SB 5.11.10 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गन्धाकृतिस्पर्शरसश्रवांसि विसर्गरत्यर्त्यभिजल्पशिल्पा: । एकादशं स्वीकरणं ममेति शय्यामहं द्वादशमेक आहु: ॥ १० ॥

Verse text

gandhākṛti-sparśa-rasa-śravāṁsi visarga-raty-arty-abhijalpa-śilpāḥ ekādaśaṁ svīkaraṇaṁ mameti śayyām ahaṁ dvādaśam eka āhuḥ

Synonyms

gandha — smell ; ākṛti — form ; sparśa — touch ; rasa — taste ; śravāṁsi — and sound ; visarga — evacuating ; rati — sexual intercourse ; arti — movement ; abhijalpa — speaking ; śilpāḥ — grasping or releasing ; ekādaśam — eleventh ; svīkaraṇam — accepting as ; mama — mine ; iti — thus ; śayyām — this body ; aham — I ; dvādaśam — twelfth ; eke — some ; āhuḥ — have said .

Translation

Sound, touch, form, taste and smell are the objects of the five knowledge-acquiring senses. Speech, touch, movement, evacuation and sexual intercourse are the objects of the working senses. Besides this, there is another conception by which one thinks, “This is my body, this is my society, this is my family, this is my nation,” and so forth. This eleventh function of the mind is called the false ego. According to some philosophers, this is the twelfth function, and its field of activity is the body.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The eleven objects are fragrance, form, touch, taste and sound; evacuating, sexual intercourse, motion, speaking, and grasping; and possessiveness of objects. Some say the twelfth object is the body, identified as “I” by the ahaṅkāra. This verse describes the objects. First the five tan-mātras starting with fragrance are described in relation to the knowledge senses starting with the nose. Ākṛṭi means form. The actions starting with evacuation are the objects of the five action senses. This makes ten. Arti means going. The eleventh item is the body, what is accepted (svikaraṇam). Because of ahaṅkāra’s twofold nature of mine and I, some ācāryas (eke) say that the eleventh object is possessiveness of things like a house. The twelfth object is the identification with the body (śayyām) for the ahaṅkāra.

Purport

There are different objects for the eleven items. Through the nose we can smell, by the eyes we can see, by the ears we can hear, and in this way we gather knowledge. Similarly, there are the karmendriyas, the working senses — the hands, legs, genitals, rectum, mouth and so forth. When the false ego expands, it makes one think, “This is my body, family, society, country,” etc.