Indian philosophy, the orthodox schools · text c. 350 CE
Samkhya
Overview
The universe divides into pure consciousness, Purusha, and matter or nature, Prakriti. Confusion of the two is the bind.
Samkhya says the world is two, and the trouble is that we live as if it were one. Purusha is consciousness: the seer, which does not change and does not act. There is a separate purusha for each being, not one shared self as in Advaita Vedanta. Prakriti is nature: matter, mind-stuff, the whole changing show, including the thoughts you usually call yourself. Confusing the seer with the show is the bind.
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Classical Samkhya does not need a creator god to tell this story. Nature unfolds because that is what nature does. The person is free when they see that the aches, the plans and the reputation were never the seer. The seeing was. Liberation is that discrimination, practiced until it holds.
Yoga later borrows the map and adds the training. Samkhya itself is the diagnosis. If you cannot say which part of an experience is the one who notices, and which part is the weather being noticed, you will keep trying to repair the weather by scolding the witness.
Where it answers
What is real?
Consciousness and nature are two different kinds of thing, and mixing them up is the mistake.
Key terms
- Purusha
- Pure consciousness, the witness, which never changes or acts.
- Prakriti
- Nature or matter: everything that changes, including mind and body.
- Gunas
- The three strands of nature: clarity (sattva), energy (rajas) and inertia (tamas).
- Discriminating knowledge
- Seeing clearly that consciousness is distinct from nature, which brings liberation.
Further reading
- Samkhyakarika · Ishvarakrishna
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Quest2Reason. “Samkhya.” https://quest2reason.com/learn/ideas/samkhya. Accessed 13 November 2026.