Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/275

 VII] Yoga Theism 259 prakrti can bring forth this order and harmony of the universe, how can it determine what course of evolution will be of the best service to the puru!?as, how can it remove its own barriers and lend itself to the evolutionary process from the state of prakrti equilibrium? How too can this blind tendency so regulate the evolutionary order that all men must suffer pains according to their bad karmas, and happiness according to their good ones? There must be some intelligent Being who should help the course of evolution in such a way that this system of order and harmony may be attained. This Being is Isvara. Isvara is a purua who had never been subject to ignorance, afflictions, or passions. His body is of pure sattva quality which can never be touched by ignorance. He is all knowledge and all powerful. He has a per- manent wish that those barriers in the course of the evolution of the reals by which the evolution of the gUl}as may best serve the double interest of the puru!?a's experience (bhoga) and liberation (apavarga) should be removed. It is according to this perma- nent will of Isvara that the proper barriers are removed and the gUl}as follow naturally an intelligent course of evolution for the service of the best interests of the puru!?as. Isvara has not created the prakrti; he only disturbs the equilibrium of the prakrti in its quiescent state, and later on helps it to follow an intelligent order by which the fruits of karma are properly distributed and the order of the world is brought about. This acknowledgement of Isvara in Yoga and its denial by Sarpkhya marks the main theoretic difference between the two according to which the Yoga and Sarpkhya are distinguished as Sesvara Sarpkhya (Sarpkhya with Isvara) and NiriSvara Sarpkhya (Atheistic Sarpkhya)1. Buddhi and Purua. The question again arises that though purua is pure intel- ligence, the gUl:laS are non-intelligent subtle substances, how can the latter come into touch with the former? Moreover, the purua is pure inactive intelligence without any touch of impurity and what service or need can such a puru!?a have of the gUl}as? This difficulty is anticipated by Sarpkhya, which has already made room for its answer by assuming that one class of the gUl}as called sattva is such that it resembles the purity and the intelligence of the purua to a very high degree, so much so 1 Tattvavaifaradi, IV. 3; Yogavarttika, 1.24; and Pravacanab/;iifya, v. 1-12.