Manasa, vacha, karmana are three
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
words. The word ''manasa'' refers to the
mind
The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...
, ''vacha'' refers to
speech
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
, and ''karmana'' refers to
actions
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fi ...
.
In several
Indian languages, these three words are together used to describe a state of consistency expected of an individual. The motto manasa, vacha, karmana is usually invoked to imply that one should strive to achieve the state where one's thoughts, speech, and the actions coincide.
Sanskrit words
The definitions below are from
Macdonnell's Sanskrit Dictionary:
मनसor ''manasa'': "mind (in its widest sense as the seat of intellectual operations and of emotions)"
वाचाor ''vācā'': "speech, word"
कार्मणor ''karmana'': "relating to or proceeding from action"
These three words appear at
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
br>
13.8.16
These three words also appear in at least one version of the
Guru Gita
The Guru Gita (Song of the Guru) is a Hindu scripture that is said to have been authored by the sage Vyasa. The verses of this scripture may also be chanted. The text is part of the larger ''Skanda Purana''. There are several versions of the Guru ...
:
''Trikaranasuddhi''
Trikaranaśuddhi indicates the purity and unity of (1) ''manasa'' (thought), (2) ''vacha'' (word/speech), and (3) ''karmana'' (deed/action), and a harmony and congruence between them. A spiritual saying of India speaks about the existence of this congruence in great people ("''Mahatma''"): "''Manassekam, Vachassekam, Karmanyekam Mahaatmanam''". The idea of Trikaranasuddhi has some connection to the commonly expressed adage of 'Talk your Thought, Walk your Talk'.
There has been exploration about the linkage between ''trikaranasuddhi'' and effectiveness in leadership.
See also
*
Three wise monkeys
The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are
* Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering his eyes
* Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering ...
*
Trikaya
The Trikāya doctrine ( sa, त्रिकाय, lit. "three bodies"; , ) is a Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of Buddhahood. The doctrine says that Buddha has three ''kāyas'' or ''bodies'', the '' Dharm ...
*The
Confiteor
The (; so named from its first word, Latin for 'I confess' or 'I acknowledge') is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Lutheran ...
, a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
prayer, contains the phrase "thought, word, and deed": ''peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere'' ("I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed")
*The
Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...
principle of "Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta" or "Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds," also symbolized in the
Faravahar
The Faravahar ( fa, فروهر), also known as the Foruhar () or the Farre Kiyâni ( fa, فر کیانی, label=none), is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, an Iranian religion. There are various interpretations of what the Fara ...
References
{{Culture-stub
Sanskrit words and phrases
Hindu philosophical concepts
Hindu ethics