Concept of Mind in the Major Upanishads

by Gisha K. Narayanan | 2018 | 35,220 words

This page relates ‘The Concept of Mind in Uttaramimamsa or Vedanta’ of the study on the concept of Mind as found in the Major Upanishads: the philosophical backbone of the four Vedas. This study explores the various characteristics and psychological aspects of the mind (described by the Seers of ancient India thousands of years ago) including awareness (samjna), understanding (vijnana) and knowledge (prajnana).

6. The Concept of Mind in Uttaramīmāṃsa or Vedanta

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Uttaramīmāṃsa or Vedanta is the last portion of the Vedas and its nature of knowledge leads to mokṣa. Vedanta or Brahmamīmāṃsa or Śārīrakamīmāṃsa is incorporated into the Brhmasūtra of Bādarāyaṇa. Vedantic philosophy is the same as the philosophy of the Upaniṣads and its philosophical speculations form the foundations of Upaniṣadic psychology. Vedanta means the end of the Vedas, known as Upniṣads. Vedanta is both religious and philosophical. As religion, Vedanta discovers the truth and fosters others. As philosophy, Vedanta synthesizes the science, to present a unified vision of reality.

The Upaniṣads form the basic spring of Indian philosophy, and they provide the inspiration for the orthodox schools. Out of the two great departments of the Veda, namely the karmakāṇḍa and jnānakāṇḍa, the former is named after mantras and the latter consists of the Upniṣad. Only the Upaniṣads are also known as the Vedanta.

Vedāntasāra defines Vedanta as:

vedāntonāmaupaniṣatpramāṇam || ^[1]

It means that the Upaniṣad is the final word of all spirituality. ‘Veda’ means ‘knowledge’ and ‘anta’ means ‘the end’. Thus the Vedanta means the end of the knowledge higher than which there is no other knowledge.

Dr. Nakamura observes:-

“Looking closely at the history of the ideas, one can easily see how the one word ‘Vedanta’-as the end of the Vedas-came to mean both the concluding portion of the Vedas, without any sense of conflict between the two interpretations. This dual meaning of Vedanta was common among Indians in later centuries. It would see then that these two meanings are the full explication of the word ‘vedanta”^[2].

The Vedantic view is that mind is antaḥkaraṇa, which is composed of buddhi, ahaṃkāra, citta and manas. The organs of action and knowledge can work from mind. The words mind and antaḥkaraṇa are interchangeable. Decision [niścaya], conceit [garva], recollection [smaraṇa] and perception are the functions of antaḥkarṇa respectively. These are the four kinds of psychoses. Atman is neither mind nor matter, but the ground of both mental and material phenomena. Mind and matter are not two opposed substances, but different grades of same material substratum. Mind is the subtle form of matter. Its consciousness is due to the Atman only.

Mind or antaḥkaraṇas pointed out above enumerates four aspects, buddhi, manas, citta and ahaṃkāra.

pṛthivī ca pṛthivimātrā cāpaścāpomātrā ca tejaśca tejo mātrā ca vāyuśca vāyumātrā cākārāścākāśamātrā ca cakṣuṣā draṣṭavyaṃ ca śrotraṃ ca śrotavyaṃ ca ghrāṇaṃ ca ghrātavyaṃ ca rasaśca rasacitavyaṃ ca tvak ca sparśayitavyaṃ ca vāk ca vaktavyaṃ ca hastau cādātavyaṃ ca upasthaścānandacitavyaṃ ca pāyuśca visarjjayitavyaṃ ca pādau ca gantavyaśca manaśca mantavyaṃ ca buddhiśca boddhavyaṃ cāhaṅkāraśca ahaṅkartavyaṃ ca cittaṃ ca cetayitavyaṃ ca tejaśca vidyotayitavyaṃ ca prāṇaśca vidyārayitavyaṃ ca || ^[3]

It is the modification of antaḥkaraṇa. When an organ perceives an object, the mind transforms itself into the object. When a pot is seen, the mind projects through the eye and transforms it into the form of a pot. When the antaḥkaraṇa cannot determine whether it is pot or not, but can only perceive something, it is known as manas. When it establishes the relationship of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, it is known as ahaṃkāra. Śrī Śankara writes that, the internal organ is variously termed as manas, buddhi, citta, vijñāna etc. This difference in the nomenclature is due sometimes to the difference in the modification of the internal organ.^[4]

Manas [saṅkalpavikalpātmikāmanaḥ ||]

Manas is the inner mental tool that connects us to the outside world through sense organs and cognition of objects. It also stores the function of cognition of the inner mental world. It is indeterminate thinking. It just makes aware of something and automatically registers the facts. Manas is the vṛtti [modifications] of antaḥkaraṇa, which considers the saṃkalpa and vikalpa of a subject.^[5]

This idea is also seen in the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi of Śrī Śankara.

jñānendriyāṇi ca manaśca manomayaḥ syātkokāśo mamāhamiti vastuvikalpahetu | saṃjñādibhedakalanākalito balīyāṃ statpūrvakośamabhipūrya vijṛmbhate yaḥ || dehādiniṣṭhāśramadharmakarma guṇābhimānaṃ satataṃ mameti | vijñānakośo'yamatiprakāśaḥ prakṛṣṭasānnidhyavaśātparātmanā | ato bhavatyeva upādhirasya yadātmadhīḥ saṃsarati bhrameṇa || ^[6]

Here also mind pertains to the word ‘antaḥkaraṇa’ as a whole. It constitutes the mental sheath [manomayakośa]. Śrī Śankara says that the modes of activity of mind are desire, volition, deliberation, faith, negligence, boldness, timidity, shame, intelligence, fear etc.^[7]

Buddhi [niścayātmikābuddhiḥ ||]

Buddhi determinates, discriminates, describes, decides and logically concludes something. Buddhi is enlightened by pure consciousness. It is the modification of vrtti of antaḥkaraṇa.^[8] It determines thought and action. Buddhi, together with the organ of perception, constitutes the intelligent sheath [vijñānamayakośa]. Śrī Śankara explains buddhi as the instrument which helps us in everything like a lamp in darkness. It is the determinative aspect of antaḥkaraṇa, corresponding to the cognitive organs. The five karmendriyas are under the control of manas; it is the chief.

The mind and buddhi are defined in the Pañcadaśi thus:

tairantakaraṇaṃ sarvai vṛttibhedenataddvividhā manovimarśarūpaṃ syād buddhiḥ syānniścayātmikā || ^[9]

Ahaṃkāra

Ahaṃkāra is the transformation of avidya by the characterization of self-consciousness. It leads to the ego, affirmation and assertion that ‘I am the doer’, ‘I am the experience’ etc. Pleasure and pain are its two qualifications. The kind of affirmation attributed to one’s own individuality is the work of antaḥkaraṇa. It is known as egoism. According to Advaita Vedanta, the Atman is the Universal Self. It is Brahman, the absolute, the Supreme Reality. The Jīva is the individual self. It is the Atman limited by the body, the sense organs, manas, buddhi and the like, which are its limiting adjuncts [upādhi]. The Atman is the transcendental, non-empirical, metaphysical self. The Jīva is the empirical, phenomenal, psychological self. “As explained in Vedantic view the mind, or antaḥkaraṇa is achieved and its functions are called modifications or vṛtti. The same has been accepted in the Advaita philosophy. It mentions the five vital airs–prāṇas -which have been so well explained in the Upaniṣads. Advaita sets these in the proper hierarchy of factors of personality, namely, body, vital airs, mind or citta, intellect, and sākṣin. The number of sense organs, including manas is eleven”.^[10] The mind rules all over the five organs of cognition or action. According to this view, Atman is independent of three bodies; the subtle, the gross and the causal body-in which the ‘avidhya’ is the cause-it is not valid since the Atman is seen to be endowed with many physical and mental attributes.

All these are due to the false identification of the Atman through ignorance with various sheaths, (1) Annamayakośa, (2)Prāṇamayakośa, (3) Manomayakośa, (4) Vijñānamayakośa and (5) Ānandamayakośa.

annaṃ prāṇo mano buddhirānandaśceti pañca te kośāstairāvṛttaḥ svātmā vismṛtya saṃsṛtiṃ vrajet || ^[11]

Manomayakośa or sheath of the mind is inner than the sheath of prāṇa. Śrī Śankara in his Vivekacūḍāmaṇi says about these five sheaths, thus:

kośairannamādyaiḥ pañcabhirātmāna saṃvṛtobhāti nijaśaktisamutpannaiḥ śaivalapaṭalairivāmbupāpīstham | cacchaivālāpanaye samyaksalilaṃ pratīyate śuddham || tṛṣṇāsaṃtāpaharaṃ saghaḥ saukhyapradaṃ paraṃ puṃsaḥ || pañcānāmapi kośānāmapapādevibhātyayaṃ śuddhaḥ | nityanandaikarasaḥ pratyagrūpaḥ paraḥ svayaṃjyotiḥ || ^[12]

The self, identified with the mind, feels the diversity of ‘I’ and ‘you’ and also experiences the differences of the manas and the forms in the outer world. The mind is agitated by desires, pains, pleasures etc and becomes aware of sense objects, gross and fine, to enjoy them and it becomes attached to them also.

The control of mind through the practice of discrimination and dispassion is the goal of spiritual discipline. In the opinion of Vedantic seers the mental sheath cannot be the Atman, because it is endowed with a beginning and end; it is subject to change, and is characterized by pain and pleasure. It belongs to the category of object. According to Śrī Śankara, mind is minute; this idea is same as in Nyāya Vaiśeṣika. It is subtle and limited, because at death, when mind leaves the physical body, it is not felt or perceived. Mind, along with the other jñānedriyas, appears as vṛttis in the body, giving rise to knowledge. Mind is, thus, the co-ordinating factor. Yet it is not the creator of knowledge but only an instrument of knowledge.

Citta

It contemplates and does the function of storing experiences in memory. It is the inner organ of antaḥkaraṇa. It is the store-house of all past impressions. It embodies the ‘vāsanas’ of a number of past births i.e., lokavāsanā, dehavāsanā and śāstravāsanā!^[13]

The Brahmasūtrabhāṣya of Śrī Śankara refers to manas, buddhi, vijñāana and citta as the limiting adjuncts which are known in different places by different names. It depends upon their functions. Here manas is in the state of doubt and buddhi is in the state of determination:

saṃśayādivṛttikaṃ manaityucyate | niścayādivṛttikaṃ buddhiriti || ^[14]

According to this view of perception, the mind goes out through the sense organs and reaches the objects and become modified to assume the form of the objects. Then mind is in the form of object and without the physical stimuli. Perception and non-mediate perception (aparokṣa pratyakṣa) are not to be perceived. Eyes and other senses are to be called non-mediate and are posed to those objects which require another instrument called mediate.

Perceptions are discussed in the way of illusion. The famous example for that is silver for nacre (śuktirajata). Five theories are postulated in this connection. They are:-1. asatkhyāti 2. ātmakhyāti 3. anyatā khyāti 4. akhyāti and 5. anirvacanīya khyāti.