ABSTRACT
The Sankhya system proposed by Kapila is undoubtedly one of the oldest philosophical systems in the world. For all dualistic theories to come up with a scheme causally linking mental and physical states has proven to be notoriously difficult. As the Purusa is wholly dissociated from all forms of mental and physical phenomena there can be no real interaction between the Purusa and Prakrti or for that matter any of her evolutes. The philosophy and the practice enmeshed in each other that they are frequently considered one composite system referred to as Sankhya–Yoga. How can the Purusa as the witness consciousness cease its involvement in and detach itself from prakrti and her evolutes is the practical problem addressed by the Yoga sutras and this it proposes to do in eight graded steps: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.
