Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.23.17

indriyeṣu manas tāni

tan-mātreṣu yathodbhavam

bhūtādināmūny utkṛṣya

mahaty ātmani sandadhe

SYNONYMS

indriyeṣu — in the sense organs; manaḥ — the mind; tāni — the sense organs; tat-mātreṣu — in the objects of the senses; yathā-udbhavam — wherefrom they generated; bhūta-ādinā — by the five elements; amūni — all those sense objects; utkṛṣya — taking out; mahati — in the mahat-tattva; ātmani — unto the ego; sandadhe — amalgamated.

TRANSLATION

He amalgamated the mind with the senses and the senses with the sense objects, according to their respective positions, and he also amalgamated the material ego with the total material energy, mahat-tattva.

PURPORT

In respect to the ego, the total material energy is sundered in two parts — one agitated by the mode of ignorance and the other agitated by the modes of passion and goodness. Due to agitation by the mode of ignorance, the five gross elements are created. Due to agitation by the mode of passion, the mind is created, and due to agitation by the mode of goodness, false egoism, or identification with matter, is created. The mind is protected by a particular type of demigod. Sometimes the mind (manaḥ) is also understood to have a controlling deity or demigod. In this way the total mind, namely the material mind controlled by material demigods, was amalgamated with the senses. The senses, in turn, were amalgamated with the sense objects. The sense objects are forms, tastes, smells, sounds, etc. Sound is the ultimate source of the sense objects. The mind was attracted by the senses and the senses by the sense objects, and all of them were ultimately amalgamated in the sky. The creation is so arranged that cause and effect follow one after the other. The merging process involves amalgamating the effect with the original cause. Since the ultimate cause in the material world is mahat-tattva, everything was gradually wound up and amalgamated with the mahat-tattva. This may be compared to śūnya-vāda, or voidism, but this is the process for cleansing the real spiritual mind, or consciousness.

When the mind is completely washed of all material contamination, the pure consciousness acts. The sound vibration from the spiritual sky can automatically cleanse all material contaminations, as confirmed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu: ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. We need only take the advice of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to cleanse the mind of all material contamination, and this may be considered the summary of this difficult verse. As soon as the whole material contamination is washed away by this process of chanting, all desires and reactions to material activities become immediately vanquished, and real life, peaceful existence, begins. In this age of Kali it is very difficult to adopt the yogic process mentioned in this verse. Unless one is very expert in such yoga, the best course is to adopt the ways and means of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam. Thus one can gloriously become freed from all material contamination by the simple process of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Just as life in this material world has its beginning in material sound, similarly a spiritual life has its beginning in this spiritual sound vibration.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness