Essays on the Gita, First Series (Arya Publishing House, 1922)

But what are the truths of Sankhya? The philosophy drew its name from Jts^ analytical process. Sankhya is the analysis, the“^enumeration, the ^parative. and discriminative setting forth of the principles of our being of which the ordinary mind sees only the combinations and results of combina- tion. It did not seek at all to synthetise. Jte original standpoint is in fact dualistic, not with the very relative dualism of the Vedantic schools which call themselves by that name, Dwaita, but in a very absolute and . d'enchant fashion. For it ^explains exStence nor by one, but by two original principles whose iBter-relation is^ the cause of the univense, — Piffiwha^the inactive, Prakriti, the active. Rurusha is the Soul, not in the ordinary or popular sense of the word, but of pure conscious Being^ immobile, immutab le, and self-luminous. ^ Prakriti is Enei^ and its process. Pjirusha. does nothing, but it reflecte^ the action of Energy and its processes; Piakriti jCme but by being reflected in SANKHYA AND YOGA

Purusha it assumes the appearance of consciousness in its activities, and thus there are created those phenomena of creation, conservation, dissolution^ birth and life ancf death, consciousness and ur^ consciousness, sense-knowledge and intellectual knowledge and ignorance, action and inaction, happiness and suffering which the Purusha under the iofluence of Pralyriti attributes to itself although they„ belong not at all to itself but to the action or movement of Prakriti alone.

For Prakriti^ is constitute^ of thye gunas or essential inodes of energy ; sattwa , the seed of intelligence, cohsarveTtEe workings of energy ; rajas, tTi^seedr of force a nd action , creates the working of energy ; tamas, the seed of inertia and non- intelligence, the denial of satti^^andHrajas, dissolves what they create and conserve. When these three powers of the energy of Prakriti are in a state of equilibrium, all is in rest, there is no movement, action or creation and there is therefore nothing to be reflected in the immutable luminous being of the conscious Soul. But when the equilibrium is disturbed, then the three guMs fall into a state of inequality, in which £hey strive with and act uppn ea^ other and the whole inextricable business of cea^ess creation, conservation and dissolution begiiig, unrolling the phenomena of the cosmos. This continue so long as the Purusha consents to reflect tEe disturbance which obscures his eternal nature and attributes to it tEe nature of Prakriti; but when he witiidraws his consent,, the gunas M into