---
type: Concept
bundle: sankhya-darshana
bundle_version: 0.13.0
id: bandha-samkhya
title: Bandha (Sāṃkhya)
iast: Bandha
devanagari: बन्ध
description: Bondage -- the apparent (not literal) condition of purusha appearing entangled in prakriti's activity due to non-discrimination, NOT a real change undergone by purusha itself, and NOT a punitive or moral state.
darshana:
- Samkhya
tags:
- bandha
- bondage
- samkhya
- avidya
not:
- term: a real change or affliction undergone by purusha
  why: Because purusha is changeless and inactive by definition, it cannot literally be bound, harmed, or trapped. 'Bondage' names the situation as it appears from within prakriti's confusion -- buddhi mistaking prakriti's states for purusha's own -- not an actual alteration of purusha.
  instead: 'Describe bandha as apparent, not real: what is ''bound'' is the mistaken identification within buddhi, never purusha itself.'
- term: moral punishment or sin
  why: Bandha is a metaphysical-epistemic condition (non-discrimination), not a consequence of wrongdoing. It is closer to a persistent category error than to a moral debt.
related:
- /concepts/avidya-samkhya.md
- /concepts/viveka-khyati.md
timestamp: '2026-07-10'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Bandha (Sāṃkhya) -- बन्ध

**Not:** a real change or affliction undergone by purusha, moral punishment or sin

## What It Actually Means

Bandha names the condition, from within confused buddhi, of appearing entangled in prakṛti's experiences and changes -- pleasure, pain, effort, memory -- as though puruṣa itself were the one undergoing them. Because puruṣa cannot actually change, this bondage is, strictly, buddhi's own confusion about whose experience it is reflecting, sustained only as long as viveka-khyāti has not yet arisen.

## Audience Metaphor

Bandha is like a monitor displaying an error and the technician mistakenly believing the error is happening to them personally -- nothing has actually gone wrong with the technician; the confusion clears the instant they remember they are reading a display, not living inside it.

## Citations

1. Samkhya-Karika 62 -- see [references/samkhya-karika.md](../references/samkhya-karika.md)
