Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 2
The Prayers of the Personified Vedas (Śruti-stuti) and the Indescribable Absolute
श्रीशुक उवाच बुद्धीन्द्रियमन:प्राणान् जनानामसृजत् प्रभु: । मात्रार्थं च भवार्थं च आत्मनेऽकल्पनाय च ॥ २ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca buddhīndriya-manaḥ-prāṇān janānām asṛjat prabhuḥ mātrārthaṁ ca bhavārthaṁ ca ātmane ’kalpanāya ca
Śukadeva Gosvamī said: The Supreme Lord manifested the material intelligence, senses, mind and vital air of the living entities so that they could indulge their desires for sense gratification, take repeated births to engage in fruitive activities, become elevated in future lives and ultimately attain liberation.
At the dawn of creation, when the conditioned living entities lay dormant within the transcendental body of Lord Viṣṇu, He initiated the process of creation by sending forth the coverings of intelligence, mind and so on for the living entities’ benefit. As stated here, Viṣṇu is the independent Lord ( prabhu ), and the living entities are His jana, dependents. Thus we should understand that the Lord creates the cosmos entirely for the living entities’ sake; compassion is His sole motive.
FAQs
This verse says the Supreme Lord created intelligence, senses, mind, and life-airs so souls can function in the world, experience sense-objects, pursue worldly duties/aims, and ultimately turn inward to realize the inconceivable Self beyond matter.
In the context of the prayers of the personified Vedas, Śukadeva explains how the Lord arranges the embodied condition—yet also provides the inner equipment (buddhi, mind, prāṇa) by which one can transcend it and know the Supreme.
Use the same faculties—mind, senses, and intelligence—not only for consumption and achievement, but for sādhana: regulate the senses, steady the mind, and apply intelligence to hear and remember the Lord, aiming at Self-realization and devotion.