Thursday, December 25, 2008

Purusha and Prakriti in the Gita

Here are the occurances of Purusha (purushha) and Prakriti (prakR^iti) in the Gita, the verses and their translation by Swami Gambhirananda, and my notes.



purushha

  1. ya.n hi na vyathayantyete purushhaM purushharshhabha .
    samaduHkhasukha.n dhiira.n so.amR^itatvaaya kalpate .. 2.15..


    O (Arjuna, who are) foremost among men, verily, the person whom these do not torment, the wise man to whom sorrow and happhiness are the same-he is fit for Immortality.

    [Here the two uses refer to persons and an epithet for Arjuna.]

  2. vedaavinaashina.n nitya.n ya enamajamavyayam.h .
    katha.n sa purushhaH paartha ka.n ghaatayati hanti kam.h .. 2.21..


    O Partha, he who knows this One as indestructible, eternal, birthless and undecaying, how and whom does that person kill, or whom does he cause to be killed!

    [This use is about a person who knows the ephermeality of the Body-Mind-complex, as the eternal nature of the Self.]

  3. yatato hyapi kaunteya purushhasya vipashchitaH .
    indriyaaNi pramaathiini haranti prasabhaM manaH .. 2.60..


    For, O son of Kunti, the turbulent organs violently snatch away the mind of an intelligent person, even while he is striving diligently.

    [An intelligent person is only in the secular level. If He was truly Vedantic, he would have known how to control the indriyas.]

  4. na karmaNaamanaarambhaannaishhkarmyaM purushho.ashnute .
    na cha sa.nnyasanaadeva siddhi.n samadhigachchhati .. 3.4..


    A person does not attain freedom from action by abstaining from action; nor does he attain fulfilment merely through renunciation.

    [Again, this use is about a person who does not know the technique of proper Vedantic action.]

  5. arjuna uvaacha .

    ki.n tad.h brahma kimadhyaatma.n kiM karma purushhottama .
    adhibhuuta.n cha kiM proktamadhidaivaM kimuchyate .. 8.1..


    O supreme person, what is that Brahman? What is that which exists in the individual plane? What is action? And what is that which is said to exist in the physical plane? What is that which is said to be existing in the divine plane?

    [One of the instances when Arjuna addresses the Lord, knowing that He is the Self in all Beings.]

  6. adhibhuutaM ksharo bhaavaH purushhashchaadhidaivatam.h .
    adhiyaGYo.ahamevaatra dehe dehabhR^itaa.n vara .. 8.4..


    That which exists in the physical plane is the mutable entity, and what exists in the divine plane is the Person. O best among the embodied beings, I Myself am the entity that exists in the sacrifice in this body.

    The terse reply to the question of Arjuna, explaining the divine nature of the Self. This will be explained later, culminating in the final verses of Chapter 15. Also, here it is the Lord who recognizes Arjuna as the Best among all Men. Who else would be fit for such teaching?]


  7. abhyaasayogayuktena chetasaa naanyagaaminaa .
    paramaM purushhaM divya.n yaati paarthaanuchintayan.h .. 8.8..


    O son of Prtha, by meditating with a mind which is engaged in the yoga of practice and which does not stray away to anything else, one reaches the supreme Person existing in the effulgent region.

    [The goal is the supreme person. The means is practice, determination and dispassion.]

  8. prayaaNakaale manasaa.achalena
    bhaktyaa yukto yogabalena chaiva .
    bhruvormadhye praaNamaaveshya samyak.h
    sa taM paraM purushhamupaiti divyam.h .. 8.10..


    At the time of death, having fully fixed the Prana (vita force) between the eyebrows with an unswerving mind, and being imbued with devotion as also the strength of concentration, he reaches that resplendent supreme person.

    [Again, the goal is the Person described in many Vedic Hymns. The power of Yoga which the aspirant has accumulated over His/Her lifetime comes to use at the time of departure. This is in cases of aspirants who have not attained jIvanmukti in this lifetime, as is the goal of Upanishads. They go to higher worlds and eventually reach the final state of Moksha.

    Even if the person has other thoughts at that time, the path traversed till then does not go waste. He reaches the goal eventually. The story of Jada Bharatha is an illustration.]

  9. purushhaH sa paraH paartha bhaktyaa labhyastvananyayaa .
    yasyaantaHsthaani bhuutaani yena sarvamidaM tatam.h .. 8.22..


    O son of Prtha, that supreme Person-in whom are included (all) the beings and by whom all this is pervaded-is, indeed, reached through one-pointed devotion.

    [Here Purusha means Brahman, with Bhakti being clearly stated as a means to reach it.]

  10. ashraddadhaanaaH purushhaa dharmasyaasya para.ntapa .
    apraapya maa.n nivartante mR^ityusa.nsaaravartmani .. 9.3..


    O destroyer of foes, persons who are regardless of this Dharma (knowledge of the Self) certainly go round and round, without reaching Me, along the path of transmigration which is fraught with death.

    [Here, Purusha refers to common-folks who are caught up in the cycle of births and deaths.]

  11. arjuna uvaacha .
    paraM brahma paraM dhaama pavitraM paramaM bhavaan.h .
    purushhaM shaashvataM divyamaadidevamajaM vibhum.h .. 10.12..


    You are the supreme Brahman, the supreme Light, the supreme Sanctifier. All the sages as also the divine sage Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa call You the eternal divine Person, the Primal God, the Birthless, the Omnipresent; and You Yourself verily tell me (so).

    [Arjuna again recognizes Lord Krishna to be the eternal Brahman.]

  12. svayamevaatmanaatmaanaM vettha tvaM purushhottama .
    bhuutabhaavana bhuutesha devadeva jagatpate .. 10.15..


    O supreme Person, the Creator of beings, the Lord of beings, God of gods, the Lord of the worlds, You Yourself alone know Yourself by Yourself.

    [Again, recognition by Arjuna of Lord Krishna as the Brahman.]

  13. evametadyathaattha tvamaatmaanaM parameshvara .
    drashhTumichchhaami te ruupamaishvaraM purushhottama .. 11.3..


    O supreme Lord, so it is, as You speak about Yourself. O supreme Person, I wish to see the divine form of Yours.

  14. tvamaksharaM paramaM veditavya.n
    tvamasya vishvasya paraM nidhaanam.h .
    tvamavyayaH shaashvatadharmagoptaa
    sanaatanastvaM purushho mato me .. 11.18..


    You are the Immutable, the supreme One to be known; You are the most perfect repository of this Universe. You are the Imperishable, the Protector of the ever-existing religion; You are the eternal Person. This is my belief.

  15. tvamaadidevaH purushhaH puraaNaH
    tvamasya vishvasya paraM nidhaanam.h .
    vettaasi vedya.n cha para.n cha dhaama
    tvayaa tataM vishvamanantaruupa .. 11.38..


    You are the primal Deity, the eternal Person; You are the supreme Resort of this world. You are the knower as also the object of knowledge, and the supreme Abode. O You of infinite forms, the Universe is pervaded by You!

    [The above two are *key verses* in the prayer to the Lord by Arjuna. The sanaatana-purushha and purAna-purushha seem appropriate for the Brahman which is beyond time.

    I have made the correction to make purANa of 11.38 to be the same as sanAtana of 11.18. The translation in the book uses the word 'ancient', which is less appropriate. (another example for translation of purANa is verse na jaayate mriyate vaa kada (2.20)). ]

  16. arjuna uvaacha .
    prakR^itiM purushha.n chaiva kshetra.n kshetraGYameva cha .
    etadveditumichchhaami GYaanaM GYeya.n cha keshava .. 13.1..


    O Keshava, I wish to learn about Prakriti and Purusha, Kshetra, Kshetrajna and also the Knowledge and that which is to be known.

    [Arjuna is asking about six entities at the beginning of Chapter 13. Abstractly, he wants to learn more about the discrimination between matter and spirit. Either the different words used could mean "please explain to me the different aspects of separation between the inert-matter and the consciousness entity" or it could also mean "explain the difference at local and cosmic level", with Prakriti and Purusha being the cosmic level terms and the Kshetra and Kshetrajna being the individual-level terms. These would be explained in chapters 13, 14 and 15. Some aspects have already been explained earlier.Translation by Swami Chinmayananda.]

  17. prakR^itiM purushha.n chaiva vidyanaadi ubhaavapi .
    vikaaraa.nshcha guNaa.nshchaiva viddhi prakR^itisaMbhavaan.h ..
    13.20..


    Know both Nature and also the individual soul to be verily without beginning; know the modifications as also the qualities as born of Nature.

    [Here Purusha means the individual-soul (Jiva). The Lord explains that there is no beginning for both (Prakriti and Purusha). It is however possible to leave the "concept of Jiva" and attain the aatma-bhaava. (Atma is not merely a concept, it is the substratum of all concepts.) Then immortality ensures.]

  18. kaaryakaaraNakartR^itve hetuH prakR^itiruchyate .
    purushhaH sukhaduHkhaanaaM bhoktR^itve heturuchyate .. 13.21..


    With regard to the source of body and organs, Nature is said to be the cause. The soul is the cause so far as enjoyership of happiness and sorrow is concerned.

    [The doer is just the Prakriti and its Gunas. The Jiva is one who has beginning-less association with the Gunas. Hence it becomes a bhokta due to this association. The Atma is non-doer and non-enjoyer. So is the Jiva who has totally identified with it.]

  19. purushhaH prakR^itistho hi bhuN^.hkte prakR^itijaanguNaan.h .
    kaaraNaM guNasaN^go.asya sadasadyonijanmasu .. 13.22..


    Since the soul is seated in Nature, therefore it experiences the qualities born of Nature. Contact with the qualities is the cause of its births in good and evil wombs.

    [Jiva is Jiva so long as it considers itself a Jiva (Refer Prof. VK's "Who is a Doer" article). Enjoyment of the sense-organs continues its death and birth. Beyond these dualities is the Atma.]

  20. upadrashhTaanumantaa cha bhartaa bhoktaa maheshvaraH .
    paramaatmeti chaapyukto dehe.asminpurushhaH paraH .. 13.23..


    He who is the Witness, the Permitter, the Sustainer, the Experiencer, the great Lord, and who is also spoken of as the transcendental Self is the supreme Person in this body.

    [The Self is the actionless inactive close witness of everything that happens. It permits the happenings, as without it, no action takes place (without it, everything else is inert). It hence sustains it as Vishnu sustains the worlds. He is the experiencer because due to it, the mental states like "I am Happy, I am sad" come into existence. He is Lord because it is He that allows all these happenings.]

  21. ya evaM vetti purushhaM prakR^iti.n cha guNaiH saha .
    sarvathaa vartamaano.api na sa bhuuyo.abhijaayate .. 13.24..


    He who knows thus the Person and Nature along with the qualities will not be born again, in whatever way he may live.

    [This discrimination is the greatest of all Knowledge, as it liberates one from the cycle of births and deaths.]

  22. tataH padaM tatparimaargitavyaM
    yasmingataa na nivartanti bhuuyaH .
    tameva chaadyaM purushhaM prapadye .
    yataH pravR^ittiH prasR^itaa puraaNii .. 15.4..


    Thereafter, that State has to be sought for, going where they do not return again: I take refuge in that Primeval Person Himself, from whom has ensued the eternal Manifestation.

    [Purusha is the final goal, obtaining which there is no return to the ephermeal universe. The means is Sharanam, surrender to the all encompassing one and recognizing it as One's own inner Self.]

  23. dvaavimau purushhau loke ksharashchaakshara eva cha .
    ksharaH sarvaaNi bhuutaani kuuTastho.akshara uchyate .. 15.16..


    There are these two persons in the world-the mutable and the immutable. The mutable consists of all things; the one existing as Maya is called the immutable.

    [The two Purushas. The Vedic and Upanishadic "two birds" also worth remembering here. The lower Purusha does duties and attaches Himself to the results and is hence entangled in the lower Nature. The Higher is just an observer. Or He is the Ishvara in the Maya Frame. Beyond these two is the substratum of all. The being of all beings. The eternal "is-ness". Both the kshara and akshara Purusha are that, with different levels, called Upaadhis. When Upadhis cease to exist, Brahman just is.]

  24. uttamaH purushhastvanyaH paramaatmetyudhaahR^itaH .
    yo lokatrayamaavishya bibhartyavyaya iishvaraH .. 15.17..


    But different is the supreme Person who is spoken of as the transcendental Self, who, permeating the three worlds, upholds (them), and is the imperisahble God.

    [Brahman permeates the three worlds, and upholds them. Because It is the is-ness of the concept of worlds. "Jiva is controlled by Ishvara in Maya" is a true statement. Beyond Jiva is the existence of Jiva (is-ness of Jiva). Beyond Ishvara-Maya framework, which is but a controlling/controller power is the "is-ness" of either of them. That is Brahman, which is called Brahman by the Seers of the Vedas.]

  25. yasmaatksharamatiito.ahamaksharaadapi chottamaH .
    ato.asmi loke vedecha prathitaH purushhottamaH .. 15.18..


    Since I am transcendental to the mutable and above even the immutable, hence I am well known in the world and in the Vedas as the supreme Person.

    [Brahman is hence the supreme Person.]

  26. yo maamevamasaMmuuDho jaanaatipurushhottamam.h .
    sa sarvavidbhajati maaM sarvabhaavena bhaarata .. 15.19..


    O scion of the Bharata dynasty, he who, being free from delusion, knows Me the supreme Person thus, he is all-knowing and adores Me with his whole being.

    [One who knows Brahman becomes Brahman. This is the last use of Purusha in the sense of Brahman.]

  27. sattvaanuruupaa sarvasya shraddhaa bhavati bhaarata .
    shraddhaamayo.ayaM purushho yo yachchhraddhaH sa eva saH .. 17.3..


    O scion of the Bharata dynasty, the faith of all beings is in accordance with their minds. This person is made up of faith as the dominant factor. He is verily what his faith is.

    [Here it is people and faiths.]

  28. nishchayaM shR^iNu me tatra tyaage bharatasattama .
    tyaago hi purushhavyaaghra trividhaH samprakiirtitaH .. 18.4..


    O the most excellent among the descendants of Bharata, hear from Me the firm conclusion regarding that tyaga. For, O greatest among men, tyaga has been clearly declared to be of three kinds.

    [Arjuna is clearly the best among Men.]



prakR^iti: Here are the occurences of Prakriti in Gita.


  1. na hi kashchitkshaNamapi jaatu tishhThatyakarmakR^it.h .
    kaaryate hyavashaH karma sarvaH prakR^itijairguNaiH .. 3.5..


    Because, no one ever remains even for a moment without doing work. For all are made to work under compulsion by the gunas born of Nature.

    [The association of Jiva and Prakriti has been since immemorial times. Hence the Jiva keeps doing works driven by the Gunas, which are in turn born of Prakriti.]

  2. prakR^iteH kriyamaaNaani guNaiH karmaaNi sarvashaH .
    ahaN^kaaravimuuDhaatmaa kartaahamiti manyate .. 3.27..


    While actions are being done in every way by the gunas (qualities) of Nature, one who is deluded by egoism thinks thus: 'I am the doer.'

  3. prakR^iterguNasaMmuuDhaaH sajjante guNakarmasu .
    taanakR^itsnavido mandaankR^itsnavinna vichaalayet.h .. 3.29..


    Those who are wholly deluded by the gunas of Nature become attached to the activities of the gunas. The knower of the All should not disturb those of dull intellect, who do not know the All.

    [One who knows that the doer is akarta and abhokta, should not disturb the ignorant masses too much. This is because it can give rise to false sense of ahamkaara, which causes more problems (What use will a ignorant person make of E=mc^2? He will use it destructively. The same is the case with TAT-TVAM-ASI.). He, the knower, should instead set an example by acting in karma-yoga fashion. This is so that others follow him in a gradual fashion.]

  4. sadR^isha.n cheshhTate svasyaaH prakR^iterGYaanavaanapi .
    prakR^iti.n yaanti bhuutaani nigrahaH kiM karishhyati .. 3.33..


    Even a man of wisdom behaves according to his own nature. Being follow (their) nature. What can restraint do?

    [The classic question of "Fate Vs. Free Will". Restraint cannot stop the sense organs from their sense-objects. It is knowledge, with vairaagya, that causes their proper separation. Remember the story of yayaati.]

  5. ajo.api sannavyayaatmaa bhuutaanaamiishvaro.api san.h .
    prakR^iti.n svaamadhishhThaaya saMbhavaamyaatmamaayayaa .. 4.6..


    Though I am birthless, undecaying by nature, and the Lord of beings, (still) by subjugating My Prakriti, I take birth by means of My own Maya.

    [Also see 9. on the non-doer-doership, birth and works of the Lord. By the equivalence, One who knows the Lord to be the Self, also truly knows that He is a non-doer. It is the Prakriti which does things. This is the true knowledge.]

  6. bhuumiraapo.analo vaayuH khaM mano buddhireva cha .
    aha.nkaara itiiyaM me bhinnaa prakR^itirashhTadhaa .. 7.4..


    This Prakrti of Mine is divided eight-fold thus: earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and also egoism.

    [The lower nature at cosmic level, that has the Eight fold division. Also see chapter 13 for a similar division, at individual level.]

  7. apareyamitastvanyaaM prakR^iti.n viddhi me paraam.h .
    jiivabhuutaaM mahaabaaho yayedaM dhaaryate jagat.h .. 7.5..


    O mighty-armed one, this is the inferior (Prakrti). Know the other Prakrti of Mine which, however, is higher than this, which has taken the from of individual souls, and by which this world is upheld.

    [The Higher Prakriti is the Unmanifest nature, which runs the whole show, with Brahman as the witness. (see verse 9.10 too).]

  8. kaamaistaistairhR^itaGYaanaaH prapadyante.anyadevataaH .
    taM taM niyamamaasthaaya prakR^ityaa niyataaH svayaa .. 7.20..


    People, deprived of their wisdom by desires for various objects and guided by their own nature, resort to other deities following the relevant methods.

    [The natural force drives people to their deities of their choice. People of duller intellect choose the faster-to-please and low-yielding deities. One who have greater intellect and discrimination choose the One who can give immortality.]

  9. sarvabhuutaani kaunteya prakR^iti.n yaanti maamikaam.h .
    kalpakshaye punastaani kalpaadau visR^ijaamyaham.h .. 9.7..


    O son Kunti, all the beings go back at the end of a cycle to My Prakrti. I project them forth again at the beginning of a cycle.

    [As will be explained in the next verses, here I refers to the Higher-Prakriti, which has the doership of the creation and dissolution.]

  10. prakR^iti.n svaamavashhTabhya visR^ijaami punaH punaH .
    bhuutagraamamimaM kR^itsnamavashaM prakR^itervashaat.h .. 9.8..


    Keeping My own prakrti under control, I project forth again and again the whole of this multitude of beings which are powerless owing to the influence of (their own) nature.

    [The Lord who is beyond the two-fold Prakriti seems to keep the Jivas in the cycle. Instead it is themselves, their own lower nature, that makes them in this cycle of births and deaths.]

  11. mayaadhyaksheNa prakR^itiH suuyate sacharaacharam.h .
    hetunaanena kaunteya jagadviparivartate .. 9.10..


    Under Me as the supervisor, the Prakrti produces (the world) of the moving and the non-moving things. Owing to this reason, O son of Kunti, the world revolves.

    [Prakriti is the doer. The Lord is beyond this. One who knows this truly knows. Also refer verses in Chapters 4 and 7.]

  12. moghaashaa moghakarmaaNo moghaGYaanaa vichetasaH .
    raakshasiimaasurii.n chaiva prakR^itiM mohinii.n shritaaH .. 9.12..


    Of vain hopes, of vain actions, of vain knowledge, and senseless, they become verily possessed of the deceptive disposition of fiends and demons.

    [Castigation of one who have lowly aspirations. Such aspirations are born of lowly nature, which they themselves created.]

  13. mahaatmaanastu maaM paartha daiviiM prakR^itimaashritaaH .
    bhajantyananyamanaso GYaatvaa bhuutaadimavyayam.h .. 9.13..


    O son of Prtha, the noble ones, being possessed of divine nature, surely adore Me with single-mindedness, knowing Me as the immutable source of all objects.

    [It is divine nature that can make a Jiva cross the bonds of samsaara. These divine-minded-Jivas adore with single-mindedness, the Lord of all beings with all their hearts, all the time.]

  14. arjuna uvaacha .
    dR^ishhTvedaM maanushhaM ruupaM tava saumya.n janaardana .
    idaaniimasmi sa.nvR^ittaH sachetaaH prakR^iti.n gataH .. 11.51..


    O Janardana, having seen this serene human form of Yours, I have now become calm in mind and restored to my own nature.

    [Here it is uses as an common-expression, as Arjuna's fear is no more.]

  15. arjuna uvaacha .
    prakR^itiM purushha.n chaiva kshetra.n kshetraGYameva cha .
    etadveditumichchhaami GYaanaM GYeya.n cha keshava .. 13.1..


    [See above for meaning. This verse does not occur in some versions of Gita.]

  16. prakR^itiM purushha.n chaiva vidyanaadi ubhaavapi .
    vikaaraa.nshcha guNaa.nshchaiva viddhi prakR^itisaMbhavaan.h ..
    13.20..


    Know both Nature and also the individual soul to be verily without beginning; know the modifications as also the qualities as born of Nature.

  17. kaaryakaaraNakartR^itve hetuH prakR^itiruchyate .
    purushhaH sukhaduHkhaanaaM bhoktR^itve heturuchyate .. 13.21..


    With regard to the source of body and organs, Nature is said to be the cause. The soul is the cause so far as enjoyership of happiness and sorrow is concerned.

    [It is not even the soul that enjoys and hence suffers. It is the soul-ness, which identifies which lower-Prakriti that suffers.]

  18. purushhaH prakR^itistho hi bhuN^.hkte prakR^itijaanguNaan.h .
    kaaraNaM guNasaN^go.asya sadasadyonijanmasu .. 13.22..


    Since the soul is seated in Nature, therefore it experiences the qualities born of Nature. Contact with the qualities is the cause of its births in good and evil wombs.

  19. ya evaM vetti purushhaM prakR^iti.n cha guNaiH saha .
    sarvathaa vartamaano.api na sa bhuuyo.abhijaayate .. 13.24..


    He who knows thus the Person and Nature along with the qualities will not be born again, in whatever way he may live.

    [Real nature of the perishable and the Imperishable is what is needed for Moksha.]

  20. prakR^ityaiva cha karmaaNi kriyamaaNaani sarvashaH .
    yaH pashyati tathaatmaanamakartaaraM sa pashyati .. 13.30..


    And he who sees actions as being done in various ways by Nature itself, and also the Self as the non-agent,-he sees.

    [What is to be seen? The doer-ship of the Nature, the non-doer-ship of the Self and the identification with the non-doer.]

  21. kshetrakshetraGYayorevamantaraM GYaanachakshushhaa .
    bhuutaprakR^itimoksha.n cha ye viduryaanti te param.h .. 13.35..


    Those who know thus through the eye of wisdom the distinction between the field and the Knower of the field, and the annihilation of the Matrix of beings,-they reach the Supreme.

    [Only through the eye of wisdom is the above seen. Once that is seen, the have reached immortality.]

  22. sattvaM rajastama iti guNaaH prakR^itisambhavaaH .
    nibadhnanti mahaabaaho dehe dehinamavyayam.h .. 14.5..


    O mighty-armed one, the qualities, viz sattva, rajas and tamas, born of Nature, being the immutable embodies being to the body.

    [The three fold division of Prakriti.]

  23. mamaivaa.nsho jiivaloke jiivabhuutaH sanaatanaH .
    manaHshhashhThaaniindriyaaNi prakR^itisthaani karshhati .. 15.7..


    It is verily a part of Mine which, becoming the eternal individual soul in the region of living beings, draws (to itself) the organs which have the mind as their sixth, and which abide in Nature.

    [Also worth remembering are the final verses of Chapter 10, when the Lord clearly says that all this is His Vibhuti. Further, this Vibhuti is a small part of Him. This in turn has its root in Purusha Sukta (RV.10.90.3) when the Rishi is Narayana, who is extolling the Purusha (!!!) says paadosya vishva-bhuutaani ...]

  24. na tadasti pR^ithivyaa.n vaa divi deveshhu vaa punaH .
    sattvaM prakR^itijairmukta.n yadebhiH syaattribhirguNaiH .. 18.40..


    There is no such entity in the world or, again, among the gods in heaven, which can be free from these three gunas born of Nature.

    [Summarization of the all pervasiveness of the Nature and hence the Gunas which constitute it. This verse can be considered to be a summary of the thoughts expressed in 3.27-28, or even entire chapter 14 (among others).]

  25. yadaha.nkaaramaashritya na yotsya iti manyase .
    mithyaishha vyavasaayaste prakR^itistvaa.n niyokshyati .. 18.59..


    That you think 'I shall not fight', by relying on egotism,-vain is this determination of yours. (Your) nature impel you!

    [In the next verses 18.60-61 is explained the Machine, the helplessness of the Jivas who are caught in it, due to their own Ahamkara. The machine rotates, keeping them in the cycle of Births and Deaths.]




  1. Also to be remembered is Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90) whose deity is Purusha. The Seer for that Hymn is Narayana Rishi.
  2. Swami Gambhirananda notes that Prakrti is sometimes translated as matter, and purusa as spirit. These are the words that are used by Shri Aurobindo and Swami Chinmayananda.
  3. Synonyms to these two words, like jIva, ishvara, brahman for Purusha and mAya, avidya, Kshetra (at local level), bhaava (??) for Prakriti could be included in the above list.
  4. Further reading: Also worth reading are Shri Aurobindo's chapters from the book "Essays on the Gita."
  5. The importance of these words in Samkhya Philosophy (saaN^khya-darshana) (one of the closest to Vedanta, albeit with wrong conclusions) cannot be overestimated. There everything is divided into the Purusha and Prakriti. Some "philosophers" contend that Samkhya preceded Vedanta and hence some of the terms in Gita should be understood from "that perspective".


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