View source for Buddhi

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{{Italic title}}{{Short description|Sanskrit term for intellect}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{About|the Sanskrit term|the consort of Ganesha|Consorts of Ganesha#Buddhi (Wisdom)}}

'''''Buddhi''''' ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: बुद्धि) refers to the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand".<ref name="Monier-WilliamsLeumann2002p733"/><ref name=ianwhicherp18/>

==Etymology==
''Buddhi'' ({{langx|sa|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".<ref name="Monier-WilliamsLeumann2002p733">{{cite book|author1=Sir Monier Monier-Williams|author2=Ernst Leumann|author3=Carl Cappeller|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUezTfym7CAC|year=2002|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3105-6|page=733}}</ref> The term appears extensively in [[Rigveda]] and other Vedic literature.<ref name="Monier-WilliamsLeumann2002p733"/> ''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.<ref name="Monier-WilliamsLeumann2002p733"/><ref name="Sinha2013p120">{{cite book|author=Jadunath Sinha |title=Indian Psychology Perception |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmBGAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-34605-7 |pages=120–121 }}</ref>

Buddhi is a feminine [[Sanskrit]] noun derived from ''*budh'', to be [[awake]], to [[understanding|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".<ref name=ianwhicherp18>{{cite book|author=Ian Whicher|title=The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Qo9K9hPvQgC |year=1998|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-3815-2|pages=18, 71, 77, 92–95, 219, 231}}</ref><ref name="Sinha2013p120"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Sir Monier Monier-Williams|author2=Ernst Leumann|author3=Carl Cappeller|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUezTfym7CAC|year=2002|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]]|isbn=978-81-208-3105-6|pages=124, 783–784}}</ref>

==Usage==
In [[Sankhya]] and [[yoga|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 ''[[jiva]]tman''). 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|date=May 2016}}

== The Sānkhya-Yoga view ==
According to the [[Samkhya|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Saksena |first=Shri Krishna |title=Essays on Indian Philosophy |isbn=978-0-8248-8595-3 |oclc=1256407633}}</ref>

In the [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga Sutra]], it is explained that the ''buddhi'' cannot illuminate itself, since it itself is the object of sight, "na tat svhāsam draśhyatvāt".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Patañjali. |title=Yoga : discipline of freedom : the Yoga Sutra attributed to Patanjali ; a translation of the text, with commentary, introduction, and glossary of keywords |date=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-20190-6 |oclc=34894404}}</ref>

In the [[Samkhyakarika]], ''buddhi'', originally referred to as ''[[Mahat-tattva|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Parrott |first1=Rodney J. |last2=Parrot |first2=Rodney J. |date=1986 |title=The Problem of the Sāṃkhya Tattvas as Both Cosmic and Psychological Phenomena |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23444164 |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=55–77 |doi=10.1007/BF00165826 |jstor=23444164 |issn=0022-1791}}</ref>

== Reference in Bhagavad Gita ==
In [[Bhagavad Gita]] Chapter 18, [[Krishna]] mentions influences of two ''[[gunas]]'', ''[[rajas]]'' and ''[[Tamas (philosophy)|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXKlAQAACAAJ |title=Bhagavad-Gita |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies |isbn=978-1-366-61059-1 |pages=258–259 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Citta]]
* [[Enlightenment in Buddhism]]
* [[Namarupa]]
* [[Nous]]
* [[Three Bodies Doctrine]]
* [[Wisdom]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.swamij.com/mind-map.htm An interactive map of the Yogic conception of mind].

{{Indian Philosophy}}

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[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]

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