SB 4.29.74 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एवं पञ्चविधं लिङ्गं त्रिवृत् षोडश विस्तृतम् । एष चेतनया युक्तो जीव इत्यभिधीयते ॥ ७४ ॥

Verse text

evaṁ paṣca-vidhaṁ liṅgaṁ tri-vṛt ṣoḍaśa vistṛtam eṣa cetanayā yukto jīva ity abhidhīyate

Synonyms

evam — thus ; paṣca — vidham — the five sense objects ; liṅgam — the subtle body ; tri — vṛt — influenced by the three modes ; ṣoḍaśa — sixteen ; vistṛtam — expanded ; eṣaḥ — this ; cetanayā — with the living entity ; yuktaḥ — combined ; jīvaḥ — the conditioned soul ; iti — thus ; abhidhīyate — is understood .

Translation

The five sense objects, the five sense organs, the five knowledge-acquiring senses and the mind are the sixteen material expansions. These combine with the living entity and are influenced by the three modes of material nature. Thus the existence of the conditioned soul is understood.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The form which consists of the five prāṇas and the three guṇas, which is furnished with the sixteen transformations (ten senses, five sense objects, and mind), and which is endowed with consciousness is called the subtle body. What is the subtle body? This verse explains. Paṣca-vidham means the five prāṇas. Vidhā means “performing actions.” Tri-vṛt is the three guṇas. The subtle body is furnished with sixteen transformations. This is the subtle body (jīvaḥ)

Purport

Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) : mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati “The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” Here it is also explained that the living entity comes in contact with the sixteen material elements and is influenced by the three modes of material nature. The living entity and this combination of elements combine to form what is called jīva-bhūta, the conditioned soul that struggles hard within material nature. The total material existence is first agitated by the three modes of material nature, and these become the living conditions of the living entity. Thus the subtle and gross bodies develop, and the ingredients are earth, water, fire, air, sky and so on. According to Śrī Madhvācārya, when consciousness, the living force in the heart, is agitated by the three modes of material nature, then the subtle body of the living entity, consisting of the mind, the sense objects, the five senses that acquire knowledge and the five senses for acting in the material condition, becomes possible.