Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/265

 VII] E volu!£on of hI aha! 249 within it the minds (buddhz) of all puruas which were lost in the prakfti during the pralaya. The very first work of the evolution of prakfti to serve the puruas is thus manifested by the separating out of the old buddhis or minds (of the puruas) which hold within themselves the old specific ignorance (a'l'idyti) inherent in them with reference to each purua with which any particular buddhi is associated from beginningless time before the pralaya. This state of evolution consisting of all the collected minds (buddhi) of all the puruas is therefore called buddhitattva. I t is a state which holds or comprehends within it the buddhis of all indi- viduals. The individual buddhis of individual puruas are on one hand integrated with the buddhitattva and on the other associated with their specific puruas. When some buddhis once begin to be separated from the prakfti, other buddhi evolutions take place. In other words, we are to understand that once the trans- formation of buddhis is effected for the service of the puruas, all the other direct transformations that take place from the prakfti take the same line, i.e. a preponderance of sattva being once created by the bringing out of some buddhis, other trans- formations of prak!1i that follow them have also the sattva pre- ponderance, which thus have exactly the same composition as the first buddhis. Thus the first transformation from prakfti becomes buddhi-transformation. This stage of buddhis may thus be re- garded as the most universal stage, which comprehends within it all the buddhis of individuals and potentially all the matter of which the gross world is formed. Looked at from this point of view it has the widest and most universal existence comprising all creation, and is thus called mallat (the great one). It is called li1iga (sign), as the other later existences or evolutes give us the ground of inferring its existence, and as such must be distin- guished from the prakfti which is called alinga, i.e. of which no linga or characteristic may be affirmed. This mahat-tattva being once produced, further modifications begin to take place in three lines by three different kinds of undulations representing the sattva preponderance, rajas pre- ponderance and tamas preponderance. This state when the mahat is disturbed by the three parallel tendencies of a preponderance of tamas, rajas and sattva is called aha1!zkiira, and the above three tendencies are respectively called ttimasika alza1ltkiira or blziUiidi, riijasika or taijasa aha1!lkiira, and vaiktirika ahm!lktira. The raja- sika aharp.kara cannot mark a new preponderance by itself; it only