Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Verse 9

Chapter 15 – Purushottama Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च ।
अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥

Transliteration

śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca .
adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate ॥

Meaning

Presiding over the ear, the eye, touch, taste and smell, and the mind as well, this soul enjoys the objects of the senses.

Word meanings

श्रोत्रम् – the ear
चक्षुः – the eye
स्पर्शनम् – the skin, sense of touch
च – and
रसनम् – the tongue, sense of taste
घ्राणम् – the nose, sense of smell
एव – also
अधिष्ठाय – presiding over, abiding in
मनः – the mind
अयम् – this (soul)
विषयान् – sense-objects
उपसेवते – enjoys, experiences

Anvaya (word order)

अयम् श्रोत्रम् चक्षुः स्पर्शनम् च रसनम् घ्राणम् एव च मनः च अधिष्ठाय विषयान् उपसेवते ।

Explanation

Verse 8 described the soul’s departure from one body and entry into another; this verse describes what it does while embodied. Presiding over the five senses of knowledge, ear, eye, skin, tongue and nose, and over the mind as the sixth, as if seated on their throne, it experiences sound, form, touch, taste and smell.

The word adhishthaya, presiding over, is important. The senses by themselves are insentient; the eye does not see on its own, nor the ear hear. They function only when the conscious self presides in them. The Kena Upanishad points to this when it speaks of That which is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the eye of the eye. Counting the mind alongside the senses is also significant: without the mind’s attention, nothing is experienced even with eyes and ears open, as anyone lost in thought knows.

Upasevate, it enjoys. Experience as such is not the fault; the trouble begins when the soul takes itself to be the enjoyer and identifies with the senses. As 13.21 said, the purusha seated in prakriti experiences the gunas born of prakriti, and attachment to them is the cause of births in good and evil wombs.

Shankara holds that enjoyership is not the Self’s true nature but is superimposed through its adjuncts. Ramanuja regards the soul as a real knower and experiencer who, according to karma, undergoes this experience in association with prakriti. Madhva likewise sees the jiva as a real enjoyer dependent on the Lord. The next verse adds that, despite all this activity, the deluded fail to see the one who dwells within.

Context

The previous verse spoke of the soul carrying the senses with it at the change of bodies. Here Krishna shows that while embodied it experiences sense-objects through those senses and the mind. Verse 10 will say that only those with the eye of wisdom perceive this soul.

Life lesson

The senses are windows and we are the one who looks through them. Remembering this keeps experiences from sweeping us away. In the midst of any enjoyment, the quiet awareness ‘I am the experiencer, not the experience’ opens the door to self-knowledge.

Key terms

Adhishthana: presiding over and directing
Jnanendriya: the five senses of knowledge
Upasevana: experiencing or enjoying sense-objects