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:
THE SEVEN PRAKRITIS. 357
"He having pervaded the subtile parts of those six,
of unmeasured
brightness, by elements of self, created all beings."
The latter reading must be the correct one, since He, the Self, is
what we call Atma, and thus constitutes the seventh principle, the
synthesis of the "six." Such is also the opinion of the editor of the
Mayiava Dharma Skdstra, who seems to have intuitionally entered far
deeper into the spirit of the philosophy than has the translator, the late
Dr. Burnell ;
for he hesitates little between the text of KuUuka Bhatta
and the commentary of Medhatithi. Rejecting the tainidtra, or
subtile elements, and the dtmamdtra of Kulluka Bhatta, he says,
applying the principles to the Cosmic Self:
"The six appear rather to be the manas plus the five
ether, air, fire, water, earth ;
principles of
*
having united five portions of those six
with the spiritual element [the seventh'\ he (thus) created all existing
things;' . . . dtmamdtra is therefore the spiritual atom as opposed
to the elementary, not reflexive 'elements of himself."
Thus he corrects the translation of verse 17:
"As the subtile elements of bodily forms of this One depend on
these six, so the wise call his form Sharira."
And he adds that "elements" mean here portions, or parts (or principles),
which reading is borne out by verse 19, which says
"This non-eternal (Universe) arises then from the Eternal, by means
of the subtile elements of forms of those seven very glorious
Principles
(^Ptiricsha)."
Commenting upon which emendation of Medhatithi, the editor
remarks: "the five elements //«5 mind \_Ma7ias'\ and self-consciousness
\_Aha7nkdraY' are probably meant; 'subtile elements,' as before [meaning]
'fine portions of form' [or principles]." Verse 20 shows this,
when saying of these five elements, or "fine portions of form" (Rupa
plus Manas and Self-Consciousness) that they constitute the "Seven
Purusha," or Principles, called in the Pzirdnas the "Seven Prakritis."
Moreover, these "five elements," or "five portions," are spoken of in
verse 27 as "those which are called
the atomic destructible portions,"
and which are, therefore, "distinct from the atoms of the Nyaya."
This creative Brahma, issuing from the Mundane or Golden Egg,
unites in himself both the male and female principles. He is, in short,
• Ahamk&ra, as universal Self- Consciousness, has a triple aspect, as has also Manas. For this
"conception of I," or the Ego, is either sattva, "pure quietude," or appears as rajas, "active," or
remains tamas, "stagnant," in darkness. It belongs to Heaven and Earth, and assumes the properties
of Ether.