Friday, February 26, 2021

Understanding the Non-translatables


I have been reading the book Sanskrit Non-Translatables: The Importance of Sanskritizing English by Rajiv Malhotra and Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji. The book explains the limitations of English in representing Indic thoughts. As we adopt more English, we run the risk of losing some of the elaborate meanings attached to the Sanskrit terms. From the book:

Manas is not Mind 
Manas occupies a pivotal and central position in the Indian psychological tradition. It performs the role of connecting consciousness (atma) with the physical body. Perception involves 1) the contact of jnanendriya-s with the external objects; 2) jnanendriya-s with manas; and 3) manas with the atma. Thus, manas is the interface between the internal and external worlds of a human being.

There are associated components called Buddhi, Chitta, and Ahankara. Needless to say, as per the authors, their English equivalents are equally incorrect. In Indian languages too, we have narrowed down every psychological aspect to be that of the mind. 

A few decades ago, there was more than one term to represent various mental conditions such as Mana Sanchalam (மன சஞ்சலம்), Bhudhdhi pEtalitttal (புத்தி பேதலித்தல்), Chitta Bramai/Chitta Swadeenam (சித்தப் பிரமை / சித்த சுவாதீனம்). The older generation was probably capable of differentiating a condition with respect to a component.

Before we delve deep into the functions with respect to an activity, let’s list down what Rajiv Malhotra has mentioned about these.

“Manas connects the atma and the concrete body in a linear relationship. It qualifies an object of cognition with a like/dislike feeling. Western theories on the mind are varied and even conflicting. Consciousness apart from the mind is not considered; Western theories also do not have an equivalent cognitive apparatus to the indriya-s and the antahkarana. 

Buddhi ≠ Intelligence. Buddhi is the chief form and functional aspect of the antahkarana that produces cognition. Discrimination is the main function of the Buddhi. Intelligence is not precisely defined and refers to something that can be measured and the dharmic concept of Buddhi has little to do with this. 

Chitta ≠ Unconscious Mind. Chitta is the individualized aspect of mahat and is the foundation of the complete psychological complex of an individual. It retains memory in the form of samskara-s and is responsible for the distinct conditioning of each individual. Chitta is very different from the unconscious mind which does not consider the laws of transmigration, rebirth and karma. 

Ahankara ≠ Ego. Ahankara is a component of the antahkarana responsible for the individuality and agency of a person. It is also the individuating principle responsible for limitations, separation and variety in the Universe. Ego, unlike ahankara which is ever-present, comes into existence during infancy or childhood. Ego’s goal is to find safe and socially acceptable ways of satisfying desires." 

(from "Sanskrit Non-Translatables: The Importance of Sanskritizing English)

Manas can be viewed as a component that supplements sensory organs. The components have a feedback mechanism to refine and enhance the functionalities of them. 

My Understanding
To expand on the functionalities of manas, budhdhi and chitta:
  • The primary function of manas is to experience and the secondary function is to interpret and the tertiary function is to enhance the system.
  • It interprets the inputs from the sensory organs and the feedback from Budhdhi and Ahankara as good or bad.
  • The experiences and feedback from the other components are in turn used to optimize the functioning by giving readymade responses – without repeatedly processing with Budhdhi and Chitta.
  • The Manas is also responsible for emotions like curiosity (which may be related to a more primitive emotion of fear.)
  • Chitta is the repository of knowledge, not just that of an individual but of the collective. Some are conscious memory but the unconscious memory many times that. When I refer to the collective, it covers the societal, generational experiences and also what Indic systems refer to as ‘vasanas’ or impressions carried forward across births. In his book ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’, Daniel Kahneman probably refers to this as System 1.
  • Budhdhi is the analytical mind, more developed in humans than in animals. But that’s debatable when you are interacting on social media. Daniel Kahneman refers to this as System 2. It needs more energy to apply Budhdhi. So, a lot of our actions do not involve Budhdhi, but are more of autonomous actions learned and stored in the Chitta. 
Example Interpretation
I’ll try to map an event with the functionalities of these components. I chose an event that happened when I was less than three years so that there are minimal distracting aspects.

One day, when no one was around I reached out to my grandfather’s tobacco canister, took a pinch of tobacco, put it in my mouth, choked, cried and got everyone running to me to save me.
  • The memory did not have the relationship (that was added later when I understood relations) but had vague associations with a few people at home. So, ‘grandfather’ person and his secret canister were in Chitta.
  • Ahankara must have preceded this memory. Without Ahankara, I would not have differentiated myself and others.
  • The Manas would have processed the visuals of this grandfather consuming that secret stuff from a box and stored in Chitta.
  • The Budhdhi analyzed that it must be something special because I was fed the usual food from a bowl but never from that secret canister.
  • The Manas was curious to experience.
  • The Budhdhi identified that the moment was right that no one is around to experience it.
Many events must have happened during that period, but I remember only unusual events like the one above. Others were – monkey attacks, hailstorms in Turaiyur (that was the place the family was in during those days). Other memories from that period were repeated experiences – like seeing the light from a distant house's window or my cousin reminding my father to wind the clock every week.

There is an over-simplification of the complex processing of the ‘mind’ in popular psychology into three functions called encoding, storage, and retrieval. It isn’t easy to map the components to the functions of encoding, storage, and retrieval. Some events are superficial and they may be processed by the manas and some need analysis to be processed by ‘Budhdhi’. And there are high-impact events that might be processed by multiple components. Some of them may be in the Chitta that carry forward to generations and the larger society. 

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