Leela or sport removes the suspicion of any necessity or compulsion. The Ultimate Reality creates this world, therefore, merely because He wills to do so. For the purposes of this creative sport, or what is called Sristi Leela in our Vaishnavic terminology, the Lord differentiates Himself from Himself and thus assumes a dual character. In one character. He is the Knower or the Subject. In another character. He is the Object of His own know- ledge. Similarly, in one character He is the Enjoyer and the Agent or Actor, while in another character, He is the Object of His enjoyment and of His will or action The Knower, the Enjoyer and the Agent or the Actor is called the Purusha, while the Object of the Lord’s knowing, enjoying and willing is called Prakriti. Prakriti and Purusha are, however, not two beings but the one and the same being, self-differentiated for the creative process or the creative sport of the Lord. The whole structure of the philosophy and art of Bengal Vaishnavism is built upon the conception of the Purusha and Prakriti. The terms are not peculiar to Vaishnavic thought. They are the central terms of the Sankhya system. But in the Sankhya system Purusha and Prakriti, though co-related in creation, —
