PRAKṚTI is a Sanskrit word meaning "nature, origin, progress." As a philosophical concept it refers to one of the two basic principles of the Sāṃkhya school, material stuff, or materiality. Materiality, according to the Sāṃkhya school, is manifest and unmanifest. There are other specific terms for the designation of unmanifest materiality, such as mūlaprakṛti ("original materiality") or pradhāna ("main principle"). Prakṛti is a term designating materiality in both its manifest and its unmanifest forms. The use of this term dates back to the middle group of Upaniṣads, composed in the last centuries BCE.

The concept of materiality can be traced to the Vedic creation myths. Although these myths vary, they all take as their starting point the existence of an original being, such as the "first man" (see, e.g., Ṛgveda 10.90). The...