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TEXT 24
na yasya sakhyam puruso vaiti sakhyuh
sakha vasan samvasatah pure smin
guno yatha gunino vyakta-drstes
tasmai mahesaya namaskaromi
SYNONYMS
nanot; yasyawhose; sakhyamfraternity; purusahthe living entity; avaitiknows; sakhyuhof the supreme friend; sakhathe friend; vasanliving; samvasatahof the one living with; purein the body; asminthis; gunahthe object of sense perception; yathajust like; guninahof its respective sense organ; vyakta-drstehwho oversees the material manifestation; tasmaiunto Him; maha-isayaunto the supreme controller; namaskaromiI offer my obeisances.
TRANSLATION
As the sense objects [form, taste, touch, smell and sound] cannot understand how the senses perceive them, so the conditioned soul, although residing in his body along with the Supersoul, cannot understand how the supreme spiritual person, the master of the material creation, directs his senses. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Person, who is the supreme controller.
PURPORT
The individual soul and the Supreme Soul live together within the body. This is confirmed in the Upanisads by the analogy that two friendly birds live in one treeone bird eating the fruit of the tree and the other simply witnessing and directing. Although the individual living being, who is compared to the bird that is eating, is sitting with his friend the Supreme Soul, the individual living being cannot see Him. Actually the Supersoul is directing the workings of his senses in the enjoyment of sense objects, but as these sense objects cannot see the senses, the conditioned soul cannot see the directing soul. The conditioned soul has desires, and the Supreme Soul fulfills them, but the conditioned soul is unable to see the Supreme Soul. Thus Prajapati Daksa offers his obeisances to the Supreme Soul, the Supersoul, even though unable to see Him. Another example given is that although ordinary citizens work under the direction of the government, they cannot understand how they are being governed or what the government is. In this regard, Madhvacarya quotes the following verse from the Skanda Purana:
As the various servants in the different departments of big establishments cannot see the supreme managing director under whom they are working, the conditioned souls cannot see the supreme friend sitting within their bodies. Let us therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, who is invisible to our material eyes.
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