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The Five Senses & The Soul

This painting portrays the following three verses of Bhagavad-gita

  1. “indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah”
    (The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he (the soul) is even higher than the intelligence.) (Bhagavad-gita 3.42)
    The Shloka implies that the senses should be controlled by mind, mind should be controlled by intelligence under the direction of soul.
  2. upadrastanumanta ca bharta bhokta mahesvarah paramatmeti capy ukto dehe 'smin purusah parah
    (Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Super-soul.) (Bhagavad-gita 13:23)
    This verse states that within the heart of a living being, the Supreme Personality of Godhead resides as the Super-soul. The Super-soul rests beside the individual soul and acts as a witness.
  3. ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
    (Those situated in the mode of goodness or sattva gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion or rajas live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance or tamas go down to the hellish worlds.) (Bhagavad-gita 14:18)

In this painting through the analogy of puppet, five senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) are portrayed. The cords attached to the senses represent mind. the pair of hands controlling the cords represents intelligence and the pair of hands at the top giving directions represents individual soul.

Dr. Archana Srivastava