SB 10.85.11 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.85.11

भूतानामसि भूतादिरिन्द्रियाणां च तैजस: । वैकारिको विकल्पानां प्रधानमनुशायिनम् ॥ ११ ॥

bhūtānām asi bhūtādir

[bhootaanaam asi bhootaadir]

indriyāṇāṁ ca taijasaḥ

[indriyaanaam cha taijasah]

vaikāriko vikalpānāṁ

[vaikaariko vikalpaanaam]

pradhānam anuśāyinam

[pradhaanam anushaayinam]

Word-for-word

bhūtānām — of the physical elements asi — You are bhūta - ādiḥ — their source, false ego in the mode of ignorance indriyāṇām — of the senses ca — and taijasaḥ — false ego in the mode of passion vaikārikaḥ — false ego in the mode of goodness vikalpānām — of the creative demigods pradhānam — the unmanifest, total material energy anuśāyinam — underlying .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

bhūtānām asi bhūtādir

bhūtānām

of the physical elements

asi

You are

bhūta - ādiḥ

their source, false ego in the mode of ignorance

indriyāṇāṁ ca taijasaḥ

indriyāṇām

of the senses

and

taijasaḥ

false ego in the mode of passion

vaikāriko vikalpānāṁ

vaikārikaḥ

false ego in the mode of goodness

vikalpānām

of the creative demigods

pradhānam anuśāyinam

pradhānam

the unmanifest, total material energy

anuśāyinam

underlying .

Important Words

bhūta-ādiḥ — the source of the physical elements (tāmasa-ahaṅkāra)
Compound: bhūta (element) + ādi (origin). False ego in the mode of ignorance, the seedbed of the five gross elements. Sāṅkhya-precise terminology.
taijasaḥ — the source of the senses (rājasa-ahaṅkāra)
From tejas. False ego in the mode of passion, which evolves into the eleven senses. Each mode of ahaṅkāra spawns its own register of phenomena.
vaikārikaḥ — the source of the demigods (sāttvika-ahaṅkāra)
From vikāra (transformation). False ego in the mode of goodness, producing the presiding deities. Together these three exhaust the ahaṅkāra-tattva.
pradhānam — the unmanifest material energy
The unmanifest totality from which the three ahaṅkāras arise. Sāṅkhya's deepest material category. Vasudeva is reciting cosmology to his Son and tracing it home to its actual cause.

You are false ego in the mode of ignorance, which is the source of the physical elements; false ego in the mode of passion, which is the source of the bodily senses; false ego in the mode of goodness, which is the source of the demigods; and the unmanifest, total material energy, which underlies everything.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Commentary

You are the tamasika ahankara which causes the five gross elements, the rajasika ahankara which causes the senses, the sattvika ahankara which causes devatas (vikalpanam), and the cause of continued rebirth (pradhanam) of the jivas (anusayinam).

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Anuśāyinām refers to living entities when they merge in prakṛti. This is not the state of liberation.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Now the śakti of ahaṅkāra of three types is explained in three verses. Pradhānam, the root of everything, is your śakti for those beings who have merged in prakṛti. This excludes liberated souls. These jīvas enter the creation to enjoy.

Related values & verses

Related values

Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)

Personal Guidance

You are false ego in all its modes — even our confusion is built on Your energy. There is no place to escape to outside of God; even the snare is His.

Reflection Questions

Where do I think I have escaped God's reach into 'just my own ego'?
How might naming my ego as His energy soften my grip on it?

Analogy

From one root of false-self three branches grow — one bearing elements, one bearing senses, one bearing devas — and underneath them all lies the unbroken trunk of pradhāna. Vasudeva names every layer of cosmic psychology as Bhagavān's own.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io