Purusha

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Purusha (Skt. puruṣa; Wyl. skyes bu) - literally the 'person', this is an important feature of the Samkhya philosophical system. It has nine special features (khyad par dgu):

  1. It has the essence of cognizance, since it discovers objects
  2. It is unborn, since it is uncreated
  3. It is an experiencer, since it undergoes pleasure and pain
  4. It is permanent, since it is beyond arising and degenerating
  5. It is all-pervasive, since it pervades all the beings of the three worlds
  6. It has no qualities, since it does not possess the qualities of the three gunas
  7. It is a subject, since it is the experiencer of objects
  8. It is unitary, since it is devoid of parts
  9. It is unending, since it has neither a beginning nor an end.