Purusha

(“person”) One of the two fundamental
first principles in the Samkhya philosophical school, the other one being
prakrti (“nature”). Samkhya upholds an
atheistic philosophical dualism in
which the twin principles of purusha
and prakrti—roughly, spirit and
nature—are the source of all things.
Purusha is conceived as conscious but
completely inactive and unchanging. It
is the passive witness to the myriad
transformations of prakrti going on
around it, and as the source of consciousness purusha is ultimately identified with a person’s true Self (atman).
Thus purusha is inferred as plural, given
the plurality of conscious beings and
the fact that one person can gain final
enlightenment while all the rest remain
in bondage. According to the Samkhyas,
the ultimate source of bondage lies in
people’s failure to distinguish between
purusha and prakrti and in identifying
the Self with the latter rather than the
former. For further information see
Gerald Larson and Ram Shankar
Bhattacharya (eds.), Samkhya, 1987;
and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and
Charles A. Moore (eds.), A Sourcebook in
Indian Philosophy, 1957.