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Concept

Puruṣa

In Sāṃkhya and Yoga, pure consciousness, distinct from all of nature.
Sanskrit, Yoga
puruṣa पुरुष

Definition

Puruṣa, literally “person”, has two main uses. In the Ṛg Veda’s hymn of the Cosmic Person, the world is made from the parts of a primordial Person. In the Sāṃkhya and Yoga schools, puruṣa names pure consciousness: the witness, inactive and unchanging, that is distinct from everything in nature, including the mind.

Sāṃkhya and Yoga hold that there are many puruṣas, one for each being, and that suffering arises from their apparent entanglement with nature (prakṛti). The mind and its contents belong to nature; consciousness only seems to own them, as a clear crystal seems red beside a red flower. Liberation is the discrimination of the two, and the isolation (kaivalya) of consciousness that follows.

The Sāṃkhya puruṣa resembles the Vedānta ātman in being a pure witness, but the schools differ: Advaita holds that consciousness is one and that nature is not a second reality beside it.

In the traditions

Sāṃkhya

The many conscious selves, pure witnesses distinct from nature, whose isolation from it is liberation.

Yoga

The seer, pure consciousness, distinct from the mind and all of nature. Its isolation is liberation.

Advaita Vedānta

Advaita accepts consciousness as the witness but rejects the plurality of selves and the independent reality of nature.

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Cite this entry
Chicago (bibliography)

“Puruṣa.” Concept. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/purusha.

Chicago (note)

“Puruṣa,” concept, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/purusha.

MLA

“Puruṣa.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/purusha.

BibTeX
@misc{concepts-purusha,
  title = {{Puruṣa}},
  howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society},
  note = {Concept. Last modified November 7, 2026},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/purusha}
}

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