Buddhi

Buddhi (Sanskrit: बुद्धि, literally "intelligence" or "discriminating intellect") is one of the four components of the antahkarana (the internal psychic instrument) in Sankhya philosophy and Vaishnava theology. While the manas (mind) generates thoughts and oscillates between options, the buddhi is the faculty that exercises discrimination, judgment, and decision-making. It is the buddhi that enables a human being to distinguish between the real and the illusory, the permanent and the temporary, the beneficial and the harmful. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna repeatedly emphasizes the importance of buddhi-yoga: the practice of linking one's intelligence to the service of the Supreme Lord. When the buddhi is contaminated by the lower gunas (rajas and tamas), the capacity for discrimination becomes clouded and the person makes erroneous decisions that distance them from spiritual well-being. Conversely, when the buddhi is illuminated by sattva and, moreover, purified by devotion (bhakti), the practitioner can clearly discern the difference between matter and spirit, between body and soul, and between the illusion of maya and the reality of Bhagavan. In the Gaudiya parampara, the acharyas teach that the highest function of the buddhi is to surrender to the transcendental knowledge revealed by the guru and the scriptures.