Shloka 9
Sāṅkhya: Categories of the Absolute Truth and the Unfolding of Creation
Tattva-vicāra
देवहूतिरुवाच प्रकृते: पुरुषस्यापि लक्षणं पुरुषोत्तम । ब्रूहि कारणयोरस्य सदसच्च यदात्मकम् ॥ ९ ॥
devahūtir uvāca prakṛteḥ puruṣasyāpi lakṣaṇaṁ puruṣottama brūhi kāraṇayor asya sad-asac ca yad-ātmakam
Devahūti dit : Ô Purushottama, daigne expliquer les caractéristiques du Puruṣa et de Ses énergies, car tous deux sont les causes de la création manifeste et non manifeste, du réel et du non-réel.
Prakṛti, or material nature, is connected with both the Supreme Lord and the living entities, just as a woman is connected with her husband as a wife and with her children as a mother. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that He impregnates mother nature with children, living entities, and thereafter all species of living entities become manifest. The relationship of all living entities with material nature has been explained. Now an understanding of the relationship between material nature and the Supreme Lord is sought by Devahūti. The product of that relationship is stated to be the manifest and unmanifest material world. The unmanifest material world is the subtle mahat-tattva, and from that mahat-tattva the material manifestation has emerged.
FAQs
In this verse, Devahūti asks Lord Kapila to define the distinguishing symptoms of prakṛti (material nature) and puruṣa (the conscious self) and to explain how their causal interaction underlies the manifest and unmanifest states of existence.
Devahūti seeks clarity on creation and causality—how reality can be described as sat (manifest/existent) and asat (unmanifest/not manifest), which is central to Kapila’s Sāṅkhya explanation of the world’s emergence from subtle to gross.
It helps one separate the changing body-mind (prakṛti) from the observing consciousness (puruṣa), fostering detachment, steadiness, and a more devotional, liberated perspective toward life’s ups and downs.