Shloka 134
Vishnu-sahasranāma-style Japa: Vishnu as Cosmic Cause and Inner Self
Antaryāmin
श्रोत्रा श्रोत्रनियन्ता च श्रोतव्यः श्रवणं तथा / त्वक्स्थितश्च(८४०)स्पर्शयित्वा स्पृश्यं च स्पर्शनं तथा
śrotrā śrotraniyantā ca śrotavyaḥ śravaṇaṃ tathā / tvaksthitaśca(840)sparśayitvā spṛśyaṃ ca sparśanaṃ tathā
He is the ear and the controller of the ear; He is what is to be heard and hearing itself. Likewise, abiding in the skin, He brings about touch; He is the tangible object and the very act of touching.
Lord Vishnu
Concept: The Lord is simultaneously the sense organ, its regulator, the sense-object, and the cognitive act—dissolving subject-object duality at the level of experience.
Vedantic Theme: Antaryāmin and sākṣin; analysis of indriya-vyāpāra pointing to one consciousness appearing as knower/known/knowing.
Application: Mindful perception practice: while hearing or touching, note the chain (organ–object–act) and recollect the inner controller to reduce reactivity and attachment.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.15.133 (inner ruler in body); Garuda Purana 1.15.135-136 (eye/tongue/nose/speech expansions)
FAQs
This verse breaks perception into organ, inner regulator, object, and function, helping explain how embodied experience operates and how detachment can be cultivated.
By distinguishing the self from sensory mechanisms (ear/skin and their functions), it supports the teaching that the soul is not identical with sensory experience—key for understanding death and post-death transitions.
Practice mindful restraint: notice hearing and touch as processes (organ–object–action) rather than as ‘I’, strengthening vairāgya (dispassion) and ethical self-control.