buddhi: what the term means and how it is translated

buddhi बुद्धिः is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 10 different ways, which is the reason this page exists: the renderings do not agree, and the difference between them changes what the term is taken to mean.

Identification
Transliteration	buddhi
Devanagari	बुद्धिः
Also written	buddhih, mahat / mahān (in the Sāṃkhya enumeration), dhī, prajñā (near-synonym in the prajñāparādha context), indriya-buddhi (compound, a distinct sense)
Category, as gathered	manas / darshana
Grouped here under	Mind
Classical citations	6
Citations checked	2026-10-07

How it is translated, and whether the translation holds

Each rendering is given with the source that uses it. The assessment is ours.

Intelligence, intellect

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-1.9.4.3.2 buddhiḥ · standard

COMPARATOR. Description: 'The power of forming and retaining concepts and general notions: intelligence, reason, intellect, discernment or judgement.' Filed under 1.9.4.3 'Qualities of the soul or self'. WHO ITA-1.9.3.3.34 antaḥkaraṇam 'Inner cognitive faculty' lists 'intellect (buddhi), mind (manas), self-awareness (ahamkara) and the storehouse of moods and memories (citta)'. WHO ITA-1.9.3.2.12 caturviṃśati-puruṣaḥ renders mahat as 'all-pervading intelligence (mahat)'.

Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda, which is what that licence permits. It is deliberately absent from the downloadable dataset, which is offered under CC BY 4.0 and invites the modification a NoDerivs licence forbids.

The power of forming and retaining conceptions and general notions , intelligence , reason , intellect , discernment , judgment

National Institute of Ayurveda terminology list · SK0049 buddhi · standard

COMPARATOR. Near-identical to WHO; the wording is Monier-Williams' dictionary entry for buddhi, so both standards are reproducing a lexicon rather than a śāstric definition.

Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the National Institute of Ayurveda terminology list, which is what that licence permits. It is deliberately absent from the downloadable dataset, which is offered under CC BY 4.0 and invites the modification a NoDerivs licence forbids.

perceived sense as an outcome of the direct perception

National Institute of Ayurveda terminology list · BP0115 indriyabuddhi · standard

COMPARATOR, for the compound indriya-buddhi (Ca.Sū.8.12), which is a different sense of buddhi: the five sensory cognitions.

the Understanding

Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna (1896-1913) · Sūtrasthāna 8 (his aphorism 7), Sūtrasthāna 11 ('faults of the Understanding' for prajñāparādha), Śārīrasthāna 1 (his 78) · translation

Public domain. Kaviratna's standing equivalent, capitalised, in the 18th-century faculty-psychology sense.

the Intellect

Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · Śārīrasthāna 1, his aphorism for standard 1.23 · translation

Public domain. 'The Intellect then, having certitude for its essence, becomes manifested.' Also 'the intellect' in his Sū.1.48 (standard 49) gloss, where his footnote says 'The word rendered intellect is buddhi, i.e., the cognitive faculty or faculties of the Kantian distribution of mental phenomena.'

mind

Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · Sūtrasthāna 1, his aphorism 53 (standard 54) · translation

Public domain. In the three-cause verse he renders kāla-buddhi-indriyārtha as 'time, mind, and the objects of the senses', collapsing buddhi into mind; in his preface the same verse has 'mental faculties'.

the reason

Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · Sūtrasthāna 8, his aphorism 8 ('the senses, as led by the reason') · translation

Public domain. The Sanskrit of Sū.8.14 has no buddhi; this is Kaviratna's insertion, recorded as a rendering habit, not a textual equivalent.

Intellection / Mahan / Mahat

Sushruta Samhita tr. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1911) · Śārīrasthāna 1, sections 2-3, 6-7 · translation

Public domain. Bhishagratna writes 'Mahan (intellection)', 'Intellection or Mahan', and once 'The tutelary god of intellection (Buddhi) is Brahma', equating buddhi with the Sāṃkhya mahat. His editorial note: 'Intellect according to Sushruta is material.'

intellect (Vuddhi)

Sushruta Samhita tr. Bhishagratna · Śārīrasthāna 1, section 18 (list of attributes of the individual) · translation

Public domain. 'Vuddhi' is Bhishagratna's Bengali-influenced spelling of buddhi; he also writes 'Vuddhi-Indriya' for buddhīndriya.

intellect / intelligence / discriminative faculty / decisive knowledge

common textbook renderings · other · our paraphrase of the source, not its words

'Intellect' dominates; 'decisive knowledge' tracks niścayātmikā in Ca.Śā.1.23.

The classical passages

Each citation gives its address so a reader can check it in a printed edition, our account of what the passage establishes, and the result of reading it against its source.

Charaka SamhitaŚārīrasthāna 1:21-23 (standard; Kaviratna prints 28-30, the last two garbled to '25' in the OCR) · checked against the source

indriyābhigrahaḥ karma manasaḥ svasya nigrahaḥ| ūhō vicāraśca, tataḥ paraṁ buddhiḥ pravartatē||21|| indriyēṇēndriyārthō hi samanaskēna gr̥hyatē| kalpyatē manasā tūrdhvaṁ guṇatō dōṣatō'thavā||22|| jāyatē viṣayē tatra yā buddhirniścayātmikā| vyavasyati tayā vaktuṁ kartuṁ vā buddhipūrvakam||23||

tr. Sanskrit text as printed on Charak Samhita Online · source

The cognitive sequence: sense-with-mind grasps the object; manas deliberates (kalpyate) as to merit or fault; then buddhi, which is niścayātmikā (of the nature of certainty), arises about the object, and one speaks or acts buddhi-pūrvakam. This is the text's functional definition of buddhi as the determinative stage after manas. Kaviratna: 'By the organs of sense, with the mind working with them, are all sensuous objects apprehended. The mind then works upon those objects, rightly or wrongly. The Intellect then, having certitude for its essence, becomes manifested in connection thereto. Aided (thus) by the Intellect, one then sets about to speak or act.' His footnote: 'The mind doubts, saying, Is this so, or, Is this not so? Then comes the Intellect which discriminates ... Hence, the Intellect is said to have certitude for its essence.' English at https://archive.org/stream/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt

Charaka SamhitaSūtrasthāna 1:49 (standard; Kaviratna prints 48) · checked against the source

sārthā gurvādayō buddhiḥ prayatnāntāḥ parādayaḥ| guṇāḥ prōktāḥ prayatnādi karma cēṣṭitamucyatē||49||

tr. Sanskrit text as printed on Charak Samhita Online · source

Buddhi is classed as a guṇa, heading the series buddhi ... prayatna (the ātma-guṇas), alongside the sense-objects (sārthā), the gurvādi and the parādi guṇas. This is the textual root of WHO filing buddhi under 'Qualities of the soul or self'. Kaviratna: 'the intellect, pleasure and pain, and desire and aversion and will ... are called attributes'.

Charaka SamhitaSūtrasthāna 1:54 (standard; Kaviratna prints 53) · checked against the source

kālabuddhīndriyārthānāṁ yōgō mithyā na cāti ca| dvayāśrayāṇāṁ vyādhīnāṁ trividhō hētusaṅgrahaḥ||54||

tr. Sanskrit text as printed on Charak Samhita Online · source

Buddhi is the second member of the etiological triad (its misuse is later named prajñāparādha, Sū.11.41). Kaviratna renders buddhi here as 'mind'.

Charaka SamhitaSūtrasthāna 8:12-13 (standard; Kaviratna prints 6-7) · checked against the source

Pañcēndriyabuddhayaḥ- cakṣurbuddhyādikāḥ; tāḥ punarindriyēndriyārthasattvātmasannikarṣajāḥ, kṣaṇikā, niścayātmikāśca, ityētat pañcapañcakam||12|| Manō manōrthō buddhirātmā cētyadhyātmadravyaguṇasaṅgrahaḥ śubhāśubhapravr̥ttinivr̥ttihētuśca ...||13||

tr. Sanskrit text as printed on Charak Samhita Online · source

Two senses of buddhi in one chapter: (12) the five indriya-buddhis, momentary and determinative, born of the sannikarṣa of indriya, artha, sattva and ātmā; (13) buddhi as one of the four adhyātma-dravyaguṇas with manas, manortha and ātmā. Kaviratna (his 7): 'Mind, the functions of the mind, the Understanding, and the Soul constitute, in brief, the substances and qualities that are known by the name of Adhyatma.'

Charaka SamhitaŚārīrasthāna 1:72 (standard; Kaviratna prints 78) · checked against the source

icchā dvēṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ prayatnaścētanā dhr̥tiḥ| buddhiḥ smr̥tirahaṅkārō liṅgāni paramātmanaḥ||72||

tr. Sanskrit text as printed on Charak Samhita Online · source

Buddhi is one of the liṅgas (marks) of the embodied self, between dhṛti and smṛti. Kaviratna renders the triad dhṛti-buddhi-smṛti as 'apprehension, understanding, memory'.

Sushruta SamhitaŚārīrasthāna 1:Bhishagratna's sections 2-3 and 7; Sanskrit verse numbers not established · checked against the source

Out of that latent unmanifest (Avyakta) or original nature (impregnated by the atoms or elemental units of consciousness or Purushas) Intellection or Mahan has been evolved, and out of Mahan egoism. This Mahan or intellection should be likewise considered as partaking of the three fundamental attributes (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas) of the latent (Avyakta) or original nature. ... The tutelary god of intellection (Buddhi) is Brahma.

tr. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna · source

Suśruta's Sāṃkhya framing: buddhi = mahat/mahān, the first evolute of prakṛti, triguṇa in nature, presided over by Brahmā. Different from Caraka's functional account in Śā.1.21-23.

Not to be confused with

manas: In Ca.Śā.1.21-23 manas deliberates (ūha, vicāra, kalpanā) and buddhi determines (niścaya). Kaviratna's footnote to Śā.1 is explicit that 'Manas excludes Buddhi. With Buddhi, Manas is Mind.' English 'mind' habitually covers both.
prajñā: The triad dhī-dhṛti-smṛti whose failure is prajñāparādha (Ca.Sū.11.39-41; Kaviratna: 'faults of the Understanding'). Prajñā is wider than buddhi, embracing dhṛti and smṛti; the standards (WHO ITA-4.4.11) render prajñāparādha as 'erroneous judgement'.
indriya-buddhi: The five sensory cognitions of Ca.Sū.8.12, momentary (kṣaṇikā). Same word, different referent: a perception, not the faculty.
mahat / mahān: Suśruta Śā.1 and the Sāṃkhya-style 24-tattva list use mahat for the cosmic first evolute; Bhishagratna glosses it 'intellection (Buddhi)'. Caraka's functional buddhi is individual and post-perceptual.
medhā: Not retrieved here, but the clinical literature on 'intelligence' (e.g. PMID 26730140, medhā enhancement RCT) uses medhā, not buddhi; the two should not be merged in a lexicon.

Renderings that do not hold

mind. Kaviratna, Sū.1.54 ('time, mind, and the objects of the senses'). Buddhi is not manas; the same translator's Śā.1 footnote condemns the conflation.
intelligence (as IQ). Modern clinical papers (PMID 29403134) equate buddhi with intelligence quotient. The classical buddhi is a determinative act or faculty (niścayātmikā), not a measurable trait.
the Understanding. Kaviratna's Lockean term. Not wrong, but opaque to modern readers and carries the capital-U faculty psychology he also imposes via Kant.

Open questions

Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.

Whether Caraka's buddhi in Sū.1.49 (a guṇa of ātmā) and in Śā.1.23 (a determinative cognition) are reconciled by the commentators as faculty versus act.
Whether WHO's four-tier antaḥkaraṇa (buddhi, manas, ahaṃkāra, citta) has any Bṛhattrayī basis; the NIA list gives manas, buddhi, indriya, ahaṃkāra instead, and citta is a Yoga term.

How to cite this entry

Age Ayurveda Nighantu, buddhi, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/buddhi/, CC BY 4.0. The whole lexicon is downloadable from the index. Machine-readable source: Markdown. Data exported 2026-10-08.

Educational reference only. A term entry explains what a word means and how it has been translated. Nothing here is advice, and nothing here describes how any condition should be treated.