Shloka 25
सप्तहोतृ-विधानम् एवं इन्द्रिय–मनःसंवादः
The Seven Hotṛs and the Debate of Senses and Mind
विषयानेवमस्माभिर्दर्शितानभिमन्यसे । अनागतानतीतांक्ष स्वप्ने जागरणे तथा,जैसे शिष्य श्रुतिके अर्थको जाननेके लिये उपदेश करनेवाले गुरुके पास जाता है और उनसे श्रुतिके अर्थका ज्ञान प्राप्त करके फिर स्वयं उसका विचार और अनुसरण करता है, वैसे ही आप सोते और जागते समय हमारे ही दिखाये हुए भूत और भविष्य-विषयोंका उपभोग करते हैं
viṣayān evam asmābhir darśitān abhimanyase | anāgatān atītāṁś ca svapne jāgaraṇe tathā ||
Mind said: “Thus you take as real the objects of experience that we ourselves present to you. Whether in dream or in waking, you undergo and ‘enjoy’ matters of the future and the past exactly as we display them—like a student who approaches a teacher to learn the meaning of the Veda, gains that understanding, and then reflects on it and follows it on his own.”
मन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the mind projects and presents ‘objects’ to consciousness; we then mistake these presentations as independently real. This applies equally to dream and waking, so one should cultivate discernment and detachment rather than being carried away by mental constructions of past and future.
Mind addresses the listener, explaining how it makes experiences appear and how the person assents to them. The verse uses a teacher–student analogy: instruction is received, but the student then internalizes it and proceeds on his own—similarly, one lives through experiences shaped by the mind’s showing, in both sleep and wakefulness.