📿 Shloka Collection

Shrotram Chakshuh Sparshanam Cha

Gita 15.9 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15 — Purushottama Yoga
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च ।
अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥
Shrotram chakshuh sparshanam cha rasanam ghranam eva cha,
Adhishthaya manashchayam vishayan upasevate.
श्रोत्रम्
the ear
चक्षुः
the eye
स्पर्शनम्
the skin (sense of touch)
रसनम्
the tongue (sense of taste)
घ्राणम् एव च
and the nose as well
अधिष्ठाय
presiding over
मनः च अयम्
and also the mind
विषयान् उपसेवते
experiences the sense objects

Shloka 15.7 said the soul attracts the mind and senses. Shloka 15.8 said these travel with the soul. Now 15.9 tells us what the soul does with them: it experiences the world. Through the ear it hears, through the eye it sees, through the skin it feels, through the tongue it tastes, through the nose it smells. And behind all five stands the mind, directing attention.

The mind is the sixth sense here — not in any supernatural way, but as the coordinator. It decides which sense object to pursue and which to ignore. The soul, seated within, uses all six as its instruments of engagement with the world.

None of this is described as wrong or sinful. Krishna is simply stating how things work. A house has windows — light comes through, and so does dust. The senses are those windows. They connect the inner being to the outer world.

Shlokas 15.7 through 15.9 form a connected sequence. First the soul's divine origin (15.7), then its journey across bodies (15.8), and now its engagement with the sensory world (15.9). This three-shloka sequence is considered a fine example of the Gita's step-by-step teaching method. The inclusion of the mind as the sixth sense (manahshashthi) is a recurring concept in Gita philosophy.

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