Chapter 15, Verse 7
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः | मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ||१५-७||
mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ . manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati ||15-7||
Meaning
15.7 An eternal portion of Myself having become a living soul in the world of life, draws to (itself) the (five) senses with the mind for the sixth, abiding in Nature.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Here Krishna reveals one of the Gita's most consoling truths about our identity. The individual soul, the jīva, is mamaivāṃśaḥ sanātanaḥ — an eternal fragment of the Divine Himself. We are not random products of matter but living sparks of God, woven into the world of life yet eternal in essence. This single line dissolves any sense of cosmic orphanhood: our deepest self is kin to the Supreme.
Yet in embodied existence, this divine spark identifies with prakṛti — material nature — and 'draws to itself' the five senses together with the mind as the sixth. Through these instruments the soul reaches out toward experience, becoming entangled in the very tree described earlier in the chapter. Krishna is gently showing us both our glory and our predicament: eternally divine in nature, yet caught up in the play of mind and senses. Knowing the first truth is what eventually frees us from the second.
💡 Key Takeaway
Your true self is an eternal spark of the Divine, only temporarily caught in the play of mind and senses.
Related Verses
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः | अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ||१५-२||
adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ . adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke ||15-2||
15.2 Below and above spread its branches, nourished by the Gunas; sense-objects are its buds; and below, in the world of men, stretch forth the roots, originating action.
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः | गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ||१५-८||
śarīraṃ yadavāpnoti yaccāpyutkrāmatīśvaraḥ . gṛhitvaitāni saṃyāti vāyurgandhānivāśayāt ||15-8||
15.8 When the Lord (as the individual soul) obtains a body and when He leaves it, He takes these and goes (with them) as the wind takes the scents from their seats (flowers, etc.).
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च | अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ||१५-९||
śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca . adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate ||15-9||
15.9 Presiding over the ear, the eye, touch, taste and smell, as well as the mind, it enjoys the objects of the senses.