Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 5
Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa: The Mind as Bondage and the Two Kṣetrajñas
स वासनात्मा विषयोपरक्तोगुणप्रवाहो विकृत: षोडशात्मा । बिभ्रत्पृथङ्नामभि रूपभेद-मन्तर्बहिष्ट्वं च पुरैस्तनोति ॥ ५ ॥
sa vāsanātmā viṣayoparakto guṇa-pravāho vikṛtaḥ ṣoḍaśātmā bibhrat pṛthaṅ-nāmabhi rūpa-bhedam antar-bahiṣṭvaṁ ca purais tanoti
Because the mind is absorbed in desires for pious and impious activities, it is naturally subjected to the transformations of lust and anger. In this way, it becomes attracted to material sense enjoyment. In other words, the mind is conducted by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. There are eleven senses and five material elements, and out of these sixteen items, the mind is the chief. Therefore the mind brings about birth in different types of bodies among demigods, human beings, animals and birds. When the mind is situated in a higher or lower position, it accepts a higher or lower material body.
Transmigration among the 8,400,000 species is due to the mind’s being polluted by certain material qualities. Due to the mind, the soul is subjected to pious and impious activities. The continuation of material existence is like the waves of material nature. In this regard, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese’, khāccha hābuḍubu, bhāi: “My dear brother, the spirit soul is completely under the control of māyā, and you are being carried away by its waves.” This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā :
FAQs
This verse explains that vāsanās color the jīva’s consciousness toward sense-objects, and under the current of the guṇas he becomes transformed and bound to repeated identities of name and form.
Rahūgaṇa approached him with material pride and misunderstanding; Jaḍa Bharata therefore exposed how false identification arises—by guṇa-driven conditioning that makes one accept the body and its world as “I” and “mine.”
Notice how habits and impressions pull the mind toward objects; practice detachment by regulating the senses, cultivating sāttvika choices, and anchoring identity in the soul’s service to Bhagavān rather than in changing roles, labels, and possessions.