Bg 13.21
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate
Bg 13.22
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
Translation
21. In the production of the effect and the cause, PRAKRITI is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, PURUSHA is said to be the cause.
22. The PURUSHA, seated in PRAKRITI, experiences the qualities born of PRAKRITI; attachment to the qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.
Commentary
IN THE PRODUCTION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT --- The 'effects' mentioned here are thirteen in number and are constituted of the five great elements, the five senses, mind, intellect and ahamkara. The macrocosmic gross elements in their gunas are themselves represented in the microcosm as the five indriyas. We had discussed this in the description of the Cosmic-Form of the Lord (Chapter XI). These sense organs cannot bring their stimuli of the outer world to the individual personality unless there is the converging point of all the indriyas, called the mind.
In order to respond properly to the stimuli, there must be a coordinating and understanding, discriminating and reasoning principle that governs the mind; and that principle is the intellect. In the world-of-objects, constituted of the elements, in the realm of the mind and in the responses sent out by the intellect, there must be a constant sense of I-ness, born out of the individual's identification with all that is mentioned above. This is called the 'Ego.' All these thirteen items, together in their aggregate, represent the 'effect' (karya), mentioned in the stanza.
PRAKRITI IS SAID TO BE THE CAUSE --- All the above-mentioned together constitute the world-of-matter. The five elements in their combination become the entire world-of-objects including the body, the senses, sensation and the instrument-of-judgement. From the five Great Elements down to the Ego, all items enumerated together form the "world-of-objects" --- since all of them can be perceived.
AS EXPERIENCING PLEASURE AND PAIN --- That which perceives the entire world-of-objects and their reactions upon the ego which is the individual's direct reaction to the world, is the Self. The Light of Consciousness is that which illumines the world-of-objects outside and the instruments of perception, feeling and thought within.
PURUSHA IS SAID TO BE THE CAUSE --- Pleasure and pain are the reactions in our intellect. When desirable objects in a conducive pattern reach our life, the experience is called 'pleasure.' And the opposite sensation, produced by undesirable objects, is called 'pain.' Every experience, in its final analysis, is adjudged either as pain or as pleasure. The Awareness in us illumines these. It would be impossible to be conscious of the flow of experiences without the Grace of the Consciousness. Therefore, the Spirit (Purusha) is explained here as the cause for the experiences in life. In short, Purusha is the cause for samsara. The Spirit, functioning in a field as the "Knower" of it, suffers the sorrows of samsara. He who stands in the Sun suffers the heat; if he retires into the shade, he enjoys its coolness.
THUS, IT IS SAID IN THE ABOVE THAT THE "KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD" (PURUSHA) IS THE ENJOYER OF THE PLEASURE AND PAIN --- SAMSARA. WHAT IS THIS SAMSARA DUE TO? --- THE LORD SAYS:
PURUSHA RESTS SEATED IN PRAKRITI --- The Purusha (Spirit) has no samsara. But the "Knower of-the-Field," Purusha, when It identifies Itself with the "Field" (Prakriti), becomes the experiencer. He identifies with the body and the senses which are the effects of Prakriti.
HE EXPERIENCES THE QUALITIES BORN OF PRAKRITI --- The sensations arising out of the matter-envelopments (Prakriti) such as pleasure and pain, heat and cold, success and failure etc., constitute the painful shackles on the "Knower-of-the-Field." The destinies of Matter become the tragic experiences of the Spirit, not because they are in the Spirit, but because the Spirit unnecessarily makes an unhealthy contact, through its own identification, with the realm of sorrow.
He not only experiences the joys and sorrows in life but also develops a blind attachment to them and this is "THE CAUSE FOR ITS BIRTH IN GOOD OR EVIL WOMBS." "As its desire, so is its will" is a scriptural declaration of an eternal truth. While living in the world, the "Knower-of-the-Field" experiences the pleasures and joys interpreted by the world-of-Matter and gets attached to them, and thereby develops residual impressions (vasanas), and takes to conductive fields where it can eke out its cherished satisfaction through vivid experiences.
When the Spirit, eternally joyous and infinitely all-full, orders a "Field" and identifies Itself with it, It becomes the "Knower-of-the-Field" (Purusha). The Spirit, as Purusha, suffers its own delusory samsara, because, having entered the field in its pre-occupation with the world-of-objects, and in its clinging attachment to the "Field," it looks, as though it has forgotten its own nature divine. Thus, 'ignorance'(avidya), and attachment to the "Field," are the two causes because of which the Satchidananda seems to have become the miserable, bemoaning, tearful, samsarin. The re-discovery of the Self and the awakening to our spiritual nature would, therefore, be through the path of (a) detachment from the "Field" and (b) experience of the Real-Knowledge; vairagya and viveka are the means for regaining the God in ourselves.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate
Bg 13.22
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
Translation
21. In the production of the effect and the cause, PRAKRITI is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, PURUSHA is said to be the cause.
22. The PURUSHA, seated in PRAKRITI, experiences the qualities born of PRAKRITI; attachment to the qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.
Commentary
IN THE PRODUCTION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT --- The 'effects' mentioned here are thirteen in number and are constituted of the five great elements, the five senses, mind, intellect and ahamkara. The macrocosmic gross elements in their gunas are themselves represented in the microcosm as the five indriyas. We had discussed this in the description of the Cosmic-Form of the Lord (Chapter XI). These sense organs cannot bring their stimuli of the outer world to the individual personality unless there is the converging point of all the indriyas, called the mind.
In order to respond properly to the stimuli, there must be a coordinating and understanding, discriminating and reasoning principle that governs the mind; and that principle is the intellect. In the world-of-objects, constituted of the elements, in the realm of the mind and in the responses sent out by the intellect, there must be a constant sense of I-ness, born out of the individual's identification with all that is mentioned above. This is called the 'Ego.' All these thirteen items, together in their aggregate, represent the 'effect' (karya), mentioned in the stanza.
PRAKRITI IS SAID TO BE THE CAUSE --- All the above-mentioned together constitute the world-of-matter. The five elements in their combination become the entire world-of-objects including the body, the senses, sensation and the instrument-of-judgement. From the five Great Elements down to the Ego, all items enumerated together form the "world-of-objects" --- since all of them can be perceived.
AS EXPERIENCING PLEASURE AND PAIN --- That which perceives the entire world-of-objects and their reactions upon the ego which is the individual's direct reaction to the world, is the Self. The Light of Consciousness is that which illumines the world-of-objects outside and the instruments of perception, feeling and thought within.
PURUSHA IS SAID TO BE THE CAUSE --- Pleasure and pain are the reactions in our intellect. When desirable objects in a conducive pattern reach our life, the experience is called 'pleasure.' And the opposite sensation, produced by undesirable objects, is called 'pain.' Every experience, in its final analysis, is adjudged either as pain or as pleasure. The Awareness in us illumines these. It would be impossible to be conscious of the flow of experiences without the Grace of the Consciousness. Therefore, the Spirit (Purusha) is explained here as the cause for the experiences in life. In short, Purusha is the cause for samsara. The Spirit, functioning in a field as the "Knower" of it, suffers the sorrows of samsara. He who stands in the Sun suffers the heat; if he retires into the shade, he enjoys its coolness.
THUS, IT IS SAID IN THE ABOVE THAT THE "KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD" (PURUSHA) IS THE ENJOYER OF THE PLEASURE AND PAIN --- SAMSARA. WHAT IS THIS SAMSARA DUE TO? --- THE LORD SAYS:
PURUSHA RESTS SEATED IN PRAKRITI --- The Purusha (Spirit) has no samsara. But the "Knower of-the-Field," Purusha, when It identifies Itself with the "Field" (Prakriti), becomes the experiencer. He identifies with the body and the senses which are the effects of Prakriti.
HE EXPERIENCES THE QUALITIES BORN OF PRAKRITI --- The sensations arising out of the matter-envelopments (Prakriti) such as pleasure and pain, heat and cold, success and failure etc., constitute the painful shackles on the "Knower-of-the-Field." The destinies of Matter become the tragic experiences of the Spirit, not because they are in the Spirit, but because the Spirit unnecessarily makes an unhealthy contact, through its own identification, with the realm of sorrow.
He not only experiences the joys and sorrows in life but also develops a blind attachment to them and this is "THE CAUSE FOR ITS BIRTH IN GOOD OR EVIL WOMBS." "As its desire, so is its will" is a scriptural declaration of an eternal truth. While living in the world, the "Knower-of-the-Field" experiences the pleasures and joys interpreted by the world-of-Matter and gets attached to them, and thereby develops residual impressions (vasanas), and takes to conductive fields where it can eke out its cherished satisfaction through vivid experiences.
When the Spirit, eternally joyous and infinitely all-full, orders a "Field" and identifies Itself with it, It becomes the "Knower-of-the-Field" (Purusha). The Spirit, as Purusha, suffers its own delusory samsara, because, having entered the field in its pre-occupation with the world-of-objects, and in its clinging attachment to the "Field," it looks, as though it has forgotten its own nature divine. Thus, 'ignorance'(avidya), and attachment to the "Field," are the two causes because of which the Satchidananda seems to have become the miserable, bemoaning, tearful, samsarin. The re-discovery of the Self and the awakening to our spiritual nature would, therefore, be through the path of (a) detachment from the "Field" and (b) experience of the Real-Knowledge; vairagya and viveka are the means for regaining the God in ourselves.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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