Buddhi
- In Hindu mythology, Buddhi is one of the wives of Ganesha.
Buddhi is a feminine Sanskrit noun derived from the same root (budh – to be awake; to understand; to know) as its more familiar masculine form Buddha. Buddhi is that faculty of mind, discriminative in nature (बुद्धि निश्चयात्मिका चित्त-वृत्ति), which is able to discern truth from falsehood and which makes wisdom possible. It corresponds to the Platonic conception of nous and just as that faculty plays a central role in salvation within Orthodox Christianity[1] within Buddhism, Yoga and orthodox Hinduism Buddhi plays a central role in the attainment of liberation (moksha) or enlightenment (bodhi).
Buddhi makes its first scriptural appearance in the Katha Upanisad (I,3) where it is compared in a famous simile to the driver of a horse and carriage, where the reins held by the driver represent the lower mind (manas); the horses represent the five senses and the carriage itself - the body. Ontologically, buddhi is equivalent to hiranyagarbha and is to individual living souls - jivas - as hiranyagarbha is to the insentient phenomena of the universe. Buddhi is that dimension (or pole) of the heart/mind (chitta) which is attracted to Brahman. The other 'pole' of chitta is called manas and is characterised by an attraction to form and ego-construction (ahamkara). Manas, through identification with matter and desire for sensual pleasures (kama) causes the incarnation of Brahman into material existence as an individual soul. Buddhi, through wisdom (prajña) and discernment (vitarka}, leads an incarnate soul in the opposite direction dissolving identification with material phenomena with cessation of corresponding worldly desires (vairagya) and eventually attaining liberation (moksha).
See also
References
- ^ See for example the writings of the Greek fathers in the Philokalia
External links
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