Manas

(“mind”) In the metaphysics of the
Samkhya school, one of the six schools
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Mallinatha
of Hindu philosophy, manas is one of
the stages in the devolution of prakrti
(primal matter), resulting in the world
that we see around us, in which human
souls are subject to reincarnation (samsara). Manas evolves from the step
known as ahamkar—the stage marked
by the first sense of Self and subjectivity.
The mind (manas) develops as the
source of intellectual activity which, colored by this feeling of subjectivity, creates the notion of an individual identity.
According to the Samkhyas, concurrent
with this mental identity comes the
development of the individual’s sense
organs (jnanendriyas) and the organs of
action (karmendriyas), as well as the
subtle elements (tanmatras) that are the
source for the world’s material objects.
Although later philosophical schools
largely rejected Samkhya cosmology,
manas became generally accepted as
one of the five human sense organs. As
the eye perceives sight and the ears perceive sound, the manas perceives mental objects (ideas), allowing the subject
to experience them.