Manas (mind) is the term for the mental capacity in the 24 categories that define reality in SAMKHYA and YOGA. It is seen to oversee the five capacities of action and the five capacities of perception directly. Above mind in the schema are the ego (ahamkara) and the intellect (buddhi). While manas is essential for the proper functioning of the human being, it is always understood to be subject to the whims of ego under the disguise of instinct or in terms of ego’s role in creating the “grasping” self.
Further reading: S. N. Dasgupta, History of Indian Phi-losophy, Vol. 1 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975).
Encyclopedia of Hinduism. A. Jones and James D. Ryan. 2007.