Prakriti and Purusha
Acharya Prashant: For a woman, the lips of a woman are something very commonplace and ordinary. It is only the eye of the Purusha (consciousness) that worships the Prakriti (physical nature). That is why these two must be found together. If the masculine is not there, who will praise and worship the feminine?
Questioner: They are dual opposites?
Acharya Prashant: Yes, they are. It’s a duality.
Questioner: So, Purusha does not contain Prakriti ?
Acharya Prashant: No, it does not. They are the final duality. Or, one can say it is the first division, Purusha and Prakriti . Even though Purusha is also indicated as the witness, actually it is the beginning of the duality.
Questioner: Para-Prakriti ?
Acharya Prashant: Yes, Para-Prakriti . That is why, in the Bhagavad Gita , Krishna does not even use the word ‘*Purusha*’; he says Purusha is Para-Prakriti , and Prakriti is Apara-Prakriti . So, he doesn’t even say that something like Purusha exists; he says that Prakriti has two parts, and one of them is posing as the Purusha . One part is appreciating the other; that is all, this dance of masculine and feminine.
There are a lot of songs conveying the same message. Many of them are like this: “Had I not been there, who would have praised you? Whom are you running away from? If I were not there, for whom would you be getting dolled up? You are throwing tantrums now, but if I were not, for whom would you have adorned?”
Questioner: So, the entire world is feminine?
Acharya Prashant: If the entire world would have been feminine, from where would we be coming?
Questioner: I am asking in terms of physicality, in the context of our bodies.
Acharya Prashant: No, even the body is feminine. We are not talking about man and woman here; we are talking about Purusha and Prakriti . That which we call as man is Prakriti , and that which we call as woman is also Prakriti . That which we call as Purusha is within both man and woman. Generally, Prakriti is portrayed as female and Purusha as male, but this is not so. Within every man there is Prakriti . Your hand is not Purusha , it is Prakriti ; even your male genitals are Prakriti .
Then what is Purusha ? He who watches Prakriti is *Purusha*—the one who looks at her, appreciates her, around which Prakriti wants to dance. The metaphor is that of Krishna and the several gopis . So, Krishna is there; that’s why so many of the gopis are dancing. Krishna is one, gopis are many. Now, the gopis won’t dance if Krishna is not there. And if the gopis won’t dance, then what is the point of Krishna? Krishna, by definition, is the one who can make the gopis dance. Then their harmonious coexistence is that Purusha should remain a watcher, a non-interfering watcher, and the rest of the existence should be allowed to go on without any interference—which means, the body and the mind, which are both Prakriti , should be allowed to carry on with their own respective flows, and the ‘I’-tendency should not speak.
Body and mind are both Prakriti . The role of the Purusha is not to meddle with Prakriti . Watch her, admire her, praise her, love her, but don’t touch her.
Questioner: Krishna has no dual opposite?
Acharya Prashant: Krishna in the physical form is the dual opposite of the gopis . From the Source come salt and pepper, the first division is: salt and pepper get separated; salt is Prakriti and pepper is Purusha . In a condensed form they were both together. When the universe is created, the first division is this: the ‘I’-tendency and this Prakriti , which is all this material, they get separated; that is the first division.
Questioner: Won’t the ‘I’-tendency be included in Prakriti ?
Acharya Prashant: The pure ‘I’-tendency is the witness. As long as the Purusha is not interfering with Prakriti , he won’t be a part of Prakriti . The problem starts when there is undue interference, when the Purusha feels incomplete and hence goes to Prakriti searching for completion, when the ‘I’-tendency feels incomplete and goes to money in search of completion, or any other material, so that…
Questioner: What is the role of creation then?
Acharya Prashant: What do you mean by ‘creation’?
Questioner: Purusha is interfering with Prakriti , so this whole creation is also an interference.
Acharya Prashant: Creation means all this?
Questioner: Yes.
Acharya Prashant: No, no, this is not interference. This is what it is. Interference is when you want to do something with it; interference is when you feel it is not alright and you say, “I will make it better on my own accord.” Prakriti has her own flow. Prakriti knows how to manage her ways. But when you say, “No, I will enter and tease her, trouble her, will do whatever,” then the mess begins.
The problem starts when the ‘I’-tendency combines with Prakriti . Then you don’t say that “I am”; then you say that “I am some part of *Prakriti*”—and a part of Prakriti can be a house, or a rock, or a face.
Questioner: Sir, but this seems inevitable.
Acharya Prashant: That is why suffering is inevitable.
Questioner: So why even call it a problem? A problem means something that is avoidable.
Acharya Prashant: There is a solution. Have faith. It is not as if the problem is irreparable. Because there is relief possible, hence there exists all the scriptures and the domain of spirituality. It is not as if you are consigned to decay.
Questioner: I am questioning the fact that we are calling it a problem.
Acharya Prashant: We don’t call it a problem post-facto. It is a problem to us; that is why we go and associate with some form of Prakriti . The loneliness of *Purusha*—Purusha is lonely—becomes a suffering for him; the problem starts there. Then he goes and pokes at some place. And this is not inevitable, there is a way out. Yes, the beginning is inevitable. But then, in the beginning, birth itself is the body. We are born with the problem.
Questioner: But why are we calling it a problem in the first place?
Acharya Prashant: Because you suffer. If you were not suffering, then we would have not called it a problem. We are not trying to assert that it is a problem; we are just stating the fact. It does look like a problem; it hurts.
Firstly, the Purusha -Prakriti symbolism is meant to demonstrate that there is a harmonious relationship possible between you and existence, and secondly, the harmonious relationship can happen even without your contribution. Prakriti knows how to dance on its own. You do not need to train her.
Questioner: You do not need to participate?
Acharya Prashant: Your presence is the participation. By looking at you, she is dancing. Now, are you participating or not? Your beloved is dancing because you are looking at her. Now, are you participating or not?
Questioner: I am participating.
Acharya Prashant: So, your very presence is the participation. Beyond that, no participation is needed. Now, you are standing there and she is dancing. In excitement, you said, “Now this is done!” She is dancing, and you pounce on her. You ruined the entire dance. Then what do you have to do? Mind is dancing—just watch it dance. Body is dancing—just watch it. The world is dancing—you keep watching. All this is Prakriti , right? Body, mind, and world—all of this is dance; they are dancing from their side. You don’t interfere.
The entire symbolism of Purusha -Prakriti is telling you: Don’t interfere. Watch, appreciate, applause, praise, but don’t interfere. Whosoever has interfered, he is ruined; you touched and you got stuck. And Prakriti also is easygoing; mind is also easygoing. What destroys them? The touch of Purusha . When Purusha comes really close and grabs her, then the mind also gets defective.
You can understand it like this. There is some girl—and girls are innocent, she is sixteen or eighteen years old. Who makes her out of order? Now, she has got someone who is physically vandalizing her day and night. The girl unnecessarily starts feeling like a woman within two months, because what is her work when you are identified with the body, when someone makes you feel that you are the body? She was alright, contended in herself. Who else made her unorderly? If you like her, watch from a distance; whatever conversation you have to do, just do, but do not make her a woman. When she becomes a woman, then you will shout that, “Oh God, she turned into a woman!” Now, she will make your world hell. Doesn’t this happen a lot? First, you bring a girl after marriage; you tease her, penetrate her, and make her a woman. You make her totally body-identified. Now she has become a blood-sucking witch who will make your life hell. Then you say that she destroyed your life. Has she made your life unorderly?
Understand this thing. Sixteen-year-old girls are usually more innocent than sixteen-year-old boys. But after a boy has touched her, groped her, penetrated her, something within her drastically changes. Now she will become possessive; now all the fire within her will arise. And who will burn in that fire? She was calm, right? She was leading her life quietly. Only you went and teased her, poked her. Now bear! Same with the man and existence.
Questioner: Is there a way out?
Acharya Prashant: The way out is non-interference. Let her be; don’t keep poking. Prakriti knows how to manage her affairs. Your observation is alright; your interference is unwelcome. We are not talking of women here; we are talking of the mind, the body, and all that which constitutes Prakriti .
Understand it also in this way. You have lungs and lips—what are these? Nature, right? They were content in themselves. You were the one who touched the first cigarette to your lips; you gave the first smoke to your lungs. Now, if lungs and lips start demanding cigarettes every day, then who has trained them to make this demand? Are you seeing how the Purusha ruins Prakriti by interfering? Then you say that “I am addicted.” You became addicted, or you made it so? Now Prakriti will shout and pressurize you to smoke. The tongue didn’t have the habit to eat spicy, dirty food since childhood. Who gave this training to the tongue? Tongue is Prakriti . Who gave the mind the training to eat such food? Now, if the tongue has turned a junketeer, you complain. Has the tongue really become a junketeer?
So, don’t interfere. The tongue knows what to take in. The body knows what to ask for.
Questioner: And if it has turned into a junketeer, what then?
Acharya Prashant: Still the way is the same—don’t interfere. The tongue must have become junky, but when the food goes into the stomach and upsets it, then the stomach will itself tell you that these should not be eaten.
Don’t keep forcing yourself upon her. It is rape.
