---
type: Concept
title: "Buddhi"
description: "The decisive intelligence faculty that determines action by comparing present perception with stored experience — not intellect."
tags:
  - vedic-psychology
  - antahkarana
  - Samkhya
  - non-translatable
darshana:
  - Sāṃkhya
  - Advaita Vedānta
not:
  - term: "Intellect"
    why: "Implies analytical reasoning only; Buddhi also includes determination (adhyavasāya) and, at its height, Viveka, discrimination of the eternal from the transient."
    instead: "Keep Buddhi untranslated; gloss as the deciding-discriminating faculty."
  - term: "Reason"
    why: "Names one function; Buddhi is the deciding faculty whose highest development is spiritual discernment, which reason lacks."
  - term: "Intelligence (general)"
    why: "Too broad and trait-like; Buddhi is a specific evolute of Prakṛti (Mahat) and a stage in the cognitive sequence."
  - term: "Wisdom"
    why: "An outcome word; Buddhi is the faculty, not the accumulated quality."
related:
  - /concepts/manas.md
  - /concepts/ahankara.md
  - /concepts/chitta.md
  - /concepts/atman.md
  - /concepts/prakriti.md
timestamp: "2026-06-18"
okf_version: "0.2"
---

# Buddhi

**Not:** Intellect, Reason, Intelligence (general), Wisdom

## What It Actually Means

Buddhi is the decisive faculty within *Antaḥkaraṇa* — it receives input from [Manas](/concepts/manas.md), compares it against past impressions stored in [Chitta](/concepts/chitta.md), and makes a determination. The cognitive sequence: (1) senses report an object → (2) Manas generates like/dislike → (3) [Ahankāra](/concepts/ahankara.md) self-arrogates the knowledge ("I know this") → (4) Buddhi decides by comparing with stored impressions.

Buddhi occupies the most powerful position — "all actions are initiated at its dictation." Yet Buddhi is also *insentient* by nature, only reflecting [Ātman](/concepts/atman.md)'s consciousness. It is also *Mahat* — the first evolute of [Prakṛti](/concepts/prakriti.md), cosmic intelligence before it individualizes.

## Why "Intellect" Fails

"Intellect" in English implies analytical reasoning — the capacity for logical thought. Buddhi includes this but is broader: it encompasses the capacity for *adhyavasāya* (determination/conviction), discernment between real and unreal, and — at its highest — [Viveka](/concepts/viveka.md), the discrimination between the eternal and the transient.

**Developing Buddhi is the goal of Jñāna Yoga.** "Intellect" has no spiritual function in Western usage; Buddhi's highest development is the capacity to discriminate Ātmā from Anātmā.

Practical teaching point: "What's the difference between *knowing* something and actually *living* it?" — this is the gap between Manas and Buddhi. Intellectual knowledge lives in [Manas](/concepts/manas.md); embodied discernment and conviction live in Buddhi. You can "know" that identity is conditioned (Manas) while still reacting from it (Buddhi not yet developed).

## Audience Metaphor

If [Manas](/concepts/manas.md) is the notification system, Buddhi is the decision engine — it processes the alert, pulls up relevant history, and outputs a verdict: "act" or "don't act," "real" or "not real."

## Citations

1. [Sāṃkhya Kārikā](/references/samkhya-karika.md) of Īśvarakṛṣṇa
2. [Kaṭha Upaniṣad](/references/katha-upanishad.md) 1.3.3 (Buddhi as charioteer)
3. [Bhagavad Gītā](/references/bhagavad-gita.md) 3.42 — "Buddhi is superior to Manas"
4. Cross-bundle note: the doctrinal source-school treatment of the Antaḥkaraṇa apparatus (Buddhi as Mahat, the first evolute of Prakṛti) is sankhya-darshana v0.13 — this file remains the canonical concept entry; v0.13 adds only school-source framing, no restatement
