A core teaching · reflective in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Experience passes through mind and senses; it does not define the true self.”
Taking hold of the mind, the inner being experiences objects through the ears, eyes, skin, tongue, and nose.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyear · eye · touch · taste · smell · indeed · and · having taken hold of · mind · and · this · objects · enjoys, experiences
The inner being uses the mind as a base and experiences the world through the five senses.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Purushottama Yoga" (The Yoga of the Supreme Person).
Verse 9 sits in Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gita — Purushottama Yoga, "The Yoga of the Supreme Person". The chapter has 20 verses in total.
During a Diwali feast, the smell of frying, the lamps, the music and the sweets all arrive at once. Krishna names who is tasting all of it: the inner being, working through the mind and five senses.
Did you like this verse?
Holding the mind, the inner being enjoys sense objects through ears, eyes, skin, tongue and nose.
What this verse means
The inner being uses the mind as a base and experiences the world through the five senses.
Context & commentary
Krishna explains to Arjuna why the self seems tied to body and pleasure. After describing how the self moves from one body to another, he adds that it works through mind and the five senses. This verse supports the larger teaching that the true self is distinct from the body.
What it looks like today
During a Diwali feast, the smell of frying, the lamps, the music and the sweets all arrive at once. Krishna names who is tasting all of it: the inner being, working through the mind and five senses.
“What you call experience is filtered through mind and senses, not raw reality.”
Explore related themes: manas (49 verses), kshetra kshetrajna (10 verses)