The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c40.s7.t2.1.2

v2.c40.s7.t2.1.2

Through the development of Prakṛti there arises the principle called the great one or intellect, Mahān or Buddhi: the Prakṛti is, therefore, to be regarded as purely unconscious, a conception vaguely analogous to the Aristotelian Hyle, and connected, directly as it would seem, with the older views of the Rigveda and the Brāhmaṇas as to the primitive condition of the universe as a chaos. The development of consciousness must therefore, it would appear, be cosmic, and the Mahān or Buddhi would thus correspond to the Hiraṇyagarbha of the later Upaniṣads and the Vedānta, the spirit which, in the earlier view, appeared on the waters after the creation of the waters by Prajāpati or the Brahman. But at the same time the Buddhi is the first element of the subtle body, the Liṅga, which is the essence of the individual spirit, and which passes through transmigration.