Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 5
महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च।इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः।।
mahā-bhūtāny ahankāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca
indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca pañca cendriya-gocarāḥ
also searched as "mahabhutany ahankaro buddhir avyaktam eva ca"
Translation
The great elements, the Ahankara, the Buddhi, the Avyakta, the ten senses, and the one, in addition, the five objects of the senses;
Vāṇi's rendering
The five great elements, the sense of I, understanding, the unmanifest; ten senses and the mind; five sense-fields.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| महाभूतानिmahā-bhūtāni | the great elements — earth, water, fire, air, space; final vowel shortened before the next word |
| अहङ्कारःahaṅkāraḥ | the sense of being a separate 'I' |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | understanding, the faculty that decides |
| अव्यक्तम्avyaktam | the unmanifest — nature before it takes any visible shape |
| एवeva | indeed |
| चca | and |
| इन्द्रियाणिindriyāṇi | the senses |
| दशdaśa | ten — five that perceive, five that act |
| एकम्ekam | and the one more — the mind; joined with daśa by sandhi as daśaikam |
| चca | and |
| पञ्चpañca | five |
| चca | and; joined with the next word by sandhi as cendriya |
| इन्द्रियगोचराःindriya-gocarāḥ | the pastures of the senses — sound, touch, form, taste, smell |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 5 mean?
It itemises the field — the kṣetra. Krishna names the five great elements, the sense of I, understanding, the unmanifest ground of nature, the ten senses with the mind, and the five sense-fields. Everything nameable about a person is placed on this list. Nothing on it is the knower.
What is the meaning of mahabhutany ahankaro buddhir avyaktam eva ca?
Great elements, the sense of I, understanding, the unmanifest. Krishna begins with the coarsest — earth and water — and moves inward to what feels most intimately yours. The order matters. Even ahaṅkāra and buddhi, the two things you would defend as yourself, are listed as terrain.
Why is the mind counted separately from the ten senses?
The ten are five that receive the world and five that act upon it. The mind is the eleventh — the one that gathers what they bring and calls it experience. Krishna counts it in, plainly. It coordinates the field; it does not stand outside it watching.
Is the sense of I really not the self?
Not in this reckoning. Ahaṅkāra is the machinery that produces the feeling of being a separate someone. Machinery can be observed, and what can be observed is field. When the sense of I loosens in sleep or absorption, something remains that knew the loosening. Look there.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna answers a question about the field by making a list. Five elements, the sense of I, understanding, the unmanifest, ten senses, the mind, five sense-fields — an inventory, flat and unhurried, of everything a body is. Notice what is on it. The sense of I is on it. Understanding is on it. The part of you that says this is mine has been counted among the furniture, not the one who owns the room. Arjuna wanted to know where he ends. The answer arrives as items. Read the list slowly and find your name somewhere in it; then ask who is reading.