Prana / Bodystubschool: samkhya· Svoboda — Vāstu

Mahat (cosmic intelligence / the great principle)

महत्mahat

also: mahat-tattva, buddhi-cosmic, cosmic-intelligence, great-principle

pra-mahat

Definition

The first evolute of prakṛti in Sāṁkhya cosmogony as Svoboda transmits it: 'self-reflective (and Self-reflective) transcendent intelligence' — the general, undifferentiated cosmic awareness into which prakṛti's craving-for-reunion first crystallizes when she 'views herself and views the One as if they were discontinuous'. Mahat then 'evolves into the individualized self-awareness of ahaṁkāra'. Standing between Puruṣa+Prakṛti and ahaṁkāra in the tattva-cascade (diagram PDF p.090). ⚑ [TRADITIONAL — Sāṁkhya cosmogony, transmitted by Svoboda; never CLASSICAL on his say-so].

Traditional

Prāṇa relevance

Upstream of prāṇa: prāṇa and the elements are far downstream evolutes of mahat in the Sāṁkhya descent (mahat → ahaṁkāra → guṇas → tanmatras → mahābhūtas, of which prāṇa is the refined Air per ch.3). The cosmogonic ground on which the expansion (puruṣa→matter) half of the chapter's pulse rests; not itself a prāṇa-mechanism. Not yet traced beyond this cosmological placement.

Sources

txt-svoboda-vastuch. 4 'Evolution' (PDF p.094); Sāṁkhya-evolution diagram (PDF p.090)Modern✓ verifiedmahat = self-reflective transcendent intelligence, general and undifferentiated, the first evolute of prakṛti's self-awareness, evolving into ahaṁkāra

Other attributes

System Of Origin: samkhya (cosmological tattva)
Location In Body: n/a — a cosmogonic principle, not a bodily locus; the macrocosmic correlate of buddhi (cf. existing pra-buddhi). Per ch.3 (PDF p.084) mahat is named there as ahaṁkāra's source ('the overarching power to discern').
Function: the general/undifferentiated self-reflective cosmic intelligence; prakṛti's first self-awareness; the source from which ahaṁkāra (individuated I-making) and all downstream tattvas (guṇas → mind/senses → Five Elements) evolve

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