Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13, Verse 6

Chapter 13 – Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

महाभूतान्यहंकारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च ।
इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः ॥

Transliteration

mahābhūtānyahaṃkāro buddhiravyaktameva ca .
indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca pañca cendriyagocarāḥ ॥

Meaning

The great elements, the ego, the intellect and the Unmanifest, the ten senses and the one (mind), and the five objects of the senses —

Word meanings

महाभूतानि – the great elements — space, air, fire, water, earth (in their subtle forms)
अहंकारः – the ego, the principle of I-ness
बुद्धिः – the intellect, mahat, the faculty of determination
अव्यक्तम् – the Unmanifest, primordial Prakriti
एव च – and also
इन्द्रियाणि – the senses
दश – ten (five of perception, five of action)
एकम् – one (the mind)
च – and
पञ्च – five
च – and
इन्द्रियगोचराः – objects of the senses — sound, touch, form, taste, smell

Anvaya (word order)

महाभूतानि अहंकारः बुद्धिः अव्यक्तम् एव च दश इन्द्रियाणि एकम् च पञ्च च इन्द्रियगोचराः ।

Explanation

Krishna now begins to list the constituents of the field. The list corresponds to the twenty-four principles of Sankhya: the Unmanifest (primordial Prakriti), the intellect (mahat), the ego, the five great elements in their subtle forms, the ten senses — eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin for knowing, and speech, hands, feet, organ of generation and organ of excretion for action — the one mind, and the five sense objects: sound, touch, form, taste and smell. It expands the eightfold ‘lower nature’ mentioned in 7.4.

The subtlest point in the list is that intellect and ego themselves are counted within the field. We usually assume that our reasoning mind and our sense of ‘I’ are what we truly are. Krishna gently places them among the things that are known — products of Prakriti that rise, shift and fall. Beyond even these stands the witness that illumines them. This is where self-inquiry becomes truly deep.

Shankara explains that all of this unfolds from the Unmanifest, the Lord’s power of maya, and is entirely the seen, distinct from the Self. Ramanuja accepts these principles as real and sees them as the instruments through which the soul experiences and ultimately attains release. An important difference from classical Sankhya is that the Gita does not treat Prakriti as an independent principle; it is the Lord’s own power.

Context

Having named the authoritative sources in verse 5, Krishna now describes the field itself. The sentence continues into the next verse, where desire, aversion and other modifications are added to complete the account.

Life lesson

Even the intellect and ego we take as our deepest selves keep changing, so hold them lightly and without pride. Recognising the layers within is the first step toward freedom from them.

Key terms

Avyakta: The Unmanifest, primordial nature in its seed state
Mahabhuta: The five great elements: space, air, fire, water, earth
Ahamkara: The principle that produces the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’
Indriya-gochara: The objects of the senses: sound, touch, form, taste, smell