1012 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 25
tam—that person; tud—unto You; gata—have gone; aham—I; saranam—

shelter ; Saran yam—worth taking shelter of ; sva-bhrtya—for Your dependents;

samsara—of material existence; taroh—of the tree; kuthdram—the axe;

jufidsaya—with the desire to know; aham—I; prakrteh—of matter (woman);

pirusasya—of spirit (man); namami—I offer obeisances; sat-dharma—of the

eternal occupation; vidam—of the knowers; varistham— unto the greatest.

TRANSLATION

Devahiiti continued: I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet because You
are the only person of whom to take shelter. You are the axe which can
cut the tree of material existence. I therefore offer my obeisances unto
You, who are the greatest of all transcendentalists, and I inquire from You
as to the relationship between man and woman and between spirit and
matter.

PURPORT

Sankhya philosophy, as is well known, deals with prakrti and purusa.
Purusa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead or anyone who imitates the
Supreme Personality of Godhead as an enjoyer, and prakyti means nature.
In this material world, material nature is being exploited by the pumusas, or
the living entities. The intricacies in the material world of the relationship
of the prakrti and purusa, or the enjoyed and the enjoyer, is called sanisara,
or material entanglement. Devahiti wanted to cut the tree of material
entanglement, and she found the suitable weapon in Kapila Muni. The tree
of material existence is explained in the Fifteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-
gitd as an asvattha tree whose root is upwards and whose branches are
downwards. It is recommended there that one has to cut the root of this
material existential tree with the axe of detachment. What is the attach-
ment? The attachment involves prakrti and purusa. The living entities are
trying to lord it over material nature. Since the conditioned soul takes
material nature to be the object of hisenjoymentand he takes the position
of the enjoyer, he is therefore called purusa.

Devahiti questioned Kapila Muni, for she knew that only He could cut
her attachment for this material world. The living entities, in the guises of
men and women, are trying to enjoy the material energy; therefore in one
sense everyone is purusa because purusa means enjoyer and prakrti means
enjoyed. In this material world both the so-called man and so-called woman
are imitating the real purusa; the Supreme Personality of Godhead is actu-
ally the enjoyer in the transcendental sense, whereas all others are prakyti.
