Write a short note on the five proofs for the existence of Prakriti.
Ans. Sankhya's five Proofs for the existence of Prakriti-
(i) All individual things in this world are, limited dependent, conditional, finite. The finite cannot be the cause of universe. Logically we have to proceed from the finite to the inflnite, from the limited to the unlimited from the peros to the aperos, the temporary to the permanent, from the many to the one. And it is this intinite, unlimited eternal, all pervading Prakriti which is the source of this universe.
(ii) All worldly things possess certain common characteristics by which they are capable of producing pleasure, pain and indifference. which there must be a common source composed of three gunas, from which all worldly things arise.
(iii) All effects arise from the activity of the potent cause. Evolution means the manifestation of the either to before implicit explicit. The activity which generates evolution must be inherent in the world cause. And this cause is Prakriti.
(iv) The effect differs from the cause and hence the limited affect cannot be regarded as its own cause. The effect is explicit and the cause the implicit state of the same process. The effects, therefore, point to a world cause where they are potentially contained.
(v) The unity of the universe points to a single cause. And this cause is Prakriti.