Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 10
Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa: The Mind as Bondage and the Two Kṣetrajñas
गन्धाकृतिस्पर्शरसश्रवांसि विसर्गरत्यर्त्यभिजल्पशिल्पा: । एकादशं स्वीकरणं ममेति शय्यामहं द्वादशमेक आहु: ॥ १० ॥
gandhākṛti-sparśa-rasa-śravāṁsi visarga-raty-arty-abhijalpa-śilpāḥ ekādaśaṁ svīkaraṇaṁ mameti śayyām ahaṁ dvādaśam eka āhuḥ
Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell are the objects of the five senses of knowledge. Speech, grasping, movement, evacuation, and sexual union are the objects of the working senses. Beyond these is the appropriation, “This is mine—my body, my society, my family, my nation,” which is the function of ahaṅkāra, the false ego. Some philosophers call this the twelfth function, whose field is the body.
There are different objects for the eleven items. Through the nose we can smell, by the eyes we can see, by the ears we can hear, and in this way we gather knowledge. Similarly, there are the karmendriyas, the working senses — the hands, legs, genitals, rectum, mouth and so forth. When the false ego expands, it makes one think, “This is my body, family, society, country,” etc.
FAQs
This verse identifies ‘mine’ and ‘I’ as the core of false bodily identification—the twelfth element that binds the living being to material life.
Rahugana was proud and bodily-minded; Jada Bharata instructed him to see that bondage arises from misidentifying the self with the body and its functions.
Notice how ‘I am this’ and ‘this is mine’ drive anxiety and conflict; cultivate the witness-consciousness of the soul and practice devotion to reduce possessiveness and ego.