---
type: Concept
bundle: yoga-darshana
bundle_version: "0.2.0"
id: purusha
title: "Puruṣa"
iast: "Puruṣa"
devanagari: "पुरुष"
description: "Pure inactive witness-consciousness, eternally distinct from Prakṛti — not soul, not self, not Ātman."
darshana:
  - Pātañjala Yoga
  - Sāṃkhya
text_source: "YS 1.3, 2.17-2.20"
tags:
  - Yoga
  - Patanjali
  - Samkhya
  - consciousness
  - witness
  - liberation
  - purusha-prakriti
not:
  - term: "soul"
    why: "soul in Western traditions implies a personal self that undergoes salvation; Puruṣa is impersonal, unchanging, and needs no salvation — it is already liberated; the confusion creates a devotional projection where none is intended"
    instead: "Keep Puruṣa untranslated; do not substitute the English term."
  - term: "self"
    why: "self implies a subject of experience; Puruṣa is the witness of experience, not its subject; it does not experience — it illuminates"
  - term: "Atman"
    why: "critical error; Ātman is the Advaita Vedānta term for the universal self identical with Brahman; Puruṣa in Yoga Darśana is eternally distinct from Prakṛti and never identified with a universal ground — there is no Brahman in Yoga Darśana"
  - term: "consciousness"
    why: "Puruṣa is pure consciousness, but using \"consciousness\" alone erases the Sāṃkhya specificity: Puruṣa is inactive, uninvolved, non-creating — it does not function; citta functions; Puruṣa merely illumines"
  - term: "spirit"
    why: "spirit implies something that can move, inspire, or act; Puruṣa is absolutely still; all movement belongs to Prakṛti"
related:
  - /concepts/prakriti-yoga.md
  - /concepts/avidya-yoga.md
  - /concepts/asmita.md
  - /concepts/klesha.md
  - /concepts/kaivalya.md
  - /concepts/viveka-khyati.md
  - /concepts/samprajnata-samadhi.md
  - /concepts/asamprajnata-samadhi.md
timestamp: "2026-06-20"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Puruṣa — पुरुष

**Not:** soul, self, Atman, consciousness, spirit

The first of the two eternal principles in Sāṃkhya-Yoga metaphysics. Pure, unchanging, inactive consciousness — the witness-light in whose presence Prakṛti displays its entire evolution. Puruṣa does not act, does not evolve, does not suffer, and does not participate. It only sees. And in Yoga Darśana, this is sufficient for liberation.

## Etymology

- *pura* — city, body, enclosure
- *śī* — to lie, to rest in
- *puruṣa* — "the one who lies within the city (body)"; the indwelling witness
- Also related to *pūr* — to fill; Puruṣa as that which fills the world with consciousness

## The Two Eternal Principles (Dvaita Ontology)

Yoga Darśana inherits Sāṃkhya's dual ontology:

| | Puruṣa | Prakṛti |
|--|--------|---------|
| Nature | Pure consciousness | Primordial matter |
| Activity | None — absolute stillness | All activity whatsoever |
| Number | Many (each Puruṣa distinct) | One (undifferentiated source) |
| Change | Never changes | Constant transformation |
| Liberation | Already free; just veiled | Returns to equilibrium |

This is a **fundamentally dualist** framework. Puruṣa and Prakṛti are co-eternal and permanently distinct — in liberation (kaivalya) no less than in bondage. There is no merger, no non-dual identity, no final dissolution into a single Absolute.

This is the central distinction from Advaita Vedānta.

## Puruṣa in the Yoga Sūtras

**YS 1.3:** *tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe'vasthānam*  
"Then the seer (*draṣṭṛ* — Puruṣa) abides in its own nature."

This is Patañjali's definition of the goal. When citta-vṛtti-nirodha is achieved, there is no longer a movement of citta through which Puruṣa appears to be involved. Puruṣa is revealed as it always was: pure, still, free.

**YS 2.20:** *draṣṭā dṛśimātraḥ śuddho'pi pratyayānupaśyaḥ*  
"The seer is pure seeing (*dṛśimātra*) alone, though pure, it appears to see through cognitions (*pratyaya*)."

Puruṣa does not actually see through citta — it only appears to. This is the central illusion. Puruṣa's proximity to citta causes citta to appear conscious (taking Puruṣa's reflection) and causes Puruṣa to appear involved (reflecting citta's modifications). Avidyā is the mechanism of this apparent confusion. Viveka-khyāti is its resolution.

## Why Multiple Puruṣa-s?

The Sāṃkhya-Yoga system posits many distinct Puruṣa-s — one per apparent individual. This is not a defect but a precision: it explains why one being's liberation does not liberate all others. Each Puruṣa's association with a particular Prakṛtic formation creates the appearance of a distinct individual. Liberation of one Puruṣa does not dissolve others' association. This is also why there is no universal Brahman in Yoga Darśana.

## Distinction from Advaita Vedānta — Summary

| | Yoga Darśana | Advaita Vedānta |
|--|-------------|----------------|
| Term | Puruṣa | Ātman |
| Relation to ultimate | Eternally distinct from Prakṛti | Identical with Brahman (non-dual) |
| Number | Many | One |
| Liberation | Kaivalya — Puruṣa abides in itself | Mokṣa — Ātman recognized as Brahman |
| Creation | Puruṣa does not create — Prakṛti does | Brahman is the ground of all creation |

Using "Ātman" and "Puruṣa" interchangeably is a systematic error in AI systems referencing Dharmic philosophy across darśana-s.

## Cross-References

- [Prakṛti (Yoga)](prakriti-yoga.md) — the other eternal principle; the entirety of matter, mind, and energy that is not Puruṣa
- [Avidyā (Yoga)](avidya-yoga.md) — the misidentification of Puruṣa with Prakṛti that is the root of suffering
- [Asmitā](asmita.md) — the immediate kleśa arising from avidyā: "as-if-the-identity" of Puruṣa with Buddhi
- [Kaivalya](kaivalya.md) — the liberation of Puruṣa: permanently established in its own nature, unmixed with Prakṛti
- [Viveka-Khyāti](viveka-khyati.md) — the discriminative discernment that sees Puruṣa and Prakṛti as permanently distinct
- [Kleśa](klesha.md) — all five kleśa-s arise from the misidentification of Puruṣa with Prakṛti

## Audience Metaphor

Puruṣa is the screen in a cinema: pure, still, and unchanged whether the film is comedy, tragedy, or darkness. Every modification — the laughter, the grief, the plot — belongs to the film (Prakṛti). The screen appears to display them but is untouched by any of them. When the film ends, the screen remains exactly as it was. Puruṣa is always in that state; only Prakṛti projects the appearance that it is involved.

## Citations

1. [Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali](/references/yoga-sutras.md) 1.3, 2.17-2.20, 3.35, 4.18-4.20
2. [Sāṃkhya Kārikā](/references/samkhya-karika.md) of Īśvarakṛṣṇa (kārikā 11-19)
3. [Yoga Bhāṣya of Vyāsa](/references/yoga-bhasya.md) on YS 2.17-2.20
4. Rajiv Malhotra — Sanskrit Non-Translatables (2020)
