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Wellsprings
hindu-cosmosfeatured in 2 works

Nature and Spirit (Prakṛti & Puruṣa)

Two ultimates: a witness that never acts, and a nature that does everything.

Sāṃkhya and Yoga build the cosmos from two ultimate kinds of thing: puruṣa, pure conscious 'spirit' that only witnesses and never acts, and prakṛti, unconscious 'nature' that does all the doing and evolves into mind, body, and world. Suffering arises when the witness mistakenly identifies with nature's activity; freedom comes when the two are clearly told apart. This dualism is one of the great alternatives to Vedānta's non-dualism.

How it traveled

  1. Bhagavad-gītā
    Kuru-Pañcāla region · -150
    explains
  2. Yoga-sūtra
    Kāśī (Varanasi) · 375
    explains

Key passages(20)

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Yoga-sūtra · Patañjali

Very high

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

Very high

Yoga-sūtra · Patañjali

Very high

Aṣṭāvakra-gītā · Aṣṭāvakra

High

Kaṭha Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

High

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

High

Praśna Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Aṣṭāvakra-gītā · Aṣṭāvakra

High

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Stotraratna · Yāmunācārya (Ālavandār)

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Gītārtha-saṃgraha · Yāmunācārya (Ālavandār)

High

Chāndogya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate