Prakṛti is the unconscious principle from which everything other than pure consciousness evolves: intellect, ego, mind, senses and elements. It is composed of three qualities, sattva, rajas and tamas, in balance until creation. Sāṃkhya holds that prakṛti acts for the sake of puruṣa, to give it experience and then liberation.
Prakṛti
Primordial matter or nature: in Sāṃkhya, the source of body, mind and world, made of the three qualities.
Also: Prakriti, nature