Chapter 15, Verse 9
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च | अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ||१५-९||
śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca . adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate ||15-9||
Meaning
15.9 Presiding over the ear, the eye, touch, taste and smell, as well as the mind, it enjoys the objects of the senses.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Continuing from the previous verse, Krishna describes how the soul, having entered a new body, engages with the world. Presiding over the five organs of perception — hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell — together with the mind that coordinates them, the soul reaches out and 'enjoys' the objects of the senses. The key word is adhiṣṭhāya, 'presiding over': the soul is not itself the ear or the eye, but the conscious presence that animates and governs them.
This is a subtle and important teaching. The senses by themselves are inert instruments; it is the indwelling consciousness that lends them life and makes experience possible. We habitually say 'I see, I hear, I taste,' identifying with the senses, when in truth the real 'I' is the witness behind them. Recognizing the soul as the master, not the slave, of the senses is the first step toward the freedom Krishna pointed to earlier — using the senses as servants rather than being dragged by them.
💡 Key Takeaway
You are the conscious presence presiding over the senses, not the senses themselves.
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.
निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः | द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर्- गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ||१५-५||
nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ . dvandvairvimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñaira- gacchantyamūḍhāḥ padamavyayaṃ tat ||15-5||
15.5 Free from pride and delusion, victorious over the evil of attachment, dwelling constantly in the Self, their desires having completely turned away, freed from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach the eternal goal.
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः | मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ||१५-७||
mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ . manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati ||15-7||
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.