________________
XVI]
Philosophy of the Ahirbudhnya-samhitā
47
trinity prakṛti is the evolutionary cause that undergoes the transformation, puruşa, though unmoved in itself, is that which by its very presence gives the occasion for the transformation, and time is the inner dynamic that behaves as the inner synthetic or structural cause. But these causes in themselves are not sufficient to produce the development of the trinity. The trinity is moved to develop on the evolutionary line by the spiritual activity of God. Puruşa is regarded as the adhiṣṭhāna-kāraṇa, kāla as the principle of inner activity, and the spiritual activity of God as the transcendent and immanent agent in which the causal trinity finds its fundamental active principle. As the first stage of such a development there emerges the category of mahat, which is called by different names, e.g. vidyā, gauḥ, yavani, brāhmi, vadhu, vṛddhi, mati, madhu, akhyāti, īśvara, and prajñā. According to the prominence of tamas, sattva and rajas, the category of mahat is known by three different names, kāla, buddhi and prāṇa, in accordance with the moments in which there are special manifestations of tamas, sattva and rajas1. Gross time as moments, instants or the like, the intelligizing activity of thought (buddhi) and the volitional activity (prāna) may also be regarded as the tripartite distinction of mahat2. There seems to be a tacit implication here that the activity implied in both thought and volition is schematized, as it were, through time. The unity of thought and volition is effected through the element of time; for time has been regarded as the kalana-kāraṇa, or the structural cause. The sattva side of the mahat manifests itself as virtue (dharma), knowledge (jñāna), disinclination (vairāgya), and all mental powers (aiśvarya). The opposite of these is associated with that moment of mahat which is associated with the manifestation of tamas.
With the evolution of the mahat the manus descend into it. From the mahat and in the mahat there spring the senses by which the objects are perceived as existent or non-existent3. Again, from and in the mahat there springs the ahamkāra through the influence
1
2
8
kālo buddhis tatha prāna iti tredha sa giyate tamaḥ-sattva-rajo-bhedāt tat-tad-unmeṣa-sanjñayā.
Ahirbudhnya-samhitä, VII. 9.
kālas truți-lavady ātmā buddhir adhyavasayinī
prāṇaḥ prayatanākāra ity' etā mahato bhidāḥ. Ibid. VII. 11. bodhanam nāma vaidyam tadindriyam teṣu jāyate
yenārthan adhyavasyeyuḥ sad-asat-pravibhāginaḥ. Ibid. VII. 14.
