प्रकृति (matter) and पुरुष (spirit) are two basic factors essential for production of the प्रपञ्च (the visible world which is the scene of manifold action) as man and woman are for the production of progeny. From पुरुष (male), प्रकृति (female) originated and then they together created the प्रपञ्च . The वेदस् and पुराणस् make statements everywhere regarding प्रकृति and पुरुष and three of the most important ones are given below:

ऽप्रऽ means 'principal' and ऽकृतिऽ means 'creation'. Therefore the word is meant to convey the meaning 'one that is the principal factor for creation', 'Pra' means 'sāttvic', ' कृऽ means 'rājasic' and 'ta' means 'tāmasic' and the word ' प्रकृतिऽ thus conveys the power of the three गुणस्ऽ . 'Pra' means 'before' and 'Kṛti' means creation and so प्रकृति means that which existed before creation.

Before creation प्रकृति lay merged with the Supreme Spirit without separate existence. But when the desire for creation was aroused, this Supreme Spirit divided itself into प्रकृति and पुरुष . Then the right half becomes ' पुरुष ' and the left half ' प्रकृति '. Even though they are thus two योगीन्द्रस् (kings among sages) they see themselves as merged with the eternal One like fire and heat and assert the truth सर्वं ब्रह्ममयम् (everything is Brahman, the Supreme Spirit). It was this basic प्रकृति that took forms as the five goddesses, दुर्गा , लक्ष्मी , सरस्वती , सावित्री and राधा . (9th Skandha, Devī Bhāgavata) .

पुरुष is the vital sentient Truth that sets in action the entire प्रपञ्च . This पुरुष is Supreme among the Supreme, beyond human comprehension, without form, colour, name, without origin, growth, change or end, residing in himself and that which can only be imagined to exist. This पुरुष has got two different forms, the visible and the invisible and also a third imaginary one, time. The sages call पुरुष the सूक्ष्मप्रकृति (The subtle all-pervading spirit, the supreme soul). This सूक्ष्मप्रकृति which cannot be measured by any unit of measure, is not attached to anyhing , is imperishable, is without decrepitude, is immovable and is without the senses of sound, touch smell or form. This प्रकृति endowed with the three गुणस् , without beginning or end is eternal, is the root cause of this प्रपञ्च . This प्रकृति pervaded over प्रपञ्च from the beginning of the great Deluge to the beginning of creation. ब्रह्मज्ञानिन्स् who were great seers and who knew the truth of the वेदस् speak about प्रकृति thus: "There was no night or day then, neither the earth nor the sky, neither light nor darkness. There was nothing but this. There was only one ब्रह्मन् merged in which were प्रकृति and पुरुस , a ब्रह्मन् which could not be understood by any of the five senses nor by intelligence. It was from the supreme being of विष्णु that the two forms प्रकृति and पुरुष originated. These two were separated from विष्णु at the time of the great deluge and again joined together at the time of creation. The form of विष्णु from which these occurred was termed Time. During the last great deluge this visible प्रपञ्च merged with it and so, this deluge was called प्राकृतप्रलय . Time is eternal, having no end and so the process of सृष्टि , स्थिति and संहार (creation, existence and destruction) continued without any interruption.

After that, during प्रलय (deluge), प्रकृति and पुरुष stand apart due to equality of the गुणस् , सत्त्व , रजस् and तमस् in प्रकृति . विष्णु in the form of Time starts the work to join them both together. Then when the time of creation came विष्णु , the Supreme Being, the supreme soul, the god of all living beings, omnipresent and omnipotent by his will entered the emotionless पुरुष and emotional प्रकृति and created sensations in them. Smell is the sense which creates sensation in one by its nearness to it. Just like that विष्णु by his very presence near them created disturbances in them. It is विष्णु , the best of पुरुषस् , who acts as प्रकृति which can disturb and which can be disturbed, which exists in states of contraction and expansion. It is विष्णु , the god of the gods, who exists in forms of सूक्ष्म and स्थूल , and as the great तत्त्व and as the देवस् like ब्रह्मा .

The महत्तत्त्व originated from प्रकृति , which was existing as emotionless due to the equalisation of the three गुणस् , when at the time of creation विष्णु , Truth in the form of क्षेत्रज्ञ (knower), merged with प्रकृति . The महत्तत्त्व in its three forms, सत्त्व, रजस् and तमस् lay enveloped by प्रकृति just as a seed is covered by its husk. From this महत्तत्त्व originated the three egos, वैकारिक, तैजस and तामस , the cause of the पञ्चभूतस् . Because that ego contained the three गुणस् it became the cause of the origin of the भूतस् (elements) and इन्द्रियस् (senses). Ego pervaded the महत्तत्त्व just as the महत्तत्त्व pervaded (Aṃśa 1, Chapter 2, Viṣṇu Purāṇa) .

In the beginning during the Deluge the world was all water. Then शिव tore open his thigh and dropped a drop of blood in the waters. It became a huge egg. He broke it and from it came out पुरुष and from पुरुष he made प्रकृति for the creation of the प्रपञ्च . These two, प्रकृति and पुरुष , created the प्रजापतिस् and they in turn created the prajās. पुरुष seeing the vast creation going on due to him became arrogant and शिव chopped off his head. शिव became repentant of his hasty deed later. To atone for his sin he took the skull in his hand and vowed that he would ever carry a skull in his hand and that he would live in cremation grounds. The two halves of the great egg became आकाश and भूमि (earth and sky). (Taraṅga 2, Kathāpīṭhalambaka, Kathāsaritsāgara) .