Editing Mind in Indian Tradition (section)

==== METAPHYSICS ====
The Sankhya and Yoga systems are in significantly broad agreement about the metaphysical nature of the world, man, mind and ultimate truth and therefore, have been regarded as one category. Similar is the case with Vaisheshika and Nyaya schools. In Sankhya-Yoga tradition, there is one primordial pure consciousness ‘Purusha’ out of which ‘manifests’ Prakriti, the material reality. The entire existential drama is an interplay between Purusha and Prakriti. They are, in a way, the ‘soul and substance of the world’ (Bernard, 1947).  Purusha has no easy English equivalent. The words ‘consciousness-as-such’ or ‘pure-consciousness’ come closest to capture its spiritual as well as psychological connotations. Rao and Paranjpe define it as the principle behind consciousness manifesting in the person. According to them, ‘Purusha refers to both common as well as individualized forms of consciousness. It is the transcendental principle that makes awareness subjectively possible.’ Quoting SankhyaKarika, they note that Purusha is an isolated, indifferent, neutral and inactive spectator (saksin). 

In contrast to Purusha- an essentially subjective dimension, Prakriti is the ‘primordial matrix of matter; the material basis of our universe and our physical being.’ Three fundamental characteristics (gunas) are inherent in Prakriti – sattva (essence), rajas (energy) and tamas (mass/inertia). In its primordial conditions, there is a perfect equilibrium between three gunas, the modifications in which lead to the process of evolution. Through the combinations and recombination of essence, energy and mass, Prakriti unfolds from an ‘incoherent, indeterminate, and undifferentiated to a coherent, determinate, and differentiated form.’ The primordial state of Prakriti is elusive, captured best by this mysterious verse taken from the commentary of Vyasa on Yoga-sutras of Patanjali- "that which never is, nor is not, that which exists and does not exist, that in which there is no nonexistence, the unmanifested, without any specific mark, the central background of all" (quoted from Radhakrishnan, 1923/1989, vol. 2. pp. 260-261)<sup>4</sup>. The striking resemblance with the NasadiyaSukta of Rigveda is more than incidental. Moreover, the duality of Prakriti and Purusha is almost identical to the Rigvedic binary of yat and sthitam. It is clear that Rigvedic ideas were shaping the subsequent philosophical discourse- an influence that has hitherto not been given adequate attention.