Bhagavad Gita BG 15.9
Chapter 15, Verse 9 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च । अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥
shrotram cakshuh sparshanam ca rasanam ghranam eva ca adhishthaya manash cayam vishayan upasevate
Meaning
Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell — and the mind — he experiences the sense-objects.
Understanding
The five senses are enumerated: shrotram (hearing), chakshuh (sight/vision), sparshanam (touch), rasanam (taste), ghranam (smell). Plus manash (mind) — the sixth faculty that coordinates all five. Adhishthaya (presiding over, taking up residence in) — the jiva adhishthaya (oversees/operates through) all six. Vishayan upasevate (experiences/enjoys the sense-objects). This verse describes the jiva's experiential life: it is the presiding awareness behind all six sense-faculties. It doesn't just receive sense data passively — it adhishthaya (inhabits) these faculties and through them upasevate (serves itself with, enjoys) the world of objects. The teaching: the jiva is not the senses but the consciousness that presides over them — yet in its conditioned state, it takes itself to be the experiencer through the senses.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| श्रोत्रम् | shrotram | the organ of hearing |
| स्पर्शनम् | sparshanam | the organ of touch |
| रसनम् | rasanam | the organ of taste |
| घ्राणम् | ghranam | the organ of smell |
| अधिष्ठाय | adhishthaya | having presided over, taking as one's seat, inhabiting |
| श्रोत्रम् | śrotram | hearing |
| चक्षुः | cakṣuḥ | sight, the eye |
| स्पर्शनम् | sparśanam ca | and touch |
| घ्राणम् | ghrāṇam eva ca | and also smell |
| अधिष्ठाय | adhiṣṭhāya | presiding over, using |
| मनः | manaś ca ayam | and this mind |
| विषयान् | viṣayān | sense objects |
| उपसेवते | upasevate | enjoys, experiences |
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