The Rationale for Manas as the Sovereign Consciousness

The manas is the spontaneously arising conscious mind, constantly present and unceasing except in the state of nirvana without remainder. It has existed since beginningless kalpas, with no dharma capable of determining its birth nor causing its cessation. Since neither the arising nor cessation of manas can be governed by any other force, and its spontaneous functioning remains unmastered by any other, it reigns as the sovereign among the seven consciousnesses—the commander and leader. Beyond this, there exists no other that can assume the role of ruler or leader.

Consciousness cannot serve as the ruler or leader because it arises and ceases daily, lacking autonomy. Its birth is conditional: it requires the presence of manas, the existence of mental objects (dharmas), contact between manas and these mental objects, and the manas’s decision to initiate bodily or verbal actions—only then can consciousness arise. Given this, how could consciousness possibly exercise sovereignty? Unable to govern even its own birth and cessation—unable to decide, control, or command them—how could it possess the capacity to control manas and other dharmas? How could it be the sovereign?

Especially when consciousness is absent, when it is exceedingly weak, or when it is incapable of thought—how could it exercise sovereignty? How could consciousness govern the acts of sleeping and waking? When one is in deep sleep in the middle of the night and a sudden fire breaks out at home or an emergency arises, how could consciousness decide to wake up and flee? If consciousness itself does not even exist at that moment, how could it possibly be in charge? When unconscious and unresponsive, with no consciousness present at all, how could consciousness decide to struggle back to wakefulness? In a vegetative state, when consciousness is so faint it nearly ceases, how could it decide to turn over? Without even the capacity for thought, how could it decide to eat? How could it decide whether to continue living or embrace death?

Although manas is a non-determined consciousness (avyākṛta-vijñāna) and cannot autonomously or independently create wholesome or unwholesome karmic actions, this has no bearing on whether it possesses sovereignty. It is like a president who cannot write code: he can exercise sovereignty by directing programmers to write code. He holds that authority; he need not handle every task personally. With subordinates specialized in various duties, he need only issue commands. Similarly, manas need not personally create bodily or verbal karmic actions; it exercises sovereignty by directing the six consciousnesses to perform them. The six consciousnesses exist to serve manas. If they were useless, incapable of accomplishing tasks, manas would not decide to bring them into being—rendering them purposeless.