Mahat-tattva (Sanskrit: महत्तत्त्व, romanized: Mahattattva) or mahat is a concept in the Samkhya philosophy of Hinduism.
[4] Prakriti is the first principal of creation and consists of three guṇas (qualities)[5] – sattva, rajas, and tamas – which are dormant until stirred into activity by Purusha.
Each self is in contact with an intellect, buddhi, that stores the mental imprints that the self has gained on account of its experiences in the world.
[2]: 53 [8] In Bhagavata Purana Canto 3, Chapter 5, Verse 27, mahat is described as: tato ‘bhavan mahat-tattvam avyaktāt kāla-coditāt vijñānātmātma-deha-sthaṁ
viśvaṁ vyañjaṁs tamo-nudaḥAnd translated by Swami Prabhupada as:[9] Thereafter, influenced by the interactions of eternal time, the supreme sum total of matter called the mahat-tattva became manifested, and in this mahat-tattva the unalloyed goodness, the Supreme Lord, sowed the seeds of universal manifestation out of His own body.This Hindu philosophy–related article is a stub.