Chapter 13 Shloka 20

कार्यकरणकर्तृत्वे हेतु: प्रकृतिरुच्यते।

पुरुष: सुखदु:खानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते।।२०।।

Prakriti is the cause of both Kaarya

(the five principle elements)

and Karan (the faculties);

Purusha is the cause of

experiencing joy and sorrow.

Chapter 13 Shloka 20

कार्यकरणकर्तृत्वे हेतु: प्रकृतिरुच्यते।

पुरुष: सुखदु:खानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते।।२०।।

The Lord says:

Prakriti is the cause of both Kaarya (the five principle elements) and Karan (the faculties); Purusha is the cause of experiencing joy and sorrow.

Kaarya (कार्य)

1. The five principle elements – ether, wind, fire, water and earth.

2. The objects of the organs of perception – sound, touch, form, taste and smell.

Karan (करण)

a) Intellect, ego, mind (along with the mind-stuff), i.e. the inner being.

b) The faculties of hearing, touch, vision, taste and breathing.

c) Hands, speech, feet, the organs of excretion and digestion.

All the above are constituents of Prakriti; in fact it could be said that they are Prakriti. They emerge from Prakriti and are re-absorbed by Prakriti.

Purusha (पुरुष)

Here the connotation of the word ‘Purusha’ is:

1. The authoritative entity of the Atma.

2. The conscious Atma.

3. The uninfluenceable Atma.

4. The detached Atma.

And yet it is stated here that the Purusha as the individual entity is the cause of the experience of joy and sorrow. Understand this fact now.

Atma + Prakriti

Little one, Prakriti gains its vitality from the Atma. It is Atma which lends vigour to the threefold energy of Prakriti. The intellect too, gains its consciousness from the Atma. The intellect then becomes the cause of ego, the ego causes the mind, the mind becomes the instrument of the sense faculties and the sense faculties become the instrument of the sense objects.

Prakriti, being inert, has the capacity to partake of objects but not the ability to experience them. Qualities are inert; they have the potential to partake of sense objects but they cannot enjoy these. The Purusha on the other hand does not have the capacity to partake of material objects; yet, conjoined with Prakriti, the ability to experience those objects of sense is created, along with which comes the consciousness of being the enjoyer.

Prakriti and Purusha are both without origin or cause; when there is attachment between the two, joy and sorrow emanate. The idea of enjoyership is born as a result of attachment.

Little one, the creation of the entire universe is automatic and spontaneous.

1. It is wrought by the three qualities.

2. It is sustained by those three qualities.

3. It is destroyed by the action of the same three qualities.

4. Prakriti, which is constituted of the three main qualities or gunas, endows man with individual qualities.

Purusha is that conscious energy which:

a) despite being a non-doer, has become the reason for the idea of doership in the individual;

b) has become responsible for both joy and sorrow;

c) fills vitality into all dual forces and tendencies;

d) becomes the cause of moha, attachment and ignorance.

Thus it is the Purusha that separates itself and becomes bound in the mortal soul of an individual.

1. It becomes attached to the qualities.

2. It becomes attached to the body.

3. It becomes chained to the idea of doership.

4. It becomes fettered by the idea of enjoyership.

Little one, the intellect in actual fact is inert and insentient. However, in the presence of the Atma, it:

a) gains consciousness;

b) begins to experience the beauty of the Atma;

c) reflects the Atma.

1. The intellect erroneously begins to believe “I am the divine Atma.”

2. The intellect becomes proud of its ability to discern.

3. The intellect begins to take pride in itself, believing itself to be superior, not knowing that it has gained its authority from another’s power.

It was the nature of the mind to plan, to get attached and to cogitate. If the intellect itself makes the initial mistake and identifies itself with the body, just imagine the confusion of the poor mind! It, too, becomes inextricably attached to sense objects and the body self.

The ‘I’ is born when:

1. The intellect identifies itself with the body.

2. The intellect becomes attached to its own way of thinking.

3. Under the rule of such an intellect the mind becomes obsessed with sense objects.

Thus the intellect that caters to the body becomes the root cause of erroneous rumination and of all aberrations of the mind. The Purusha, which should have remained ever detached and uninfluenceable, becomes individualised and experiences both joy and sorrow.