Are bodily, verbal, and mental actions performed by mind consciousness or by manas?

Bodily, verbal, and mental actions are all fabricated by the mind consciousness, driven by the ignorance of the manas. If the manas had no ignorance, it would not prompt the mind consciousness to fabricate karma defiled by ignorance. This is what is taught in the twelve links of dependent origination: the ignorance of the manas prompts the deliberation (manasikāra) mental factor of the manas to arise, giving rise to the decision to fabricate bodily, verbal, and mental actions; after the manas makes its decision, the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses arise and fabricate bodily, verbal, and mental actions that accord with the mental activity and decisions of the manas. Among these, the manas is the dominant one; the mind consciousness merely obeys the regulation and control of the manas. For example, when a five-year-old child goes out to buy soy sauce, it is at the direction of the adults; the adults at home take charge of managing the daily necessities, and when supplies run short, they send the child out to buy them. For example, an employee's work is arranged and assigned by the supervisor, and the employee must obey the supervisor's management. For example, the development of all trades and professions in society is deployed by the top leadership core of the state, and the subordinate units must carry out their work according to the deployment of the higher leadership departments and must not defy orders.

On the surface, the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of sentient beings are all fabricated by the mind consciousness and the five sense consciousnesses, but in essence they embody the intentions and positions of the manas, reflecting the habits and customs of the manas. Only when the master and the servant operate in harmony can the five-aggregate body be coordinated; if they cannot operate in harmony, it may lead to the manas becoming schizophrenic and breaking down, resulting in mental illness. Of course, sometimes when the manas does not understand certain dharmas, it has no ideas or positions of its own and will follow the opinions and views of the mind consciousness, sometimes even following them blindly, without really understanding whether what the mind consciousness advocates is actually correct. At such times, the mind consciousness appears powerful; but if the manas has wisdom, the mind consciousness cannot be stronger than the manas, and it is always the manas itself that takes charge and makes the decisions.