Learn Sankhya Philosophy with the Sanskrit Text Sankhya Karika - Part I - HUA
This course is the first of a two-part series on Sankhya Darshana (Philosophy), based on the Sanskrit book 'Sankhya Karika' by Ishvara Krishna. It is a short book with just 72 Karikas, which are short verses that explain Rishi Kapila's Sankhya Darshana. It is very important to understand the basic ideas of Sankhya philosophy if you want to understand other Sanskrit works like the Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic philosophical systems like Yoga and Vedanta.
Sankhya Darshana through the Sankhya Karika – Part I Contents of the course:
It is said, "na hi Sankhya samam gyanam, na hi yoga samam balam" i.e., There is no knowledge like Sankhya, and there is no power like Yoga. Sankhya Darshana was one of the first ways of thinking that tried to find a permanent answer to problems like birth and death, getting old, getting sick, and being sad. In his search for a permanent answer, Sankhya came up with a deep way of thinking about the universe and where humans fit into it. Sankhya thought that a good understanding of the twenty-five Tattvas, which are the basic building blocks of the universe, would lead to a complete and permanent end to human suffering.
In this two-course set, the Sankhya Karika of Ishvara Krishna will be used to teach the basic ideas of Sankhya philosophy. In the first course, we will look closely at Karikas 1–30.
A karika is a name used in the field. It generally has two lines, like the shlokas in the Bhagavad Gita. So, in the first quarter, we will cover about half of the Sankhya Karika. The last 42 Karikas will be taught in the second course in the series. Students will learn new things about Sankhya philosophy, which many scholars mistakenly call a dualistic, atheistic theory.
You don't need to know anything about Sanskrit or Sankhya philosophy to take this course. The students will get a PDF file with each karika written in both Devanagari and Roman writing, along with the word meanings and short explanations. PDF files will also be made available for extra reading materials.
The goals of this course are for students to be able to:
a) Understand the basics of Sankhya Philosophy.
b) Learn all the technical Sanskrit words you need to know.
c) Learn the basics so that you can also understand works like the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.
d) Learn to appreciate other philosophical schools and be motivated to learn more about Vedic systems like Vedanta, Mimamsa, Yoga, Nyaya, and Vaisheshika.
e) Get a deep understanding of the ideas of "mind," "atma," "ego," and "intellect," as well as how the world came to be.
Each week, there will be at least one 90-minute contact hour with one or more teachers. The class is set up so that each week's self-study and reflection can lead to talk and debate. Even though each class will only talk about the same topic for 60 minutes, the conversation time will be open-ended and can go on for up to 30 more minutes. Students will have to take notes on the Karikas that were talked about. They don't have to be as good as papers written for school, but they should be based on what the student has learned and understood so far.
Overview >> Hindu University Of America
Address- 5200 Vineland Rd 125 Orlando, FL 32811
