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Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand".[1][2]
Buddhi (Sanskrit:बुद्धि) is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit rootBudh (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 inRigveda and other Vedic literature.[1]Buddhi means, statesMonier 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 feminineSanskrit noun derived from*budh, to beawake, tounderstand, toknow. The same root is the basis for the more familiar masculine formBuddha and theabstract nounbodhi.
Buddhi contrasts frommanas (मनस्) which means "mind", andahamkara (अहंंकाऱ) which means "ego, I-sense in egotism".[2][3][4]
InSankhya andyogic 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 threegunas (गुण) through a misapprehension ofpurusha (पुरूष) (the consciousness-essence of thejivatman). 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]
According to theSānkhya-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 theYoga Sutra, it is explained that thebuddhi 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 theSamkhyakarika,buddhi, originally referred to asmahat, 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. Frombuddhi arisesahamkara, 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]
InBhagavad Gita Chapter 18,Krishna mentions influences of twogunas,rajas andtamas, onbuddhi. In verse 18.31, Krishna tellsArjuna that whenbuddhi is influenced byrajas, the person cannot clearly distinguish betweendharma (right action) andadharma (wrong action). Verse 18.32 explains that whenbuddhi is influenced bytamas, the person may confusedharma withadharma and has distorted understanding of all subjects.[8]
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