Verses on Sāṃkhya 21.3

21.3

iha puruṣaścetanākṛt tena cetanāvabhāsaṃ yuktaṃ mahadādiliṅgaṃ cetanāvadiva bhavati yathā loke ghaṭāḥ śītasaṃyuktaḥ śīta uṣṇasaṃyukta uṣṇa evaṃ mahadādi liṅgaṃ tasya saṃyogāt puruṣasaṃyogāccetanāvadiva bhavati tasmādguṇā adhyavasāyaṃ kurvanti na puruṣaḥ / yadyapi loke puruṣaḥ karttā gaṃtetyādi prayujyate tathāpyakarttā puruṣaḥ kathaṃ guṇakarttṛtve ca tathā kartteva bhavatyudāsīno guṇānāṃ karttṛtve sati udāsīno 'pi puruṣaḥ kartteva bhavati na karttā / atra dṛṣṭānto bhavati yathācauraścauraiḥ saha gṛhītaścaura ityavagamyata evaṃ trayo guṇāḥ karttārastaiḥ saṃyuktaḥ puruṣo 'karttāpi karttā bhavati karttṛsaṃyogāt / evaṃ vyaktāvyaktajñānāṃ vibhāgo vikhyāto yadvibhāgānmokṣaprāptiriti // 20 //

Here, pure consciousness causes consciousness; endowed with the reflection of that consciousness, the mark consisting of the great principle and the rest appears as if conscious. Just as in the world a pot joined with cold becomes cold, joined with heat becomes hot, so too the mark consisting of the great principle and the rest, through union with it, that is, through union with pure consciousness, appears as if conscious. Therefore the fundamental qualities form resolutions, not pure consciousness. Although in the world expressions such as "pure consciousness is the agent, the goer" are used, nevertheless pure consciousness is a non-agent. How? "And although agency belongs to the fundamental qualities, the indifferent [spirit] likewise becomes as if an agent": while agency belongs to the fundamental qualities, pure consciousness, though indifferent, becomes as if an agent, [yet] is not an agent. Here is an example: just as a non-thief apprehended together with thieves is understood to be a thief, so the three fundamental qualities are agents, and pure consciousness joined with them, although a non-agent, becomes an agent through union with the agents. Thus the distinction between manifest, unmanifest, and knower has been proclaimed, from the distinction of which the attainment of release follows.