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. Hover 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.
You scroll, taste, touch, and react, then call it 'me.' But the reaction is moving through your senses and mind, not defining what you are.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts attention from sensory experience to the awareness that witnesses it.
What this verse means
The inner being uses the mind as a base and experiences the world through the five senses.
Context & commentary
Krishna is explaining 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 not the body.
Why this verse still matters
You scroll, taste, touch, and react, then call it 'me.' But the reaction is moving through your senses and mind, not defining what you are.
“What you call experience is filtered through mind and senses, not raw reality.”
Explore related themes: manas (49 verses), kshetra kshetrajna (10 verses)