In Bhagavad Gita the Lord says that amongst all the human organs, He represents buddhi, the most important one. (SSB 1974, p. 254)
In Bhagavad Gita it is said that Buddhi is the best manifestation of God in Man. (SSB 1974, p. 150)
‘Buddhi Karma Anusarini’. ‘Our intellect follows the lead of our activities’. ‘Thoughts arise in conformity with the attachment one develops and the results one anticipates from one’s action’. (SV, p. 164)
The Buddhi, like the moon, has no light in itself. Like the moon it reflects light from another source adjacent to it, namely the Atma. Buddhi can operate only by reflecting the Cosmic Intelligence, represented by the Atma. (SV, p. 164)
However efficient the body, the senses and the mind may be, they serve no purpose in the absence of the Charioteer, namely, Buddhi-intellect. In life’s journey, the intellect is of supreme importance. It is called Nischayatmika Buddhi, which means, that the Buddhi has the decision making capacity. In daily life, many difficulties, problems and disturbances arise from time to time. For overcoming all these obstacles, Buddhi is our mainstay. Without the intervention of the Buddhi, none of our problems can be solved.
ajnas casraddadhanas ca
samsayatma vinasyati
nayam loko sti na paro
na sukham samsayatmanah
(Bhagavad Gita, 4:40)
‘Samsayatma vinasyati’, says the Gita, which means that a man filled with doubts will perish.
Because the Buddhi destroys doubts, the Gita affirms
yatroparamate cittam
niruddham yoga-sevaya
yatra caivatmanatmanam
pasyann atmani tusyati
sukham atyantikam yat tad
buddhi-grahyam atindriyam
‘Buddhi grahyam atindriyam’ - Buddhi can grasp that which is beyond the grasp of the sense organs. (ICS , p. 88)
Off and on, the Buddhi tends to be covered by Ahamkara - the ego sense. In this context, one should remember that the senses are subtler than the body; the mind is even more subtler than the senses, and the Buddhi far more subtle than the mind. The Atma of course is the subtlest of all. In the light of this fact, when we say that Ahamkara is able to envelope the Buddhi, it means that Ahamkara is subtler than Buddhi. Thus Ahamkara, being extremely subtle, is all pervasive and permeates all our actions. This is why man is unable to transcend Ahamkara and experience the Atma - the self. (ICS , pp. 89-90)
In the Taittiriya Upanishad which is one of the important among the ten principal Upanishads, the Buddhi is descrbed as a bird. ‘Shraddha’ - faith is the head of the bird. Its right wing is ‘Ritam’ - the Cosmic rhythm, and its left wing is ‘Satyam’ - truth. The main body of the bird is ‘Mahat-tattva’ - the Great Principle, its tail is called Yoga. The Buddhi, in its complete form, is thus composed of five constituents and is extraordinarily powerful. (ICS , pp. 91-92)
Buddhi, endowed with the power of discrimination and objectivity, was superior to the mere intellectual ability, which is termed Medhas. Buddhi is more powerful than Medhas. Buddhi is not mere intellectualism, as commonly understood. It is a peaceful state of the intellect endowed with Aastha or Asakthi - zeal or faith and Svastha or Sthiratva - firmness or steadfastness. This Buddhi is the intellect, which is enriched by Ritam and Satyam as well as by Yoga and Mahat-tattva. This Buddhi has not only the power of deliberation and discrimination but also the power of deep insight, enquiry and impartial judgement. (ICS , p. 100)
The worth of a human being is based on his buddhi (intellect). The more the intellect develops the better one is as a manas the intellect declines, the human descends to the level of the animal. A bamboo is valued in terms of its thickness and height. The sugarcane gets its value from its juices. Man’s worth has declined today because he does not recognise the importance of the intellect and of conduct based on intellectual discrimination. The form is human but the thinking is at the animal level. Man has earned the appellation of ‘two - legged animal’. Having acquired the human form man should conduct himself with intelligence. This is achieved through tyaga (renunciation) and Yoga (spiritual discipline). (SSS Vol.21, p. 68)
Atman is the basis for the functioning of the mind and the senses and the body. Atman is their sole support and basis. The intelligence, Buddhi, is like the driver of the car. The faculty that decides between good and bad and what course one should take is Buddhi. The Buddhi has to exercise its discretion in the light of injunctions from the Atma, its Master. Buddhi is the superior most amongst all the faculties and its pre eminence is due to its proximity and closeness to the Atman. The horses are in front of the chariot, the reins are outside equipments, but the charioteer sits close to the master inside. Therefore, amongst the instruments, Buddhi stands foremost, below buddhi is Manas, below the sensory organs is the body (gross body).
The brilliance of the Atman directly falls on Buddhi which derives the maximum benefit and strength from the Atman. Therefore Buddhi can judge aright and choose the right path. Only when a man uses his intelligence properly we call him ‘Buddhiman’. If he does not use its direction properly we call him ‘Mudha’ or Aviveki. The buddhi should exercise control over the mind and over the senses. But what happens generally is that the buddhi does not exercise discrimination, the mind arrogates to itself superiority over the intellect and the senses arrogate to themselves superiority over the mind. And the chariot runs in the wrong direction and the purpose of the journey does not find its fulfilment. To avoid this, Buddhi has to act in the Atmic light and the mind in subordination to Buddhi. When Buddhi is centered and anchored in Atman, it receives the Atomic light and brilliance and it gains its strength in fulfilling its role efficiently and fruitfully. It is not as if our daily life is different from Adhyatmic life. In our day to day life, if we use the intelligence to discriminates between right and wrong and follow the dictates of the Atma then everything will be right. This is the divine prescription and panacea for life. What is therefore required first is faith in the existence and supremacy of Atman. (SSS Vol.11, pp. 102-103)
Buddhi revels in discussion and disputation; once you yield to the temptation of dialectics, it takes a long time for you to escape from its shackles and efface it and enjoy the bliss, which comes from its nullification. You must all the while be aware of the limitation of Reason.
Your feelings and emotions warp even your thought processes; and reason is made into an unnamed bull. Very often, egoism tends to encourage and justify the wildness, for a person is led along the wrong path by his wildness, for a person is led along the wrong path by his very reason, if that the path he likes! You very often come to the conclusion you want to reach! Unless you are extra careful to examine the very process of reasoning, even while the process is going on, there is danger that you may be following only the trail you yourself have laid down. Reason can be tamed only by discipline, by systematic application of the yoke, the nose- string, the whip etc. That is to say, by means of Daya,Shantam,Kshama,Sahana, etc. Train it to walk quietly along small stretches of road at first and then, after you have become sure of its docility, you can take it along the tortuous road of six-fold temptations; the road of lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy. Padmasura got vast power through the Grace of God, even the power to burn into ashes any one on whose head he placed his hand; but his instincts had not been tamed, the reason had not been purified, and so, in his greed and egoism, he tried to reduce the very Giver of the Gift into ashes! (SSS Vol.1, pp. 117-118)