Text 25
guṇeṣv āviśate ceto
guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ
jīvasya deha ubhayaṁ
guṇāś ceto mad-ātmanaḥ
guṇeṣu — in the sense objects; āviśate — enters; cetaḥ — the mind; guṇāḥ — the sense objects; cetasi — in the mind; ca — also (enter); prajāḥ — My dear sons; jīvasya — of the living entity; dehaḥ — the outward body, existing as designation; ubhayam — both of these; guṇāḥ — the sense objects; cetaḥ — the mind; mat-ātmanaḥ — having Me as the Supreme Soul.
My dear sons, the mind has a natural proclivity to enter into the material sense objects, and similarly the sense objects enter into the mind; but both this material mind and the sense objects are merely designations that cover the spirit soul, who is part and parcel of Me.
Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of Haṁsa-avatāra, on the pretext of finding contradictions in the simple inquiry of the sons of Brahmā (“Who are You?”), is actually preparing to teach the sages perfect spiritual knowledge, but only after first rejecting two false concepts of life, namely that all living entities are the same in all respects and that the living entity is identical with his outward or subtle body. Lord Kṛṣṇa now answers the difficult question that puzzled even Lord Brahmā. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the sons of Lord Brahmā were thinking as follows. “Our dear Lord, if it is indeed true that we are unintelligent, still Your Lordship has stated that You are actually everything because everything is the expansion of Your potency. Therefore, You are also the mind and the sense objects, which are the subject matter of our question. The material sense objects always enter into the functions of the mind, and similarly, the mind always enters into the material sense objects. Thus, it is proper that we inquire from Your Lordship about the process by which the sense objects will no longer enter the mind and the mind will no longer enter the sense objects. Please be merciful and give us the answer.” The Lord answers as follows. “My dear sons, it is a fact that the mind enters into the material sense objects and the sense objects into the mind. Thus, although the living entity is actually part and parcel of Me, being, as I am also, eternally conscious, and although the eternal form of the living entity is spiritual, in conditioned life the living entity artificially imposes upon himself the mind and sense objects, which act as covering designations of the eternal soul. Since it is the natural function of the material mind and sense objects to mutually interact, how can you possibly endeavor to prevent such a mutual attraction? Since both the material mind and sense objects are useless, they both should be completely given up, and thus automatically you will be free from all material duality.”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī points out that the symptom of the material mind is the tendency to consider oneself to be the ultimate doer and enjoyer. Naturally, one with such a puffed-up mentality is helplessly attracted by the sense objects. One who considers himself to be the doer and enjoyer will be irresistibly attracted to the means for attaining sense gratification and false prestige, namely, exploitation of material objects. Above the material mind, however, is intelligence, which can perceive the existence of the eternal spirit soul. It is not possible to separate the material mind from the sense objects, because they naturally exist together. Therefore, by intelligence, one must realize one’s eternal form as spirit soul, part and parcel of the Lord, and completely reject the bogus material mentality. One who revives his original spiritual mentality becomes automatically detached from material attraction. Therefore, one should cultivate knowledge of the falsity of sense gratification. When the mind or senses are attracted to material enjoyment, the superior intelligence must immediately detect such illusion. In this way, one should purify one’s mentality. By devotional service to the Lord, such detachment and intelligence automatically awaken, and by full understanding of one’s original spiritual form, one is properly situated in eternal consciousness.