Shloka 3
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
बुद्धिरात्मा मनुष्यस्य बुद्धिरेवात्मना55त्मनि । यदा विकुरुते भावं तदा भवति सा मन:,बुद्धि प्राणियोंकी समस्त इन्द्रियोंकी अधिष्ठात्री है, इसलिये वह जीवात्माके समान ही उनकी आत्मा मानी गयी है। बुद्धि ही स्वयं अपने भीतर जब भिन्न-भिन्न विषयोंको ग्रहण करनेके लिये विकृत हो नाना प्रकारके रूप धारण करती है, तब वही मन बन जाती है
buddhir ātmā manuṣyasya buddhir evātmanātmani | yadā vikurute bhāvaṃ tadā bhavati sā manaḥ ||
व्यास उवाच— बुद्धिरात्मा मनुष्यस्य बुद्धिरेवात्मनात्मनि । यदा विकुरुते भावं तदा भवति सा मनः ॥
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies buddhi (intellect) as the central inner principle in a person and explains that manas (mind) is not a separate substance but a functional state of buddhi: when intellect modifies into particular modes to engage multiple objects, it is termed 'mind'.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vyāsa is defining the inner faculties to clarify how cognition and inner experience operate—distinguishing the stable discriminative intellect (buddhi) from its object-oriented modifications, which are called mind (manas).