Samkhya Karika 23

अध्यवसायो बुद्धिर्धर्मो ज्ञानं विराग ऐश्वर्यम् ।
सात्त्विकमेतद्रूपं तामसमस्माद्विपर्यस्तम् ॥ २३ ॥

adhyavasāyo buddhirdharmo jñānaṁ virāga aiśvaryam ।
sāttvikametadrūpaṁ tāmasamasmādviparyastam ॥ 23 ॥

adhyavasāyaḥ=ascertainment; buddhiḥ=intellect; dharmaḥ=virtue; jñānaṁ=wisdom; virāga=dispassion; aiśvaryam=lordliness; sāttvikam=when sattva guna dominates; etadrūpaṁ=is of the nature of; tāmasam=when tamas guna dominates; asmāt=from this; viparyastam=opposite

Buddhi is the determining principle. It is of the nature of virtue, knowledge, non-attachment, and lordly powers when sattva dominates. The reverse is true when tamas is dominant.

As we have seen earlier, the first evolute from the Mula Prakriti is the intellect (also known as Mahat or buddhi). The present verse defines the intellect as ‘adhyavasāya’. The word “adhyavasāya” has multiple meanings. Some of the meanings found in the dictionary that seem more relevant to our discussion are ‘determination, resolution, mental effort, apprehension, ascertainment’. V. Mishra uses the terms “ascertainment or will” and Gaugapada uses “ascertainment, determination”. It is the job of the intellect to determine the nature of the current experience. For example, based on input received through one of the five sense organs, it might say, “what I am seeing is a flower”, or “what I am hearing is the sound of a drum”. Or, based on what comes up in the chitta from the memory it might say, “what I am experiencing is anger or jealousy etc.” The intellect may also make the determination as to what the next action may be, “pluck or smell the flower” or, “let me hurt the other person who made me angry”.

The verse further states that the intellect can have any of the eight attributes, four of these are driven by the sattva guna and the other four, representing their opposites, are driven by the tamas guna.

The attributes driven by sattva are:

• Dharma (righteousness or virtue)
• Jnana (knowledge)
• Viraga (dispassion)
• Aishwarya (lordly powers)

The attributes driven by tamas guna are the opposites of the above four:

• Adharma (non-righteousness)
• Ajnana (ignorance)
• Raga (attachment)
• Anaishwarya (lack of power, control)

Let’s take a closer look at these four attributes (based on commentaries by Mishra and Gaudapada)

Dharma (righteousness or virtue)

Dharma involves doing good, benevolent deeds, deeds fulfilling religious and moral obligations. Dharmic activities may include performing sacrificial rites (yajna) and charitable work. These activities can bring about both worldly prosperity (abhyudaya) and also divine bliss (niḥśreyas). Activities that may eventually lead to self-realization involve following the guidelines of yamas and niyamas as given in the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. The five yamas are: Ahimsā (non-injury), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (continence), Aparigraha (non-hoarding). The five niyamas are: śauca (cleanliness), saṁtoṣa (contentment), tapas (austerity), svādhyāy (self-study), īśvara praṇidhāna (surrender to God).

Jnana (knowledge)

Knowledge is of two types – external and internal. External knowledge relates to understanding the content of ancient texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas etc. It also includes knowledge related to all aspects of material existence. Internal knowledge is the true knowledge which relates to the understanding of the separation between Purusha (pure consciousness) and Prakriti (the material counterpart comprising of the three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas). This knowledge alone can lead to liberation (kaivalya).

Viraga (dispassion)

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali has mentioned two levels of dispassion – lower and higher. Below are the two sutras:

“The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about (described in the scriptures) is non-attachment.” (sutra 1.15) – read my blog here for more disscussion.

“Supreme detachment is attained when there is non-thirst for even the three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas) due to the realization of Purusha (true Self).” (sutra 1.16) – read my blog here for more discussion

There are four stages of dispassion – yatamāna, vyatireka, ekendriya and vaśīkāra.

yatamāna (initial endeavor): As we know, the mind is constantly seeking gratification by directing the sense organs outward toward their objects of attraction. This desire for sense gratification is driven by the “impurities” of the mind like anger, lust, craving, greed, jealousy etc. When one realizes the futility of sense gratification and begins to make an effort to cleanse the mind (through practices like meditation etc.), that initial effort is called yatamāna. Through this initial endeavor, partial success may be gained by eliminating some of the sense attachments.

vyatireka (ascertainment): In the second stage, one begins to ascertain as to what has been achieved and what remains to be done. For example, with the initial effort (yatamāna), you may have given up the desire to spend unnecessary time in front of the television. However, you may still be carrying a strong desire to eat some heavy dessert after each meal. This level of ascertainment is termed “vyatireka”.

ekendriya (one sense organ): When the sense organs are under control and they are unwilling to run after their respective objects, there may still be deep-seated hidden desires (vasanas) in the chitta. This is known as the ekendriya stage.

vaśīkāra (total control): when even this latent desire is eliminated, then one attains self-mastery over cravings for objects seen or heard about. As stated above (sutra 1.15), Patanjali uses the term “vaśīkāra-saṁjṇā” for this level of dispassion. He, of course, goes on to describe the highest level of dispassion in sutra 1.16 (see above).

Aishwarya (lordly power)

Most commentators, when describing this attribute of the intellect, talk about the eight siddhis (supernormal attainments alluded to in the yoga sutras (sutra 3.45) as well). They are:

• aṇimā (become small): one may be able to enter dense matter like stone
• laghimā (lightness): one can levitate
• mahimā (to become very large)
• prāpti (the ability to reach anywhere)
• prākāmya (to fulfil one’s desires)
• īśītvam (sovereignty over all material nature)
• vaśītva (mastery and total control over all elements)
• kāmāvasāyitā (garimā); strong will through which a yogi can dictate the course of events rather than being a victim of what has been ordained through karma.

Not much needs to be added in the case when tamas guna dominates and the intellect has attributes which are just the opposite of the four described above – adharma (doing ignoble deeds), ignorance (lack of knowledge), anaishwarya (lack of power), and raga (attachment, lack of dispassion).