prakritim purusham caiva
viddhy anadi ubhav api
vikarams ca gunams caiva
viddhi prakriti-sambhavan

"Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature."

In this sloka, Sri Krishna tells how our body made of prakruti and Atman are having an indispensable relationship. In sloka 19, the Lord tells that Atman is always associated with a body. In sloka 20, He tells the consequences of this bondage. In slokas 21 and 22, He tells why an Atman is bonded like this. Thus, these Four slokas tell about the imprisonment of Atman in a body. It is like Sri Sita imprisoned in Ashoka Vana, according to Swami Mudaliyandan. Prakrutim = body. Earlier we had seen that prakruti is primordial matter. The Lord initially created using prakruti. Prakruti was transformed into Pancha Bhoota or the Five great elements - space, air, fire, water and earth. Our body is a compound of all these Five. So here we have to interpret prakruti as the body formed from prakruti. Purusham = Atman or soul [and not males or females, but all living beings]. Anadi = [both body and soul] are beginningless; from time immemorial. Thus soul and body are related for very long time. Atman's present body alone is not mentioned, but all previous infinite births. Atman from time immemorial is bound by one body or the other. Thus we should know that both body and Atman have been bonded together always. Vikaram = changes, gunam ca = and qualities are of the body. What are vikaram and guna? Vikara [विकारं] is iccha-dwesha, desire-hate, love-hate, etc. These feelings emanate from the body. Gunam [गुणं] are the Twenty noble qualities one should possess to acquire Atman darshan. Thus the inferior love-hate feelings and the superior Twenty noble qualites, all originate from the body, a product of prakruti. Thus, body and soul have totally different nature. In spite of this difference, both Atman and body are bonded intimately. Why so? would be seen later. Thus Atman has been bound in infinite births by various bodies, and experiencing happiness and sorrow. In explaining vikaram, Three things have to be remembered: Gyanam [intellct to percieve], Iccha [desire to acquire or hatred to discard] and Prayatnam [efforts]. If we see a thing, say gold, we percieve it as gold. Then we like to possess it. Then we make efforts to acquire that object, here gold. Similarly, if we percieve danger, like a snake. Then we hate or have fear. Then we try to move away. Thus for any object we percieve, these three factors are encountered: Knowledge, desire or hatred and effort. These Three are indicated by the Lord in the word vikaram. In the teachings of shastras, if we realize the truth, then desire and follow, then we acquire punya; on the contrary, if we see the shastras, hate their teachings and do not try to follow, then we acquire papa. Thus same body, is the cause for acquiring punya-papa to get us bonded in the birth-death cycles, as well as the cause for noble Twenty qualities, threshold for Moksham. Thus, body is needed, but has to be deployed properly for liberation from samsara. Without bady, gunas also can not originate. With the body we should cultivate gunas or noble qualities and avoid vikaram or bad qualities which will immerse us further in this ocean of samsara. We will now take leave of this Kshetram.
                                                                                                               (continued)