Hansaji Talking on ‘Purusha and Prakruti’

“Today’s topic is a little philosophical topic. It is a theory which tells us that we are structured of two things, one is Purusha (There are many words used for Purusha – consciousness, soul, God). To understand consciousness we have to become aware. The other part we are made of is Prakruti (matter). Matter is something which is changeful, gross and which has its own character. Three characters are continuously seen in matter and these are Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic characters. These are the three Gunas of Prakruti. Consciousness is awareness. Matter is useful only if consciousness is present. For example, in our body we have a soul and so the body (matter) is working and life goes on from childhood to old age and it undergoes changes.
Now what is the use of this theory? We need to understand that while living our life, we tend to forget that there is something like consciousness or soul and we get caught up in all kinds of changeful things and experience happiness and sadness, tension, anxiety, etc. But if we can remember that we are not these changeful material things, but a stronger power that is consciousness, then there would be nothing to be worried or anxious about. Why should we worry about things which will keep changing? So remember that whenever we experience tension, that situation will pass because it is the characteristic of Prakruti – to change. So why not manage everything with objectivity? For example, during an election, the person in charge of the election commission will be neutral, not siding with any party. To him, it doesn’t matter who wins. So we have to live life like this. Things come and go but you are staying neutral, neither taking joy nor pain from them. This is only possible if we remember that we are not what we can see. We are something else.

A person may look very nice but you never know their intentions. So it would be wrong to form an opinion or attachment to it. It is not very easy to reach the truth, it takes a lot of hard work. You cannot just believe what you see or hear from somebody. These are all superficial things. A person who was hated 10 years ago will now be offered garlands, a saint who was well respected is pelted with stones two years later. These games go on. So it’s better to observe the world and learn. Do not get affected by anything and keep doing your duty and live life. We too have taken birth, we too have consciousness, we are not inferior to anyone. We too have a strong personality within us, that of God. Swami Vivekananda used to very strongly say that “Every human is potentially divine.” We just need to connect with our inner self, which we have forgotten to do in our material lives.

There is a story of a man who had four wives. The first wife was very pretty and he used to spend most of his time with her. The second wife was very intelligent and he used to go to her with his problems. The third wife was extremely beautiful and he used to worry about losing her to someone else. And the fourth wife was highly neglected. She used to silently take care of his household.

A time came when the man learnt that he was going to die. But he didn’t want to die alone. So he asked his wives one by one if they would die with him. The first wife said, she wanted to enjoy her life and did not want to die with him. The second offered to perform all the correct sacrifices and rituals for his last rights to secure his next life but refused to join him. The third wife said she already had someone else in her life and did not care to join him. He was very sad with this outcome. Then, to his surprise, the fourth wife, who was forgotten, told him that she would go with him.

Here, the first wife represents a man’s body, the second his intellect, the third is his possessions and the fourth wife is his consciousness. The man was finally grateful for his fourth wife. So all our lives, we are functioning because of our consciousness but we are hardly aware of it. So a person just has to decide that whenever he gets disturbed, he should try to look into the inner core, become quiet and unaffected by things around. If someone with with you, walk together, otherwise walk alone and keep walking, as Rabindranath Tagore used to say. Keep progressing and gain inspiration from the world that you are strong and have every right to remain happy in every moment in your life.”

– Smt. Hansaji J. Yogendra

Satsang is an open meeting held every Sunday from 9:30 to 10:30 am at The Yoga Institute, Santacruz East, Mumbai. It involves an interesting presentation to the public, made by the students of the Teacher Training Course. Each week, a new presentation of a Yogic concept is made in a simple way through skits and decoration for the general public, followed by a short speech from our Gurus, Dr. Jayadeva and Smt. Hansaji Yogendra.