Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 9
Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa: The Mind as Bondage and the Two Kṣetrajñas
एकादशासन्मनसो हि वृत्तय आकूतय: पञ्च धियोऽभिमान: । मात्राणि कर्माणि पुरं च तासां वदन्ति हैकादश वीर भूमी: ॥ ९ ॥
ekādaśāsan manaso hi vṛttaya ākūtayaḥ pañca dhiyo ’bhimānaḥ mātrāṇi karmāṇi puraṁ ca tāsāṁ vadanti haikādaśa vīra bhūmīḥ
The functions of the mind are said to be eleven: five ākūtis (impulses of intention), five dhīs (cognitive powers linked with the senses of knowledge), and ahaṅkāra (false ego). O hero, the sense-objects such as sound and touch, the bodily activities, and the ‘city’ of body and social identity are described by the learned as the fields of action for these functions of the mind.
The mind is the controller of the five knowledge-acquiring senses and the five working senses. Each sense has its particular field of activity. In all cases, the mind is the controller or owner. By the false ego one thinks oneself the body and thinks in terms of “my body, my house, my family, my society, my nation” and so on. These false identifications are due to the expansions of the false ego. Thus one thinks that he is this or that. Thus the living entity becomes entangled in material existence.
FAQs
This verse states that the mind has many modes of operation—described as eleven vṛttis—driven by intentions, guided by intelligence, and colored by false ego.
Rahugana was proud and bodily identified; Jada Bharata dismantles that illusion by analyzing the inner machinery—mind, intentions, intellect, ego, senses, and the body—so the king can seek the true self beyond them.
Notice how decisions arise from intention and ego-identification; practice stepping back as the witness, and align actions with dharma and devotion rather than impulsive mental habits.