Skip to content
Chapter 13

Bhagavad-gītā 13.6

Read once with your eyes. Read again aloud.

महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च।इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः।।13.6।।

mahā-bhūtāny ahankāro buddhir avyaktam eva cha indriyāṇi daśhaikaṁ cha pañcha chendriya-gocharāḥ

Verse translation

The five great fundamentals:earth, fire, air, water, and ether:personality, intellect, the mysterious life force, the ten organs of perception and action, the mind, and the five domains of sensation:

English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.

A sepia engraved study panorama for Bhagavad-gītā 13.6, centred on field and knower
Chapter 13 memory scene
Word by word

Build the sentence from its parts

Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.

12word links
Sanskrit formMeaning here
mahā-bhūtānithe (five) great elements
ahankāraḥthe ego
buddhiḥthe intellect
avyaktamthe unmanifested primordial matter
evaindeed
chaand
indriyāṇithe senses
daśha-ekameleven
chaand
pañchafive
chaand
indriya-go-charāḥthe (five) objects of the senses
Explanation and elucidation

The field and its modifications are described in this verse. The twentyfour principles of the Sankhya school of philosophy are mentioned here.

Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Distinguish field, individual knower, Supreme knower, knowledge and knowable while noting this edition’s 35-verse numbering.

Commentary perspectives

Three named reading witnesses

Sources stay separate

Śaṅkara edition witness

Swami Gambirananda

The great elements, egoism, intellect, and the Unmanifest itself; the ten organs and the one, and the five objects of the senses;

Rāmānuja edition witness

Swami Adidevananda

The great elements, the Ahankara, the Buddhi, the Avyakta, the ten senses, and the one, in addition, the five objects of the senses;

Sivananda commentary witness

Swami Sivananda

The field and its modifications are described in this verse. The twentyfour principles of the Sankhya school of philosophy are mentioned here.

These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.

Diagram

Meaning map

Flow chart

Follow the thought

  1. 1

    The five great fundamentals

  2. 2

    earth, fire, air, water

  3. 3

    personality, intellect, the mysterious life force, the ten organs of perception and action, the mind

A sepia engraved visual memory cue for Bhagavad-gītā 13.6
Easy way to remember

Look, link, cover, teach

1

Look

Picture field and knower.

2

Link

Use the line starts: mahā-bhūtāny ahankāro / indriyāṇi daśhaikaṁ.

3

Cover

Hide the verse and rebuild one line at a time.

4

Teach

Explain the flow to another person without looking.

Keep what you learned

Turn this reading into a study record

Save it, return from memory, and write one idea in your own words. Your record stays in this browser unless you export it.

0/1200

A simple learning rhythm

Do more than reread

  1. 1ReadTake in one small piece.
  2. 2RememberClose it and bring it back.
  3. 3UseConnect it to a real choice.
  4. 4ExplainSay it clearly in your own words.