Shloka 21
सप्तहोतृ-विधानम् एवं इन्द्रिय–मनःसंवादः
The Seven Hotṛs and the Debate of Senses and Mind
अथ चेन्मन्यसे सिद्धिमस्मदर्थेषु नित्यदा । प्राणेन रूपमादत्स्व रसमादत्स्व चक्षुषा
atha cen manyase siddhim asmad-artheṣu nityadā | prāṇena rūpam ādatsva rasam ādatsva cakṣuṣā ||
心は言った。「もし汝が、われらの目的を常に成就できると信ずるなら、感官の秩序そのものを逆転してみよ。息によって形を取り、眼によって味をなめよ。」この言葉は、感官の器官に定まった限界があることを暴き、ただの意志だけでは知覚の自然な境界を越えられぬと示すための鋭い挑戦である。真の知は、驕り高ぶる支配の誇示ではなく、鍛えられた分別を要する。
मन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that perception is constrained by the inherent capacities of each sense-organ; claims of effortless mastery are tested by asking for impossible cross-sensory perception. Ethically, it cautions against pride and urges disciplined understanding of how mind and senses actually function.
The speaker, Mind (manas), challenges an interlocutor who claims constant success in fulfilling aims. Mind proposes an absurd reversal—seeing through breath and tasting through eyes—to demonstrate that intention alone cannot make the senses perform each other’s functions.