Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 17
Pṛthu Mahārāja’s Renunciation, Austerities, Departure, and the Glory of Hearing His History
इन्द्रियेषु मनस्तानि तन्मात्रेषु यथोद्भवम् । भूतादिनामून्युत्कृष्य महत्यात्मनि सन्दधे ॥ १७ ॥
indriyeṣu manas tāni tan-mātreṣu yathodbhavam bhūtādināmūny utkṛṣya mahaty ātmani sandadhe
Il fondit le mental dans les sens, et les sens dans leurs objets subtils (tanmātras) selon leur ordre propre; puis il éleva l’ego matériel pour le réunir au mahat-tattva, l’énergie totale.
In respect to the ego, the total material energy is sundered in two parts — one agitated by the mode of ignorance and the other agitated by the modes of passion and goodness. Due to agitation by the mode of ignorance, the five gross elements are created. Due to agitation by the mode of passion, the mind is created, and due to agitation by the mode of goodness, false egoism, or identification with matter, is created. The mind is protected by a particular type of demigod. Sometimes the mind ( manaḥ ) is also understood to have a controlling deity or demigod. In this way the total mind, namely the material mind controlled by material demigods, was amalgamated with the senses. The senses, in turn, were amalgamated with the sense objects. The sense objects are forms, tastes, smells, sounds, etc. Sound is the ultimate source of the sense objects. The mind was attracted by the senses and the senses by the sense objects, and all of them were ultimately amalgamated in the sky. The creation is so arranged that cause and effect follow one after the other. The merging process involves amalgamating the effect with the original cause. Since the ultimate cause in the material world is mahat-tattva, everything was gradually wound up and amalgamated with the mahat-tattva. This may be compared to śūnya-vāda, or voidism, but this is the process for cleansing the real spiritual mind, or consciousness.
FAQs
This verse describes a step-by-step inner withdrawal: mind into the senses, senses into their subtle objects, and the entire material stack into Mahat-tattva—culminating in absorption in the Supreme Self.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrates Pṛthu Mahārāja’s final yogic absorption to show how a perfected ruler-devotee leaves the world: by consciously reversing material identification and resting in the Self.
Practice sense-discipline and mindful withdrawal—reducing compulsive sense engagement and turning attention inward through prayer, japa, and remembrance—so the mind becomes steady and spiritually directed.