Prakṛti and Purusha

Prakṛti Purusha, “nature and the conscious principle”

Purusha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Purusha.

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.

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the fullest teaching through Bhagavān Kapila to his mother Devahūti: the Purusha, without beginning and beyond the guṇas, took up his māyā-śakti in līlā, forgot himself in seeing Prakṛti, and took on the doership of her guṇas; Kāla stirs her balance, the Purusha places consciousness in her, and she becomes the mahat-tattva and all the tattvas; and the sādhaka who knows the two, with bhakti to Kapila, is never deluded by her again. Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches Uddhava that the guṇas belong to Prakṛti, that the unchanging Purusha is only the witness, and that prakṛti, purusha and kāla are he himself; and the stutis of the Purāṇa praise Śrī Hari as beyond Prakṛti, her ruler and her ground.

In the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Bhagavān Sūrya tells Brahmā that the Paramātmā lies in the unmanifest pura and so is called Purusha, and that the avyakta in its unmanifest state is Prakṛti, the door of creation. Śrī Sūta counts eight prakṛtis and sixteen vikṛtis, and Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that Prakṛti itself is enveloped by the imperishable Purusha.

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 Skandha 3 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.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 27, 33

Kapila’s teaching, chapter by chapter

Devahūti‘s request. Maitreya Maharshi tells Vidura how Devahūti, at Bindusaras, took refuge in her son Bhagavān Kapila and asked him to teach her the nature of Prakṛti and Purusha. Kapila is the supreme master of Prakṛti and of the jīvas, present as the ātmā in all beings, and he told her that the one who knows sees that Prakṛti’s power to bind him has dwindled away. Before this, when Kapila was born, his father Kardama had praised him: “You are beyond prakṛti.” Pradhāna, the material cause of the world; the Purusha who presides over it; the mahat-tattva, its first effect; kāla, which stirs pradhāna; the three ahaṅkāras; and the lokapālas are all his forms.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 24–25

How the Purusha came to be bound. Kapila said he would explain the marks of the tattvas beginning with Prakṛti, for by this jñāna the knot of ajñāna in the heart is untied and one is freed from Prakṛti’s bondage. “The Purusha, who is without beginning, without guṇas and beyond Prakṛti, is the ātmā, the most subtle and self-luminous tattva in this aggregate of body and senses.” That all-pervading Purusha, by his own will alone, took up in līlā his own māyā-śakti of sattva, rajas and tamas. Prakṛti by her guṇas created many beings like herself, and seeing her, the Purusha forgot his own nature through the veiling power of that māyā. He mistook Prakṛti, so unlike him, for himself, and while the guṇas did the acts, he put their doership on himself. The Purusha is a non-doer, free, the witness, whose nature is bliss; but through that adhyāsa (superimposition) came saṃsāra, from doership the bondage of karma, and from that the loss of freedom. Body and senses arise from Prakṛti, and the Purusha, identifying with them, becomes the experiencer of pleasure and pain.

Devahūti asked: “O Purushottama! Prakṛti and Purusha are the cause of this world, and they are themselves its form, gross and subtle. Tell me their marks.” Kapila answered that Prakṛti is made of sattva, rajas and tamas, subtle, without origin or end, in the form of both cause and effect, the support of the particulars such as earth though they are not in it, and the chief cause of the world. Her products are the twenty-four tattvas, five, five, four and ten, over which Parabrahman presides as the brahmāṇḍa; Kāla is the twenty-fifth. Some say Kāla is the glory of the Purusha. Before creation the guṇas in Prakṛti are in balance, and it is Bhagavān Vishṇu himself, called Kāla, who stirs that balance; by his māyā-śakti he pervades beings within as the Purusha and without as Kāla. When Kāla has brought the guṇas out of balance, the Purusha places the power of caitanya (consciousness) into Prakṛti, and Prakṛti becomes manifest as the radiant mahat-tattva. The mahat is the clear and calm citta, the place where Bhagavān Vishṇu is found, worshipped as Vāsudeva; the ahaṅkāra that came from it, the five bhūtas, the senses and the mind, is Ananta, named Saṅkarshaṇa; and the mind born of the sāttvika ahaṅkāra is Aniruddha, master of the senses, dark like the water-lily of śarat, whom yogīs worship.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 26

The purusha untouched by prakṛti. In the chapter named “Attaining moksha through discernment of prakṛti and purusha”, Kapila taught that the purusha is akartā, without change and nirguṇa. Though he dwells in the body, a product of prakṛti, he is not stained by the puṇya and pāpa, the joy and sorrow that come from her guṇas, like the sun reflected in water, which the water does not touch. But when his buddhi is bewildered by ahaṅkāra and he is attached to the guṇas, he takes the sense “I am the doer”, becomes the enjoyer of the fruits of karma, and wanders in the wheel of saṃsāra through births of devas, animals and men. That saṃsāra is mithyā, yet it does not stop for one who keeps thinking of enjoyments, as the danger in a dream does not stop while the dream lasts. So the mind must be brought under control by bhakti and vairāgya, by hearing Kapila’s accounts, by yama and niyama, by brahmacarya (for a gṛhastha, the vrata of one wife), by silence, svadharma, measured food and solitude.

The jñānī who knows prakṛti and purusha has no “I” and “mine” in the body; he knows that waking and the other states belong to the buddhi and do not stain the ātmā, and that nothing exists apart from Īśvara. As the sun on a wall is a reflection of the sun in a pool, itself a reflection of the sun in the sky, so the light of consciousness in the body and senses is the reflection of the undivided Sat. In sleep the subtle bhūtas, senses, mind and buddhi dissolve into the avyākṛta, the subtle state of prakṛti without name and form, but the consciousness of the ātmā never sleeps.

Devahūti asked: “O Parameśvara! Prakṛti and purusha rest on each other and are eternal, so prakṛti never leaves the purusha. As earth and smell, water and taste cannot be apart, so buddhi and the purusha cannot. Since the guṇas are eternal, how can the purusha ever be free, and will not saṃsāra come to him again?” Kapila answered: the sādhaka who does his svadharma without thirst for its fruit, hears his accounts and makes his bhakti strong, knows the nature of prakṛti and purusha, and practises dhyāna with vairāgya, burns up avidyā in this very birth, as a stick is burned by the fire within the wood. The discerning purusha sees that prakṛti is always a cause of sorrow and gives it up; she cannot bring saṃsāra on the free purusha who abides in his own supreme bliss. As a dream no longer deludes one who has woken, prakṛti never deludes the sādhaka who knows prakṛti and purusha, delights in the Self and fixes his mind on Kapila. By Kapila’s grace he gains tattva-jñāna and jīvanmukti in this very birth, and when his subtle body perishes he is not born again; not caught by the siddhis that appear before him, he merges into Kapila.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 27

Prakṛti is the māyā-śakti of Bhagavān Vishṇu. At the close of his teaching on ashṭāṅga yoga, Kapila said that as fire is distinct from the flame, the embers, the sparks and the smoke, so the consciousness of the ātmā is distinct from the body of five elements, the senses and the inner faculty, and Bhagavān Vishṇu, who is called Brahman, is distinct from prakṛti. “This prakṛti is the māyā-śakti of Bhagavān Vishṇu. It is this that turns into cause and effect and deludes the jīva. So the bhakta must push it aside and stay established in his own nature as Brahman-ātmā.” Later he taught that prakṛti, the purusha beyond it, and daiva, the unseen support of the fruit of karma, are all forms of Parabrahman.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 28–29

The jīva in the womb, and the meaning of “Bhagavat”. The jīva lying in the mother’s womb prays that it is prakṛti alone that has become body, senses and inner faculty; mistaking that for himself, he does karma and is covered by its fruits, pāpa and puṇya, and so he bows to Parameśvara, untouched by any upādhi. And Kapila taught that the one reality denoted by the word “Bhagavat” is set forth in the śāstras as the innermost ātmā in the jīva, as Īśvara who rules the world, and as the Purusha who enters prakṛti. “Mother! In this way I have taught you the jñāna that is the means to the direct realisation of Brahma. By it the devotee knows the tattva of prakṛti and purusha.”

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 31–32

Prakṛti stirred: the beginning of creation

• The women of Hastināpura, watching Śrī Kṛshṇa depart, said that at the end of pralaya the Paramātmā wished to bring forth names and forms, and became the ruler of the three-guṇa prakṛti, moved by his own śakti, which deludes the jīvas, his aṃśas.
• Brahmā told Nārada that Kāla, resting on the consciousness of Parabrahman, broke the balance of the guṇas in prakṛti, and from that transformation the mahat-tattva became manifest.
• Śrī Śuka Maharshi told Parīkshit that creation is the same in every mahākalpa: at the start all tattvas from the mahat to pṛthivī are created from prakṛti, with kāla disturbing the balance of her guṇas and svabhāva causing her transformation.
• Maitreya Maharshi told Vidura that Parameśvara, beyond the pramāṇas, placed in his māyā-śakti the seed of cidābhāsa in the form of the Purusha, his own aṃśa, the presiding one over prakṛti; that the change in prakṛti of the three guṇas is the form of kāla, which has no beginning, end or parts; that Bhagavān Vishṇu, formless by nature, takes the transformation of prakṛti as his upādhi and becomes saguṇa and sākāra; and that by three causes, karma-gati, the Purusha who presides over prakṛti, and Kāla, imbalance arose in the triguṇa māyā-śakti of Bhagavān Vishṇu and the mahat-tattva appeared. The Purusha is the adhyaksha (overseer) of prakṛti.
• Svāyambhuva Manu told Dhruva that the Paramātmā is nirguṇa and only the occasioning cause: as iron moves near a magnet, so in his presence the world arises from unmanifest prakṛti and dissolves into it again. By Parameśvara’s power as Time the balance of the guṇas is broken, and creation, sustenance and dissolution come about, while he creates without being a doer and withdraws without being a destroyer.
• The avadhūta taught that the Paramātmā rules prakṛti and the jīvas, and by his śakti, Kāla, brings the guṇas back into balance at pralaya; the Sūtrātmā, which creates the manifold world, is the first manifestation of the three-guṇa prakṛti.
• Śrī Kṛshṇa told Uddhava that Brahman before creation became two, the visible world and the jīva who sees: the first is prakṛti, with two forms, kāraṇa (cause) and kārya (effect); the second, the one who sees, is called Purusha. “Impelled by the prārabdha of the jīvas, I, who am Kāla in form, stirred prakṛti from its state of balance.” In prakṛti are the three guṇas, and from them come the sūtra and the mahat.
• Sūta told Śaunaka that sarga is the rise of the mahat from the disturbance in the guṇas of māyā-śakti, and that others say unmanifest prakṛti is the cause of creation. Summing up the whole Purāṇa, he said that from the stirring of the guṇas in prakṛti arise seven vikṛtis, the mahat-tattva, ahaṅkāra and the five tanmātras, and that with nine śaktis, prakṛti, mahat, sūtrātmā, ahaṅkāra and the five tanmātras, Śrī Hari created the world within his own form.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 10; Skandha 2, Chapters 5, 10; Skandha 3, Chapters 5, 10, 20; Skandha 4, Chapter 11; Skandha 11, Chapters 9, 24; Skandha 12, Chapters 7, 12

Earth among the tattvas

• Brahmā tells Nārada that from water came earth, with śabda, sparśa, rūpa and rasa and its own gandha. In Maitreya‘s account of the tattvas, water joined with fire changed and produced pṛthivī, whose guṇa is gandha.
• Kapila teaches Devahūti that water, changed by divine impulse, gave the gandha-tanmātra, and from it came earth; the nose grasps smell. Earth, in forms such as the pratimā, is the support for contemplation of Parameśvara; earth stands firm and supports water and the rest; it seems to divide ākāśa, as the space in a pot or in a house; it makes manifest femaleness, maleness and such qualities in beings. Since the cause carries into its effect, earth alone has gandha together with śabda, sparśa, rūpa and rasa. Through fear of Kāla the earth with her mountains does not sink in the waters.
• In dissolution, Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava, the body merges into food, food into seeds, seeds into earth, and earth into the gandha-tanmātra.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 5; Skandha 3, Chapters 5, 26, 29; Skandha 11, Chapter 24

Śrī Kṛshṇa’s teaching to Uddhava

The guṇas belong to Prakṛti. Śrī Kṛshṇa told Uddhava that Prakṛti is the state of balance of sattva, rajas and tamas, which are the causes of sustenance, creation and dissolution; these guṇas belong to Prakṛti, not to the ātmā. Knowledge too is only the sattva-guṇa within Prakṛti. Prakṛti, transformed into the causes beginning with the mahat and the effects beginning with sound, becomes through the guṇas the material cause of the sustenance, creation and dissolution of the world; “the Purusha, who does not change, remains only the witness.” The mahat, ahaṅkāra and the rest gain the power to create through the nearness and the glance of the Purusha, and through the strength of Prakṛti they change, combine and create the brahmāṇḍa.

Uddhava’s question. Uddhava asked: “O Śrī Kṛshṇa, Prakṛti and Purusha never exist apart, so their difference is not known; for the ātmā is seen in Prakṛti, the body, and Prakṛti in the ātmā.” Śrī Kṛshṇa answered: “There is a difference between Prakṛti and Purusha. This world, the body, a mixture of the three guṇas, has the changes beginning with birth.” His māyā-śakti makes creation threefold: adhyātma, the body, senses and mind; adhidaiva, the devatās who favour the senses; and adhibhūta, the five elements. Sight is adhyātma, form adhibhūta, and the aṃśa of Sūrya in the eye adhidaiva; they establish one another, but Sūrya in the sky shines by himself. So the Paramātmā is distinct from all three and is their self-luminous cause.

Prakṛti, Purusha and Kāla are Śrī Kṛshṇa. Whatever is known, small or large, thin or thick, is pervaded by prakṛti and purusha. As the pot is only clay and the ornament only gold, the effect is not different from its cause. Of this world, prakṛti is the upādāna (material cause), the Purushottama is the adhishṭhāna (ground), and Kāla makes it manifest. “Those three, prakṛti, purusha and kāla, are I myself, the Parabrahman.” At pralaya the mahat merges into the guṇas, the guṇas into prakṛti, and prakṛti into imperishable Kāla. Knowing this, a person casts off the sense of difference and the delusion of saṃsāra.

The guṇas and their ground. All that is seen, heard or conceived is an effect of the guṇas, and the purusha and the māyā-śakti are their ground. The modification of prakṛti in three kinds, body, senses and mind, shines by resting on the ātmā; it is imagined by ajñāna, for it appears only in the middle, not at the beginning or the end. In the pūjā of a mūrti made of paste, nyāsa is done of the tattvas beginning with Purusha, each with its mantra. The body, the senses, their devatās, prāṇa, mind, buddhi, citta, ahaṅkāra, the five elements and prakṛti are none of them the ātmā, and the world made of prakṛti and purusha has the non-dual Parabrahman as its substratum.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapters 19, 22, 24–25, 27–28

Śrī Hari beyond Prakṛti

• Sūta taught that the Paramātmā becomes manifest in the upādhi called prakṛti, made of the three guṇas, yet has no contact with its pleasure, pain and other qualities; that is the lordship of Īśvara.
• Śrī Śuka Maharshi taught that neither prakṛti, the cause of the world, nor the world, its effect, is other than Śrī Hari; that Parama-purusha is the kshetrajña who sees the body, senses and mind of all beings. Prakṛti, the mahat and ahaṅkāra are imagined in Parabrahman, which is not different from the ātmā.
• Bhagavān Vishṇu taught Brahmā that when a person is established in the conscious Self, beyond time and beyond prakṛti, his delusion goes; he casts off “I” and “mine” and stays beyond the guṇas. In Vaikuṇṭha, which Brahmā was shown, the twenty-five tattvas served Śrī Hari: prakṛti, purusha, ahaṅkāra, the mahat-tattva, the five karmendriyas, the five jñānendriyas, the inner faculty, the five mahābhūtas and their five tanmātras.
• In the Rudra Gīta, Bhagavān Śiva told the Pracetases: “Bhagavān Vāsudeva is beyond prakṛti, which is subtle and made of the three guṇas, and beyond the jīva-tattva. Whoever takes refuge in him directly is surely dear to me.” Śrī Hari has none of the movement of prakṛti and is beyond her modifications. Parabrahma entered the bodies he made, which are like cities, and so the jñānīs call him Purusha, the dweller in the city; through ajñāna that Purusha enjoys by the senses small pleasures, like the honey that bees gather.
• At Nābhi‘s yajña the ṛtvijas praised Śrī Hari as Īśvara beyond Prakṛti and the jīvas, whom no one bound by the guṇas can describe with worldly name and form. Bhagavān Ṛshabha, of endless power, said he is beyond prakṛti, the cause of all; knowing the distinction of prakṛti and purusha and steady in the Self, he placed no “I” or “mine” on his body of five elements.
• Prahlāda taught that Bhagavān Vishṇu is present in the three guṇas, in the mahat-tattva born of their imbalance, and in prakṛti, their balance; and that the Purusha, consciousness pervading the whole visible world, is one.
• The Prajāpatis, praising Bhagavān Śiva at the time of the Hālāhala, called him the true tattva of name and form and the ground of the three-stranded Prakṛti.
• Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva, freed from Nārada‘s śāpa, praised Śrī Kṛshṇa as prakṛti of three guṇas, the mahat born of her, and the full witness-consciousness that is her ground. Brahmā praised him as the cause even of prakṛti, so that nothing is not Kṛshṇa; and as Akrūra came to Gokula, Śrī Śuka Maharshi taught that Śrī Hari and Saṅkarshaṇa, beyond time, are Purusha and Prakṛti, the cause of the world, descended in full form as Śrī Kṛshṇa and Balarāma.
• Akrūra praised him: the svarūpa of the Parabrahman is consciousness, and by upādhis it becomes jīva, Īśvara and Prakṛti; the Purusha joined with Māyā is called Īśvara. Mucukunda praised him as undivided consciousness beyond prakṛti, with no touch of saṃsāra, no guṇas and no second. Bhūdevī praised him: “You are Kāla, Prakṛti and the jīva.”
• Rukmiṇī said to Śrī Kṛshṇa: “You are ātmārāma and have no special regard for me; but may love for your feet be mine! At the time of creation you take up intense rajas and look towards me, Prakṛti. That itself is great grace to us.”
• In the Veda-stuti the śrutis praised Śrī Hari: “Prakṛti has no birth; Purusha has no birth. But by the union of the two, beings are born with various names and guṇas, as bubbles are born when water meets air; and they dissolve into you, the supreme cause, as rivers into the sea and the juices of flowers into honey.”

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 11; Skandha 2, Chapters 2, 9; Skandha 4, Chapter 24; Skandha 5, Chapters 3, 5; Skandha 7, Chapters 6–7; Skandha 8, Chapter 7; Skandha 10, Chapters 10, 14, 38, 40, 51, 59–60, 87

Merging into Prakṛti and beyond

• When Yudhishṭhira left the kingdom, the contemplative Dharmarāja merged his body of five elements into the three-guṇa Prakṛti, Prakṛti into avidyā, avidyā into the jīva, and the jīva into imperishable Brahman.
• The yogī who leaves by krama-mukti, when his subtle body has merged in prakṛti, is freed from the upādhi and with prakṛti merges in the changeless, blissful Paramātmā.
• The gross form of the brahmāṇḍa is covered outside by eight tattvas: earth, water, fire, vāyu, ākāśa, ahaṅkāra, mahat and prakṛti, each, Maitreya says, ten times greater than the one within, and ahaṅkāra, the mahat and prakṛti are the outermost coverings. Brahmā, praising Śrī Kṛshṇa, called the brahmāṇḍa a pot enclosed by prakṛti, the mahat, ahaṅkāra and the five elements.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 15; Skandha 2, Chapters 2, 10; Skandha 3, Chapter 11; Skandha 10, Chapter 14

Other teachings

• Brahmā told Bhagavān Śiva that the jagat arises only from the union of prakṛti and purusha.
• Śrī Śuka Maharshi taught that the jagat is a transformation of Prakṛti, made of the three guṇas, and that the hosts of the nakshatras too are made by the union of prakṛti and purusha, their course fixed by former karma.
• The Yamadūtas told the Vishṇudūtas that no one can stay a moment without karma: made dependent by the vāsanās of the mind, the product of prakṛti, a man is forced to act.
• Nārada said of Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva‘s pride that the body, born of prakṛti and dissolving into prakṛti, belongs to so many, and only a fool takes it as “I” and kills animals for its sake.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 6; Skandha 5, Chapters 1, 23; Skandha 6, Chapter 1; Skandha 10, Chapter 10

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

Per Bhavishya Purāṇa

Bhagavān Sūrya’s teaching on the Purusha

In the Brahma Parva, Brahmā tells Yājñavalkya of a dawn when he praised Bhagavān Sūrya and Sūrya appeared, bowed in bhakti, as one worshipping. Brahmā asked what deva Sūrya himself worships, and Sūrya told him the secret. The Paramātmā is subtle, unmanifest, unmoving and eternal, the antarātmā of all beings, beyond the three guṇas. He is called Kshetrajña, for he knows all the kshetras. He lies in the unmanifest pura, and so he is called Purusha. That ancient one also bears the name Mahāpurusha.

As rain takes different tastes from each soil, so the Parama Purusha, taking on upādhis of different guṇas, takes form in different ways. Apart from him, called Īśāna, Purusha and Bīja, nothing moving or unmoving in the world is eternal. From him alone arose the avyakta of the three guṇas, the cause of all creation. The avyakta in its unmanifest state is called Prakṛti, of the nature of sat and asat, and it is the door of creation for Brahman.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 67

The stirring of Prakṛti and Purusha

Brahmā tells Yājñavalkya that when there is stirring in Prakṛti and Purusha, who are eternal, all-pervading, first in the making of the world and great, the brahmāṇḍa is created. The cause of this creation is the Paramātmā, who has no other cause. By his own līlā he takes on Prakṛti-hood and Purusha-hood and composes this vast world-form as his own thought.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 66

Sumantu Muni tells Śatānīka how Brahmā taught the ṛshis Kriyā Yoga. This perishable world, with its seven coverings beginning with earth, and the imperishable Brahma-vastu are Pradhāna and Purusha. Because the two are in the all-pervading creation, they are known as one.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 61

Brahmā tells the ṛshis of the first appearance of Bhagavān Sūrya. When all things moving and unmoving had perished and the worlds were filled with darkness, the guṇa in Prakṛti came into action. First there arose Buddhi, and from Buddhi the Ahaṃkāra that sets the mahābhūtas in motion.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 123

Prakṛti and Purusha in the order of the coverings

Sumantu says that above the earth stands the mountain Lokāloka, then the aṇḍa-kapāla, the shell of the aṇḍa, then the bhūtas, agni, vāyu, ākāśa and the rest. Beyond them are mahat and ahaṃkāra, then prakṛti, then purusha, and beyond purusha Īśvara, who in this chapter is Bhagavān Sūrya. Telling it again, he gives the order agni, vāyu, ākāśa, the bhūtādi, mahat, pradhāna, prakṛti, purusha, and above purusha Īśvara, who fills the whole jagat.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 126

In the Uttara Parva, Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that earth is enveloped by water, water by tejas, tejas by vāyu and vāyu by ākāśa. Ākāśa is pervaded by ahaṃkāra, ahaṃkāra by the Mahat-tattva, the Mahat-tattva by Prakṛti, and Prakṛti by the imperishable Purusha.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 2

The eight prakṛtis and the sixteen vikṛtis

Śrī Sūta tells the munis that eight are prakṛti, those that bring forth another: prakṛti, buddhi, ahaṅkāra and the tanmātras of rūpa, rasa, gandha, śabda and sparśa. The sixteen vikṛtis are the five mahābhūtas, the five jñānendriyas, the five karmendriyas and manas. These are the prakṛti of nothing, because nothing is born from them. The objects of the five indriyas are śabda of the ear, sparśa of the skin, rūpa of the eye, rasa of the tongue and gandha of the nose.

Three guṇas are told, sattva, rajas and tamas. Prakṛti is of three guṇas, and the whole moving and unmoving universe born of her is also of three guṇas. Ṛshi Svadarśī, the Paramātmā, first brought forth prakṛti, and from that prakṛti Brahmā was born together with Vishṇu.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 2–3

Creation and pralaya

Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that from avyakta Prakṛti arose the Mahat-tattva, Buddhi. From the Mahat-tattva arose ahaṃkāra of three guṇas, from ahaṃkāra the pañca-tanmātrā, from these the five mahābhūtas, and from the bhūtas the moving and unmoving world.

There are four kinds of pralaya: naimittika, prākṛta, ātyantika and nitya. That from which this world arises is that into which it dissolves. As the flowers and fruits of trees come in keeping with the season, so the world arises and dissolves in its own time. By deeds harmful or harmless, gentle or cruel, dharma or adharma, true or false, jīvas gain many yonis (births) in this world.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 2

Prakṛti in the mother and in the sacred book

• In the mantra of vandana to the mother, she is of the form of Parā Prakṛti.
• In the honouring of a Purāṇa book, the leaves are Bhagavān Brahmā, the letters Janārdana, the mātrās on the letters the imperishable Prakṛti, the script Maheśa, and the mātrās of the script Sarasvatī.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 6–8

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, Skandha 1, Chapters 10–11, 15; Skandha 2, Chapters 2, 5, 9–10; Skandha 3, Chapters 5, 10–11, 20, 24–29, 31–33; Skandha 4, Chapters 6, 11, 24; Skandha 5, Chapters 1, 3, 5, 23; Skandha 6, Chapter 1; Skandha 7, Chapters 6–7; Skandha 8, Chapter 7; Skandha 10, Chapters 10, 14, 38, 40, 51, 59–60, 87; Skandha 11, Chapters 9, 19, 22, 24–25, 27–28; Skandha 12, Chapters 7, 12
• 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
• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 61, 66–67, 123, 126; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 2–3, 6–8; Uttara Parva, Chapter 2