Manava Dharmashastra 1.74

1.74

sa brahmā tāvatīṃ dīrghāṃ niśāṃ nidrāṃ anubhūya pratibudhyate | tataḥ punarjagatsṛjati | svāpo brahmaṇa uktasvarūpaḥ | na hyasau prākṛtapuruṣavatsvapiti, nityaṃ pratibodhāt | tatra sargakramamāha | manaḥ sadasadātmakamiti | nanu cāpa eva sasarjādāvityuktam | kecidāhurdvividhaḥ pralayaḥ mahāpralayo'vāntarapralayaśca | avāntarapralaye'yaṃ kramaḥ | manaścātra na tattvāntargataṃ, tasya pūrvamutpannatvāt, kiṃ tarhi prajāpatiḥ prabuddhaḥ san 'manaḥ' sargāya 'sṛjati' niyuṅkte ityarthaḥ | dvitīye tu mahāpralayapakṣe manaḥkāraṇatvānmahattattvameva manastataśca na prāguktakramahāniḥ | purāṇe hi ''mano mahānmatirbuddhirmahattattvaṃ ca kīrtyate | paryāyavācakāḥ śabdā mahataḥ parikīrtitā'' iti |

At the end of the said ‘Day and Night,’ Brahmā, who was asleep, wakes up, and ha vino woken up, he creates mind, which partakes op the nature op the existent and the non-existent.—(74)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
Brahmā, having slept daring the long night or the said extent, ‘wakes up,’ and then proceeds to create the world again.—The ‘sleep’ of Brahmā is of the character already described (in verse 54); and he does not sleep in the manner of ordinary men, as he is ever awake (conscious).

The order of creation is next stated:—[He created] ‘the Mind, which partakes of the nature of the existent and the nonexistent.’

Question—“It has been stated above (in verse 8) that ‘at first he created water’.”

In answer to this some people offer the following explanation:—There are two kinds of ‘Dissolution’—the ‘Great Dissolution’ and the ‘Intermediate Dissolution’; and what is stated in the present context is the order in which things are created after the ‘Intermediate Dissolution’; and the ‘Mind,’ in this case, is not one of the ‘Principles,’—this ‘Principle’ Mind having come into existence already (after the Great Dissolution); what the text means is that ‘Brahmā’, having woken up, ‘creates’—i.e., applies—the Mind—to creation.

If, however, the text be taken to refer to the creation following on the ‘Great Dissolution,’—then ‘Mind’ should be taken as standing for the ‘Great Principle of Intelligence,’—it being called ‘Mind’ because it is the cause of the Mind; and thus the order here mentioned would not in any way militate against that stated before (in verse 14-15). In the Purāṇa we read—‘It is described as Mind, Mahān, Mati, Buddhi and Mahattattva; all these have been described as words synonymous with Mahat (the Great Principle of Intelligence)’; [and thus there is nothing wrong in taking ‘manas’ of this verse as standing for the Great Principle].—(74)