बुद्धि — buddhi: ordinary meaning and uses in the murlis
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बुद्धि — buddhi is a feminine noun commonly translated as intellect. Depending on the passage, intelligence, discernment, understanding or attention may help explain its function.
Ordinary meaning and cultural context
In everyday Hindi, buddhi denotes the ability to understand, think about a situation and form a judgment. It can refer to intelligence, common sense or the ability to decide. The Hindwi dictionary particularly emphasises reflection and judgment.
In Sāṃkhya philosophy, buddhi denotes the discriminative faculty. The Murli dictionary entry includes this meaning in its material from the Heritage dictionary. This philosophical background provides context without determining how the word is used in every murli.
Published and proposed translations
Published translations
- English: intellect, or intellects where the sentence requires a plural. This is attested in the English passages quoted below.
- French: intellect. This is attested in the French versions of the murlis of 20 March 2022 and 24 February 2022, linked below.
In the selected passage of 9 May 2020, the French version conveys the orientation of buddhi through the verb se concentrer. This translates the whole construction; it does not establish “concentration” as a general lexical equivalent of the noun.
Recommended equivalents and contextual explanations
For the French dictionary, the two recommended equivalents are intellect and esprit, in that order. Intellect is the primary choice because it is precise and consistent with the published translations. A published equivalent can also be a recommended equivalent.
Esprit may sound more natural in some French sentences, especially when describing an inner orientation towards someone. It is broader, however, and may also translate मन — man, which should remain distinguishable from buddhi.
In English, intellect remains the principal recommended equivalent. Discernment explains its role in recognising and judging; understanding explains its assimilation of knowledge; attention explains its direction towards the Father. These contextual explanations are editorial suggestions, not a claim that every term appears as a published translation in the passages consulted.
The proposed English equivalents are intellect, mind, discernment, understanding and attention. Intellect remains the primary choice. Mind is a broader contextual alternative and should be used only where it does not blur the distinction from मन — man.
BK uses
The passages reveal three related uses of one inner faculty, rather than three separate faculties.
1. Discerning and recognising
In the murli of 20 March 2022, a divine intellect supports appropriate decisions and recognition of the Father, oneself and others according to the teaching. The passage then uses the image of a swan that selects what is valuable.
Hindi original
दिव्य बुद्धि अर्थात् होलीहंस बुद्धि .
Published French translation
Un intellect divin est un intellect de cygne saint.
Published English translation
A divine intellect means a "holy swan intellect".
Daily murli · 2022-03-20 · hi17. French version · English version
The surrounding sentences explain this image through distinctions between milk and water, and between pearls and pebbles. Here, buddhi concerns discernment that guides choices and relationships, rather than simply intellectual speed.
2. Understanding and assimilating knowledge
When something is said to enter, remain or sit in the intellect, buddhi is the faculty through which a teaching is received and assimilated. The following example describes a failure of that assimilation.
Hindi original
कुछ भी बुद्धि में नहीं बैठता .
Published French translation
Rien ne reste dans leur intellect.
Published English translation
Nothing sits in their intellects.
Daily murli · 2022-02-24 · hi92. French version · English version
The context concerns understanding that has not taken hold. Later, the same murli describes the intellect as holding riches of knowledge that can be shared with others. Understanding, retaining and making knowledge available are closely connected here.
3. Directing attention towards the Father
When the intellect is directed towards the Father, the word describes an inner orientation of attention. The murli of 9 May 2020 places this practice within ordinary daily activities.
Hindi original
सब कुछ करते बुद्धि बाप की तरफ लगी रहे .
Published French translation
Quoi que vous fassiez, restez concentrés sur le Père.
Published English translation
While doing everything, keep your intellect focused on the Father.
Daily murli · 2020-05-09 · hi202. French version · English version
The French version expresses concentration, while the English version explicitly retains intellect. This difference helps explain why a single equivalent does not always capture the whole construction. A contextual explanation must remain distinct from the wording of the published translation.
Qualities and dispositions of the intellect
The following expressions qualify the same faculty; they do not necessarily establish additional meanings of the noun:
- दिव्य बुद्धि — divya buddhi: a divine intellect, connected with recognition and discernment in the passage of 20 March 2022.
- स्वच्छ बुद्धि — svachchh buddhi: a clean or pure intellect, presented as the result of spiritual transformation in the murli of 15 November 2021.
- विशाल बुद्धि — viśāl buddhi: a broad intellect, connected with assimilated knowledge and its sharing in the murli of 24 February 2022.
- निश्चय बुद्धि — niśchay buddhi: an intellect with faith or certainty, contrasted with doubt in the murli of 6 July 2020.
The following example illustrates the disposition opposite to certainty:
Hindi original
संशय बुद्धि पीछे रह जायेंगे .
Published French translation
Ceux qui ont des doutes dans l'intellect restent derrière.
Published English translation
Those whose intellects have doubts remain behind.
Daily murli · 2020-07-06 · hi43. French version · English version
The teaching connects the disposition of the intellect with study and spiritual progress. The issue is confidence in the teaching, rather than a definition of intelligence in terms of academic achievement.
Proposed concise BK definition
The inner faculty that understands, discerns and assimilates knowledge, and that is directed towards the Father in the practice of remembrance.
This is an editorial synthesis of the observed uses, not a murli quotation. Intellect preserves the published terminology; discernment, understanding and attention clarify particular functions.
Sources and scope
The starting point was the first page of relevance-ranked results for बुद्धि: 20 excerpts from the daily murli corpus. Texts retained from that search were reread. The four examples were checked against their published French and English versions; the passage of 15 November 2021 was also read in context for the description of a pure intellect.
The daily corpus includes teachings of different kinds, so this selection cannot establish usage specific to sakar teachings alone. No separate search of the Avyakt or Mamma corpora was conducted. Repeated editions of a passage were not treated as independent attestations. This article describes a sample rather than an exhaustive inventory.
The quotations preserve the wording displayed on the site, including unusual phrasing. This English article is a newly prepared translation of the French editorial article; only the passages explicitly marked as published translations reproduce the published murli wording.