Puruśa and Prakrti

3. Puruśa and Prakrti find their fulfilment in saiṋcara (extroversial movement) and pratisaiṋcara (introversial movement)

The existence of any entity is known by its:

• activity
  • This belongs to Prakrti
• thought
  • This belongs to Prakrti
• witness-ship
  • This belongs to Puruśa

Prakrti as the causal entity of the stream of action and thought only happens when She completely identifies herself with objectivity.

This appropriation of objectivity by Prakrti depends on Her ever-increasing (saiṋcara) or -decreasing (pratisaiṋcara) influence on Puruśa.

Prakrti’s manifestation lies in the saiṋcara and pratisaiṋcara processes.

In all these manifestations of Prakrti, Puruśa exists not only as the material cause, but as the witness as well, in all states and conditions.

4. Supreme Consciousness at the nucleus of the universe is known as Paramashiva or Puruśottama

The trivalent Prakrti has been apparently crudifying the original Puruśa through Her own binding forces.

This is one of the processes of Her activity.

Her other process being that by gradually relaxing the influence of Her 3 attributes on the crude object, She regains the characteristic of Puruśa, thus putting an end to Her binding operation.

The first-named process of Prakrti is centrifugal and the other one is centripetal.

The Brahma Cakra, or Srśt́i Cakra [Cosmic Cycle], is manifested through the combination of these very centrifugal and centripetal actions.

The nucleus of this Cosmic Cycle is the svabháva [characteristic bearing] of Puruśa.

The material cause of the entire Brahma Cakra is Puruśa, or Shiva.

This nucleus is called Paramashiva or Puruśottama.

1-7. Puruśa is the substantiator, the ultimate witness. (the actional faculty of) Prakrti is the act of witnessing (and that which is witnessed).

Acting is seeing, witnessing is drk [substantiation].

In the absence of witnessing, seeing remains unsubstantiated.

Thinking, speaking, moving, accepting are all actions.

Puruśa is the witness-ship that vouches for the existence of these activities.

The expression of activity that takes place under His witness-ship is charged with the guńas of Prakrti.

If the expressed material waves are the actional faculty, then its apparent witness will be the citta entity.

If the citta-ic expression is the actional faculty, then its apparent witness will be the Ahaḿtattva (or Ego).

If the expression of the Ego is actional faculty, then its apparent witness will be the Mahattattva [sense of “I”-ness].

If the sense of “I”-ness is the actional faculty, then its witness-ship, that is, “I-know-I-am”-ness, will be acceptable as the ultimate witness.

This “I know” is not the apparent witness of anybody or anything.

• It is the absolute witness of everything in all conditions.
• This bearing alone is drk [ultimate cognition].

This in truth is the attributed consciousness of Puruśa.

2-15. Puruśa does no action (directly)

Puruśa is:

• the witnessing entity of actions and reactions
• at the nucleus of Saguńa Brahma
• the controller of the guńas

That Puruśa is established at the nucleus of all entities is true of both individuality and collectivity.

This very Puruśa of the nucleus of the collectivity is Puruśottama.

When energy is begotten in the object-body in the wake of the flow of the Operative Principle, then the controller of this energy is called kartá.

Puruśa does not control this sort of energy, on the contrary, He, being established at the nucleus of the guńas, controls those very guńas through which energy emanates.

Hence the controller, Puruśa or Puruśottama, is not subject to the guńas but is the governor or sovereign head thereof.