Chapter 1558
[←1549]
As Mahat, or Universal Intelligence, is first born, or manifests, as Vishnu, and then, when it falls into Matter and develops self-consciousness, becomes egoism, selfishness, so Manas is of a dual nature. It is respectively under the Sun and Moon, for as Shankarâchârya says: “The moon is the mind, and the sun the understanding.” The Sun and Moon are the deities of our planetary Macrocosmos, and therefore Shankara adds that: “The mind and the understanding are the respective deities of the [human] organs.” (See Brihadâranyaka, pp. 521, et seqq.) This is perhaps why Arjuna Mishra says that the Moon and the Fire (the Self, the Sun) constitute the universe.