Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/264

 24 8 The KaPila and the Piitaiijala Sii1!zkhya [CH. production being suspended, the activity here repeats the same state (sadrsa-pari1}iima) of equilibrium, so that there is no change or new production. The state of pralaya thus is not a suspension of the teleology or purpose of the gUl)as, or an absolute break of the course of gUl)a evolution; for the state of pralaya, since it has been generated to fulfil the demands of the accumulated karmas of puruas, and since there is still the activity of the gUl)as in keeping themselves in a state of suspended production, is also a stage of the sarpsara cycle. The state of m ukti (libera- tion) is of course quite different, for in that stage the movement of the gUl)as ceases for ever with reference to the liberated soul. But still the question remains, what breaks the state of equilibrium? The Sarp.khya answer is that it is due to the transcendental (non- mechanical) influence of the purua 1. This influence of the puru!?a again, if it means anything, means that there is inherent in the gUl)as a teleology that all their movements or modifications should take place in such a way that these may serve the purposes of the puruas. Thus when the karmas of the puruas had demanded that there should be a suspension of all experience, for a period there was a pralaya. At the end of it, it is the same inherent pur- pose of the prakrti that wakes it up for the formation of a suitable world for the experiences of the puruas by which its quiescent state is disturbed. This is but another way of looking at the inherent teleology of the prakrti, which demands that a state of pralaya should cease and a state of world-framing activity should begin. Since there is a purpose in the gUl)as which brought them to a state of equilibrium, the state of equilibrium also pre- supposes that it also may be broken up again when the purpose so demands. Thus the inherent purpose of the prakrti brought about the state of pralaya and then broke it up for the creative work again, and it is this natural change in the prakrti that may be regarded from another point of view as the transcendental influence of the puruas. Mahat and Aharpkara. The first evolute of the prakrti is generated by a preponderance of the sattva (intelligence-stuff). This is indeed the earliest state from which all the rest of the world has sprung forth; and it is a state in which the stuff of sattva predominates. I t thus holds 1 The Yoga answer is of course diffelent. It helieves that the diturhance of the equilibrium of the prakrti for new creation takes place by the will of Isvara (God).