It has been said, “Puruśah akartá”. What is Puruśa? There are several interpretations, but the most common interpretation is “Pure shete yah sah Puruśa” – He who remains as the central point of all activities is Puruśa. Another interpretation is, “Purasi asti yah sa Puruśa” – He who remains in the forefront of everything is Puruśa. That is, “Puruśa” means the “Cognitive Faculty”, the “Supreme Cognition”. That Puruśa is akartá (non-doer).

You know that both karma and kriyá are relative. Change of place of anything is called karma, and also kriyá. There must be change of place. Now, the agency or the guiding faculty that effects that change of place is kartá (kri + trn). Puruśa is akartá, that is, He Himself does not do anything; He gets everything done by others. So here you should remember that akartá does not mean that His role is passive. He is active but He gets everything done by others.

For example, take the owner of a big confectionery shop. The owner does not prepare the rasagollá or jilápii himself. Agents are there, workers are there; they prepare it, but they do it at the direction of the owner. Puruśa is akartá of that type. He Himself does not do anything, but He gets everything done by Prakrti. That is why He is akartá.

Though He is akartá, He is also kriyásákśiibhútaḿ. Whenever any kriyá is done, He is the witnessing entity (kriyá means “finalization of an action”. It is called “work”. Work is kriyá. Action is called karma in Saḿskrta). Whenever any kriyá is done He is the witnessing entity. He sees the entire process: how the karma functions and how the actional manifestations become finalized in kriyá. He sees everything and He also sees the finalization, that is, samyak karmánta is witnessed by Him. “Kriyásáksiibhútam” – without His sákśii, without being witnessed by Him, no action can take the final form of kriyá.

“Bhávakendrasthitah”. “Bháva” means:

Shuddhasattvavisheśád vá premasúryáḿshu sámyabhák
Rucibhishcittamásrńya krdasao bháva ucyate.

Bháva is the subtlest parallelism between human existence and the spiritual flow. When that subtle parallelism is established in a person, one may say that he or she is in the stance of bháva. In colloquial Hindi we call such a person a “bhávuka”. This bhava possesses a dynamic force; it is not something static, but has a strong dynamic force working behind it. And He is the central point, He is the nucleus of this bháva. (Bháva cannot be represented by the English term “abstract”; a term which contains many ambiguities. In the word “bháva” there is no ambiguity. It is unambiguous.) And He is the Nucleus, He is the central point, He is the controlling point of bháva. Hence He is bhávkendrasthitah (located in the centre of bhava).

“Guńayantrakashca”. Guńas, the operative principles, the tethering cords, function and do their duty as per the desire of the Cosmic Puruśa. They are not free to work according to their own whims, and that is why Parama Puruśa is known as “Guńádhiisha” – “Lord of all the guńas”, “Lord of all the operating principles”. The jiivas, which have been created by the guńas in accordance with the direction or with the permission of the Cosmic Puruśa, are guńádhiina – under the guńas or bondages. Jiivas are guńádhiina and the Cosmic Puruśa is Guńádhiisha. If the jiivas want to go beyond the bondages of the guńas they will have to take His shelter. There is no alternative.