Purusha-Prakrithi Jnanam

Gita essays – 23

Arjuna wanted to know from Lord Krishna about the six technical terms used in Vedanta; Kshertam, Kshetrajna, Jnanam, Jneyam, Prakrithi and Purusha. After explaining the first four terms Lord starts talking about Prakrithi and Purusha from verse 20 of chapter 13.  Lord has already explained in Chapter7 (Gita essays-11) the two aspects of His nature as Brahman; Para prakrithi, the higher principle and Apara prakrithi the lower principle and both of them are beginningless and eternal.  He has also further revealed that the changing matter principle constitutes the Apara prakrithi and the changeless Consciousness principle the Para prakrithi.  Now in this chapter Lord is talking about Apara prakrithi as Prakrithi and Para prakrithi as Purusha,  So from this we can see that both Purusha and Prakrithi are beginningless and also that both of them together constitute the cause of the universe.

Everything in the creation is born out of Prakr̥thi and this includes the body, mind complex also.  Not only the body- mind complex but also all the conditions of the body-mind complex, favourable and unfavourable like pleasure and pain, form part of the Prakrithi.  Purusha, as the unchanging witness lending sentiency to the body-mind complex, appears to experience all the conditions of body-mind complex as a silent witness associated with the body-mind complex. So Lord explains in verse 23 “Purusha dwelling in the body is the same as Supreme. He is also called as the Witness, the Approver, the Supporter, the Experiencer (as the embodied Purusha), the great Lord and the Supreme Self”.  Purusha, as Supreme is everywhere including every Prakrithi enclosure of body.  We can see from this that Purusha is one and changeless, Prakrithi is many and changing; Purusha is attributeless. Prakrithi is with attributes; Purusha is beyond the influence of three Gunas, Satvam, Rajas and Tamas, Prakrithi functions under the influence of the three Gunas. 

Lord has pointed out earlier in verse 2 & 3, “This body is termed as Kshetra  and ---------- Know Myself as Kshetrajna in all Kshetras”   From this we can see that both Purusha and Kshetrajna are synonyms and refer to Athma and both  Prakrithi and Kshetra are synonyms and refer to anathma.  Lord has also stated earlier in verse 3 “O Arjuna! Knowledge of both the Kshetra(Prakrithi) and the Kshetrjna(Purusha) is considered by Me to be the Real knowledge”. Under Jnanam Lord had earlier discussed only the moral qualities and virtues that prepare the mind for  assimilating the Jnanam.  And now Lord gives more of the knowledge of Kshetram (Prakrithi) and Kshtrajna (Purusha) and the benefit of this Jnanam, which He calls Real knowledge..

In verse 27 Lord states “Whatever being, moving or stationary, is born --- know that to be out of the union of Kṣhetram (Prakrithi) and Khṣetrajna (Purusha), Oh, Arjuna !”

The union between the Prakrithi and Purusha is not of any physical kind or of any material nature but it is one of superimposition, called Adhyasa.  In every superimposition a delusion is recognized upon the substratum just like a ghost on the post where the non-existent ghost comes into existence and the existing post gives place to non-existent ghost.  Here the Prakrithi which has no independent existence and so mithya is superimposed on Purusha, Pure consciousness, which only has independent existence and is Satyam. This relationship conjures up the phenomenon of the material world, consisting of the moving and non-moving and also the insentient body being mistaken for the sentient Self and vice versa. This confusion is cleared when the illusion disappears due to Jnanam, the knowledge of Purusha and Prakrithi. So Lord states in the next verse, verse 28, “He who sees the supreme Lord who dwells alike in all beings and who is imperishable as the unperishing within the perishing, (alone really) sees”.

Samsara and resultant cycle of birth and death occurs due to ignorance of Real knowledge (Jnanam).  Lord calls this cycle as destroying Self by self and remarks that this Real knowledge, Jnanam, frees one from this cycle.  Jnanam consists of seeing that all actions are performed by Prakrithi alone and Purusha is actionless and that  Purusha is only the witness, not the doer; the spectator, not the actor.  This Jnanam is complete when one understands that the multiplicity of names and forms arise from the Purusha only and spread to become the Universe. In short as Kaivalya Upanishad (1-19) says “In me alone everything is born; in me does everything rest; and in me is everthing dissolved.  I am that Brahman (Purusha) secondless.”  The same is echoed in the Chandogya Upanishad (VII.xxvi.1) “From the Self (Purusha) is life, from the Self is desire, from the Self is love, from the Self is akasa, from the Self is light, from the Self are the waters --------”. When the variety of nature and its development are traced to the Eternal One, one assumes eternity. He realizes the all pervading nature of the Self, as the cause of all limitation has been destroyed by the knowledge of unity with Brahman and he becomes a Jivanmuktha.

Lord also states in verse 32 “Being birthless and attributeless, this supreme Self is changeless. Though dwelling in the body, it neither acts nor is affected.”  In next two verses 33 & 34, Lord compares Purusha with space and sun to illustrate the point that Purusha is one only and is unaffected by the activities of Prakrithi though it is closely associated with it as Self in the body. “Just as the all pervading space is not affected due to its subtlety, so also, the Self (Purusha), which is present in everybody (Prakrithi), is not affected.  (13-33).   “Just as one Sun illumines the entire world, so also does the Kshetrajna (Purusha) illumines the entire Kṣhetraṁ (Prakrithi), O Arjuna.”  (13-34).

Space is the subtlest of all gross elements and hence pervades everything that is grosser than it. Though everything remain in it, yet nothing that it contains can contaminate it. Brahman, the Supreme Self which is the cause of the very Space is subtler than Space. So Brahman (Purusha) pervades all and nothing pervades It and It is not affected by anything that exists or is happening in the world of plurality. Just like the sun, the Consciousness merely illumines the world of objects, the body, the mind and the intellect. Lighting of the world by the sun is not an activity undertaken by sun as light itself is the very nature of the sun and in its light everything gets illumined. Similarly, the nature of Consciousness is awareness and in Its presence everything becomes known i.e., illumined. The sun illumines everything, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, virtue and vice etc. So too, in our inner life, Consciousness functions through body equipments and illumines them but never gets contaminated by the actions of the body or by the emotions of the mind or by the thoughts of the intellect.

Those who imbibe this Jnanam regarding Purusha and Prakrithi and liberation from Prakrithi, through steadfast and sincere practice of either Jnana Yoga or Dhyana Yoga or Karma Yoga or Bhakthi Yoga, attain the Supreme, assures the Lord before discussing this Jnanam. 

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Shraddha

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in Gita (4 – 39):

श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः। (Shraddhaavaan labhate jnaanam tatparah samyatendriyah)
The man who has Shraddha, is diligent and has control over the organs, attains Self-Knowledge.

Shraddha is translated in English as faith.  Though the meaning encompasses faith, the real import of Shraddha is much more than that of faith.  Shraddha is defined in the prakarana grantha,Tattva Bodha, as ‘गुरुवेदान्तवाक्यादिषु विश्वा्वासः श्रद्धा’ (Guru vedantavakyadiṣhu visvasaha shraddha) i.e. ‘Faith in the words of the Guru and in the Scriptures’).  Swami Paramarthananda explains that this faith is not blind faith but “a non-critical open-minded approach giving the benefit of the doubt to the teacher or the scriptures until I understand. That humility, Shraddha involves, implies freedom from intellectual arrogance. Intellectual arrogance is a very big obstacle for scriptural studies”.  Further Shraddha enables one to look upon Sastras as a Pramana, a means of knowledge, and have faith in Guru Upadesa and only with this positive attitude along with devotion and sense-control one can attain Self-knowledge.  That is why Sri Sankara defines Shraddha as ‘asthikya buddhi’, positive frame of mind.  The positive frame of mind in this study is that one has faith in the existence  of the thing one seeks to know and in the validity of the means of knowledge one employs and on one’s ability to know, free of cynicism or skepticism. 

In the West, faith is also narrowly interpreted to mean one’s religion.  The usual meaning of faith is that which one has belief in, with conviction.  Trust, confidence, belief, expectations, assumptions and inferences are all aspects of the usual meaning of faith. So there is no person without faith and this faith influences one’s vision of life which in turn influences one’s thoughts, actions and desires.  True faith is self-existing.  It is sustained by itself either by intuition or belief, but rarely needs an external proof.  Reason may sustain faith; but true faith needs neither proof nor reason, only belief in the thing to be true.

In Hinduism faith in God, scriptures, Guru, Dharma, Karma, Moksha etc., are upheld as highest virtues. Since God is invisible and beyond the scope of verification by the senses, Hindu tradition lays down that Vedas are the means to know Him and his Laws like Dharma and Karma, holding Vedas as the God-given manual for the conduct of  human life.  Since they are not subject to rational or empirical verification, one has to have faith in the scriptures, in the practice of Dharma and in striving for Moksha. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad  (3.9.21) declares that the resting ground of faith is the heart (Hridaye eva Shraddha prathishtitha bhavathi). Faith sustains devotion and devotion is necessary along with Jnanam to attain Liberation. And one needs faith as Shraddha not only in the practice of religion but to gain proficiency in any field.  As faith influences one’s thinking and action, it also influences one’s behaviour. So  Lord Krishna states in Gita(17-3), using Shraddha in the basic meaning of faith only, “as a person’s Shraddha is, so is the person” (yo yacchraddhah sa eva sah).

According to Hinduism the patterns of human behaviour and attitude are influenced by the prevailing dominant Guna. The Gunas are three in number; Satva, Rajas and Tamas and they are born of Prakrithi, nature.  They are present in everyone and everything, only it is the proportion that is different.  A person’s attitude, thoughts and action depends upon the predominant Guna.  Predominance of Satva is characterised by harmony, selflessness, peace and knowledge and a Satvic person is gentle, peace-loving and knowledge-oriented.  Predominance of Rajas is characterised by energy, action, ambition and competitiveness and a Rajasic person is extrovert, ambitious and action-oriented.  Predominance of Tamas is characterised by inertia, inactivity, harshness and selfishness and a Tamasic person is lethargic, selfish, harsh, cruel and negativity-oriented. Shraddha as faith, also comes under this three-fold classification as Lord Krishna describes in Gita (17-2):

त्रिविधा भवति श्रद्धा देहिनां सा स्वभावजा। (Trividhaa bhavati shraddhaa dehinaam saa swabhaavajaa)
सात्त्विकी राजसी चैव तामसी चेति तां श्रृणु।। (Saattwikee raajasee chaiva taamasee cheti taam shrunu.)

Threefold is the faith of the embodied beings, which is inherent in their nature; Satvic, Rajasic and Tamasic. Hear about it (now).

Lord Krishna classifying faith in three groups, Satvic, Rajasic and Tamasic, goes on to enumerate how it is reflected in their life-style; performance of worship and sacrifices, in food habits, austerities and charities. Let us see this in respect of worship, sacrifices and austerities.  Satvic person worships, performs sacrifices and observes austerities, all for a higher goal. His/her faith is selfless and free from expectations.  A Rajasic person worships, performs sacrifices and observes austerities, all for a selfish goal. His/her faith is selfish and conditional. A Tamasic person worships and performs sacrifices without any sincerity, more as a routine and even with a harmful motive. His/her faith is manipulative and destructive. 

Shraddha comes under Satvic faith as the person’s actions are oriented towards the higher goal of Moksha and towards Jnanam that is the sadhanam for Moksha.  So we can give a simple definition to Shraddha as Satvic faith with a positive frame of mind.  And it is the Shraddah that is the motivating factor when we undertake any kind of action for the first time that gives us the confidence to succeed, even for the votaries of science who swear by reason only.

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