Mana (Mandaeism)

E. S. Drower (1960) translates the literal Aramaic meaning of mana as 'a garment, robe, vehicle, vessel, instrument'. Symbolically, it refers to the 'soul' or 'mind'. Drower compares mana to the Valentinian concept of Sophia (Wisdom) and the Marcosian concept of Ennoia (Idea, Thought). ==In Mandaean scriptures==

All of the hymns in Book 2 of the Left Ginza, in which the mana laments that it has been cast into the physical world, begin with the following refrain: "I am a mana of the Great Life" () is also frequently used in the Mandaean Book of John. In Psalm 5 of the Manichaean Psalms of Thomas, the phrase "treasure of life" is derived from the aforementioned Mandaean formula according to Torgny Säve-Söderbergh. This phrase has also been borrowed by the Valentinian Gnostics from Mandaeism. The Book 3 of the Right Ginza informs that the "mana within the mana" and the "fruit (pira) within the fruit" existed before even the spiritual universe (the World of Light) with its uthras and emanations came into being. ==As names of Hayyi Rabbi==

According to E. S. Drower, the name Great Mind or Great Mana refers to the "over-soul" or "over-mind", the earliest manifestation of Hayyi ("Life"), from which the soul of a human might be seen as a spark or temporarily detached part. In book three of the Right Ginza, Hayyi is said to have "formed Himself in the likeness of the Great Mana, from which He emerged". ==As part of uthra names==

As Mana Rba Kabira, he is paired with the name Kanat, a female uthra. ==See also==