Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 5.11.9
Ūti· What drives us to actFalse Identification Entangles the Soul
“There are five working senses and five knowledge-acquiring senses. There is also the false ego. In this way, there are eleven items for the mind’s functions. O hero, the objects of the senses [such as sound and touch], the organic activities [such as evacuation] and the different types of bodies, society, friendship and personality are considered by learned scholars the fields of activity for the functions of the mind.”
What the purport teaches
- The mind controls the five knowledge-acquiring senses and the five working senses. Each sense has its own field of activity.
- Through false ego, one thinks oneself the body and thinks in terms of “my body, my house, my family, my society, my nation.”
- These false identifications are expansions of false ego. Through them, the living entity becomes entangled in material existence.
Try this today
Notice one thought of “my body” or “my possessions” today, and pause to recognize the false identification described here.
Ask yourself
Which thoughts of “I” and “mine” most strongly shape how I see myself?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.