Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 15
Nimi Questions the Yogendras: Māyā, Cosmic Dissolution, Guru-Śaraṇāgati, Bhakti, and Deity Worship
इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धि: सह वैकारिकैर्नृप । प्रविशन्ति ह्यहङ्कारं स्वगुणैरहमात्मनि ॥ १५ ॥
indriyāṇi mano buddhiḥ saha vaikārikair nṛpa praviśanti hy ahaṅkāraṁ sva-guṇair aham ātmani
O King, the material senses and intelligence, with their respective qualities, enter the rajasic false ego from which they arose; and the mind, along with the devas, merges into the sattvic false ego. Then the total false ego, with all its qualities, dissolves into the mahat-tattva.
FAQs
This verse explains that the senses, mind, and intelligence ultimately rest in ahaṅkāra—the “I”-sense—because it is the organizing principle that claims experiences as “mine,” carrying the modes’ qualities.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is instructing Parīkṣit in a Sāṅkhya-style description of how the material faculties arise and dissolve, helping him detach from bodily identification and focus on devotion to Bhagavān.
Notice how thoughts, choices, and sense-impulses gather around the feeling of “I” and “mine”; then redirect that identity toward service—seeing oneself as Kṛṣṇa’s servant—so the same faculties support bhakti rather than ego.