Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3, Verse 40

Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते ।
एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् ॥

Transliteration

indriyāṇi mano buddhirasyādhiṣṭhānamucyate .
etairvimohayatyeṣa jñānamāvṛtya dehinam ॥

Meaning

The senses, the mind and the intellect are said to be its seat. Through these, veiling knowledge, it bewilders the embodied soul.

Word meanings

इन्द्रियाणि – the senses
मनः – the mind
बुद्धिः – the intellect
अस्य – its (of desire)
अधिष्ठानम् – seat, abode
उच्यते – is said to be
एतैः – through these
एषः – this (desire)
ज्ञानम् – knowledge
आवृत्य – having veiled
देहिनम् – the embodied soul
विमोहयति – bewilders

Anvaya (word order)

इन्द्रियाणि, मनः, बुद्धिः अस्य अधिष्ठानम् उच्यते; एषः एतैः ज्ञानम् आवृत्य देहिनं विमोहयति ।

Explanation

To conquer an enemy one must know his hideouts. Here the Lord names three bases of desire: the senses, the mind and the intellect. These are the forts from which the enemy rules the soul. The senses are the doors through which the allure of objects enters; the mind turns them by repeated thought into wishes; and the intellect, the discerning faculty, when it falls under desire's influence begins to justify the wrong.

This analysis is highly psychological. First the senses are drawn by external objects, then the mind recalls and dwells on them, then the intellect finds reasons for obtaining them. Thus the enemy gradually reaches our highest faculty, discrimination. Shankara explains that taking refuge in these three, desire bewilders the soul by its power.

Ramanuja stresses that when desire dominates all three, the soul's own nature is veiled and the embodied one mistakes the body for the Self. For this reason the following verses give the means of reversing this order.

The verse teaches that self-control is not only restraining the senses; cleansing the mind and intellect is just as necessary.

Context

Verse 3.39 called desire the constant enemy. Verse 3.40 names its three dwelling places. In 3.41 comes the command to subdue the senses and slay it.

Life lesson

Watch not just outward habits but also your patterns of thought and your reasoning. Sometimes our own intellect becomes the lawyer of our desires.

Key terms

Adhishthana: seat or base
Dehi: the embodied soul
Vimohana: bewildering, deluding