---
type: Concept
bundle: sankhya-darshana
bundle_version: 0.13.2
id: nirishvara
title: Nirīśvara
iast: Nirīśvara
devanagari: निरीश्वर
description: 'Without-Ishvara -- classical Samkhya''s atheistic stance: no creator deity is philosophically required or admitted, argued textually at Samkhya-Pravacana-Sutra 1.92 (''Ishvara is unproved''). This is the PRIMARY framing for this bundle; Sesvara (theistic) Samkhya is a distinct, later-associated strand, named-and-deferred (see sesvara-samkhya.md).'
darshana:
- Samkhya
tags:
- nirishvara
- atheism
- samkhya
- ishvara
not:
- term: a settled monolithic position across all of Samkhya's history
  why: 'Nirishvara is the position of classical Samkhya (as systematized in the Samkhya-Karika, c. 200 CE) and is textually argued at Samkhya-Pravacana-Sutra 1.92. But the historical picture has layers: most scholars hold Ishvara-adjacent language entered Samkhya-associated thought later, through contact with Yoga, Pasupata, and Bhagavata schools, and a theistic strand (Sesvara Samkhya) resurfaced in what is called ''Later Samkhya'' after the classical school''s decline (roughly post-8th century CE). Presenting nirishvara as an unchallenged, unlayered position across all periods would flatten this history.'
  instead: 'State the primary classical position (nirishvara) clearly, then name the strata briefly: Ishvara language entered later via school contact; a theistic strand (Sesvara Samkhya) resurfaced afterward. See sesvara-samkhya.md for the named-and-deferred pointer.'
- term: Yoga-darshana's Ishvara-inclusive framing (v0.2)
  why: Yoga-darshana (v0.2), while sharing Samkhya's metaphysics closely, introduces Ishvara as an optional object of surrender (Ishvara-pranidhana) and an accelerant to samadhi. Classical Samkhya's nirishvara stance admits no such figure at any stage of its own soteriology (viveka-khyati alone suffices).
related:
- /concepts/purusha.md
- /concepts/sesvara-samkhya.md
- /concepts/samkhya-pravacana-sutra.md
- /concepts/kaivalya-samkhya.md
timestamp: '2026-07-10'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Nirīśvara -- निरीश्वर

**Not:** a settled monolithic position across all of Samkhya's history, Yoga-darshana's Ishvara-inclusive framing (v0.2)

## What It Actually Means

Nirīśvara names classical Sāṃkhya's stance that no creator deity is needed, or admissible, within its causal and soteriological system: prakṛti evolves by its own internal logic once disturbed by proximity to puruṣa, and liberation is reached through viveka-khyāti alone, with no divine intermediary. The Sāṃkhya-Pravacana-Sūtra states this directly at 1.92: Īśvara is unproved. This makes classical Sāṃkhya one of the clearest atheistic systems within the six darśanas, standing in explicit contrast to Yoga's Īśvara-inclusive framing of the very same underlying metaphysics.

## Audience Metaphor

Nirīśvara Sāṃkhya is like a self-contained physical system that runs on its own internal thermodynamics -- no external engineer is required to keep it running, and adding one would not explain anything the system's own internal logic does not already account for.

## Citations

1. Samkhya-Pravacana-Sutra 1.92 -- see [references/samkhya-pravacana-sutra.md](../references/samkhya-pravacana-sutra.md)
2. Cross-bundle warning: Yoga-darshana v0.2 introduces Ishvara (Yoga Sutra 1.24) into the shared metaphysics; classical Samkhya explicitly does not
