17/12/2025
The number school (Samkhya) advocates the dualism of consciousness and matter, and believes that the universe is composed of two major realisms: Puruṣa (pure consciousness) and Prakṛti (primitive matter). The state of Jīva (an individual of life) is the product of the connection between the original substance in some form. Scholars of the School of Number Theory proposed that this integration gave birth to buddhi (consciousness, reason) and patience (ahaṅkāra, individualized self-awareness, that is, "the creator of me"). This school describes the universe as composed of a combination of tonic rusha and the original substance, which in turn integrate various subdivided elements, senses, emotions, activities and minds, and exist in various forms of arrangements.
The philosophy of the school of numbers contains a set of theories of three virtues (guṇas, referring to the characteristics, inherent tendencies and nature of things). The three virtues are divided into three categories:
• Sattva: represents goodness, compassion, light, positive and constructive;
• Rajas: represents activity, restlessness, desire, impulse, and has both good and evil;
• Tamas: stands for darkness, ignorance, destruction, laziness and negativity.
Scholars of the School of Number Theory believe that all things in the world, all forms of life and human beings have these three virtues, but the proportion of the three is different. The interaction between the three virtues determines the nature of people and things, the characteristics of nature, and the development process of life.
The school of number theory advocates the plurality of Jīvatmas (individual soul) - all destiny I have consciousness, but this school denies the existence of the free heaven (Īśvara, God). Therefore, the classical school of numbers is regarded as an atheist or non-theist school of Indian philosophy.