Sadasatkhyati is used to describe the attribution of "Sadasat" that provides the distinction between the unreal and the real.
The Samkhya philosophical tradition proposed an error theory.
All theories of error try to explain why individuals make
mistakes in judgment, with the most common example being mistaken a sea shell's
silvery flash for a chunk of silver.
The Samkhya theory of mistake is founded on dualistic
metaphysics, in which the basic error is conflating the origins of all things,
purusha and prakrti (roughly, spirit and nature).
Purusha as conscious witness and prakrti as insentient
substance are the two Samkhya basic principles that are always distinct from
one another and whose qualities can never overlap.
The essential fallacy, according to the Samkhyas, is to mix
together these two fundamentally distinct principles, i.e., to assign purusha's
powers of motion and growth to prakrti's capabilities of awareness.
Purusha is said to be cognizant, yet passive and immutable.
It is the passive observer of the numerous prakrti
transformations taking on all around it.
The development of the whole universe, both the inner,
subjective world and the outer world the subject experiences, is caused by this
initial misidentification.
In this context, mistaking the shell for silver is a
continuation of the initial error and is founded in it.
Perfect knowledge, according to the Samkhyas, would shield
one against all kinds of mistakes, both cosmic and mun dane.
Karl H. Potter (ed. ), Presuppositions of India's
Philosophies, 1972, has further information.
