Jagat

FB Jan. 8, 2016 One of the other important ideas that comes up in Yoga Sūtra and has its origins in Sāṅkhya is the following: "Prakṛti exists for the sake of the other ( parārtha ), while the Puruṣa exists for itself ( svārtha )." This terminology is very significant, as it pervades "normative" Hindu philosophy, including both Advaita and Vaishnava Vedanta, though with some adjustments, especially in the latter. According to Sāṅkhya, the Consciousness Principle is called Puruṣa. In this philosophy, the Puruṣa is consciousness only. To even be aware of the world requires that consciousness be reflected in the material nature, starting with its subtlest form, which is buddhi or Mahat. The universe is, as the Gita says, the result of the combination of Puruṣa and Prakṛti, the former providing the life-giving properties to matter. But in this Prakṛti exists for the Puruṣa. Matter presents itself to the consciousness principle through the chain leading to Buddhi. Matt...

In Sāṅkhya-Yoga I became intrigued by the concept of Puruṣa = svārtha, Prakṛti = parārtha. i.e. the Spirit Self exists for itself, but Nature or Phenomena exist for another, i.e., the Puruṣa. (See Sāṅkhya-kārikā 17, 56, Yoga-sūtra 3.35 and their commentaries.) The idea is that as conscious beings, we experience and process phenomena entirely as though we ourselves are the center of the universe. This has really nothing to do with selfishness in its ethical sense, though that is an outcome of this perfectly natural state. This is in fact one of Sāṅkhya philosophy's arguments for the existence of the spiritual self as separate and distinct from matter. Any Vaishnava looking at Gītā 7.4-5 will recognize how the idea of the Puruṣottama adds a further dimension to this concept, but it is one that makes a huge difference. bhūmir āpo'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca ahaṁkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām jīva-b...