Prakriti
Prakṛti (IAST)Translation: "nature"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: प्रकृति
Transliteration: Prakṛti
Translation: "primal Nature; primordial Nature; creatrix (from the verb root kṛ – “to make, to do” + pra – “forth”)"
Definition:
- According to Sāṅkhya, it is also called Pradhāna and Avyakta; matter is one of the two categories basic to its system. It is fundamentally active, but non-conscious. It is fundamentally one and imperceptible. It is the source of the universe and can be inferred from its effects. It is a composite of three constituents called Guṇa (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas).
- According to Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, it is one of the six substances. Unlike in Sāṅkhya, the qualities (Guṇa) are the qualities of primal Nature (Prakṛti) and not its constituents. These qualities are inseparable from it, but not identical with it. It is inseparably related to God (Īśvara) and dependent upon Him, unlike the independent Prakṛti of Sāṅkhya. It is the dwelling place of the individual, and through it, of God himself. Sāṅkhya’s Prakṛti is infinite, but here it is limited above by the eternal manifestation (Nityavibhūti).
- According to Advaita Vedānta, it is a principle of illusion (Māyā), and therefore not fundamentally real. It is a phenomenon but not a phantasm, however.
- According to Dvaita Vedānta, it is the material cause of the world and one of the twenty substances (Dravya).
Glossary to the Record of Yoga (Sri Aurobindo)
Prakṛti — nature; “the active force of Nature which by its motion creates and maintains and by its sinking into rest dissolves the phenomenon of the cosmos;” the universal energy acting for the enjoyment of the Puruṣa on all the planes of being; the “outer or executive side” of the Śakti or Consciousness Force of the Īśvara, working in the Ignorance (Avidyā) as the lower or Aparā Prakṛti and in the Knowledge (Vidyā) as the higher or Parā Prakṛti.
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Hartz, Richard. Glossary to the Record of Yoga (Sri Aurobindo). Retrieved from http://wiki.auroville.org.in/wiki/Glossary_to_the_Record_of_Yoga
