इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः ।
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः ॥
एवं बुद्धेः परं बुद्ध्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना ।
जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम् ॥
indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ |
manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ ||
evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā saṁstabhyātmānam ātmanā |
jahi śatruṁ mahābāho kāmarūpaṁ durāsadam ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 3.42–43)
“They say the senses are superior [to their objects],
The mind is superior to the senses,
The intellect is superior to the mind,
And that [viz., the self (ātmā)] is what is superior to the intellect.
Thus understanding that which is superior to the intellect,
And steadying the self with the self,
Kill, O you of mighty arms,
The difficult to approach enemy
The form of which is desire (kāma).”
Commentary
yatra citta-praṇidhānena indriyāṇi niyantuṁ śakyante, tad ātma-svarūpaṁ dehādibhyo vivicya darśayati—indriyāṇīti | indriyāṇi dehādibhyo grāhyebhyaḥ parāṇi śreṣṭhāny āhuḥ sūkṣmatvāt prakāśakatvāc ca | ata eva tad-vyatiriktatvam apy arthād uktaṁ bhavati | indriyebhyaś ca saṅkalpātmakaṁ manaḥ param tat-pravartakatvāt | manasas tu niścayātmikā buddhiḥ parā, niścaya-pūrvakatvāt saṅkalpasya | yas tu buddheḥ paratas tat-sākṣitvenāvasthitaḥ sarvāntaraḥ sa ātmā | taṁ vimohayati dehinam iti dehi-śabdokta ātmā sa iti parāmṛśyate | upasaṁharati evam iti | buddher eva viṣayendriyādi-janyāḥ kāmādi-vikriyāḥ | ātmā tu nirvikāras tat-sākṣīty evaṁ buddheḥ param ātmānaṁ buddhvātmanaivaṁbhūtayā niścayātmikayā buddhyātmānaṁ manaḥ saṁstabhya niścalaṁ kṛtvā kāma-rūpiṇaṁ śatruṁ jahi māraya | durāsadaṁ duḥkhenāsādanīyaṁ durvijñeyam ity arthaḥ |
(Subodhinī-ṭīkā)
“He distinguishes from the body and so forth and shows the essential nature (svarūpa) of the self, by fixing the mind upon which the senses are able to be controlled: indriyāni … [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks BG 3.43]. They say the senses are superior (parāṇi) to that which can be perceived [by them], the body and so forth, because of [the senses’] being subtle and being illuminators [of those objects]. Thus, the statement occurs for the sake also of [their] being distinct from those [i.e., from their objects]. The mind, constituted of volition (saṅkalpa), is also superior to the senses because of [its] being the impeller of them. The intellect, constituted of ascertainment (niścaya), is superior to the mind because of volition’s (saṅkalpa’s) being preceded by ascertainment (niścaya). And what is superior to the intellect, [meaning, what is] situated inside everyone by virtue of being the witness (sākṣī) thereof [i.e., of the intellect] is that—the self (ātmā). [Here,] It is being considered that ‘that’ (saḥ) refers to the self (ātmā), [which was] mentioned [earlier] by the word ‘embodied being’ (dehī) in [the statement in BG 3.40] ‘Desire (kāma) deludes him, the embodied being.’
“He concludes [his answer to Arjuna’s question in BG 3.37]: evaṁ … [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks BG 3.43]. The transformations [alt., agitations] of desire (kāma) and so forth, born of [i.e., triggered by] the objects of the senses, the senses, and so forth, are of the intellect alone [i.e., they belong to the intellect specifically, and not the self (ātmā)], whereas the self (ātmā) is the witness thereof free from transformations. Thus understanding the self to be superior to the intellect, and steadying (saṁstabhya), that is, making unwavering, the self (ātmānam), that is, the mind, with the self (ātmanā), that is, with the so existent intellect constituted of ascertainment, kill (jahi) the enemy the form of which is desire (kāma). ‘Difficult to approach’ (durāsadam) means approachable with hardship, that is, difficult to comprehend.”