Revivals of ancient religious traditions in modern India

Abstract

The article compares the early stages of the revivals of Sāṃkhyayoga and Buddhism in modern India. A similarity of Sāṃkhyayoga and Buddhism was that both had disappeared from India and were revived in the modern period, partly based on Orientalist discoveries and writings and on the availability of printed books and publishers. Printed books provided knowledge of ancient traditions and made re-establishment possible and printed books provided a vehicle for promoting the new teachings. The article argues that absence of communities in India identified with these traditions at the time meant that these traditions were available as identities to be claimed.

The hard problem of ‘pure’ consciousness: Sāṃkhya dualist ontology

“…In India today, there is only one main community dedicated to the practices of traditional Sāṃkhya, the Kāpil Maṭh, based in Madhupur in Jharkhand. This Bengali Hindu reform movement was conceived by Āraṇya in the 1890s when, as a new monk, he encountered the textual tradition of Sāṃkhya (Jacobsen (2018)). He formally re-established a Sāṃkhya community in 1924.…”

“…Āraṇya, in his revived philosophy, stressed Sāṃkhya's strict expression as monastic renunciation. Ultimately, this meant withdrawal into an artificial 'cave' (a secluded building) in a world-denying mode of embodied existence focused almost entirely on consciousness through continuous meditation or rational reflection (Jacobsen (2018)). Āraṇya spent twenty years from 1926 to 1947 in this isolated environment, until his death.…”

“…He formally re-established a Sāṃkhya community in 1924. Yet this rare expression of Sāṃkhya as a lived philosophy today reflects the practical problems of continuing a tradition that adheres strictly to the dualist ontology outlined above (Jacobsen (2018); Jakubczak (2020)). Āraṇya, in his revived philosophy, stressed Sāṃkhya's strict expression as monastic renunciation.…”