Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 4
Nārada Explains the Allegory of King Purañjana
Deha–Indriya–Manaḥ Mapping and the Remedy of Bhakti
यदा जिघृक्षन् पुरुष: कार्त्स्न्येन प्रकृतेर्गुणान् । नवद्वारं द्विहस्ताङ्घ्रि तत्रामनुत साध्विति ॥ ४ ॥
yadā jighṛkṣan puruṣaḥ kārtsnyena prakṛter guṇān nava-dvāraṁ dvi-hastāṅghri tatrāmanuta sādhv iti
Khi jīva muốn hưởng trọn các guṇa của prakṛti, giữa muôn hình thân xác, nó chọn thân có chín ‘cửa’, hai tay và hai chân, cho là ‘thích hợp’. Vì vậy nó nhận thân người hoặc thân chư thiên.
This is a very nice explanation of how the spiritual being, the part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, God, accepts a material body by virtue of his own desires. Accepting two hands, two legs, and so on, the living entity fully enjoys the modes of material nature. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.27) :
FAQs
It refers to the human body, described as a city with nine openings (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, anus, and genitals) through which the embodied soul interacts with the world.
This verse explains that desire to experience material enjoyment (prakṛti’s guṇas) leads the living being to accept embodiment, making the body a ‘suitable place’ for sense-based experience.
By recognizing the body as a temporary ‘city’ for sense contact, one can practice restraint, reduce compulsive enjoyment, and redirect attention toward devotion (bhakti) and self-realization.