("individual") One of the Samkhya philosophical school's two
essential initial principles, the other being prakrti ("nature").
The dual concepts of purusha and prakrti—roughly, spirit and
nature—are the source of all things, according to Samkhya, an atheistic
philosophical dualism.
Purusha is said to be cognizant, yet passive and
unchangeable.
It is both a passive observer of the numerous prakrti
transitions taking place around it and a source of consciousness.
Purusha is a term that refers to a person's actual Self
(atman).
Given the multiplicity of aware beings and the reality that
one individual may achieve complete enlightenment while the others remain in
slavery, purusha is assumed to be numerous.
The ultimate root of bondage, according to the Samkhyas, is
people's incapacity to discern between purusha and prakrti, and their
identification of the Self with the latter rather than the former.
Samkhya, edited by Gerald Larson and Ram Shankar
Bhattacharya, was published in 1987, and A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy,
edited by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore, was published in 1957.
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