Part 11 - Puruṣa according to Sāṃkhya philosophy

Puruṣa is the principle of pure consciousness, it is the self, the subject and the knower. It is different from Prakṛti. Puruṣa is neither body nor senses nor brain nor mind (manas) nor ego (ahaṃkāra), nor intellect (buddhi). It is the pure subject, the silent witness and the neutral seer.^[1] According to Sāṃkhya, Puruṣa has no pain, no sufferings, no bondage and no attributes which is eternally free, never bound and never released. His bondage is merely the reflection on him, that is, the impurities of buddhi and his release is nothing but the removal of this reflection. In the first chapter of the Sāṃkhysūtra, the nature of Puruṣa is mentioned^[2]. Puruṣa is stated as separate from the body i.e., śarīrādivyatiriktaḥ pumān^[3]. It also demonstrates the reasons for the existence of Puruṣa.^[4]

Puruṣa is the pure self or the pure consciousness. The experience that ‘this universe exists’ arises from the existence of Puruṣa though Puruṣa is not regarded as the cause of this universe. The apparent contact between Puruṣa and Prakṛti is the cause of this empirical world.