Bhagavad Gita · 15.9 · The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality·9 of 20
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च।अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥
śhrotraṁ chakṣhuḥ sparśhanaṁ cha rasanaṁ ghrāṇam
eva cha adhiṣhṭhāya manaśh chāyaṁ viṣhayān upasevate
Sanskrit recitation
A spark of the divine in you · 15.7–15.11 · Teaching
Translation
Presiding over the ears, eyes, touch, taste, smell, and mind, it enjoys the objects of the senses.
Meaning
Here is a description of how the subtle body remaining in the gross body enjoys the objects of the senses.The individual soul uses the mind along with each sense separately and enjoys or experiences the objects of the senses such as sound, touch, colour (form), taste and smell.It sits on the marvellous car of its mind, passes through the gateway of the ear in the twinkling of an eye and enjoys the various kinds of music of this world. It holds the reins of the nerves of sensation, enters the domain of touch through the portal of the skin and enjoys the diverse kinds of soft objects. It roams about in the hills of beautiful forms and enjoys them through the windows of his eyes. It enters the cave of taste by the avenue of the tongue and enjoyes dainties, palatable dishes and refreshing beverages. It enters the forest of scents through the door of the nose and enjoys them to its hearts content.It makes its abode in the ears, the eyes, the skin, the tongue and the nose, as also in the mind and enjoys the objects of the senses. It gains experiences of the outer world through the mind,,intellect, subconscious mind, egoism, the ten senses and the five vital airs.Ghranameva cha The word cha (and) indicates that we shall have to include the five organs of action, and also the fourfold inner instrument (mind, intellect, subconscious mind and egoism)
After Swami Sivananda
A spark of the divine in you· 15.7–15.11→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 15.7An eternal portion of Myself having become a living soul in the world of life, draws to itself the five senses, with the mind as the sixth, abiding in Nature.
- 15.8When the Lord, as the individual soul, obtains a body and when He leaves it, He takes these with Him, just as the wind takes the scents from their seats (flowers, etc.).
15.9Presiding over the ears, eyes, touch, taste, smell, and mind, it enjoys the objects of the senses.
- 15.10The deluded do not see Him who departs, stays, and enjoys; but those who possess the eye of knowledge behold Him.
- 15.11The yogis striving for perfection behold Him dwelling in the Self; but, the unrefined and unintelligent, even though striving, do not see Him.
Word-by-word→
- cha
- also
- eva
- also
- ayam
- they
- manaḥ
- mind
- rasanam
- tongue
- upasevate
- savors
- śhrotram
- ears
- ghrāṇam
- nose
- sparśhanam
- the sense of touch
- viṣhayān
- sense objects
- chakṣhuḥ
- eyes
- adhiṣhṭhāya
- grouped around
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