Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Samkhya - 08 - Mahat, Ahamkara and Manas Revisited

The trio of Mahat, Ahamkara and Manas can be understood with respect to the sleep and waking state of individuals.

When an individual wakes up, he near simultaneously has the following sensations:
a. consciousness
b. self-awareness or I-ness or "I exist"
c. self-knowledge or "I exist in relation to something else"

Similarly when the Universe moves from its unmanifest state to manifest state:
a. it first gains consciousness - mahAtattva
b. it gains self-awareness - ahaMkAra
c. it gains self-knowledge - manas

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