Hrishikesha — Master of the Senses

"Hrishikesha" means the master of all the senses. In the Gita both Sanjaya and Arjuna refer to the Lord by this name.

"Hrishika" means the senses and "isha" means lord. Hrishikesha is the master and controller of the senses of all beings. Our eyes see and our ears hear, but the power behind them flows from the Lord. At the same time he is perfect master of his own senses: though he moves through the world, he is never ruled by any object of desire.

The name appears at meaningful moments in the Bhagavad Gita. In the first chapter Sanjaya tells how Hrishikesha blew the conch Panchajanya (1.15), and how, at Arjuna's request, Hrishikesha drew the chariot up between the two armies (1.24). In the eleventh chapter, overwhelmed by the universal form, Arjuna praises him as Hrishikesha, and at the opening of the eighteenth chapter he uses the same name when he asks about the true nature of renunciation.

The name also carries a message for every seeker. The Gita speaks again and again about mastery of the senses. Devotees understand that true self-control is not merely suppressing the senses, but engaging them in the service of their real master. A well-known definition of bhakti from the Narada Pancharatra says exactly this: devotion is serving Hrishikesha, the Lord of the senses, with the senses.

Name Sa

हृषीकेश

Name Roman

Hrishikesha

Meaning

master of the senses

Gita Refs

11.36, 18.1

Source

Bhagavad Gita 1.15, 1.24 (used by Sanjaya); 11.36, 18.1 (used by Arjuna)