Buddhi

This article is about the Sanskrit term. For the consort of Ganesha, see Consorts of Ganesha § Buddhi (Wisdom).

Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand".^[1][2]

Etymology

Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit root Budh (बुध् ), which literally means "to wake, be awake, observe, heed, attend, learn, become aware of, to know, be conscious again".^[1] The term appears extensively in Rigveda and other Vedic literature.^[1] Buddhi means, states Monier Williams, the power to "form, retain concepts; intelligence, reason, intellect, mind", the intellectual faculty and the ability to "discern, judge, comprehend, understand" something.^[1][3]

Buddhi is a feminine Sanskrit noun derived from *budh, to be awake, to understand, to know. The same root is the basis for the more familiar masculine form Buddha and the abstract noun bodhi.

Buddhi contrasts from manas (मनस्) which means "mind", and ahamkara (अहंंकाऱ) which means "ego, I-sense in egotism".^[2][3][4]

Usage

In Sankhya and yogic philosophy both the mind and the ego are forms in the realm of nature (prakriti) that have emerged into materiality as a function of the three gunas (गुण) through a misapprehension of purusha (पुरूष) (the consciousness-essence of the jivatman). Discriminative in nature (बुद्धि निश्चयात्मिका चित्त-वृत्ति), buddhi is that which is able to discern truth (satya) from falsehood and thereby to make wisdom possible.^{[citation needed]}

The Sānkhya-Yoga view

According to the Sānkhya-Yoga view, buddhi is in essence unconscious, and as such, cannot be an object of its own consciousness. This means that it can neither apprehend an object nor manifest itself.^[5]

In the Yoga Sutra, it is explained that the buddhi cannot illuminate itself, since it itself is the object of sight, "na tat svabhāsam draśyatvāt" ("That is not self-luminous, because it is perceptible").^[6]

In the Samkhyakarika, buddhi, originally referred to as mahat, is the fundamental entity that emerges during Prakrti's cosmic self-transformation. It has the sense of knowledge, and is synonymous with words like thought, idea, wisdom, and insight. Buddhi is characterized by its function as judgment, as it not only identifies the nature of things but also determines the best course of action. From buddhi arises ahamkara, the "I-maker", which begins the cosmic differentiation, producing inner sensation (indriya) through its transformed (sattvika) aspect and external perceptions through its elemental (tamasika) aspect, laying the foundation for subjectivity, objectivity, and self-awareness.^[7]

Reference in Bhagavad Gita

In Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Krishna mentions influences of two gunas, rajas and tamas, on buddhi. In verse 18.31, Krishna tells Arjuna that when buddhi is influenced by rajas, the person cannot clearly distinguish between dharma (right action) and adharma (wrong action). Verse 18.32 explains that when buddhi is influenced by tamas, the person may confuse dharma with adharma and has distorted understanding of all subjects.^[8]

See also

• Citta
• Enlightenment in Buddhism
• Namarupa
• Nous
• Three Bodies Doctrine
• Wisdom