SB 11.13.32 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यो जागरे बहिरनुक्षणधर्मिणोऽर्थान् भुङ्क्ते समस्तकरणैर्हृदि तत्सद‍ृक्षान् । स्वप्ने सुषुप्त उपसंहरते स एक: स्मृत्यन्वयात्‍त्रिगुणवृत्तिद‍ृगिन्द्रियेश: ॥ ३२ ॥

Verse text

yo jāgare bahir anukṣaṇa-dharmiṇo ’rthān bhuṅkte samasta-karaṇair hṛdi tat-sadṛkṣān svapne suṣupta upasaṁharate sa ekaḥ smṛty-anvayāt tri-guṇa-vṛtti-dṛg indriyeśaḥ

Synonyms

yaḥ — the living entity who ; jāgare — while awake ; bahiḥ — external ; anukṣaṇa — momentary ; dharmiṇaḥ — qualities ; arthān — the body and mind and their experiences ; bhuṅkte — enjoys ; samasta — with all ; karaṇaiḥ — the senses ; hṛdi — within the mind ; tat — sadṛkṣān — experiences similar to those in wakefulness ; svapne — in dreams ; suṣupte — in deep dreamless sleep ; upasaṁharate — merges into ignorance ; saḥ — he ; ekaḥ — one ; smṛti — of memory ; anvayāt — by the succession ; tri — guṇa — of the three stages wakefulness, dream and dreamless sleep ; vṛtti — functions ; dṛk — seeing ; indriya — of the senses ; īśaḥ — becomes the lord .

Translation

While awake the living entity enjoys with all of his senses the fleeting characteristics of the material body and mind; while dreaming he enjoys similar experiences within the mind; and in deep dreamless sleep all such experiences merge into ignorance. By remembering and contemplating the succession of wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep, the living entity can understand that he is one throughout the three stages of consciousness and is transcendental. Thus, he becomes the lord of the senses.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In the waking state, the jīva enjoys objects which are temporary, using the senses. In the dream state, the jīva experiences similar objects in the mind. In deep sleep everything dissolves and the jīva alone remains. The lord of the senses, the jīva, perceives all three states through continuity cause by recollection. In verse 30 it was described that one should use logic. The person enjoys objects like the body (arthān) using his senses like the hand and eye. Those objects have a temporary nature, like infancy and youth. In dreams, one experiences in the mind objects made of impressions similar to the objects of waking condition. In deep sleep one extinguishes all these objects. The jīva alone remains as the seer of the actions of the three conditions of consciousness. “In the waking state all the senses are active. In dream state the mind is active. In deep sleep the intelligence remains as a trace of the mind. How then is ātmā the witness?” It is the lord of the senses (and the mind and intelligence). “Is it separate from waking, dreaming and sleeping states?” No. It is connected to all these conditions by recollection. “I saw a dream. Then I was not aware of anything. Then I awoke.” These different conditions operate because of differences in the covering (upādhi) on the jīva. By this method, one should see the difference between the body and the ātmā.

Purport

In verse 30 of this chapter Lord Kṛṣṇa stated that one must retire from material duality by the proper means, which the Lord now explains. One may first consider the three phases of consciousness mentioned above and then understand one’s own transcendental position as spirit soul. One experiences childhood, boyhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age and old age, and throughout these phases one is experiencing things while awake and while dreaming. Similarly, one may, by careful intelligence, understand one’s lack of consciousness during deep sleep, and thus through intelligence one may have experience of lack of consciousness. One may argue that it is actually the senses that experience during wakefulness and that it is the mind that experiences during dreams. However, the Lord here states, indriyeśaḥ: the living entity is actually the lord of the senses and mind, although temporarily he has become a victim of their influence. By Kṛṣṇa consciousness one may resume one’s rightful position as master of the mental and sensory faculties. Also, since the living entity can remember his experiences in these three stages of consciousness, he is ultimately the experiencing agent or the seer of all phases of consciousness. He remembers, “I saw so many things in my dream, and then my dream ended and I didn’t see anything. Now I’m waking up.” This universal experience can be understood by everyone, and thus everyone can understand that one’s actual identity is separate from the material body and mind.