125 - Purusha and Prakriti| Swami Tattwamayananda

Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

Title: Purusha and Prakriti
13th Chapter: Verses 19, 20, 21, 22
These verses deal with the Samkhya school of Indian philosophy. There are two main schools of thoughts in Indian philosophy. (1) Theistic schools which accept Vedic testimony and (2) Atheistic schools, which do care much for Vedic testimony. The six theistic schools were the Mimamsakas of Jaimini, Vedanta (Uttara Mimamsa of Badarayana), the Samkhya philosophy of Kapila, the Yoga of Patanjali, the Nyaya school of Gautama, and the Vaisheshika school of Kanada. The six aetheistic schools include the four schools of Buddhism, the Jaina philosophy, and the Indian materialists, called Charvakas.
Samkhya school is silent about God. It talks about evolution. Its original exponent was Kapila. Later, a karika was written by Isvara Krishna.
There are two fundamental categories in Samkhya. (1) Purusha, which is self-effulgent, eternal and inactive. (2) Prakriti, which is active but non-effulgent. The evolutes of Prakriti are Mahatattvam or cosmic intelligence, Ahamkara or ego-sense, the mind, the five senses of perception, the five senses of action, the five subtle elements and the five gross elements.
Patanjali Yoga Sutras are a practical application of Samkhya. When we practice spiritual disciplines such as Yamas and Niyamas, we start our journey backwards (involution) towards our true spiritual identity as Purusha.
The main idea of Samkhya is this - the entire universe comes from Prakriti and exists in Prakriti. The moment we understand that we are higher than this psycho-physical mechanism, that our true nature is Purusha, the evolutionary cycle comes to an end for us.
Vedanta accepts ideas of Samkhya, such as the evolutes of Prakriti and its wonderful analysis of the human mind. However, it does not accept the conclusions of Samkhya.
19th verse: “Know that Purusha and Prakriti are beginningless. All these evolutes and changes come into existence as a result of evolution in Prakriti.”
In Indian philosophy, there are two concepts of evolution and change. (1) Apparent change or Vivartavada refers to apparent change that can go back to its original state, such as a clay becoming a pot (2) Parinamavada refers to changes that are irreversible, such as an oil seed becoming oil. Vedanta says that the absolute reality appears to have become this world – it is only an apparent change.
20th verse: “Purusha is the self-effulgent reality. It does not undergo any change. It is the presence of the Purusha that allows us to have experiences in this world. What we experience is the evolution of Prakriti in the form of three gunas.”
Sattva guna manifests itself as wisdom and serenity. Rajo guna manifests itself as dynamism and ambition. Tamo guna manifests itself as laziness and jealousy.
21st and 22nd verses: “Our body, thoughts, emotions are all parts of evolution from Prakriti. Within this psycho-physical mechanism, there is a divine spark, the Purusha, which is the witness – it is eternal and does not change. Our true identity is the Purusha.”
In the Kathopanishad, Yama explains the science of realizing our true identity to Nachiketa. Nachiketa asks Yama for three boons: (1) Let my father not scold me when I return (2) Teach me rituals to get to heaven and (3) Teach me the reality beyond death. Yama then teaches Nachiketa how to transcend death. He teaches him how to transcend our physical identity and realize our true nature as the Atman, which is deathless, and which is present everywhere and in everything.
Kathopanishad also compares human life to a journey on a chariot. Atman is the traveler on the chariot, body is the chariot, intellect is the driver, mind is the reins, senses are the horses, and the sense objects represent the path. Just as horses should not dictate terms to the rider, so also, sense organs should not dictate the terms to the mind.