Prakṛti and Purusha

Prakṛti Purusha, “nature and the conscious principle”

Prakṛti is the original creative power of nature, the world of matter and mind. Purusha is the supreme conscious principle, the Person: the pure witness and the true Self.

How the two are related, and how clear discernment between them (Prakṛti-Purusha viveka) frees the ātmā from bondage, is taught in the Mahābhārata and in the Purāṇas.

The Agni Purāṇa gives its own full teaching. Agni-deva tells that at the beginning Brahman entered Prakṛti and Purusha, who is Vishṇu, and stirred them, and from that stirring creation unfolded. Prakṛti and Purusha, joined with each other, are held by the Vishṇu-śakti, the very form of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, which is the cause of their union, their separation and their stirring at creation. Within Pradhāna, the endless aparā prakṛti from which countless brahmāṇḍas were born, the Purusha dwells as fire dwells in wood. The Purusha is the twenty-fifth tattva, beyond the twenty-four tattvas of Prakṛti, joined with Prakṛti like a fish with water and yet separate from it, and an aṃśa of the Paramātmā; at the last, Prakṛti and Purusha both merge into the Paramātmā. In pūjā and dīkshā the two are worshipped on the maṇḍala, and the piṇḍikā on which a mūrti stands is Prakṛti.

Per Mahābhārata

Prakṛti-Purusha Viveka in the Mokshadharma Parva

The Mokshadharma Parva of the Mahābhārata‘s Śānti Parva develops Prakṛti-Purusha viveka through several linked dialogues. Its approach works mainly through jñāna (knowledge) and yoga.

The dialogue of Vasishṭha with King Karāla-Janaka (Chapters 302–308): Vasishṭha teaches that the twenty-four tattvas of Prakṛti are kshara (perishable): all arise from earlier causes and dissolve back into them. The twenty-fifth, Purusha, is relatively akshara (imperishable), the witness untouched by the twenty-four. The twenty-sixth, the Paramātman, is the supreme akshara, beyond even the relationship of witness and field. Here viveka has three levels:

• The ordinary discernment: the twenty-fourth (the unmanifest) from the gross world
• The deeper discernment: the twenty-fifth, Purusha, from the twenty-four
• The final recognition: the twenty-sixth, the Paramātman, as the ground of both

The path of yoga mainly makes the first two possible. Knowing the twenty-sixth is the final dissolving of even the distinction of the witness.

The dialogue of Yājñavalkya with King Janaka (Chapters 310–318): Yājñavalkya adds the argument from time. Even the avyakta (the unmanifest, the subtlest of the twenty-four) lasts only for a limited time: the lifespan of Brahmā himself is the avyakta’s “day”. Whatever is in time is perishable, and whatever is perishable is not the ātman. His study of each tattva in three spheres, the inner (adhyātma), the outer (adhibhūta) and the divine (adhidaivata), gives a practical way to recognise each of the twenty-four in all three. The peak of Yājñavalkya’s teaching is nishkala (partless) Brahman, the Paramātman beyond all tattvas and beyond even the witness-relationship of the twenty-fifth.

The dialogue of Sulabhā with King Janaka (Chapter 320): The woman sannyāsinī Sulabhā teaches viveka in terms of the field and the knower of the field. The ātman, as kshetrajña (knower of the field), is completely other than the kshetra (the field of the twenty-four). No feature of the field, whether family line, gender, āśrama (stage of life) or bodily condition, can define who the knower is. This is the framework of the field and the knower of the field taught in Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gītā, applied here to the ātman’s freedom from every social and bodily label.

The twenty-four, the twenty-fifth and the twenty-sixth of these dialogues correspond to the kshara, the akshara and the purushottama (Supreme Person) of Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gītā.

Per Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Viveka means discernment: the ability to tell one thing clearly from another. Prakṛti-Purusha viveka is the direct seeing of the difference between Prakṛti (nature, the world of matter and mind) and Purusha (the pure witness, the true Self). It is the freeing heart of the Sāṅkhya darśana (school of philosophy), as taught by Bhagavān Kapila to his mother Devahūti in the 3rd Skandha (book) of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.

The teaching explains that bondage comes from Purusha wrongly taking itself to be the qualities and actions of Prakṛti. This confusion is rooted in ahaṅkāra, the sense of “I am this”. Moksha (liberation) means seeing through this confusion: recognising that Purusha is nirguṇa (without qualities), akartā (not the doer) and asaṅga (unattached), and that it always was, and always will be, free. Kapila uses the example of the sun reflected in water to show how this false identification works and how it is undone.

Kapila’s Teaching: Discernment That Frees

The third skandha (book) of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, in Chapter 27, gives this teaching on Prakṛti and Purusha. Here Bhagavān Kapila instructs his mother Devahūti. Kapila’s Bhāgavata-Sāṃkhya bases it on viveka, clear discernment between what is the ātman (the true Self) and what is not.

In Kapila’s teaching:

• Purusha is nirguṇa (without qualities), akartā (not the doer), asaṅga (unattached) and sākshī (the witness). This is the ātman in its true nature.
• Prakṛti is the three guṇas in constant movement: the 24 tattvas from Mahat down to the five gross elements, always changing, and the real place where all action happens.

The key teaching is that bondage comes through ahaṃkāra, the false identification of Purusha, the witness, with the products of Prakṛti: the body, mind, senses and emotions. This does not change the nature of Purusha. It is only laid over it, like the sun seeming to tremble when reflected in moving water, though the sun itself never moves.

Moksha (liberation) is the ending of this false identification through viveka, a direct and steady discernment between what is Purusha and what is Prakṛti. When ahaṃkāra dissolves, the guṇas have nothing to hold on to. The mind becomes still. The ātman recognises itself as it always was: without qualities, free, the witness of the whole play of Prakṛti, unmoved, unborn and undying.

The Nature of Purusha

In Kapila‘s teaching, Purusha is:

• Nirguṇa: without any quality; not sāttvika, rājasa or tāmasa (not marked by any of the three guṇas, the qualities of nature)
• Akartā: not the doer; it starts nothing, finishes nothing and suffers nothing
• Nirvikāra: without change; it does not change when Prakṛti changes
• Sākshī: the pure witness; it is awareness itself, and all experience arises within its awareness
• Asaṅga: unattached; nothing in Prakṛti actually sticks to Purusha

This is the true nature of the ātman (the Self). It was never bound and can never be bound. What we call “bondage” is a mistaken identity. It is not a change in the nature of Purusha, only a confusion in how it seems to know itself.

The Nature of Prakṛti

Prakṛti is the opposite in every way:

• Saguṇa: made entirely of the three guṇas, sattva, rajas and tamas
• Kartā: the actual doer of all actions, through the unfolding of its tattvas (basic principles)
• Vikārin: always changing; its whole existence is transformation
• Jaḍa: inert, with no consciousness of its own; it borrows its light from Purusha’s witnessing awareness

All twenty-four tattvas belong to Prakṛti: Mahat (cosmic intelligence), Ahaṅkāra, the inner instrument (manas, buddhi and ahaṅkāra at the individual level), the ten indriyas (senses and organs of action), the five tanmātras (subtle elements) and the five mahābhūtas (gross elements). None of them is the ātman.

Ahaṅkāra: The Root of Bondage

The way Purusha comes to wrongly identify with Prakṛti is ahaṅkāra, the sense “I am this”.

When Purusha, being near Prakṛti, begins to identify with the body, the senses, the mind and the intellect, as if these were itself, it seems to become the doer, the sufferer, the one who is born and dies. This appearance of doing comes entirely from ahaṅkāra. It is not a change in Purusha; it is adhyāsa, a superimposition of Prakṛti’s qualities onto the witness.

Once ahaṅkāra is in place, the whole machinery of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) follows. The sense of “I” acts through the senses, gathers experiences, forms desires, piles up karma, and is born, dies and is born again, always gripped by the false sense that “this is who I am”.

The Sun in the Water

Kapila teaches this through an exact example.

The sun reflected in moving water seems to tremble, dance, bend and move. But the sun itself is fixed and shining, untouched by the water’s movement. Someone who mistakes the reflection for the sun will think the sun is unsteady. Someone who understands that it is the water that moves, and that the sun is unchanged, sees clearly.

In the same way, the ātman (Purusha) is reflected in the mind, which is part of Prakṛti. When the mind is stirred up by desires, fears, impressions and the working of the guṇas, the reflection of the ātman seems stirred up too. The jīva (individual soul) who does not understand this identifies with the reflection and thinks, “I am suffering,” “I am acting,” “I am the doer.” But the ātman itself is unmoved. When this is seen directly, not just understood but realised, the confusion clears.

The Path to Moksha Through Viveka

Viveka is not a one-time exercise of the intellect. It is a steady practice that slowly loosens the grip of ahaṅkāra:

1. Śravaṇa (hearing): hearing the teaching from a qualified teacher, as Devahūti heard it from Kapila
2. Manana (reflection): thinking it over until all doubts are cleared; the sun-in-water example is reflected on until its full meaning comes through
3. Nididhyāsana (deep meditation): resting the mind again and again in the recognition “I am Purusha, not Prakṛti”
4. Samādhi (absorption): the mind dissolving the distinction between the meditator (dhyātā) and what is meditated on (dhyeya)

As viveka deepens, ahaṅkāra thins. As ahaṅkāra thins, the guṇas lose their grip. As the guṇas lose their grip, the mind grows still by itself. In that stillness the ātman is recognised directly as it always was: without qualities, not the doer, free.

In the Sāṅkhya of the Bhāgavata, this viveka is not practised apart from bhakti (loving devotion to Paramātmā); the two go together. The bhakta who loves Paramātmā and at the same time sees through the tattvas reaches the same recognition from both sides. The intellect recognises, “I am not the body,” and the heart recognises, “I belong to Paramātmā.” These are not in conflict. They are two sides of the same moksha.

Devahūti’s Moksha

This is the teaching Devahūti received and practised at Bindu-sara after Kapila left. Through steady sādhanā (spiritual practice), controlling the senses, practising dhyāna (meditation) and resting in viveka, the covering of delusion over her understanding was lifted completely. She reached brahma-jñāna (knowledge of Brahman) and, through unbroken samādhi, realised the Paramātman (the Supreme Self). Her body dissolved into a sacred river at Siddhapada.

Per Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa explains the relationship between Prakṛti and Purusha as a pair that exists within the one unity of Parabrahman (the supreme Reality).

In this Purāṇa, Prakṛti is the śakti (divine power) of Śrī Kṛshṇa. She is as inseparable from him as heat is from fire. Durgā, also called Mūlaprakṛti (“root nature”), is her visible form. Rādhā is the highest and closest Prakṛti, Kṛshṇa’s priyatamā (most beloved).

The Basic Idea

It takes the Prakṛti and Purusha of classical Sāṃkhya (an ancient school that analyses nature and spirit) and places both inside a devotional picture in which Kṛshṇa is the final Purusha and Prakṛti is his eternal śakti. The text says clearly:

“Prakṛti is Kṛshṇa’s śakti, the same as him, as fire and heat are one, yet distinguishable for the sake of understanding.”

So Prakṛti is neither separate from Kṛshṇa nor simply the same as him. She is his own power (svāśakti), always present with him.

Durgā Appears as Mūlaprakṛti

At the time of sṛshṭi (creation), Durgā-Prakṛti came forth from Kṛshṇa‘s buddhi (intelligence). She had one hundred arms, each holding a weapon. She said to Kṛshṇa:

“I am Prakṛti-svarūpiṇī, Īśvarī, Sarveśvarī. All the power in this world comes from me. Yet I am not independent: I was created by you. You are the Īśvara, the goal, the creator, the destroyer, the re-creator of all beings and worlds.”

So Durgā is at once the most powerful force in creation and completely dependent on Kṛshṇa for her existence. She is the adhishṭhātrī-devī (presiding devī) of every form of śakti: sleep (nidrā), hunger, thirst, compassion (dayā), faith (śraddhā), forgiveness (kshamā) and all other powers.

The Order of the Prakṛtis

In Chapter 30, the teaching of Nārāyaṇa Muni names the chief Prakṛtis linked with the chief forms of the divine:

Rādhā is called Kṛshṇa’s “dearest Prakṛti” (priyatamā Prakṛti). This suggests that the bond between Kṛshṇa and Rādhā is the original model, and all other pairs of Purusha and Prakṛti are its reflections.

The Twenty-Five Tattvas

At the moment of creation, the twenty-five tattvas (basic elements of existence) of Sāṃkhya came out of Kṛshṇa‘s right side. They include the three guṇas (the qualities of nature: sattva, rajas and tamas), mahat-tattva (the great principle of cosmic intelligence), ahaṃkāra (the sense of “I”), and the five tanmātras (subtle elements: smell, taste, form, touch and sound), along with the rest of the tattvas in the list. Together these make up the material side of Prakṛti, which wraps the jīvas (individual souls) in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death.

The Jīva as a Reflection

The Brahma Khaṇḍa teaches that the jīva is a pratibimba (reflection) of the Paramātmā (the Supreme Self). Bound by the three guṇas of Prakṛti, the jīva is born again and again according to its karma (actions and their results). Moksha (liberation) comes when the jīva recognises its true nature as a reflection of the Paramātmā. This understanding dawns through bhakti (devotion), jñāna (knowledge) and vairāgya (detachment).

Prakṛti and the Three Kinds of Women

The Brahma Khaṇḍa also has a teaching on Prakṛti as seen in human women. In Chapter 23, during the discussion of why Nārada refuses to marry, the text names three kinds of women (strī):

1. Sādhvī: virtuous, devoted to her husband, a bearer of dharma
2. Bhogyā: one who offers pleasure of the senses
3. Kulaṭā: one who strays from the path of dharma

This list is given as part of Nārada’s argument that, because Prakṛti shows herself in so many ways, a firm life of renunciation is steadier than the life of a householder.

Per Agni Purāṇa

Prakṛti and Purusha at creation

Agni-deva begins his account of creation, the play of Bhagavān Vishṇu, with these words: in the beginning only Brahman, whose form is Sat, existed, in the unmanifest state; there was no ākāśa, no night and no day. That Brahman entered Prakṛti and Purusha, who is Vishṇu, and stirred them. From the stirring of Prakṛti and Purusha arose the mahat-tattva, and from it ahaṃkāra, and from ahaṃkāra the senses and the five elements (Chapter 17). In the teaching on samādhi he gives the same order: from Prakṛti comes buddhi, which is the mahat-tattva; from it ahaṃkāra; from it the five mahābhūtas. Sattva, rajas and tamas are the guṇas of the unmanifest Prakṛti, and whatever is grasped by the mind and the senses is vikāra, a modification of it. The Parama Purusha, the beginning of all, is himself without beginning (Chapter 376).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 17, 376

Pradhāna and the Vishṇu-śakti

Describing the coverings of the brahmāṇḍa to Vasishṭha, Agni-deva says that the brahmāṇḍa is covered in order by water, fire, air and ākāśa, each ten times the one before, and above them by ahaṃkāra and the mahat-tattva. Pradhāna surrounds even the mahat-tattva. It has no end, so it is ananta (endless), and it has no number and no measure. “Muni! It is the origin, the cause of all the worlds; it is called aparā prakṛti.” From it countless brahmāṇḍas were born.

As fire is in wood and oil is in sesame, so in Pradhāna is the Purusha, self-luminous, of the nature of consciousness and all-pervading. “O Mahāprājña! Prakṛti and Purusha, joined with each other, are enveloped by the Vishṇu-śakti, the ātmā of all beings.” That śakti, the very svarūpa of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, is the cause of the union and separation of Prakṛti and Purusha, and at the time of creation it is the cause of their stirring. As the wind, touching water, holds the coolness of the water drops, so the śakti of Mahāvishṇu holds the world made of Prakṛti and Purusha. Resting on the Vishṇu-śakti, the devas and all others become manifest, and that Vishṇu is Brahma, the cause of all the worlds (Chapter 120).

In the chapter on the faults of kāvya, Agni-deva names the views of the thinkers: the Śaiva, Vaishṇava, Śākta and Saura siddhāntas hold that Brahma is the cause of this world, but the Sāṅkhyas say that pradhāna is the cause of the visible world (Chapter 347).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 120, 347

Dissolution into Prakṛti and into the Paramātmā

The beginning of this world is avyakta (unmanifest), and its end too is avyakta; only the middle is manifest (Chapter 159).

Agni-deva tells of four kinds of pralaya (dissolution). In the prākṛta pralaya the five bhūtas merge into Prakṛti. When Brahmā‘s life of two parārdhas has passed, this gross world merges into Prakṛti. By the will of Bhagavān Vishṇu, earth merges into water, water into fire, fire into air, air into ākāśa, ākāśa into ahaṃkāra, and ahaṃkāra into the mahat-tattva; and Prakṛti takes that into itself. Prakṛti is of two kinds, vyakta (manifest) and avyakta (unmanifest), and the vyakta merges into the avyakta. The one Purusha, imperishable and pure in nature, is himself an aṃśa of the Paramātmā. At the last, Prakṛti and Purusha both merge into the Paramātmā, who is Sat in nature, the one to be known, made of jñāna, higher than buddhi and the rest, in whom there is no name, jāti or any such conception (Chapter 368).

The same withdrawal is done within, in the adhivāsana that Hayagrīva teaches Brahmā: the sādhaka dissolves the elements into the tanmātras and ākāśa, ākāśa into manas, manas into ahaṃkāra, ahaṃkāra into the mahat-tattva, and the mahat-tattva into the avyākṛta prakṛti (unmanifest nature). The avyākṛta is dissolved into the Paramātmā whose form is jñāna, and this Paramātmā is Vāsudeva (Chapter 59).

Of the five goals that beings reach, Agni-deva says: by yajñas one reaches the devaloka; by tapas, the state of Virāṭ; by giving up karma, the state of Brahmā; by vairāgya (dispassion), prakṛti-laya, merging into Prakṛti; and by jñāna, moksha (Chapter 379).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 59, 159, 368, 379

The Purusha beyond the tattvas

Agni-deva counts the twenty-four tattvas: the five karmendriyas, the five jñānendriyas, the five objects of the senses, the five mahābhūtas, manas, buddhi, the mahat-tattva and the mūla-prakṛti. The Purusha is beyond all these. Like fish and water, the Purusha and Prakṛti are joined with each other and yet separate. Rajas, sattva and tamas rest in Prakṛti. The Purusha with the upādhi (limiting adjunct) of the antaḥkaraṇa is the jīva; that same jīva, free of the upādhi, is Brahma, the cause of all. One who knows the Parama Purusha attains the parama pada, the highest state (Chapter 370).

In dhyāna the sādhaka first meditates in the heart on the three guṇas, unmanifest and joined with what is enjoyed and with enjoyment, and covers tamas with rajas and rajas with sattva. The Purusha is the twenty-fifth tattva, beyond the guṇas, with sattva as his upādhi; giving up the impure guṇas in order, one meditates on this pure Purusha-tattva. Or one may meditate on the Paramātmā, beyond Prakṛti and Purusha, seated on the lotus of the heart and lighting all four sides with his rays (Chapter 374).

The ātmā is nirvāṇamaya (full of peace), jñānamaya (full of knowledge) and stainless; sorrow and ignorance are the dharmas of Prakṛti, not of the ātmā. Water has no true relation with fire, yet through a vessel it touches fire; so, through association with Prakṛti, the ātmā takes on the dharmas of Prakṛti, ahaṃkāra, mamakāra and the rest, though in truth it is different from them and imperishable. The body is different from the Purusha, so karma done only for the body becomes a cause of bondage (Chapter 379).

Bharata, carrying the palanquin of the king of Sauvīra, told him that the ātmā is pure, imperishable, at peace, without guṇas and beyond Prakṛti: “O king, since the purusha is in every way different from the instruments born of Prakṛti, what burden is there for me to bear?” and “The body, in the form of limbs such as the head and the hands, is in every way different from the purusha. So to point to which limb shall I use the word aham?” (Chapter 380). In the Gītā-sāra Śrī Kṛshṇa says that his divine Māyā, made of the guṇas, is hard to overcome (Chapter 381). And in the Yama-gītā, Yama teaches Naciketas: “Higher than the senses are the objects; higher than those is the mind; higher than the mind is buddhi; higher than buddhi is the mahat; higher than the mahat is the avyakta; higher than that is the Purusha. There is nothing higher than the Purusha. The Purusha is the last limit; he is the highest goal” (Chapter 382).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 370, 374, 379–382

Prakṛti and Purusha in pūjā and dīkshā

• On the maṇḍala. In the Bhadra maṇḍala, Prakṛti is worshipped on the south-eastern lotus of the first enclosure and Purusha on the southern lotus, with Agni on its southern side; Prakṛti is worshipped again as the twenty-fourth of the third enclosure, after the collective manas, buddhi (the mahat-tattva) and ahaṃkāra (Chapter 30). In the vyūha-nyāsas Prakṛti is worshipped on the body and the finger-tips beginning with the little finger; the supreme Purusha-ātmā is Para, and the prakṛti-ātmā is twofold. In the twenty-five vyūha the Purusha is placed as the one who pervades the other twenty-four, and in the twenty-six vyūha the Para form comes before the Purusha-ātmā. The learned one then meditates on Prakṛti on a maṇḍala and worships it, with the hṛdaya and the other aṅgas in the four directions (Chapter 25).
• In the agni-kārya. After burning the whole brahmāṇḍa to ash in contemplation and flooding the ash with water, the guru places in the waters the śakti called bīja, meditates on its support made of all the tanmātras, and in its middle on the Purusha-mūrti whose form is the praṇava (Chapter 24).
• In dīkshā. On the red thread of the dīkshā the guru contemplates Prakṛti, in which the universe dissolves and from which it is born, and ties as many knots, the bonds of Prakṛti, as there are tattvas. On the thread and the body he meditates on Prakṛti, the liṅga-śakti, the doer, buddhi, manas, the tanmātras, the two sets of indriyas, the five bhūtas and the twelvefold one. In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā the guru burns Prakṛti and joins it to supreme nirvāṇa and to the changeless Īśvara (Chapter 27). In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā of the Śaiva rite, laya (dissolution) is in Prakṛti and bhoga (experience) in buddhi (Chapter 84).
• The mūrti and the temple. If the pratimā stands for Purusha, the piṇḍikā, the pedestal on which it is set, stands for Prakṛti (Chapter 56). The patākā (flag) of the temple is Prakṛti, and the shape of the piṇḍikā is Prakṛti (Chapter 61).
• In the pūjā for victory in battle. Sattva, rajas and tamas, Prakṛti and Purusha, and the ātmā, the antarātmā and the Paramātmā are worshipped, each with the first letter given the anusvāra, the name in the dative and “namaḥ” at the end, as in “saṃ sattvāya namaḥ” (Chapter 148).
• The Purusha-sūkta. Of the Purusha-sūkta beginning “sahasraśīrshā”, the ṛshi is Nārāyaṇa, the devatā is Purusha, and the chandas are anushṭup and trishṭup. Of the sūkta “adbhyaḥ sambhūtaḥ”, the ṛshis are the uttara-gāmī naras and the devatā is also Purusha (Chapter 296).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 24, 25, 27, 30, 56, 61, 84, 148, 296

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapters 302–308
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapters 310–318
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 320
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Third Skandha, Chapter 27
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Third Skandha, Chapter 33
• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa (including Chapters 23 and 30)
• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa
• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 17, 24, 25, 27, 30, 56, 59, 61, 84, 120, 148, 159, 296, 347, 368, 370, 374, 376, 379–382