प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि | विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसंभवान् || २० ||
prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva viddhi prakṛti-sambhavān
prakṛtim—nature; puruṣam—the enjoyer; ca—also; eva—certainly; viddhi—know; anādī—beginningless; ubhau—both; api—also; vikārān—modifications; ca—also; guṇān—the three modes; ca—also; eva—certainly; viddhi—know; prakṛti—nature; sambhavān—produced by.
“Know that both Prakriti (Nature) and Purusha (Consciousness) are beginningless; and know that the modifications and the gunas arise from Prakriti.”
Having described the Field and the Knower, Krishna now discusses their fundamental categories: Prakriti (matter/nature) and Purusha (consciousness/spirit). Both are said to be beginningless (anadi) — there was no first moment at which consciousness encountered matter, because time itself is within their interplay. The modifications of the world (vikara) and the three gunas that constitute all of Prakriti are both said to arise from Prakriti alone — the Purusha remains unchanged.
The understanding that the gunas and all experiences arise from Prakriti (nature) and not from Purusha (your true Self) is liberating. Your mood swings, your personality traits, your impulses — these are Prakriti at work, not the truth of what you are. The one who watches the moods, who sees the personality operating — that is Purusha. You are that.