Shloka 58
The Fall of Purañjana and the Supersoul as the Eternal Friend
Purañjana-Upākhyāna Culmination
विपणस्तु क्रियाशक्तिर्भूतप्रकृतिरव्यया । शक्त्यधीश: पुमांस्त्वत्र प्रविष्टो नावबुध्यते ॥ ५८ ॥
vipaṇas tu kriyā-śaktir bhūta-prakṛtir avyayā śakty-adhīśaḥ pumāṁs tv atra praviṣṭo nāvabudhyate
The five stores are the five working senses, conducting their affairs by the combined power of the five eternal elements. Behind all this activity stands the soul—truly a person and the real enjoyer—yet, hidden within the city of the body, he remains bereft of knowledge.
The living entity enters the material creation with the aid of the five elements — earth, water, fire, air and ether — and thus his body is formed. Although the living entity is working from within, he is nonetheless unknown. The living entity enters the material creation, but because he is bewildered by the material energy, he appears to be hidden. The bodily conception of life is prominent because of ignorance ( nāvabudhyate ). Intelligence is described in the feminine gender, but owing to her prominence in all activities, she is described in this verse as adhīśaḥ, the controller. The living entity lives by means of fire, water and food grains. It is through the combination of these three that the body is maintained. Consequently the body is called prakṛti, material creation. All the elements gradually combine to form flesh, bone, blood and so on. All these appear as various apartments. It is said in the Vedas that the digested foods are ultimately divided into three. The solid portion becomes stool, and the semiliquid portion turns into flesh. The liquid portion turns yellow and is again divided into three. One of these liquid portions is called urine. Similarly, the fiery portion is divided into three, and one is called bone. Out of the five elements, fire, water and food grains are very important. These three are mentioned in the previous verse, whereas sky (ether) and air are not mentioned. This is all explained in Bhagavad-gītā (13.20) :
FAQs
In this verse, the 'marketplace' symbolizes material nature (prakṛti) where endless transactions of karma and action take place through kriyā-śakti.
Because consciousness becomes absorbed in prakṛti’s actions and identities, the jīva forgets his real spiritual position and lives under misidentification.
Do not define yourself only by roles, work, and outcomes; cultivate self-knowledge and bhakti so you remember you are the conscious self distinct from the machinery of material nature.