195. Prakriti and Purush


Krishna says, “Know that prakriti (nature) and purush (spirit) are both beginningless. Gunas (qualities) and vikar (evolution or change) are born of prakriti (13.20). Prakriti is responsible for cause-and-effect; purush is responsible for the experience of sukh (pleasure) and dukh (pain) (13.21). Under the influence of prakriti, the purush keeps experiencing the gunas. Attachment to the gunas is the cause of birth in various wombs” (13.22).

Evolution is the norm of prakriti where situations of yesterday are different than those of today. While change is the norm, we suffer because of our resistance to change as it involves changing ourselves. Living in the present moment without the burden of the past and expectations from the future is the way to transcend this.

Prakriti is responsible for ‘cause-and-effect’ which is usually referred to as physical laws. The purush experiences them as pleasure and pain. When a stone is thrown up, it comes down and when a seed is sown, sprouting happens and the list goes is endless. When flowers bloom, it’s our interpretation that makes them beautiful. Similarly, a scene of death or destruction would be interpreted as painful. Based on numerous factors, the interpretations vary from person to person for the same situation. As a result, one goes through pleasures and pain; mood swings and blame games. Krishna earlier described such interpretations as transient (anitya) and advised us to learn to tolerate them (2.14).

Satva, tamo and rajo gunas are born of prakriti. They bind soul to the body. Under their influence, the purush keeps experiencing these gunas in various proportions at various times. This experience or illusion makes us believe that we are the doer (karta). All human interactions are the result of the interaction between the gunas. Krishna has repeatedly advised us to transcend these gunas to become guna-atheeth (the one who has transcended the gunas).


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