Text 27
ka ete ’nupathā ye ta
ekādaśa mahā-bhaṭāḥ
etā vā lalanāḥ subhru
ko ’yaṁ te ’hiḥ puraḥ-saraḥ
ke — who; ete — all these; anupathāḥ — followers; ye — they who; te — your; ekādaśa — eleven; mahā-bhaṭāḥ — very powerful bodyguards; etāḥ — all of these; vā — also; lalanāḥ — women; su-bhru — O beautiful-eyed one; kaḥ — who; ayam — this; te — your; ahiḥ — the snake; puraḥ — in front; saraḥ — going.
My dear lotus-eyed, who are those eleven strong bodyguards with you, and who are those ten specific servants? Who are those women following the ten servants, and who is the snake that is preceding you?
The ten strong servants of the mind are the five working senses and the five knowledge-gathering senses. All these ten senses work under the aegis of the mind. The mind and the ten senses combine to become eleven strong bodyguards. The hundreds of women under the jurisdiction of the senses are addressed here as lalanāḥ. The mind works under the intelligence, and under the mind are the ten senses, and under the ten senses are innumerable desires to be fulfilled. All these, however, depend on the vital life force, which is here represented by the snake. As long as the vital life force is there, the mind works, and under the mind the senses work, and the senses give rise to so many material desires. Actually the living entity, known as purañjana, is embarrassed by so much paraphernalia. All this paraphernalia simply constitutes different sources of anxiety, but one who is surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who leaves all business to Him, is freed from such anxieties. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja advises a person who has taken to the materialistic way of life, which is never permanent but always temporary, to take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and leave aside all his so-called responsibilities in order to get free from all anxieties.