By these _prânas_ are meant the nervous forces that are governing and moving the whole body, which are manifesting themselves as thought, and as the various functions of the body. The foremost and the most obvious manifestation of these _prânas_ is the breathing motion. If it were caused by air, a dead man would breathe. The _prâna_ acts upon the air, and not air upon it. These _prânas_ are the vital forces which manipulate the whole body, and they in turn are manipulated by the mind and the _indriyas_ (the two kinds of organs). So far so good. The psychology is very clear and most precise, and just think of the age of it, the oldest rational thought in the world! Wherever there is any philosophy or rational thought, it owes something to Kapila. Wherever there is any attempt at psychology, or philosophy, there is some indebtedness to the great father of this thought, to this man Kapila. So far we see that this psychology is wonderful, but we shall have to differ with it on some points, as we go on. We find that the principal idea on which Kapila works is evolution. He makes one thing evolve out of another, because his very definition of causation is “the effect is the cause reproduced in another form,” and because the whole universe, so far as we see it, is progressive and evolving. This whole universe must have evolved out of some material, out of _Prakriti_ or Nature. Therefore this Nature cannot be essentially different from its cause, only when it takes form it becomes limited. The material itself is without form. But according to Kapila, from undifferentiated nature down to the last stage of differentiation, none of these is the same as _Purusha_, the “Enjoyer,” or “Enlightener.” Just as a lump of clay, so is a mass of mind, or the whole universe. By itself it has no light, but we find reason and intelligence in it, therefore there must be some Existence behind it, behind the whole of Nature, whose light is percolating through it and appearing as _Mahat_ and consciousness and all these various things, and this Existence is what Kapila calls the _Purusha_, the _Âtman_ or Self of the Vedantist. According to Kapila, the _Purusha_ is a _simple_ factor, not a compound. It is immaterial, the only one that is immaterial, whereas all the various manifestations are material. The _Purusha_ alone knows. Suppose I see a blackboard, first the external instruments will bring that sensation to the organ (to the _indriya_ according to Kapila), from the organ it will go to the mind and make an impression; the mind will cover it up with another factor,--consciousness, and will present it to the _buddhi_ (intelligence), but _buddhi_ cannot act; it is the _Purusha_ behind that acts. These are all its servants, bringing the sensation to It, and It gives the orders, and the _buddhi_ reacts. The _Purusha_ is the Enjoyer, the Perceiver, the real One, the King on his throne, the Self of man, and It is immaterial. Because It is immaterial, it necessarily