Shloka 47
वासुदेवस्वरूपनिरूपणं—सर्गक्रमश्च
Vāsudeva’s Nature and the Ordered Process of Creation
त्वक् चक्षुर् नासिका जिह्वा श्रोत्रम् अत्र च पञ्चमम् शब्दादीनाम् अवाप्त्यर्थं बुद्धियुक्तानि वै द्विज
tvak cakṣur nāsikā jihvā śrotram atra ca pañcamam śabdādīnām avāptyarthaṃ buddhiyuktāni vai dvija
Skin, eyes, nose, tongue—and here as the fifth, the ear: O twice-born, these are the instruments of knowing. Guided by buddhi, they are fashioned to apprehend sound and the other sense-objects.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya in the Vishnu Purana’s creation discourse)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Enumeration of the five jñānendriyas and their purpose in apprehending sense-objects
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: didactic
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: The five cognitive senses, guided by buddhi, apprehend sound and other objects, enabling ordered embodied experience.
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: Practice pratyāhāra and mindful perception—observe how buddhi interprets sensory input before reacting.
Vishishtadvaita: Embodied cognition is a divinely ordered instrumentality; the self (jīva) knows through faculties that are dependent modes within the Lord’s cosmic body.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
FAQs
This verse presents the five cognitive senses—touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing—as purposeful instruments through which embodied beings apprehend sense-objects like sound, enabling life to function within the created order.
Parāśara states that the senses are “buddhi-yukta”—operating with the governance of intellect—implying perception is not merely mechanical but coordinated by an inner discerning faculty.
Though not named in this line, the verse belongs to the creation-account where ordered faculties arise within a cosmos ultimately grounded in Vishnu as the supreme sustaining reality, making perception part of a divinely structured universe.