YSP Study Group – Sutra 2.20

द्रष्टा दृशिमात्रः शुद्धोऽपि प्रत्ययानुपश्यः॥२०॥

draṣṭā dr̥śimātraḥ śuddho-‘pi pratyaya-anupaśyaḥ ॥20॥

draShTaa = Seer, Purusha; dRushimaatraH = pure consciousness/awareness only; shuddho.pi = though pure; pratyaya = concept, content of the mind; anupashyaH = appears to see along with

Taimni

“The Seer is pure consciousness but though pure, appears to see through the mind”

Aranya

“The Seer is absolute knower. Although pure, modifications (of buddhi) are witnessed by Him as an onlooker”

Bryant

“The Seer is merely the power of seeing; [however], although pure, he witnesses the images of the mind”

Discussion

In the last few sutras, Patanjali has discussed the concept of “drishya” (seen) or prakriti which is controlled by the three gunas. He now turns his attention to the “drashta” (seer), the purusha, or the pure consciousness.

The sutra states that “drashta” (seer) is “drishi-matrah” or “merely the power of seeing” or “merely pure consciousness”. Although pure, he is an observer (anu-pashyah) of the content of the mind (pratyaya) through the intellect (buddhi).

Purusha is pure as he is untouched by any attributes, adjectives or qualifications. He can be described as:

• Mere “see” force (drishi-matrah), as given in the sutra
• Purse consciousness alone (chit)
• Comprised only of knowledge (jnana); it knows the prakriti
• Mere witness or observer

Vyasa, in his commentary, states that purusha, even though quite different from the intellect (buddhi), does have some similarities with buddhi.

Purusha is not the same as buddhi for the following reasons:

• Buddhi has external objects as the objects of perception. This changes depending upon the object (cow, pot etc.). As such, buddhi always mutates depending upon the image of an external object presented to it. Purusha, on the, other hand, is does not go through any change and has the buddhi as the only object of observation.
• Buddhi exists for the sake of purusha (sutras 2.18, 2.21), to provide experience and liberation (bhoga and apavarga) to the purusha. The purusha exists for its own sake alone.
• Buddhi is inert and devoid of consciousness and is a composite of the three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas. Purusha is pure consciousness, the pure observer and untouched by the three gunas of prakriti.

On the other hand, purusha is not entirely different from buddhi either. Purusha is the cause of perception and cognition in the buddhi. As the sutra states, purusha is an observer of the “pratyaya” or the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and the cognitions etc. going on in the mind. In the state of ignorance (avidya), the “pratyaya” or these contents of the mind get attributed to the purusha. Thus purusha seems to have similarity with buddhi.

Buddhi as we know is inert and has no consciousness of its own. It needs the reflected consciousness of purusha to carry out its functions of cognition, discrimination etc. However, it is this reflected consciousness that causes the mis-identification of purusha with the ego. Purusha at this point loses its own identity as the “drishi-matrah” (the power of seeing) only and gets identified with the buddhi. Thus the buddhi appears to have consciousness of its own.

This misidentification of purusha with buddhi is caused by the ego (ahamkara) and is the ultimate cause of bondage which leads to the cycles of birth and reincarnation.