Prakrti

By Swami Harshananda

Prakrti literally means ‘the natural or original principle,’ ‘that which produces effects’.

Different Aspects of Word Prakṛti

• This is one of the most widely used words in Sanskrit literature and also in the scriptures. In the most basic sense, it means nature or a natural quality.
• In Vedic sacrifices, it means a model yāga, like the Darśa or the Purṇamāsa, others based on it being called ‘vikṛtis’.
• In grammar it represents the basic form of a word.
• In the Sāṅkhya Darśana, it represents pradhāna, the basic material cause of the universe, comprising the three guṇas:

1. Sattva
2. Rajas
3. Tamas

• This concept has generally been accepted by almost all the schools of Vedānta. They are:

1. In Advaita Vedānta it stands for māyā at the cosmic level and avidyā at the individual level.
2. In Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta it is called ‘acit’ and accepted as a permanent reality, but under the control of īśvara or God.
3. The Dvaita Vedānta considers it as having two aspects: the citprakṛti and the acitprakṛti or the unconscious basic material cause of the world.

• In the Śāktatantras prakṛti is the Divine Mother who appears in five forms. These five goddesses are responsible for creation. They are:

1. Durgā
2. Rādhā
3. Lakṣmi
4. Sarasvatī
5. Sāvitrī

• In the Ayurveda it stands for the general condition of the body.
• The Bhagavadgitā describes prakṛti as representing two aspects of the Lord’s power, the aparā and the parā. The former comprises eight unconscious material objects and the latter, the conscious jīva.
• In political science the word stands for the seven rājyāṅgas or constituents of the state.
• In Sanskrit poetry, it is the name of a particular metre with 21 letters or syllables per line.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore