musing on Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
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Without necessarily disagreeing with that, I think the more obvious equation is that Hadit is Purusha, as Nuit is prakriti.
With this distinction only: Hadit (as a particular point) is actually a subset of Nuit. She isn't "all that is, except for the center point," but, rather, "all that is." Prakriti, in contrast, is "all that is not Purusha."
This proves to be a negligible point in practice. That is, by the time it actually matters, one is well past the theoretical model of Samkhya philosophy - or, for that matter, any other.
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I didn't quite comprehend the distinction at first, but contemplating it has shed light on the whole subject, thanks Jim. However, that light casts a shadow. I understand that Purusha is the Soul; but is there a difference between Soul and soul? If so what is it? Would the soul be each individual star, and the Soul be that light pervading all of them?
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@The Old Guitaris said
"I understand that Purusha is the Soul; but is there a difference between Soul and soul? If so what is it? Would the soul be each individual star, and the Soul be that light pervading all of them?"
The word "soul" is used in so many varied ways, that one pretty much has to define it in context. Nothing makes this clearer than the fact that the Hebrew words nephesh, ruach, and neshamah - referring, respectively, to subconsciousness, ego-consciousness, and superconsciousness - are all literally translatable as "soul."
Let's try it from a different angle: Purusha literally means "person." In fact, it's even the Sanskrit grammatical term for "first person, second person, third person" pronouns etc. Remembering that samkhya is a plain-spoken philosophy whenever possible, Purusha just means "who the person really is." It is distinguished from prakriti - everything else! - just to show that who somebody is does not include even their thoughts, perceptions, etc. - nothing at all outside of them - but just "the person," the single point at the center.
Purusha. therefore, means "self" in casual language, or "Self" in spiritually-distinctive language.
Does that help?
