Shri Krishna Speaks: Mind and the Five Senses

Shri Krishna Speaks: Mind and the Five Senses

*|| जय श्री कृष्ण ||*🌷🙏*

*॥ श्रीमद्‍भगवद्‍गीता ॥ 15.7॥*

_श्रीभगवानुवाच_

_ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः ।_

_मनः षष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति॥_

*भावार्थ :* 

हे अर्जुन! संसार में प्रत्येक शरीर में स्थित जीवात्मा मेरा ही सनातन अंश है, जो कि मन सहित छहों इन्द्रियों के द्वारा प्रकृति के अधीन होकर कार्य करता है। (७)

*Meaning*:

My eternal fragment, in this world of souls, becomes the individual soul. It draws itself to the mind and five senses, established in Prakriti.

*Explanation*:

So far, we saw the state of the select few individuals who strive for liberation. Now Shri Krishna summarizes the state of the jeevas, the individual souls who are stuck in the cycle of samsaara, of birth and death. The jeeva, ignorant of its true nature which is infinite, harbours selfish desires with the aim of removing its finitude. In order to do so, it needs to be able to contact and transact with Prakriti. The equipment needed to transact with Prakriti comprises the mind and the five senses. Therefore, the jeeva attracts or pulls these six aspects of Prakriti unto itself.

 

Before we proceed, we need to clarify one point here. The word fragment implies that the eternal essence, speaking as Ishvara, can be broken or divided into pieces. Yet, we know that the eternal essence is indivisible. To solve this confusion, we need to remind ourselves of the examples provided in the thirteenth chapter. We can try to divide space using walls, but space is indivisible. Also, we can lose the sun's reflection when we break a pot filled with water, but nothing happens to the sun. There is no coming or going of space or of the sun. The limitations, the upaadhis such as walls and pots "as though" try to divide, but cannot do so in essence.

 

The Jnyaaneshwari provides yet another example. It describes an ascetic monk who has taken up a contemplative and solitary life in the jungle. One night he dreams that he is a householder with a wife and kids. In order to provide for his family, he has to work hard at his job to make ends meet. His job causes a great deal of stress to him. But when he wakes up from his dream, he remains the same monk, unaffected by the apparent ties of family life. The dream world is yet another upaadhi or limitation caused by ignorance of his real nature.

 

So then, the jeeva draws a mind and five senses in order to exhaust its desires. However, it still needs a physical body to transact with Prakriti. How does all this happen? We see this in the next shloka.

*Continuously Chant The mantra you have faith in ||*🌹