ABSTRACT
The word sāṅkhya means exact knowledge, which involves exact discrimination. The word saṅkhya, in which the first 'a' is shortened, means number; and the Sāṅkhya philosophy counts a definite number of categories, which are generally twenty-five. The philosophy that is usually known by this name is atheistic, but it is not certain whether the philosophy as originally propounded by Kapila, 1 its founder, was atheistic. Kapila is said to have composed the Sāṅkhya Aphorisms, which are lost. Later, Īśvarakṛṣṇa wrote his Sāṅkhyākārikas 2 , purporting to give the ideas of Kapila. The Mahābhārata gives an account of theistic Sāṅkhya, and so did Vijñānabhikṣu, who belonged to this school. But in its restricted usage, the word Sāṅkhya has come to mean the atheistic, but spiritual philosophy of Īśvarakṛṣṇa.
