puruṣa
Devanāgarī: पुरुषा Translation: animating principle, self, consciousness, spirit; a person, man, a human being; people Similar words:ātman, cit, cetanā, dṛś, pumān, draṣṭṛ, puṃs Opposite words:prakṛti, citta, ahaṃkāra, dṛśya, buddhi Related concepts:brahman, īśvara, draṣṭṛ, cit, puruṣottama, jīva, asmitā, avidyāAppears in
Yoga Sūtra: Sāṃkhya Kārikā:3 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 31 , 36 , 37 , 42 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 63 , 65 , 69
Bhagavad Gītā: Gītārtha Saṃgraha:Click here for complete Saṃskṛta Index
Commentaries around
“In the Yoga state we experience what is beyond the mind.”
– TKV Desikachar on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 3
“Yoga is about cultivating a profound discernment
of the difference between
the Nature of our Being and
the Being of our Nature.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verses 12-16
“When Jīva, attached to Prakṛti,
realizes its own true nature with
clear understanding, all desires,
arising from the three Guṇa and
their variations cease entirely.
This state of Vairāgya,
free from all types of desire,
is called Para Vairāgya.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 16
“Yoga is about recognising change and
recognising that which recognises change.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 16
“We can experience a quenching of
thirst for the ephemeral Guṇa
when the recognition of the
eternal Puruṣa pulls us more.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 16
“Citta and Puruṣa are distinct.
They are in association like heat and water.
Water which is cold becomes
warm in association with heat.
Then we use the term hot water.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6
“Similarly, because of the proximity of Citta and Puruṣa,
what is the quality of one is taken to be of the other.
In our convention they are often taken as one
and not two distinct entities with different natures.
This state is Asmitā.”
– T Krishnamacharya on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6
“Within the sense of “I” Am-ness,
the I-ness is Prakṛti and
the Am-ness is Puruṣa.
The illusion is the sense of as if One–ness.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6
“The ten senses or Das Indriya are the gateways
between our inner and the outer experiences,
in the twin roads of the worldly phenomena
that we call sensory knowing or bodily action.
The five senses that transport knowing from
the outer to the inner are called the Jñāna Indriya,
or the senses through which we perceive the world.
The five senses that transport action from
the inner to the outer are called the Karma Indriya,
or the senses through which we act out into the world.
The coordinator of this remarkable interface is Manas,
often referred to as the eleventh sense or internal organ.
The identifier in this remarkable process is Ahaṃkāra.
The discerner in this remarkable trinity is Buddhi.
The source of perception within this remarkable play
of knowing and action is known as Cit or Puruṣa.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 54
“Kaivalya is the outcome of the
equality of Sattva and Puruṣa.
The clarity of Sattva acquired
through our efforts with Citta,
coexisting with the eternal
abiding awareness of Puruṣa.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Three verse 55
“The witness cannot be witnessed.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 18
“‘What’ is it that identifies
that we misidentify?”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 18
“We observe what we experience
through the eye of the Indriya
The eye of the Indriya observes
through the I of the Manas
The I of the Manas observes
through the I of the Ahaṃkāra
The I of the Ahaṃkāra observes
through the I of the Buddhi
The I of the Buddhi observes
from the eye of the Puruṣa.”
– Paul Harvey on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Four verse 18
“Primordial Nature is uncreated
and yet creates.
Awareness is neither.”
– Paul Harvey on Sāṃkhya Kārikā Āryā Three
“What is it that:
Earth does not cover?
Water does not wet?
Fire does not burn?
Air does not erode?”
– Paul Harvey on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Two verse 23
“The last six chapters present the
three fundamental entities:
Prakṛti, Puruṣa and Īśvara.
What is most vital to a person
for everlasting happiness is to
understand the nature of consciousness
and the Lord and his creation.”
– TKV Desikachar on Gītārtha Saṃgraha of Śrī Yāmunācārya Śloka Four
“When the mind thinks it is seeing rather than the Puruṣa
there is Avidyā, and this is the beginning of Duḥkha.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Six Page 85
“There is no death for the Puruṣa
because there is no change for it,
and what is death but change.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Six Page 87
“Prāṇa is simply the expression of Puruṣa in all parts of the body and beyond.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Ten Page 135
“Prāṇa is simply the expression of Puruṣa in all parts of the body and beyond.
This Prāṇa has an intimate relationship to the mind
because the Puruṣa sees only through the mind.
Thus Prāṇa, mind and breath are interrelated.
Whatever happens in the mind influences the breath.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Ten Page 135
“There is a relationship between Pariṇāma, Tāpa and Saṃskāra.
When you recognise this phenomena there is something that recognises it.
That something is not part of the phenomena.”
– TKV Desikachar on Sāṃkhya and Yoga
“Yoga is when the mind is completely absorbed in the great force within.”
– TKV Desikachar France August 1983
“In meditation,
one must make the transition
from the gross, that which has form
and which can be seen by the mind,
to the subtle, the formless.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 19th 1988
“In each one of us there is something that experiences.”
– TKV Desikachar introducing the Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2001
“If the Saṅga is at the Puruṣa level it will stay;
if it is at the Prakṛti level it will change.”
– TKV Desikachar speaking with his senior Western students London 1998
“Better not to confuse:
– Bodywork with Āsana.
– Energywork with Mudrā.
– Breathwork with Prāṇāyāma.
– Mindwork with Dhyānam.
– Voicework with Mantra.
– Soulwork with Puruṣa.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers
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