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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
CREATION. (7) Dik, i.e., the principle which holds things in
space, (8) Mind, and (9) Soul.
In strange contrast to these nine realities of Kanada are the two ultimate tattvas (existences) of Kapila, namely, Prakriti, or the root of the material and forces of nature, and Purusha, which is the principle of consciousness or Life. With respect to them the system of Kapila resembles, to a certain extent, the one known as Yoga which also reduces the universe to two substances, Akása and Prâna (life). None of these schools of philosophy, however, tries to attain to that monistic unity which is the key-note of Vedanta, said to be the crest jewel of Hindu metaphysics.
It seems that a certain type of the human mind is ill-satisfied with knowing merely how many kinds of atoms, or substances, and forces there are in the world ; it wants to reduce all variety to unity, to gratify its monistic aspiration. But when the intellect is employed on purely physical lines, it may be said to reach its limit in the nine realities of Kanada and their further metaphysical reduction to the Purusha and Prakriti of the Sankhyan school. Intellect has hitherto been looking at the external world of matter and form, and cannot, therefore, get beyond the duality of the seer and the seen to attain to Monism. Kanâda, Kapila and Patanjali, the founders of the Vaisheshika, the Sankhya and the Yoga philosophies, respectively, have only dealt with the universe in this manner.
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