Definition: Mano is the mental faculty — the inner "sense" or cognising organ that parallels the five physical senses. In the canonical list of six sense-bases, mano is the sixth (manāyatana), taking mental objects (dhammā) as its field. It is also the faculty in which intention arises, giving rise to mental kamma (manokamma).
Canonical usage
Dhp 1 (dhp1:1)
Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā, manoseṭṭhā manomayā.
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English (Sujato): Intention shapes experiences; intention is first, they're made by intention.
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English (Buddharakkhita): Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
The opening verse of the Dhammapada is the locus classicus for mano in the canon, and one of the most frequently cited passages on the priority of mental causation. See dhammapada 01 yamakavagga.
SN 35.23 (cited; not yet ingested)
The six-fold sense-base formula: cakkhu, sota, ghāna, jivhā, kāya, mano — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. Mano is thus integrated into the same analytic framework as the physical senses.
Nuances and translation notes
Sujato's "intention" in Dhp 1–2 is a substantially interpretive choice: literally, manas means "mind", and manopubbaṅgamā is "preceded by mind" / "led by mind". Sujato reads mano here as specifically the intentional aspect of mind (cf. MN 19 (cited; not yet ingested)'s distinction of three kinds of thought, vitakka), which is supported by the verse's context (the phrase manasā ce paduṭṭhena — "if with a corrupt mind") but narrows the English rendering.
- Sujato: "intention" (in Dhp 1–2); "mind" elsewhere
- Buddharakkhita: "mind" consistently
- Thanissaro: "heart" (emphasising the intentional/emotional register) or "mind"
- Bodhi: "mind" (in sutta translations, particularly in technical contexts); distinguishes mano (mind-base) from citta (stream of consciousness) where the Abhidhamma does
- de Zoysa (Sinhala): සිත (sita) — treats mano as equivalent to citta
Relation to citta and viññāṇa
In sutta usage these three are often interchangeable — e.g. SN 12.61 (cited; not yet ingested) uses citta, mano, and viññāṇa in close succession to describe the rapidly-changing mental stream. The Abhidhamma preserves the usage but formalises the distinction:
- mano → the mental faculty / base of mind-consciousness
- citta → a single conscious act with its accompanying cetasikas
- viññāṇa → consciousness classified by sense-door (eye-, ear-, ... mind-consciousness)
Related concepts
- citta — near-synonym; the stream-of-experience term
- mano kamma — mental action (one of the three kinds of kamma) (pending)
- dhamma phenomena — the objects of mano in the six-base scheme (pending)
- vitakka — applied thought; a specific mode of mano (pending)
- manayatana — the mind-base (pending)
Related pages
- dhammapada 01 yamakavagga (Dhp 1, 2 — the foundational occurrences)
- dhammapada 03 cittavagga (by synonymy with citta)
- mental causation mano pubbangama — concept page centred on Dhp 1–2 (pending)