Shloka 20
सप्तहोतृ-विधानम् एवं इन्द्रिय–मनःसंवादः
The Seven Hotṛs and the Debate of Senses and Mind
अथवास्मासु लीनेषु तिष्ठत्सु विषयेषु च । यदि संकल्पमात्रेण भुद्ुक्ते भोगान् यथार्थवत्
athavāsmāsu līneṣu tiṣṭhatsu viṣayeṣu ca | yadi saṅkalpamātreṇa bhunkte bhogān yathārthavat ||
L’Esprit dit : «Que les sens se retirent en nous ou qu’ils demeurent engagés dans leurs objets—si, par la seule intention, vous pouvez éprouver les jouissances telles qu’elles sont en vérité, et si vous ne manquez jamais en cela, alors mettez-le à l’épreuve : percevez la forme par le nez, goûtez la saveur avec l’œil, et saisissez les parfums par l’oreille. De même, que la langue appréhende le toucher, que la peau appréhende le son, et que l’intellect appréhende le toucher.»
मन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse challenges the claim that mere mental intention can generate authentic sensory experience independent of the proper sense-organ and its object. By proposing impossible cross-sensory tasks (seeing with the nose, tasting with the eye, etc.), it underscores the limits of willpower and the need for disciplined understanding of how cognition and sense-perception actually function.
Mind (Manas) speaks in a disputational, testing tone, setting up a reductio ad absurdum: if someone asserts unfailing power to experience objects purely by resolve—whether the senses are withdrawn or active—then they should be able to invert the normal roles of the senses. The point is to expose an overclaim and clarify the proper relation between senses, objects, and inner faculties.