Manda (religious)

The manda was a spiritual and philosophical concept in the Mandalorian religion. Among the living, manda referred to a state of being, wherein a Mandalorian had achieved a philosophical unity of mind, body, and spirit. Additionally, the manda could refer to the collective soul of the Mandalorian people, with Mandalorians passing into the manda upon their death.

Differing from the ancient Mandalorians' belief in a literal afterlife, the metaphysical manda was best described as an oversoul, a collective state of being for all Mandalorian souls upon death.

To be part of it, a Mandalorian was required to not only understand their culture as defined by the Resol'nare, but truly live out its ideals in their lives. Mandalorians who did not live by the Resol'nare were considered to be dar'manda—soulless, someone who was ignorant of their heritage and thus had no place in the Mandalorian afterlife. The state of being dar'manda was regarded as a fate worse than death in the Mandalorian community.

The Mandalorian belief in the collective afterlife of the manda was of notable influence to their burial practices. Though the Mandalorians typically preferred cremation, when burying the fallen in large numbers, Mandalorians would dig large, mass graves in which to lay their dead to rest.

Though many species considered the prospect of unmarked mass graves horrid, Mandalorians believed that the body was merely a tool for doing deeds and passing on knowledge, and once the soul had gone to the manda, what happened to the body was ultimately irrelevant. Burying their people together in mass graves mirrored the collective consciousness every Mandalorian was believed to share in the manda after death.

The manda was first introduced to Star Wars canon in The Mandalorians: People and Culture article, written by author Karen Traviss for the eighty-sixth issue of Star Wars Insider magazine, published February 2006. The manda was later mentioned again in several entries in Traviss' Republic and Imperial Commando novel series, including True Colors, Order 66, and Imperial Commando: 501st. Traviss again mentioned the manda in two of her entries into the multi-author Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novel series, entitled Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice and Legacy of the Force: Revelation.