The eight prakṛtis (productive principles)

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[Base sūtra:] The {{prakṛti|productive principle}}s are eight.

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[Commentary, verse:] {{prakṛti|primordial nature}}, intellect and {{ahaṃkāra|I-maker}}, the {{tanmātra|subtle element}}s, the eleven organs, and the [gross] elements—taken collectively, these are just twenty-four.

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Within these very [twenty-four], by the distinction of attribute and attribute-bearer, are included quality, action, and universal. And being-a-{{prakṛti|productive principle}} is the condition of being the material cause—directly or mediately—of every {{vikāra|modification}}. Its etymology is: "that of which the configuration, in the form of transformation, is preeminent (prakṛṣṭā)." And it has the form of the triad of substances—{{sattva|illuminating constituent}} and the rest—indicated by [their] state of equilibrium.

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And the state of equilibrium is the abiding—without mutual conflict—of [the constituents], which though [individually] of the placid, the turbulent, and the deluded forms, and though [each] of a non-aggregated character, [yet abide] together with their preponderances [as if] aggregated. By way of the generic [aspect] there is the status of a [subordinate] constituent; by way of preponderance there is dominance; by way of the particular [aspect] there is disequilibrium. Hence [equilibrium] is the uncombined state, free of any more-or-less—that is to say, the state in which nothing is [yet] an effect.

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But the [evolutes] beginning with {{buddhi / mahat|the great principle}}—being effect-[states] of sattva and the rest—are never in a non-effect state; thus they are excluded [from primordial prakṛti]. It was said that [the equilibrium] is [merely] "indicated" in order to establish prakṛti-hood even in the state of disequilibrium. {{prakṛti|Nature}} possesses the constituents sattva and the rest because it is not other than sattva and the rest. And so the sūtra: "sattva and the rest are not its [mere] attributes, since [prakṛti] is of their very nature"—[meaning] that sattva and the rest are the very essence of prakṛti, not attributes of prakṛti.

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For since every effect is accounted for by the {{guṇa|constituent strand}}s alone, it would be pointless to posit a prakṛti distinct from them; and because both the sūtra and the commentary state it thus.

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As for [the expressions] "the constituents of prakṛti"—like "the trees of the forest"—[these are] meant with reference to part and whole; and [the statement] "sattva, rajas, and tamas became the constituents of prakṛti" is not a declaration that sattva and the rest are effects of prakṛti—for that would conflict with the statement of the eternity of the guṇas; rather it refers to the effect-[states of] sattva and the rest that serve as the cause of the great principle.

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The creation of the great principle and the rest arises from the disequilibrium of the guṇas. And that [creation] is a transformation fit for the designation "sattva" etc.—endowed, through commingling with its own kind, with the resultant illumination and so forth that mark off [each] from the other constituents. Thus the designation "sattva" etc. belongs only to disequilibrium, as the {{śruti|revealed scripture}} declares: "In the beginning this [universe] was just darkness (tamas); it lay in the Supreme; impelled by the Supreme it moved to disequilibrium. By the perception of disequilibrium [arises] the form of rajas—that, indeed, is rajas declared [to be]. By the perception of disequilibrium [arises] the form of sattva."

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And the triad of sattva and the rest is of the very nature of sattva and the rest. Although the triad of sattva and the rest is substantial—since it possesses qualities such as pleasure, illumination, lightness, and serenity, since it undergoes conjunction and disjunction, and since it is non-inherent yet a material cause—nonetheless it is called by the word "{{guṇa|constituent}}" because it serves the {{puruṣa|Self}} and because it binds the puruṣa, just as the sense-organs and the like [are so called].

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The common saying that the guṇas have the nature of pleasure, pain, and delusion [holds] by the distinction of attribute and attribute-bearer—just as the mind [is said] to have the nature of volition. Therein {{sattva|the bright constituent}}, though possessed of many attributes such as pleasure, serenity, and illumination, is said to be of the nature of pleasure on account of [pleasure's] preponderance. So too {{rajas|the active constituent}}, though possessed of many attributes such as pain, turbidity, and activity, is said to be of the nature of pain by preponderance. And so {{tamas|the dark constituent}}, though possessed of many attributes such as delusion, concealment, and obstruction, is said to be of the nature of delusion by preponderance.

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Sattva is "the being of what is good (sat)"; by predominance of virtue (dharma) it is the highest, the [finest] instrument for the puruṣa. By association with passion, rajas is intermediate. By association with the obscuring attribute of tamas, [tamas] is the lowest. Sattva and the rest have innumerable manifestations, because they transform at every instant; and their mutual similarity and dissimilarity, through attributes such as lightness, is innumerable—as per the sūtra.

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And because the creation of many puruṣas and the rest at one time is heard [in scripture, the guṇas must be many]; for if each were a single manifestation it would have to be all-pervading, and then, in the absence of variety of conjunction, there could be no infinite variety of effects; and because there would be no other substance to serve as their delimiter.

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Therefore sattva and the rest are simply innumerable; the statement of their being three [refers] only to the three differentiating limiting conditions—like the Vaiśeṣikas' statement of nine substances. And sattva and the rest are, as appropriate, of atomic or all-pervading magnitude; otherwise the statement that rajas is by nature mobile would be contradicted. Since it is fitting that the cause of ākāśa be all-pervading [but] if every causal substance were all-pervading, no delimitation of effects would be possible.

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[Verse:] That [primordial nature] is devoid of sound and touch, uncombined with form and the rest, possessed of the three guṇas, the womb of the world, beginningless, [itself the] source and dissolution [of all].

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Because of statements such as this, prakṛti is not included among atoms and the like. [Objection:] "Even so, if prakṛti consists of many manifestations of sattva etc. common to both atomic and all-pervading [things], the established doctrines of its being undelimited, one, and inactive are undermined." [Reply:] No; for its being undelimited is asserted precisely in respect of its being prakṛti, i.e. a causal substance—just as smells [are said to be] pervasive of earth in respect of their smell-hood; and the established doctrine that prakṛti is all-pervading is justified precisely by the all-pervadingness of the prakṛtis such as ākāśa.

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Likewise, the meaning of the word "one" is just the absence of difference by way of difference of puruṣa and difference of creation; this is understood from the śruti "the unborn one" (ajām ekām). Likewise the meaning of the word "inactive" is just the absence of such operations as determination and self-conceit; otherwise the agitation of prakṛti spoken of by śruti and smṛti would be inexplicable.

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Here is the formal proof: the effect [consisting of] the great principle etc., which is of the nature of pleasure, pain, and delusion, is an effect of a substance of the nature of pleasure, pain, and delusion—because it is of the nature of pleasure, pain, and delusion—like a couch [made from] cloth and other [pleasurable] effects. This is the proof for prakṛti. And among external things, pleasure and the rest are [perceived] as a kind of excellence—just as [we say] "the form of the pot"—as in the cognitions "sandalwood-pleasure," "woman-pleasure," and so forth. So much by way of indication.

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[Verse:] The {{avyakta|unmanifest}}, intellect, {{ahaṃkāra|I-maker}}, and the pentad of {{tanmātra|subtle element}}s—these are the eight productive principles, and seven of them attain to manifestation.

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[Verse:] And because they are born from unmanifest prakṛti they are [also] called "unmanifest things"; for they are not made manifest as pots and the like are manifested in the world.

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[Verse:] The unmanifest, prakṛti, māyā, {{pradhāna|the chief}}, brahman, the cause, the undifferentiated, the "flower of darkness," the field (kṣetra), that named "the imperishable"—

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[Verse:] these and "the manifold-natured" and other names the wise have sung of it. Because it is not made manifest by the sense-organs, it is called "unmanifest"; and because it is without beginning, middle, or end, being part-less, it is so [called].

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The śruti says just this: "Soundless, touchless, formless, imperishable, and likewise eternal, devoid of taste and smell, without beginning or middle, higher than the great [principle], stable—this the learned proclaim to be {{pradhāna|the chief}}."

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[Verse:] Therefore it is marker-less, subtle, and likewise of a productive nature, one, common [to all]; therein the effect belongs to no one [in particular], not so the others [i.e. the evolutes, which are particular].

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[Verse:] {{buddhi / mahat|Intellect}}, the great one, mind, Brahmā, thought, discernment, the unprecedented, wisdom, prosperity, steadfastness, knowledge, continuity, memory—[these too are its names].

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[Verse:] By [the term] "belonging to Hiraṇyagarbha" the name of the great intellect (mahat) is intimated. From the constituents being agitated the three Vedas were born.

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"One form, three gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara." Thus it is Viṣṇu who, in the primal creations, becomes the self-existent (svayambhū) lord.

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Here, because the great principle, through its three portions of sattva and the rest, is the limiting basis of the triad of deities, [the deities are] three through non-discrimination of it. "But from sattva-dominant {{pradhāna|primordial matter}} the great principle was born"—and, the great principle being predominant, determination (adhyavasāya) is its function. Of the inner-organ "tree"—consisting of the triad of intellect, I-maker, and mind—the great principle is the seed-state. This is stated in the Sāṃkhyasūtra: "This very great principle, transformed in part by admixture of rajas and tamas, becoming the limiting adjunct of individual souls, conjoined with demerit and the like, becomes even mean; through coloration by the great [sattva] it becomes the opposite."

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Since the great principle is of the nature of the three guṇas, in the state when the body is agitated by the embodied [self] in the form of Viṣṇu as Time, through the predominance of the limiting adjunct in the form of a constituent, in the [state of] non-discrimination there is the status of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. There: the great one, identifying with deep sleep, is Śiva, whose adjunct has the form of the effect of tamas; identifying with dream is Viṣṇu, whose adjunct is the effect of sattva; identifying with waking is Brahmā, whose adjunct is the effect of rajas. There, by the principle of inferring the aggregate [from the parts], since the collective is not other than the individual, even a gnat and the like is just Viṣṇu—such is the import.

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But creation proceeds only in the sequence beginning with the great principle, not in the sequence beginning with the elements. And this [is stated] in the Kūrma [Purāṇa]: "The {{ahaṃkāra|elemental I-maker}} (bhūtādi), undergoing modification, created mere sound; from it arose the cavity of ākāśa, characterized by sound."

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"And [the I-maker], modifying ākāśa, created mere touch; from it air (vāyu) arises, and touch is held to be its quality"—and so forth.

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[Objection:] "But if it is so, ākāśa and the rest are mere modifications [and not causes]." [Reply:] How [could that follow]? For it is stated in the Purāṇas and elsewhere that ākāśa and the rest are causes of the subtle elements such as touch [only] through the mere support of the I-maker.

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[Verse:] This [primordial matter] is not the {{puruṣa|Self}}; it is inert as a post. The intellect is determinative. The state of being {{pradhāna|the chief}} arose from the all-pervading [matter] presided over by the puruṣa.

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[Verse:] As is the power of consciousness, so is its functioning, mingled with sattva, [yet] of the nature of the rajas-constituent—because of the [doctrine of] threefold composition (trivṛtkaraṇa) from the śruti.

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[Verse:] Knowledge, virtue, dispassion, and lordliness—these arise from sattva; whereas non-lordliness, non-dispassion, demerit, and ignorance—

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[Verse:] these are to be known as [arising] from tamas. They are declared to be the [eightfold] divisions of the intellect. Knowledge is this awakening to the [true] principles; virtue is the observance of what is enjoined by śruti;

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[Verse:] dispassion is non-attachment to objects; lordliness is [the powers] beginning with aṇiman. By the very reverse of each, that tetrad becomes tāmasa [dark].

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[Verse:] By knowledge comes liberation; by virtue an upward course; by dispassion, absorption into the imperishable; by lordliness, an unobstructed course.

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[Verse:] Thus this eightfold power, named "intellect," has been explained; it is a modification of {{pradhāna|the chief}} and is itself the prakṛti [source] of the I-maker.

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[Verse:] [As] "root-prakṛti" and so forth it has been described by the poets. "The I-maker is one"—if there is a desire to know this, then reflect [as follows].

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[Verse:] That which makes the utterance "I" is remembered as self-conceit (abhimāna): "I touch," "I taste," "I am the master," "by me it was taken"—

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[Verse:] and so forth was the designation of that [I-maker]. Hear now its divisions: the modificatory (vaikārika), the energetic (taijasa), and the elemental (bhūtādi) with [its] inference,

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[Verse:] and without inference—these five are proclaimed as its divisions. The modificatory is sāttvika; the elemental is remembered as tāmasa;

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[Verse:] the energetic is to be known as rājasa. From it [comes] the pentad of subtle elements; from the sāttvika [I-maker] the group of eleven organs is born.

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[Verse:] The presiding deities, however, are also said [to arise] from the energetic [I-maker]. If [it be asked] "how can the very same [arise twice]?"—[the answer is] because of the cause [being] the threefold composition.

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[Verse:] This "sound-subtle-element"—only sound is apprehended [in it]; but its distinctions such as the acute accent or the niṣāda note are not apprehended.

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[Verse:] Just so the "touch-subtle-element"—only touch is apprehended; but its particulars such as cold or softness are not obtained.

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[Verse:] So too the "form-subtle-element," and likewise the "taste-subtle-element" and the "smell-subtle-element": in these no particular [distinction] is apprehended.

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[Verse:] The {{tanmātra|subtle element}}s, being non-particularized, are called the subtle elements; they are objects of enjoyment, [both] placid and terrible, and by nature atomic.

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[Verse:] By reason of their being productive in form, the productive principles are proclaimed eight in number.