Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 74
Nārada Explains the Allegory of King Purañjana
Deha–Indriya–Manaḥ Mapping and the Remedy of Bhakti
एवं पञ्चविधं लिङ्गं त्रिवृत् षोडश विस्तृतम् । एष चेतनया युक्तो जीव इत्यभिधीयते ॥ ७४ ॥
evaṁ pañca-vidhaṁ liṅgaṁ tri-vṛt ṣoḍaśa vistṛtam eṣa cetanayā yukto jīva ity abhidhīyate
Cinco objetos de los sentidos, cinco sentidos de acción, cinco sentidos de conocimiento y la mente: estas son dieciséis expansiones materiales. Bajo la influencia de las tres guṇas, unidas a la conciencia, se entiende la existencia del alma condicionada.
Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) :
FAQs
This verse explains that the subtle body is a structured material covering—fivefold, shaped by the three guṇas, and expanded into sixteen aspects—and when consciousness is associated with it, the embodied being is termed the jīva in worldly experience.
Narada instructs the king to shift from external ritualistic absorption to self-knowledge and devotion by understanding how the soul becomes identified with material coverings and how that misidentification sustains bondage.
Treat thoughts, moods, and identity labels as part of the subtle covering influenced by the guṇas, and cultivate steady devotional remembrance and discernment (ātma-buddhi) to live with less ego-driven reactivity.