Shloka 57
The Fall of Purañjana and the Supersoul as the Eternal Friend
Purañjana-Upākhyāna Culmination
पञ्चेन्द्रियार्था आरामा द्वार: प्राणा नव प्रभो । तेजोऽबन्नानि कोष्ठानि कुलमिन्द्रियसङ्ग्रह: ॥ ५७ ॥
pañcendriyārthā ārāmā dvāraḥ prāṇā nava prabho tejo-’b-annāni koṣṭhāni kulam indriya-saṅgrahaḥ
My dear friend, the five gardens are the five objects of sense enjoyment, and the guardian is prāṇa, the life air that moves through the nine gates. The three chambers are fire, water, and earth. The six families are the totality of the mind and the five senses.
The five senses that acquire knowledge are sight, taste, smell, sound and touch, and these act through the nine gates — the two eyes, two ears, one mouth, two nostrils, the genitals and one rectum. These holes are compared to gates in the walls of the city. The principal ingredients are earth, water and fire, and the principal actor is the mind, which is controlled by the intelligence ( buddhi ).
FAQs
This verse identifies the mind as “indriya-saṅgraha,” the organizer and controller that gathers the senses and directs them toward their objects—therefore mastery of the mind is central to sense control.
In the Purañjana allegory, Śukadeva teaches Parīkṣit through symbolism: the embodied life is like a city where prāṇas function as gates, and elements like fire and water maintain the body’s “supplies,” revealing how the soul becomes entangled through bodily identification.
Treat sense-objects as tempting “gardens,” and train the mind to redirect attention toward sādhana—hearing and chanting—so the senses serve devotion rather than impulse.