Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 27
Avadhūta’s Further Teachers: Detachment, Solitude, One-Pointed Meditation, and the Lord as Āśraya
जिह्वैकतोऽमुमपकर्षति कर्हि तर्षा शिश्नोऽन्यतस्त्वगुदरं श्रवणं कुतश्चित् । घ्राणोऽन्यतश्चपलदृक् क्व च कर्मशक्ति- र्बह्व्य: सपत्न्य इव गेहपतिं लुनन्ति ॥ २७ ॥
jihvaikato ’mum apakarṣati karhi tarṣā śiśno ’nyatas tvag udaraṁ śravaṇaṁ kutaścit ghrāṇo ’nyataś capala-dṛk kva ca karma-śaktir bahvyaḥ sapatnya iva geha-patiṁ lunanti
多くの妻を持つ男が、彼女らに引き回されて絶えず悩まされるように、物質の感官は条件づけられた魂を多方面へ引きずる。舌は美味を求め、渇きは飲み物へと引く。性器は満足を叫び、皮膚は柔らかな触れ合いを欲する。腹は満たされるまで責め立て、耳は快い音を求め、鼻は香りを慕い、移ろいやすい目は麗しい景色を欲する。かくして諸感官は生きとし生けるものを四方へ引き裂く。
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura mentions that after understanding this verse one should merely offer, without attachment, the bare necessities to the guru of one’s body. One should keep one’s body fit and working in the simplest possible way, and that is the sum and substance of service to this so-called guru. If one desires to faithfully serve the body, one should consider that the body pulls the consciousness of the conditioned soul in many ways at once, and thus for the servant of the body there is no possibility of understanding God or even of becoming peaceful.
FAQs
This verse explains that the senses pull the embodied soul in many competing directions—taste, sex, touch, hunger, sound, smell, sight, and activity—so an uncontrolled life becomes scattered and spiritually weakened.
He uses a vivid metaphor to show how each sense demands exclusive attention, creating inner conflict and “plundering” the person’s steadiness, just as competing co-wives may harass a household master.
Notice which sense-demand is pulling you (food, scrolling/visual stimulation, sexual impulse, constant noise) and practice restraint by redirecting attention to sādhana—hearing and chanting about Krishna, mindful habits, and disciplined routines.