SrI: SrImathE satakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
sUthram 92
Having identified the three guNas, the commentator now explains their relationship with prakruthi.
sUthram
இவை ப்ரக்ருதிக்கு ஸ்வரூபாநுப3ந்திகளான ஸ்வபா4வங்களாய், ப்ரக்ருதி அவஸ்தை2யில் அனுத்பூ4தங்களாய், விகாரத3ஶையில் உத்பூ4தங்களாயிருக்கும்.
ivai prakruthikku svarUpAnubandhigaLAna svabhAvangaLAy, prakruthi avasthaiyil anuthbhUthangaLAy, vikAra dhaSaiyil udhbhUthangaLAy irukkum.
Meaning
These (sathva, rajas, and thamas) are inherent characteristics inseparably connected with the essential nature of prakruthi. In the causal state of prakruthi, they remain unmanifest; in the state of modification, they become manifest.
Explanation
To establish that the three guNas belong intrinsically to prakruthi, the commentator cites the following scriptural authorities:
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः।[SrI bhagavath gIthA 14.5]
sathvam rajasthama ithi guNA: prakruthisambhavA: ।
“sathva, rajas, and thamas — these guNas arise from prakruthi”.
प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः।[SrI bhagavath gIthA 3.27]
prakruthE: kriyamANAni guNai: karmANi sarvaSa:।
“All actions are performed entirely by the guNas of prakruthi”.
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति प्रकृतेर्गुणाः।
sathvam rajasthama ithi prakruthEr guNA:।
“sathva, rajas, and thamas are the guNas belonging to prakruthi”.
By describing them as svarUpAnubandhigaL, the commentator teaches that the guNas are not adventitious qualities that arise later. Rather, they are inseparably connected with the very nature of prakruthi. There is therefore no state in which prakruthi exists apart from these guNas. For this reason, they are described as its svabhAvas.
The commentator then rejects the sAnkhya doctrine which regards sathva, rajas, and thamas as independent dhravyas that together constitute mUla-prakruthi. Referring to the sAnkhya definition beginning:
मूलप्रकृतिर्नाम सुखदुःखमोहात्मकानि लाघवप्रकाशचलनोपष्टम्भनगौरवावरणकार्याणि अत्यन्तातीन्द्रियाणि कार्यैकनिरूपणविवेकानि अन्यूनानतिरेकाणि समतामुपेतानि सत्त्वरजस्तमांसि द्रव्याणि।
mUlaprakruthir nAma sukhadhu:khamOhAthmakAni lAghava prakASa chalanOpashtambhana gauravAvaraNa kAryANi athyanthAtIndhriyANi kAryaika nirUpaNa vivEkAni anyUnAnathirEkANi samathAmupEthAni saththva rajas thamAmsi dhravyANi ।
“mUlaprakruthi is the name given to those substances called sathva, rajas, and thamas — subtle to the utmost and entirely beyond the reach of the senses. Their effects are pleasure, pain, and delusion; lightness, illumination, movement, support, heaviness, and concealment. They are distinguished only by their functions, without deficiency or excess, and they remain in a state of mutual balance.”
He states that this view is refuted.
It is for this very reason that AlavandhAr deliberately distinguishes the two by saying:
गुणाः प्रधानम्
guNA: pradhAnam । [sthOthra rathnam 17]
“The guNas are pradhAna.”
Finally, the commentator explains the latter part of the sUthram:
“In the state of prakruthi, they remain unmanifest; in the state of modification, they become manifest.”
That is, while the guNas remain in a state of equilibrium (sAmyApanna), their individual distinctions are not perceptible in the causal state of prakruthi. When that equilibrium is disturbed (vaishamyApaththi), their distinct characteristics become manifest in the state of evolution.
This is precisely what bhAshyakAra teaches: [in gIthA bhAshyam]
सत्त्वरजस्तमांसि त्रयो गुणाः प्रकृतेः स्वरूपानुबन्धिनः स्वभावविशेषाः कार्यैकनिरूपणीयाः प्रकृत्यवस्थायामनुद्भूतास्तद्विकारेषु महदादिषूद्भूताः।
sathva-rajas-thamAmsi thrayO guNA: prakruthE: svarUpAnubandhina: svabhAva-viSeshA: kAryaika-nirUpaNIyA: prakruthyavasthAyAm anudhbhUthA: thadh-vikArEshu mahadhAdhishUdhbhUthA: ।
“The three guNas — sattva, rajas, and thamas — are the specific inherent dispositions that accompany the very nature of prakruthi. They are distinguished solely by their respective functions. In the primal state of prakruthi they are not manifest, but they appear in its transformations, beginning with mahath and the rest.”
Thus, the three guNas are inseparable characteristics of prakruthi. They remain unmanifest in its causal state and become manifest only in its evolutes beginning with mahath.
adiyen vAsudhEva rAmAnuja dhAsan
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