction against the growing idealism of the Upanishadic
thinkers. (28) Samkhya is commonly designated as a Dualist philosophy. Dualism
is normally thought to postulate an universe comprised of two, largely
independent principles such as Self (purusha) and Matter (prakriti). The kind of
Dualism found in these texts is quite different to the variety more familiar in
western philosophy from the works of Rene Descartes.

The physician Caraka uses the term Samkhya several times; either as an epithet
of a knowledgeable teacher (30) and along with Yoga as the name for a system of
philosophy.(31) The word Sâmkhya derives from the Sanskrit root 'Khyâ'
meaning to discriminate or number. We can infer from this that there was
obviously a lot more to Samkhya than Dualism. The scholar Edgerton suggested
that Samkhya was the Reasoning or Gnostic school.

The first verse of Ishvara Krishna's Samkhya-Karika discloses the principal or

sole purpose of the system. This is stated to be the relief of humanity from
suffering and pain:

Because of torment by three kinds of pain (there arises) the desire to

know the means of removing it. If because of the obvious (means of
removing it) this (desire) seems superfluous; it is not so, for these are

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neither absolutely complete nor abiding.(35)

This concern with the relief of humanity from pain was an interest shared by
Ayurvedic physicians, some of whom like the Siddhas, were also Tantrik adepts.
This again is a point of contrast between eastern and western intellectual
tradition. For example, the Dualist philosopher Descartes, begins his discourse on
method as a disinterested inquiry.

Then with the advent of embodied diseases this became an obstacle (vighnabhûtâ)
to wealth, sacred vows, the study of the Veda, meditation and fasting. Freedom
from disease is the chief root of Duty (Dharma), Prosperity (Artha), Pleasure
(Kâma) and Final Liberation (Moksha). Diseases will take away the best part of
this and life (itself). (36)

If you take away the first of these (duty), you have the three purposes of life as
expressed in the tantrik tradition.

The Samkhya philosophers dealt with the notion of pain under three categories.

i. The intrinsic (âdhyâtmika)

ii. The extrinsic (âdhibhautika)

iii.The divine or superhuman (âdhidaivika).

Of these, the intrinsic is two-fold, bodily and mental. Bodily pain is caused by the
disorder of the several humours, wind, bile and phlegm.

Mental pain is due to desire, wrath, avarice, affection, fear, envy, grief, and the
non-perception of particular objects. These later are in fact 'kleshas', a medical
term meaning pain. In the Nath tradition, the klesha are given as five in number:

The five pain bearing obstructions the root causes of trouble and
strife
ignorance, ego, revulsion, attachment and clinging to life. (Tantra
Magick : 54)

The AMOOKOS adepts trace these back to the Linga Purana

By means of the fivefold bonds called klesha, Shankara (Shiva) binds

the pashus. On being served well by devotion, he alone is their
redemmer. The five kleshas that have become fetters are ignorance,
ego, revulsion, clinging to life. (Linga Purana II.9)

The kleshas and other pains above are all of the intrinsic variety on account of
their being amenable to internal remedies.

Pains amenable to external remedies are two-fold: extrinsic and

superhuman. The extrinsic are caused by men beasts, birds, reptiles
and inanimate things; and the superhuman ones are due to the evil
influence of planets and the various elementals.

An objection is raised: '.... Hundreds of remedies for bodily pain are

laid down by eminent physicians; for mental pains also we have easy
remedies in the shape of the attainment of the objects of enjoyment
such as women, desirable food and drink, unguents, dress, ornaments,
and the like. Similarly, of extrinsic pains we have easy remedies such
as expert knowledge of moral and political science, residence in safe
places etc. In the same manner of superhuman troubles we have
remedies in the shape of charms, incantations, and the rest. (The

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Reply) .... though easily available, the obvious means do not effect
absolute and final removal of pain. Consequently the present enquiry
[for spiritual remedy] is not superfluous.(37)

The tantrik or spiritual physician wants to cure the pain of human existence
permanently. Medicine cannot solve these kinds of issues but is can buy you a
little time with which to think about them. There is, after all, nothing quite like
illness to fix you in the mundane world of matter. People say that illnesses such as
headache or fever tend to return. The causes of disease in this instance an
imbalance of the humours (dosa), return again. Therefore the appropriate
remedy for a disease, whether physical or spiritual, will be one that looks at what
happened in the past. 'As a dam is made in order to hold back the swelling river
waters, which had previously damaged the cornfield.'(41) In the same way, he
who intends to administer a therapy to destroy future pain depends upon having
seen the early devlopment and history of the disease. The cycle of disease is then
extinguished and pleasure arises from the therapy.(42)

These doctrines treats physical and mental trauma on an equal footing, implying
that one cannot progress to the contemplation of spiritual things without also
thinking about your physical fitness. To take a very simple example; a person
could not maintain one of the postures (âsanas) that are an integral part of
meditation without a moderate degree of good health. The relationship between
health and sanctity is a dialectical one - one is nourished by the other.

Samkhya philosophy is sometimes said to be a radical departure from the

formalism of the ancient Vedic texts. The second aphorism of the Samkhya
Karika rejects the Vedic sacrificial religion in favour of its particular path of
knowledge.

The revealed (means) are like (medicine) for they are connected with
impurity, destruction (47) and excess. A contrary method is better
and this consists in a discriminative knowledge of the manifest (forms
of matter), The Unmanifest (Prakrti or primal matter) and the
knowing-self (jña).(48)

We can agree, to some extent at least, with this condemnation. Even medicine
does involve 'impurity, destruction and excess`, whether this be in the form of the
animal sacrifice of Vedic religion or even the use of animal products in the
medical pharmacopeia.(49). In our own time, there has been renewed criticism of
Chinese traditional medicine which makes use of exotics like bear's bile. And our
own western system of medicine, called allopathic in India, makes a great, and to
some unacceptable use, of vivisection. In ancient India, the establishment of
veterinary dispensaries at about this time, indicated a growing concern for the
welfare of animals.(50) It is surely significant that in the popular mind, the
celebrated veterinarian Shalihotra is supposed to have been Kapila's son.(51)
There is an extremely interesting dialogue in the Mahabharata, which throws
some light on Kapila's attitude to Vedic sacrifice.

When the deity Tashtri came to the palace of king Nahusha, the latter
for hospitality was on the point of killing a cow. Beholding that cow
tied for slaughter Kapila of liberal soul, cried 'Alas ye Vedas!' At that
time a Rishi called Syumarashmi entered (by yogic power) the form
of that cow and addressed Kapila thus: 'If the Vedas be authoritative,
whence have those other duties concerning harmlessness to all
creatures come to be regarded as important?'

It is obvious that this dialogue occurs at a time when the notion of non harming
(ahimsa) has already many adherents in ancient India, not only amongst early
Buddhist but also within Hinduism. The protagonist here is pointing out the
apparent contradiction between Hinduism with its promulgation of non-harm to

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all creatures and the older and still venerated, indeed supposedly authoitattive
Vedas, that call for many bloody sacrifices

Kapila replies: 'I do not censure the Vedas, I do not wish to say
anything in derogation of them. However I have heard that the
different courses of duty that are laid down for the different modes of
life, all lead to the same end. So both to perform and not perform acts
are both Vedic declarations. When the scripture appears thus, the
strength or weakness of particular declarations must be very difficult
to ascertain. If thou knowest of any course of duty which is superior,
then tell me about it.'

Syumarashmi replies by reaffirming the ancient tradition of sacrifice, in which

the inferior animals, human beings, trees and herbs all wish for heaven. There is
no means, other than sacrifice, by which they can fulfill that desire.

Kapila rejoins: 'The fruits attainable by acts are finite

instead of eternal. Ascetics, by adopting self-restraint and
tranquility attain to God (Brahman) through the path of
knowledge. They are freed from the influence of all pairs of
opposites. Wisdom is theirs. Cleansed they are from every sin.
Transcending grief and freed from impurity (rajas), theirs are
acquisitions that are eternal. When the high end that is these
men's, is within reach, what need has one for practicing the
duties of the domestic mode of life?'

Syumarashmi replies that if indeed, that be the highest object of acquisition if

that be truly the highest end, then the importance of the domestic mode of life
becomes obvious, because without this, no other mode of life would be possible!
Indeed as all living creatures are able to live in consequence of their dependence
on their respective mothers, in the same way the three other modes of life exist in
consequence of their dependence upon the domestic lifestyle; that householder
who leads the life of domesticity, performs sacrifices and practices penances.
Your doctrine is false, though dressed in the colours of truth. It subverts the real
purport of the declarations of the Vedas and must have been introduced by
learned men reft of prosperity and eaten up by idleness. The Brahmin who
performs sacrifice according to the declarations of the Vedas is never seduced by
sin. Through sacrifice, such a person attains the highest regions of felicity, along
with the animals he has slain in those sacrifices. And by gratifying his own wishes,
succeeds in gratifying the wishes of those animals.'

Kapila replies: that if acts are obligatory then the Darsha (fortnightly oblation),
Paurnamâsa (full-moon oblation), Agnihotra (fire-sacrifice) and Câturmâsa
(Fourth month sacrifice) should be sufficient; why is there any need to partake in
acts involving cruelty? One who has no fear for any creature and from whom no
creature hath any fear and who constitutes himself the soul of all creatures,
should be known as a Brahmin. Without having acquired purity of heart the
result of pious acts, one remains a foolish man and will not be a genuine Brahmin
no matter who ones teachers are. The ignorant man desire fruits of a very
different kind. He is unable to practice even a small part of the good conduct
recommended since remote times. Such foolish men don't really understand or
appreciate the Vedic sanctions. Besides which as regards sacrifices, it is
extremely difficult to get all the details correct and so the results can only be of
limited value.'

At this point Syumarashmi capitulates and reveals his true identity.

Acknowledging Kapila as his teacher she asks: 'The Vedas countenance and
discountenance acts. Whence then is their authority when their declarations
contradict each other?'

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Kapila replies that the path of Yoga is the best path because its results are visible
in this world. It is only through ignorance that a contradiction is seen between
this view and that of the Vedas.

Kapila claims to be recapturing the visions of the ancient Vedic seers. 'There
were,' he says, ' in days of yore, many men leading lives of domesticity. They were
thoroughly devoted to their own duties. There were also many kings of the same
qualification as well as Brahmins, all devoted to yoga. They behaved equally
towards all creatures and were endowed with perfect sincerity, contentment and
certainty of knowledge. Manifest were the rewards of their righteousness and
pure were they in behavior and heart'. 'Acts ' he says 'only cleanse the body. The
highest end is knowledge itself. When one possesses this, all the faults of the heart
are cured. When one is at peace with God (Brahman), one becomes established in
knowledge, one obtains benevolence, forgiveness, tranquility, compassion
truthfulness, candour and devotion.'

It is clear that in the popular mind and in the mind of the Samkhya philosophers,
there was never any thought of heresy. Their aim was always to recapture what
was to them the highest aspect of Vedic religion which had been lost. They placed
their complete faith in the path of knowledge which to them was worth a great
deal more then animal sacrifices and Soma (vâjapeya).

A thousand horse sacrifices, one hundred Vâjapeya are not worth one
sixteenth of the merit of yoga (52)

It is out of this philosophy that many Tantrik ideas developed. It is not uncommon
for tantrism to be viewed as anti establishment. But early pieces of discussion
such as the above show that tantriks need not have shared this perception of
themselves. They may indeed have thought themselves truer to the spirit of the
tradition out of which they grew.

The Atreya Tantra II

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Gnosis
Knowledge is, in itself, a path or power that can transform its possessor. The
Greek philosopher Plato, who was much influenced by Indian philosophy, also
understood this fact. He made a distinction between knowledge and true belief.
True belief was a useful thing but knowledge was an experience that could
transform the possessor with the insight into the way things really are.

According to the Atreya-Tantra, the phenomenal man is reducible to twenty-four

categories. Man is said to be a microcosm so it follows that the world is in a
similar way reducible to these same categories. The twenty-four tattva
(categories) are:

...Mind, Ten Organs (five sensory and five motor), five objects and
eightfold Prakriti. (54)

In the table above I give a diagramatic representation of the categories based on

the Atreya-Tantra and other classical sources. The first feature that you might
notice is the radical divide between Self (purusha) and Nature (prakriti). Purusha
is a Sanskrit term meaning 'man', and it is used here in a technical sense for the
transcendental Self. (I suppose the modern critic might detect an element of
ancient sexism in this terminology!). Prakriti is a feminine Sanskrit noun
meaning nature. Interestingly, the version of the Samkhya philosophy found in
the Atreya Tantra appears to omit the first category, Self (purusha), altogether.

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It is in fact, an important early variation in the system. In my opinion, the Atreya

Tantra and the medical tradition from which is comes, does not deny the
existence of Self. It seems instead to view the Self as a synthetic entity. For
example:

Mind (55), Self and Body, these three are like a tripod; the
world is sustained by their combination; they constitute the
substratum for everything. This is Man (pums), this is sentient
and this is the subject matter of the Veda.(56)

The Atreya Tantra sometimes uses a very suggestive term for Self - Jiva. The
concept of the Jiva has, surprisingly, found its way into the western esoteric
tradition, via the theorising of the Theosophical Society. The Jiva is sometimes
known as the 'astral body'. It is the subtle body that comprises the transcendental
self, Mind and the subtle elements. Categories 1-2? in the above diagram. It is this
part of the human organism that is sometimes said to wander around in dreams
or even to transmigrate from one body to another. It is, in the words of the
Atreya Tantra, very much a tripartite structure, that relies for its existence on
the combination of its parts. It is the whole that only exists when the three are
united and that can, in some circumstances, be dispersed, when this partnership
is dissolved. It has been suggested that the Jiva is the instrument of human will,
coming into existence each time the will has a conscious (or even perhaps
unconscious) purpose.

Mind
Mind is now the conventional translation of the Sanskrit term 'manas'. In the
English language the word `Mind' has a fairly wide meaning, denoting: `The seat
of consciousness thoughts, volition and feelings; also the incorporate subject of
the psychical faculties; the soul as distinct from the body.'(60) Consequently the
English word must be applied with some care as it means more than the Samkhya
category `manas'. The Atreya-Tantra begins its account with a description of
Mind. Mind is said to be a connecting link between `Self' (Jiva) and the physical
body (61).

According to the Atreya-Tantra, Mind has two qualities: Singularity (ekatvam)

and Atomicity (anutvam).(68) A singular thing is something so small that it can no
longer be divided, i.e. it is atomic. If we took this literally, as some do, then it
follows that in the Samkhya system, Mind is an extremely small thing, smaller
even than a speck of dust. However, personally, I do not think the Samkhya
philosophers meant it in this way. I suggest that Mind is the moment of
perception, the instant in which the whole system of - senses, object and
consciousness are connected and a thought results. If my view is correct, then is
follows that for each thought, the faculty Mind is generated anew, and it is thus
said to be singular and atomic, or perhaps to borrow a Buddhist term,
momentary. but simple, This potential of Mind is expanded into a whole system of
Yogic meditation which aims at 'one- pointedness' (samadhi). It may also be an
answer to those critics who wonder why this supposed internal organ has never
been seen.

The Three Gunas

Physical objects are grasped by both the sense organs and Mind. After that they
are investigated by Mind and accessed according to their various (good or bad)
qualities. (70) The Atreya-Tantra maintains that the universe as we find it is
composed of five gross elements: Space Air, Fire, Water and Earth. 'Ether' was
once the conventional English translation of the Sanskrit term 'kham or 'akasha'.
In English the word 'ether' connotes 'an elastic and subtle substance believed to

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permeate all space; the medium through which the waves of light are propagated,
thus luminiferous Ether' (71). None of these possible meanings can be applied in
the Hindu context. The 'kham' is a fifth, synthetic element that is derived in a
dialectical way from the other four. It corresponds in meaning to the notion of a
hollow cavity or empty space.

The five elements space, wind, fire, water and earth correspond with the
sensations sound, touch, vision taste and smell. In addition each of these is
associated with one of the five organs - the ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose. All
but the space element are easily derivable from a naive phenomenalism of the
human body. The 'kham' is less obvious in its construction. That it is a synthetic
concept is clear from the statement to be found in the medical texts, that it is not
present in either semen (73) or the 'embryo' (74) in its earliest stage of
development. It only shows itself when the 'embryo' has began to differentiate
itself and the bodily spaces and cavities appear within.

The sense of smell is said to arise from the proximity of dry 'earthy' substances
with the nose vision because of light, touch corresponds to air because of the
skin's contiguity with the atmosphere, which gives rise to the perception of air in
its mobile form as well as air temperature. Taste arises from the contact of the
tongue with wet substances, and therefore corresponds to water. The
correspondence of space with the sense of hearing is traditionally the one most
difficult to understand. However if you look at the ear you should be able to see
that it is a hollow structure. Simple experiments show that its action does not
depend upon any of the external parts of the ear. In fact, internal sound (76) is
only manifest when the passages to the ear are closed with the fingers.(77)

The term tanmâtra is often translated as subtle element although I have changed
this to 'mother' element, which is closer to its literal meaning. Tanmâtra is the
universal or generic element as opposed to the particular or individual element.

The mother elements have themselves evolved from what in Sanskrit is called
ahamkara, literally the 'I maker', thus the conventional translation of this term
as Ego (78). (the diagram above obscures this progression) Metaphysics and
spiritual discipline are both involved, perhaps confused, with this concept. The
elements are said to be the reflections of Ego, because they are the mixed up
surface reality that overlays and conceals the ultimate reality which is more
uniform. Furthermore, Ego is generated in the act of thinking, when the higher
part of the psyche become distracted by the beautiful objects that present
themselves to the senses;, it is also exactly like Descartes - I think there I am. The
Hindu intellectual tradition maintains that human beings exist in a state of
spiritual danger because of their failure to distinguish appearance from reality.
This error is related to the problem of ego. It may be that our own western view
of what is means to be egotistical is not what is meant here. When we say someone
is egotistical we perhaps mean they are two self centred - whereas in the Indian
tradition they might say you were not self-centred enough; you have not realised
where Self starts and the surface reality finishes. In my opinion, the common
religious idea of rejecting ego, should not be mistaken for being austere or
disinterested in the world; rather it lies in understanding the relationship
between the Self and all of its parts.

A clear example of this error is found in dogmatic creeds such as Christianity and
their aim to be 'world' religions. Ramakrisna, the celebrated Tantrik saint of the
early part of this century said that 'God has made different religions to suit
different aspirants, times, and countries.' But as Joseph Campbell observes in his
brilliant study, Hero with a Thousand Faces, 'trivial (my emphasis) matters as the
remaining details of credo, the techniques of worship, and the devices of episcopal
organisation (which has so absorbed the interest of Occidental theologians that
they are today seriously discussed as the principal questions of religion), are
merely pedantic snares, unless kept ancillary to the major teaching.' (p. 158). The

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Christians and others like them, have mistaken the local conditions of their creed
for the way things really are and are thus, to use a tantrik technical phrase,
afflicted by the klesha (bad mental propensity) of revulsion for those who are
different. The results of their imbalance are everywhere to be seen.

In some versions of Samkhya the idea of nature as a series of principles that

evolved one from another is very important. Other Samkhya teachers, such as
Atreya, seem to give far less importance to this idea of serial progression and
looked at things in a more rounded way. Ego (ahamkâra) is often said to have
evolved from an either more refined aspect of the psyche termed Buddhi (also
sometimes called Mahat) , in Sanskrit and conventionally translated as Intellect.
Buddhi is another feminine noun meaning awake - Buddhi is the part of your
nature that is awake and conscious, as opposed to the other parts of the neural
network that only respond to stimuli in a conditioned way. The term Buddha was
often applied to a learned or wise sage, long before the historical Buddha took the
name.

If you can conceive of Buddhi as a mirror, as some Samkhya philosophers did,

then you might see that this mirror can be pointed in one of two directions.
Downward (or perhaps outward) to the world of physical phenomena, or
upwards (perhaps inward) to its mysterious transcendental counterpart -
purusha, the real Self. In some systems this is a total abstraction such as atman or
maybe the void, in others the purusha is omitted altogether and yet others it is
personified as a god such as Brahman or in the tantrik tradition as Shiva.
Whatever way you look at it, it is a mystery that can only be described using
metaphors. According to the precepts of Samkhya and other later yoga type
schools, it up to each adept to turn their minds in that direction and contemplate
the void for themselves.

Buddhi and indeed all ultimate reality has three aspects -vaikrtia, bhûtâdi and
taijasa. The exact meaning of these three terms is not clear but they are normally
taken as referring to a fundamental theory within the Indian intellectual
tradition that of the three Gunas

The Sanskrit term 'guna' can be translated as quality or attribute. The original
condition of the universe was one in which these three gunas existed in a state of
equipoise. Nature has evolved from them by a series of emanations. Natures, does
this, in order to reveal herself to Purusha the transcendental self. Like a dancer,
Samkhya says, nature exhibits herself to the Self. According to the Samkhya view
of things, the world as we find it consists of a plethora of substances and tissues,
which upon analysis appear to be a synthesis of five recognisable functions, or as
we have translated them elements: space, wind, fire, water and earth. Beyond this
lie the three Gunas. One way of looking at this is to suppose that fundamentally
the natural world is composed of myriads of infinitesimal though substantial
particles of three kinds:

Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

Care has to be exercised when unravelling the Guna theory for one is also
unravelling a far from simple, meta-chemical theory developed in the medical
schools. For Gunas are something more than mere physical entities. There are at
least three ways in which they can be viewed: physically, metaphysically and
moral or temperamental.

Sattva : In its physical aspect is related to elemental fire.

At the metaphysical level it is the essence of thing. morally it
can be said to represent truth or goodness

Rajas: Is likened to elemental air. At the metaphysical level it

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represents energy and on the moral plan it is passion or foulness.(79)

Tamas: Predominates in elemental earth. metaphysically it signifies

inertia or fixity; morally darkness and untruth

The earliest mention of three gunas is to be in the Atharva Veda. This text holds a
special place within the medical and tantrik tradition. Unorthodox tantrik texts
always trace their lineage back to the Atharva Veda, the fourth and most magical
of the four Vedas.

Thus of the four Vedas, Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva, the
devotion of physicians is to the beloved Atharva Veda.
(80)

In the Atharva Veda one can find the following statement concerning the body
and its qualities:

The lotus-flower of nine door covered with three strands

(guna) - what soulful prodigy (yaksha) is within it that the
brahma-knowers know. (81)

The point being made above is that the gunas are like three ropes (rope is another
possible translation of the Sanskrit term guna) which bind Purusha into its
material existence. In the Samkhya Karika, we are told that the natural world
(Prakriti) originally had all three gunas distributed in equal proportions. This
primeval equipoise was disturbed and became a creative flux. The reasons for this
change are full of mystery and can only be described by the use of metaphors:

As non-intelligent milk functions for the nourishment of the

calf, Even so does Primal Nature function for the liberation of
the Self.(84)

The various modes of existence that arise out of this creative flux are reducible to
the twenty- four tattvas already described. In the Samkhya Karika the three gunas
are said to have some kind of teleological instinct or entropic tendency that leads
eventually to the release of Self from its bondage along with the re-emergence of
cosmic homeostasis

In the Atreya-Tantra the position of the three gunas is different. The three gunas
are not of equal status. A distinction must be drawn between the Sattva and the
other two. Sattva is almost a ' monad (85) the material counterpart of what is
termed the 'knower of the world'- (ksetrajña). Sattva is often used as a synonym
for Manas or Mind. It represents the myriads of individual 'Monads' embedded
or entwined in Nature. Thus Atreya-Tantra says that

The evolution and dissolution rules those who are egotistical

and entwined in the pair Rajas and Tamas. Whereas others escape
birth and death. (86)

The union is because of the connection with Rajas and Tamas. This is
Eternal. But with the removal of these two and increased Sattva, He
retreats. (87)

The Atreya-Tantra also compare the three gunas to a basic component of human
society: father mother and child. There are said to be six factors responsible for
procreation which are in turn a mirror view (in miniature) of the cosmic process.
The six factors are: mother, father, self, wholesomeness, food and mind. (88) The
last three of these can be considered as complementary conditions and the first
three as necessary and sufficient conditions

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The mother contributes the skin, blood, flesh, fat umbilicus, heart, lungs, liver,
spleen, kidneys, bladder, rectum, stomach, colon, anus, intestines etc., to the
developing foetus. All of these are considered to be Rajasic in character

The father contributes the hair, teeth, bones, veins ligaments, arteries and
semen.(89) All of which are Tamasic in character

The third part of this tripod is the transmigrating atman.

The Samkhya theory of causation is often termed 'conservationist'. The world is a

biosphere in which nothing is either created ex nihilo or is destroyed. Substances
transform themselves into other substances whilst remaining the same in essence.
This is a theory that was adumbrated in the Upanishads :

In the beginning, my dear this (universe) was being only; one

only; without a second. True some say that in the beginning this
(universe was Not-being only,-one only, - without a second and
that from that Not-Being Being was born
But my dear whence could this be? said he. How could Being be born
from Not-Being? No, it was Being alone that was this (universe) in the
beginning,- one only, without a second. (98)

This idea is also clearly spelt out in the Bhagavad-Gita

Of the non-existent there is no coming to be; of the existent

there is no ceasing to be. The conclusion about these two has been
perceived by the seers of truth.(99)

(C) Mogg Morgan & Mandrake

Notes

Notes (needs some proofing)

1 The practical philosophy of the Patañjali’s Yoga-sûtras.
2 The Sarva-Darshana-Sangraha of Madhava (c.1331), Translated by E B Cowell
& A E Gough (Trubner 1982).
3 S C Vidyabhusana, A History of Indian Logic - Ancient Medieval & Modern
(Motilal Banarsidas 1971). 209fn.
There is some dispute as to whether it might be the work of Haribhadra the Elder
c.854.
4 CS.I.1,29.
5 See also comments on this person in chapter 4.
6 The Mahavagga, (SBE) Chapter VIII Part II page 171; Hardy, Manual of
Buddhism Ch. VII; Schiefner Tibetan Talesh Ch VI page 92 - 109 ; Beal, Buddhist
Recordsh Vol I introduction lix and Vol II page 152 : M Oldenburg, The Buddha
page 147.
7 The Brhad-Äranyaka Upanishad IV.6.3.
A list of ‘sciences‘ is given in the Chândogya Upanishad VII.I.2.
8 The Mahâbhârata, P C Roy edition (Calcutta ) S’anti Parva CCX page 96 in
Critical Ed.
9 Pân.IV.i,122.
Caraka’s name mentioned at Pân V.I,11.
10 SK.70.
11 P Chakravarti, op cit page 117.
12 M Winternitz, History of Sanskrit Literature, (Calcutta ,1963) page 478.
13 L Rocher The Purânash (Wiesbaden 1986) page 249.
14 Vishnu Purâna,translated by H H Wilson (Oxford, 1840) I,1,5-15.
15 Nelson Goodman , Languages of Art (Hackett Indianapolis 1976) page 8.

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16 CS.IV.I,8.
17 CS.IV.I.82.
18 Kapila, Äsuri and Pañcas’ikha mentioned at
AV XLIII 3,4.
19 Kapilâ is also the name of one of the Kala or subsidiary devi of the mandal as
given by Bharati’s informant. See Bharati (1970) p. 254. He translates as the
‘reddish one’
20 D Chattopadhyaya Lokâyata: A Study in Ancient Indian Materialism
(Moscow 1959) page 283.
21 S’antiparva-(mokshadharma) Chapter 218 page 121 in P C Roy edition.
22 P Chakravarti, op cit page 61.
23 A’svaghosha, The Buddha-Carita I-XIV, Translated by E H Johnston
(Calcutta 1936) 1.89.
24 op cit 12.69.
25 BC 12,83.
26 P Chakravarti, op cit page 103.
27 CS.IV.1,39-52.
28 op cit page 446.
29 Brahmasûtras of Bâdarâyana, edited by P Deussen and translated by C
Johnston (Chicago, 1912)
30 CS.I.13,3.
31 CS.IV.1,151.
32 S S Suryanarayana Sastri, The Sâmkhya Kârikâ of ïs’vara Krshna (University
of Madras 1935) 2nd ed.
The text from the Mahâbhârata is given as XII.311.36-44. which is S’ântiparva
319 in P C Roy’s edition.
33 YS.IV.29.
34 F Edgerton The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy, (London 1965) page 36;
‘The Meaning of Sâmkhya and Yoga’, American Journal of Philology 45 (1924)
1-46.
35 SK.1. translated by J Davies (London 1881).
36 CS.I.1,6 & 15b-16a.
37 Vâcaspati Mis’ra, The Tattva-kaumudi, translated by Gangnatha Jhâ
(Poona,1934).The debt to Äyurvedic medicine is clear. Comparison should made
between this passage and CS.II,7 with deals with unmâda (insanity).
38 G J Meulenbeld The Mâdhavanidâna, (Brill : Leiden 1974) page 27.
39 SS.I.24,4.
40 CS.IV.1,11-12.
41 Agricultural metaphors abound in this literature, see YS.IV.3.
42 CS.IV.1,86-91.
43 Pain is what the patient says hurts: H K Beecher Measurement and Subjective
Responses (Yale UP,1959)
44 CS.IV.1,94b-95.
45 Manu, Manu Smrti, translated by G BÜhler as The Laws of Manu, SBE Vol
XXV (Oxford : Clarendon Pressh 1886) VI.87.
46 A term used by S P Collins op cit.
47 kshaya : dwindling away.
48 SK.II.
49 Vishnu Purâna IV,iv.
50 As’oka, Edict II quoted on page 137 above.
51 Mahâbharata, S’ântiparva 337 (P C Roy edition).
52 Mbh.S’ântiparva 324 (P C Roy edition).
53 Plato’s Symposium or The Drinking Party, translated by Michael Joyce
(Everyman’s Library, London & New York 1935).
54 CS.IV.1,17.
55 E H Johnson Early Sâmkhya: An Essay on Historical Development According
to the Texts (Royal Asiatic Soc.1937) Preface.
56 CS.I.1.46-7.
57 These Sanskrit terms correspond to the three gunash concepts that will be

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explained below.
58 Amended translation from Anatomical & Obstetric Considerations in Ancient
Indian Surgery (S’ârîrasthâna). Translated by Dr G D Singhal & Dr L V Guru
(Institute of Medical Sciencesh Varanasi 1979) SS.III.1,4.
59 I am indebted to Sri K S Visvanatha Sarma, the Principal of Venkataraman
Äyurveda College, Madrash for the above insight.
60 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary q.v.
61 CS.III.3,13.
62 CS.IV.1.18-19.
63 CS.II.8sq. Apasmâra from apa+smr = failure of the memory.
64 J S Lockard & A A Ward, Epilepsy: A Window to Brain Mechanism (NY
1980).
65 CS.IV.1.34 .
66 Vâtsyâna’s Bhâshya on Gautama’s Nyâya-sûtra 16 translated by J Jhâ (Poona
1939).
67 It may be worth noting in passing that there is an increasing body of evidence
for the phenomenon of ‘synaesthesia’, the perception by one sense organ of data
thought appropriate to another. See B J White et al, ‘Seeing with the Skin’,
Perception and Psychophysicsh Vol 7(1), 1970 pages 23-7.
68 CS.IV.1.19.
69 S’ankara Mis’ra, Commentary on Kanâda Sûtras IV.2 translated by E.Singh
(Allahabad 1911).
70 CS.IV.1.22.
71 Oxford English Dictionary q.v.
72 This observation flows from a course on Äyurvedic theory and practice that
was conducted by Dr Asvin Barot at the S’ivananda Vedânta Yoga Center
London 1983.
73 CS.IV.2,3.
74 The usual Sanskrit term for a foetus is ‘garbha’ eg CS.IV.2,5; sometimes the
term ‘pind,a’ is used rather like the way we would use the term embryo or as
sometimes suggested even as the zygote, eg CS.IV.4,9.
75 CS.I.IV.22 Function analysis is here described by Ätreya. See also Nyâyasûtra
III.i.27-73.
76 Some modern research has some interesting things to say about internal
sound, see: H Zuccarelli, ‘Ears Hear By Making Soundsh’ New Scientist 10
November 1983, pages 438-40.
77 CS.I.8sq and CS.IV.1,27-34 for textual source of these correspondences.
Internal sound is mentioned by Caraka in CS.V.IV.20.
78 SK.25.
79 T Burrow, Rajas (BSOAS XII.645).
80 CS.I.30.21.
81 AVS.X.8.43. Translated by W D Whitney. (Harvard Oriental Series
Reprint1971).
82 A B Keith, The Sâmkhya System (London 1918) page 19.
83 Mbh. S’ântiparvan ch 217 (Roy’s edition).
84 SK.57 J Davies translation (London 1881).
85 Bertrand Russell, A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz,
(Cambridge, 1900).
86 CS.IV.1,67b-69.
87 CS.IV.1,36.
88 CS.IV.3,3.
89 CS.IV.3,7.
90 CS.IV.1,22.
91 CS.IV.1,20.
92 CS.IV.1,23.
93 This observation stems from the lecture series give by Professor Mohanti at
the University of Oxford 1982. Entitled: ‘Psychologism and Indian Logical
Theories’.
94 CS.IV.1,32-34.

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95 Dignâga On Perception The Pramâna-Samuccaya translated by Masaaki

Hattori (Harvard University Press 1968) section on Sâmkhya.
96 See fn 71 ‘synaesthesia’, the perception by one sense organ of data thought
appropriate to another. See B J White et al, ‘Seeing with the Skin’, Perception
and Psychophysicsh Vol 7(1), 1970 pages 23-7.
97 The Yoga Sûtras of Patañjali with Yoga-bhâshya of Vyâsa, translated by Rama
Prasada. SBH IV (Allahabad 1924) YS IV.3 (amended).
98 The Chândogya Upanishad, VI.ii.1-2 Translated by R C Zaehner (Everyman
London 1977).
99 The Bhagavad-Gîtâ, II.16. Translated by S Radhakrishnan (NY: Harper &
Bros 1948).
100 J E Brady & J R Holum Fundamentals of Chemistry, (Wiley NY 1981) page
637; See also: H Hart & R D Schuetz Organic Chemistry page 109; (Houghton
Mifflin 1978) ‘The symmetry of molecules can influence their chemical behavior.
The kind of behavior we have in mind occurs when a molecule has the property of
‘handedness‘, called chirality (Greek cheir:hand). We all know that it is quite
easy for two right-handed (or left-handed) persons to shake handsh but it is not
possible to shake a right-hand with a left-hand in the usual way. Similarly,
molecules may react differently with one another depending on their handedness
or chirality. Handedness depends upon the presence or absence of symmetry.
101 The sense organs are amongst other things also chemo-transmitors. See
footnote (71) and (80).
102 CS.I.20,14.
103 CS.II.8,16-19.
104 CS.I.4,21 (Sharma and Dash Translation).
105 CS.I.4,22 (Sharma and Dash Translation).

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