Prakrti (प्रकृतिः)

Prakṛti (प्रकृति) is the original source, or rather passive power, of creating the material world. (Source: archive.org: Natya Shastra)

Prakṛti (प्रकृति):—According to Yoga and Saṃkhya doctrine, each physical phenomenon is constituted of “a primal matter, called prakṛti or pradhāna. This primal matter contains three qualities or strands (guṇa): goodness (sattva), energy (rajas), and darkness (tamas)”. According to this worldview, “the three qualities are distributed in different proportions within the various constituents of the universe”. (Source: Academia.edu: The concept of Prāyaścitta in the Introductory Passages of the Ratnakaraṇḍikā)

The latent/unmanifest supreme nature (Prakriti) is the progenitor of all created things. She is self- begotten and connotes the three fundamental or primary virtues of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. She is imaged or embodied in the eightfold categories of Avyakta (unmanifest), Mahān (intellection), Ahamkāra (Egoism) and the Five Tanmātras or elementals (proper sensibles of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell) and is the sole and primary factor in working out the evolution of the universe. (Source: archive.org: Sushruta samhita, Volume II)