Gita 15.9
Purushottama Yoga
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च | अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ||९||
śrotraṁ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṁ ca rasanaṁ ghrāṇam eva ca | adhiṣṭhāya manaś cāyaṁ viṣayān upasevate ||9||
In essence: Presiding over the ear, eye, touch, taste, smell, and mind, this soul experiences the objects of the senses.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "So right now, as I hear, see, and think, it is not actually 'I' the body doing this, but the eternal soul presiding over these faculties?"
Guru: "Precisely! The body provides the instruments—ears, eyes, skin. The soul provides the awareness that makes experience possible. Without the soul's presiding consciousness, the instruments are mere matter—a corpse has eyes but sees nothing. You—the eternal fragment—are the light in the lamp, the knower in the instruments of knowing."
Sadhak: "But I feel so absorbed in what I perceive. How can I experience the 'presiding' nature rather than just the objects?"
Guru: "By turning attention back, even momentarily. Right now, sounds are happening—notice the awareness in which they appear. That awareness is the presiding principle. It is already present; you are just habitually focused outward. Any moment of 'Who is hearing this?' touches the presider, not just the heard."
Sadhak: "The word 'upasevate' suggests serving the sense objects. Is that the problem?"
Guru: "Yes—the soul, forgetting its sovereignty, acts as if sense objects were masters to be served. 'I must have this taste, that sight, this experience.' This is bondage. Freedom is not rejecting experience but recognizing: 'I am the presider, not the servant. These objects appear in me; I do not appear in them.' Same experience, different understanding, different relationship."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Upon opening eyes and ears to the new day, pause before 'serving' the day's objects. Recognize the 'presiding' awareness that is about to engage. 'I am the consciousness that will experience this day, not a hungry seeker among objects.' This sets the tone for masterful rather than servile engagement.
Periodically turn attention from the perceived to the perceiver. When eating, pause: who is tasting? When seeing, ask: who is aware of sight? This is not philosophical abstraction but direct inquiry into your immediate experience. Each inquiry is a moment of recognizing the 'presiding' soul rather than being lost in the 'objects served.'
Review the day's sense experiences. Where did you 'upasevate'—hungrily serve the objects, seeking fulfillment in them? Where did you 'adhiṣṭhāya'—preside knowingly, experiencing without enslavement? No guilt, just observation. Tomorrow, carry this awareness forward: the soul as presider, not as servant of the senses.