What is Knowledge : Ch-6-16.

Chapter- 6:- Being in Balance with the World-16.

The mind is manas, the intellect is buddhi.

The manas, mind, performs the function of indeterminate thinking, and the intellect decides and determines that it is such and such a thing.

And there is a will, sometimes called volition – buddhi sakti in Sanskrit.

The power of the understanding is the will force – the volition, so-called.


When you merely think that there is something, it is manas, or mind, knowing that there is something; when the understanding or the intellect operates, you decide that it is something.

Then the will says, “Oh! It is a snake!”

Now you understand it is not merely ‘something’.

It is decided by the intellect that it is a snake.


Then the will orders an action – ‘Quit this place’; and the prana is ordered – ‘Take action’; and the prana urges the leg – ‘Run!’; and you know what you do when you perceive a snake in front of you.


Or, if you see something very pleasurable – “My dear friend has come!

Oh, my dear, you have come after a long time!” – you embrace.


This is the action of the will as a consequence of a determinate understanding of the intellect, superior to the general thinking process of the manas or the mind.

Swami Krishnananda
To be continued  .....