22 Jun 2011
The Gita gives two types of classifications.
1)The first classification is Purusha and prakruti.
It is a classification of two items. Purusha stands for the unimaginable creator and prakruti stands for the imaginable creation. In this classification, Purusha stands for the invisible and unimaginable God. The prakruti stands for both invisible-imaginable-energetic soul and the visible-imaginable-materialized gross body. The Gita itself says that the soul is called as paraprakruti and the body is called as aparaprakruti. The word prakruti applied to both these items clearly indicates that both body and soul are sub-divisions of the same prakruti.
The sub-division of prakruti cannot be beyond the prakruti itself. Purusha, the Creator, is beyond the prakruti, the creation. Therefore, in this classification, you cannot call the soul as purusha. But, generally, the word purusha stands for a human being, which is the soul embedded in the human body. This means that the meaning of purusha is prakruti only, which is both the body and the soul. If prakruti is the meaning of the word purusha, there need not be this classification of two items. There should be one item, which is purusha that means prakruti. This contradiction can be removed by a specific clarification. Purusha is the invisible and unimaginable God. Prakruti is the imaginable human being consisting of both invisible soul and visible body. Both are clearly separate items. But, during the formation of human incarnation, God charges the human being i.e., Purusha charges the prakruti. Purusha gets identified with prakruti. Since the prakruti takes birth, purusha appears to be born. This is clearly explained in the Gita (prakrutim svaam...). Therefore, the above contradiction is removed with the help of the specific case of human incarnation. If you leave this specific case, the basic concept is Purusha denotes God and prakruti denotes the human being.
2) The Gita gives another classification at a later stage, which gives three items. The first item is kshara standing for the visible and imaginable gross body. The second item is akshara standing for the invisible and imaginable soul. The third item is Purushottama standing for the invisible and unimaginable God.
The second classification does not contradict the first classification. In both the classifications, the unimaginable and invisible God is one item, which is called as Purusha in the first classification and Purushottama in the second classification. The prakruti of the first classification is split into two items viz., kshara and akshara of the second classification. Hence, both the classifications are one and the same.
The Advaita philosophers take purusha as the soul, which itself is God and prakruti as the gross body as per the first classification. But, the second classification contradicts the first as per this view. Then, they split the soul or God into two sub-divisions;
Atman is un-modulated basic pure awareness and jeeva is a bundle of ideas, which are various modulations or signals of the same pure awareness. They justify the jeeva as the akshara or eternal since jeeva is not destroyed with reference to the destroyed body. Now, they take atman as Purushottamma or God. We do not oppose the sub-division of atman and jeeva. The sub-division is correct. But, we say that the un-modulated pure awareness called as atman is not God or Purushottamma. God is the creator of this infinite real world. The un-modulated pure awareness is unable to create even an atom of this real world. Therefore, atman is not even a tiny part of God. Creation of dream by atman cannot be justified since dream is not even a tiny part of the real world. Therefore, atman is not Purushottamma. Atman is the inert energy generated by digestion of food, which is converted into a specific work form in a specific machine, called as nervous system. The bundle of the various modulations of the same atman is called as jeeva. Atman is just like standstill water and jeeva is a bundle of waves present in water. By practice, the modulations can subside and atman can be achieved by the disappearance of jeeva through the process of meditation. Atman is basically a small quantity of inert energy, which is a part of the infinite inert cosmic energy, called as Brahman. The word Brahman is used for several great items of the creation. In this way, atman is a part of Brahman in quantitative sense. In qualitative sense, atman can be taken as Brahman itself. Brahman can also mean God. But, to avoid this confusion, Shankara Himself called God as Parabrahman. The word Parabrahman means God, who is other than Brahman (param brahmanah iti parabrahma). The advaita philosophers should patiently understand Shankara involved in the task of converting atheists (Buddhists and purvamimanskas) into theists in His time.
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