FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.12.19

एवं गदि: कर्म गतिर्विसर्गो घ्राणो रसो द‍ृक् स्पर्श: श्रुतिश्च । सङ्कल्पविज्ञानमथाभिमान: सूत्रं रज:सत्त्वतमोविकार: ॥ १९ ॥
evaṁ gadiḥ karma gatir visargo
[evam gadih karma gatir visargo]
ghrāṇo raso dṛk sparśaḥ śrutiś ca
[ghraano raso drik sparshah shrutish cha]
saṅkalpa-vijñānam athābhimānaḥ
[sankalpa-vijnaanam athaabhimaanah]
sūtraṁ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vikāraḥ
[sootram rajah-sattva-tamo-vikaarah]
evam — thus gadiḥ — speech karma — the function of the hands gatiḥ — the function of the legs visargaḥ — the functions of the genitals and anus ghrāṇaḥ — smell rasaḥ — taste dṛk — sight sparśaḥ — touch śrutiḥ — hearing ca — also saṅkalpa — the mind’s function vijñānam — the function of intelligence and consciousness atha — moreover abhimānaḥ — the function of false ego sūtram — the function of pradhāna, or the subtle cause of material nature rajaḥ — of the mode of passion sattva — goodness tamaḥ — and of ignorance vikāraḥ — the transformation.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
evaṁ gadiḥ karma gatir visargo
evam
thus
gadiḥ
speech
karma
the function of the hands
gatiḥ
the function of the legs
visargaḥ
the functions of the genitals and anus
ghrāṇo raso dṛk sparśaḥ śrutiś ca
ghrāṇaḥ
smell
rasaḥ
taste
dṛk
sight
sparśaḥ
touch
śrutiḥ
hearing
ca
also
saṅkalpa-vijñānam athābhimānaḥ
saṅkalpa
the mind’s function
vijñānam
the function of intelligence and consciousness
atha
moreover
abhimānaḥ
the function of false ego
sūtraṁ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vikāraḥ
sūtram
the function of pradhāna, or the subtle cause of material nature
rajaḥ
of the mode of passion
sattva
goodness
tamaḥ
and of ignorance
vikāraḥ
the transformation.
The functions of the working senses — the organ of speech, the hands, the legs, the genitals and the anus — and the functions of the knowledge-acquiring senses — the nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ears — along with the functions of the subtle senses of mind, intelligence, consciousness and false ego, as well as the function of the subtle pradhāna and the interaction of the three modes of material nature — all these should be understood as My materially manifest form.

By the word gadi, or “speech,” the Lord concludes His discussion about His manifestation as Vedic vibrations and describes the functions of the other working senses, along with the knowledge-acquiring senses, the subtle functions of consciousness, pradhāna and the interaction of the three modes of material nature. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person sees the entire material world as a manifestation of the Lord’s potencies. There is therefore no legitimate scope for material sense gratification, because everything is an expansion from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and belongs to Him. One who can understand the expansion of the Lord within subtle and gross material manifestations gives up his desire to live in this world. In the spiritual world everything is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. The exclusive feature of the material world is that here the living entity dreams that he is lord. A sane person, giving up this hallucination, finds no attractive features in the kingdom of māyā and therefore returns home, back to Godhead.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Similarly, speech, action, motion, excretion, smelling, tasting, seeing, touching, hearing, deciding, discerning, identity, mahat-tattva, and transformations of rajas, sattva and tamas are my material manifestation. Just as the Vedas which arise from my form appeared from the body of Brahmā, material sound arises from the body of material persons in a corrupted form. Gadiḥ refers to speech using the material voice. Śruti says: catvāri vāk parimitā padāni tāni vidur brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ | guhā trīṇi nihitā neṅgayanti turīyaṁ vāco manuṣyā vadanti || Wise men know the four aspects of speech but they do not reveal the three aspects hidden in the body. Men speak the fourth form. Ṛg-veda 1.164.22 The meaning is this. Speech is measured in four phases. Three are called parā, situated in prāṇa at the base of the spine, paśyantī, situated in the mind in the navel, and madhyamā situated in intelligence in the heart. The sages do not reveal their forms. The fourth, called vaikharī is speech in the vocal organ. Just as speech is manifested from me, the actions of all the senses of the total and individual jīvas are manifested from prakṛti. Action is the function of the hands. Movement is the action of the feet. Excretion is the function of the anus and genital. These are all action senses. Smell is the function of the nose. Taste is the function of the tongue. Seeing is the function of the eye. Touch is the function of the skin. Hearing is the function of the ears. These are knowledge senses. Decision is the function of the mind. Discrimination is the function of intelligence and citta. Identity is the function of ahaṅkāra. Sūtra or mahat-tattva is the function of pradhāna. The transformations of rajas, sattva and tamas are adhyātma, adhidaiva and adhibhūta. All of these are manifestations of matter. The statement is a continuation of the last verse.
Speech, limbs, senses, mind, intelligence, ego, pradhāna and the three modes are all Kṛṣṇa's material form — nothing here is yours to enjoy as lord.
Practical Applications
  • Before eating, speaking, or touching today, pause once and acknowledge that this sense and its object both belong to Kṛṣṇa, not to you.
  • Notice one moment when you instinctively claimed lordship — "my body, my choice, my pleasure" — and silently correct it to "His potency, His property."
  • Refuse one act of sense gratification today on the explicit ground that the sense and its object are not your private property to enjoy.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of my eleven senses do I most habitually treat as a private instrument for my own enjoyment rather than as Kṛṣṇa's manifest form?
  • Where in my inner life — saṅkalpa, vijñāna, ahaṅkāra — am I still dreaming that I am the lord, and what would waking from that dream cost me?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • Before opening a social-media app, name out loud that the eyes, thumbs and attention you are about to spend are Kṛṣṇa's manifest form, not your private toy.
  • In one exam or assignment this week, work as if your intelligence (vijñāna) is borrowed equipment you must return clean — no cheating, no shortcuts, no claiming the result.
  • When peer pressure pushes you toward a taste, touch or thrill you know is gratification, refuse once on the explicit ground that these senses are not yours to spend that way.
householder
  • Run one family decision this week — a purchase, a meal, a discipline choice — through the test "whose senses and whose property is this really?" before acting.
  • At work, treat your speech, hands and intelligence as Kṛṣṇa's manifest form on loan: do the job carefully, but stop secretly trading on the fantasy that you are the lord of your career.
  • With your spouse and children, replace one act of consumption today (a show, a snack, a shopping click) with a small offering — prasāda, kīrtana, reading — so the household practices that the senses are His.
senior
  • Survey the attachments of a lifetime — palate, eyes, comfort, opinions — and identify which one you will consciously begin returning to Kṛṣṇa as His property, not yours.
  • When the body's senses weaken — hearing, sight, taste, mobility — meet each loss as evidence that these were never yours, and let it deepen rather than embitter your sādhana.
  • Mentor a younger devotee or family member by speaking plainly about the dream of lordship you once lived in, and what it cost, so they learn earlier than you did that the senses belong to Him.
Common Pitfalls
  • Taking "everything is Kṛṣṇa's energy" as license to enjoy freely, when the verse's whole thrust is that nothing here is available for personal sense gratification.
  • Drifting into impersonalism — treating the senses and modes as a faceless cosmic display rather than the material form of a personal Lord to whom they belong.
  • Intellectually accepting the cosmology while practically continuing as the enjoyer of speech, hands, tongue and mind, with no change in daily conduct.
Discussion Prompts
  • Pick one of the eleven senses listed and describe, concretely, what changes in your day if you stop treating it as yours.
  • Where do you and your partner disagree about whether "seeing everything as Kṛṣṇa's potency" should make us more austere or more relaxed about enjoyment?
  • Is the false ego (ahaṅkāra) named in this verse the same false ego you fight in daily sādhana, or something subtler — and how would you tell the difference?
Role Play

A student insists that since the body, senses and modes are all Kṛṣṇa's manifest form, watching entertainment, eating rich food, and scrolling social media are simply Him enjoying through them. One classmate plays this student, another plays a senior devotee responding from this verse and Prabhupāda's purport about the kingdom of māyā and the dream of lordship; the rest observe and then critique whether the senior's response stayed personalist and practical or slid into platitudes.

Objections & Responses
  • If my senses, mind and intelligence are all just Kṛṣṇa's material form, then I am not really the doer — so why hold me responsible for how I use them?
    The verse says the senses and modes are His manifest form, not that you are Him. You are the conditioned soul dreaming you are lord of His property; responsibility lies precisely in that misidentification. Waking up means using His senses in His service, not hiding behind His ownership to keep enjoying.
  • This sounds like a world-denying teaching — surely a healthy life means enjoying our senses, not treating every sight, taste and touch as someone else's property.
    Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism does not deny the senses; it reassigns them. The tongue still tastes, the eye still sees — but tastes prasāda, sees the Deity, hears the holy name. What is denied is the hallucination of being lord in māyā's kingdom; what is offered is fuller, eternal engagement of those same senses in bhakti.
📝 My note

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