तदर्थ एव दृश्यस्यात्मा ॥२.२१॥
पदविभाग: तत्-अर्थः, एव, दृश्यस्य, आत्मा।
अन्वय: दृश्यस्य आत्मा तदर्थः एव (अस्ति)।
प्रतिपदार्थ: तत् = that (referring specifically to the Seer / Purusha from the previous sutra), अर्थः = purpose / sake, एव = alone / solely / indeed, दृश्यस्य = of the Seen / of the knowable universe (Prakriti), आत्मा = the essence / the true nature / the very being.
तात्पर्यम्: The very essence and existence of the Seen (the universe) is solely for the purpose of the Seer.
Further context on the 72nd Sutra from Patanjali’s Yogasutras
Swami Vivekananda says Nature has no purpose in seeing itself except to free the Purusha. It’s absolutely brutal in its understanding that nature is simply cause, effect and the multiplicity of it. Hence, it can be assumed that nature is deterministic. And we are in the midst of an awakening from this grand reality of causation. Nature has no light or consciousness of its own and as long as the Purusha is present in it, there appears to be light.
I used to often wonder during my childhood, what’s the purpose of life? Until quite recently, it dawned on me that the purpose of life is to experience this moment. This moment or the waking reality is the culmination of all events until now only for me to be experienced with the light of my consciousness. So in that sense, the Seer and the Seen are but one. Nothing explains this incidental existence except for the fact that I could conceive this reality as it is offered to me.
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