SB 6.16.24 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

देहेन्द्रियप्राणमनोधियोऽमी यदंशविद्धा: प्रचरन्ति कर्मसु । नैवान्यदा लौहमिवाप्रतप्तं स्थानेषु तद् द्रष्ट्रपदेशमेति ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

dehendriya-prāṇa-mano-dhiyo ’mī yad-aṁśa-viddhāḥ pracaranti karmasu naivānyadā lauham ivāprataptaṁ sthāneṣu tad draṣṭrapadeśam eti

Synonyms

deha — the body ; indriya — senses ; prāṇa — life airs ; manaḥ — mind ; dhiyaḥ — and intelligence ; amī — all those ; yat — aṁśa — viddhāḥ — being influenced by rays of Brahman, or the Supreme Lord ; pracaranti — they move ; karmasu — in various activities ; na — not ; eva — indeed ; anyadā — at other times ; lauham — iron ; iva — like ; aprataptam — not heated (by fire) ; sthāneṣu — in those circumstances ; tat — that ; draṣṭṛ — apadeśam — the name of a subject matter ; eti — achieves .

Translation

As iron has the power to burn when made red-hot in the association of fire, so the body, senses, living force, mind and intelligence, although merely lumps of matter, can function in their activities when infused with a particle of consciousness by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As iron cannot burn unless heated by fire, the bodily senses cannot act unless favored by the Supreme Brahman.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Only when endowed with consciousness by the Lord do the body, senses, life airs and intelligence move to their objects, just as unheated iron cannot burn. Without the influence of the Lord they do not move. The Lord allows the jīva, who can see in waking and dream states, to see him--by endowing him with cit-śakti. The cause of the jīva’s ignorance of the Lord is explained. When a portion of the Lord’s consciousness enters (yad aṁśa-viddhāḥ), body, senses, life airs and intelligence can move towards their sense objects (karmaṣu), when a person is awake or dreaming, but not in other states (anyadā) such as deep sleep and fainting. Iron which is not heated does not burn. There is another meaning. Just as iron which has become a burning agent by the energy of fire does not burn fire itself, so the body and sense activated to their sense objects by the energy of Brahman do not touch Brahman. They do not know Brahman. “If the jīva is a seer why can he not know Brahman?” The Brahman makes the jīvas accomplish his seeing. And by giving the jīva a small portion of his consciousness in order to perfect the jīva’s seeing power, the jīva achieves the Lord. Some persons even say that the jīva is insentient like the mind. There is another meaning. The Brahman (tat) knows (eti) the jīva but the jīva does not know Brahman. It has been said in the Haṁsa-guhya prayers: deho 'savo 'kṣā manavo bhūta-mātrām ātmānam anyaṁ ca viduḥ paraṁ yat sarvaṁ pumān veda guṇāṁś ca taj-jṣo na veda sarva-jṣam anantam īḍe The body, life airs, senses, internal senses, gross elements and sense objects do not know themselves or other things or the jīva. The jīva knows all of these items and the guṇas which cause them. He also knows Paramātmā, but does not know the omniscient Lord. I worship that Lord with infinite qualities. SB 6.4.25

Purport

Red-hot iron can burn, but it cannot burn the original fire. Therefore the consciousness of the small particle of Brahman is fully dependent on the power of the Supreme Brahman. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca: “From Me the conditioned soul receives memory, knowledge and forgetfulness.” The power for activities comes from the Supreme Lord, and when the Lord withdraws this power, the conditioned soul no longer has energy with which to act through his various senses. The body includes five knowledge-acquiring senses, five active senses and the mind, but actually these are merely lumps of matter. For example, the brain is nothing but matter, but when electrified by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the brain can act, just as iron can burn when made red-hot by the influence of fire. The brain can act while we are awake or even while we are dreaming, but when we are fast asleep or unconscious the brain is inactive. Since the brain is a lump of matter, it does not have independent power with which to act. It can act only when favored by the influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is Brahman or Parabrahman. This is the way to understand how the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṇa, is present everywhere, just as the sunshine is present because of the sun-god in the sun globe. The Supreme Lord is called Hṛṣīkeśa; He is the only conductor of the senses. Unless empowered by His energy, our senses cannot act. In other words, He is the only seer, the only worker, the only listener, and the only active principle or supreme controller.