Shloka 3
Sāṅkhya: Categories of the Absolute Truth and the Unfolding of Creation
Tattva-vicāra
अनादिरात्मा पुरुषो निर्गुण: प्रकृते: पर: । प्रत्यग्धामा स्वयंज्योतिर्विश्वं येन समन्वितम् ॥ ३ ॥
anādir ātmā puruṣo nirguṇaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ pratyag-dhāmā svayaṁ-jyotir viśvaṁ yena samanvitam
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Soul, is without beginning; He is beyond the guṇas and beyond material nature. Self-effulgent and present everywhere, by His own radiance the entire universe is sustained.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as being without beginning. He is puruṣa, the Supreme Spirit. Puruṣa means “person.” When we think of a person in our present experience, that person has a beginning. This means that he has taken birth and that there is a history from the beginning of his life. But the Lord is particularly mentioned here as anādi, beginningless. If we examine all persons, we will find that everyone has a beginning, but when we approach a person who has no beginning, He is the Supreme Person. That is the definition given in the Brahma-saṁhitā. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa, the supreme controller; He is without beginning, and He is the beginning of everyone. This definition is found in all Vedic literatures.
FAQs
This verse states that the Supreme Puruṣa is nirguṇa—beyond the material modes—and therefore transcendent to prakṛti, the entire field of material qualities.
In teaching Sāṅkhya bhakti, Kapila clarifies that the Lord is not dependent on matter for existence or illumination; He is the inner light (pratyag-dhāmā) by which all experience and the cosmos itself are sustained.
Remembering the Lord as the inner witness and self-luminous reality helps one detach from temporary moods and circumstances, and cultivate steady devotion and discernment in daily decisions.