Page 58 - Metaphysical questions of life

three modes of nature. Then there are five senses for acquiring
knowledge: the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Then five working
senses: voice, legs, hands, anus and genitals. Then, above the senses,
there is the mind, which is within and which can be called the sense
within. Therefore, including the mind, there are eleven senses altogeth-
er. Then there are the five objects of the senses: smell, taste, form,
touch and sound. Now the aggregate of these twenty-four elements is
called the field of ac vity. If one makes an analy cal study of these
twenty-four subjects, then he can very well understand the field of ac-
vity. Then there are desire, hatred, happiness and distress, which are
interac ons, representa ons of the five great elements in the gross
body. The living symptoms, represented by consciousness, and convic-
ons are the manifesta on of the subtle body – mind, ego and intelli-
gence. These subtle elements are included within the field of ac vi es.”

“The five great elements are a gross representa on of the false ego,
which in turn represents the primal stage of false ego technically called
the materialis c concep on, or tāmasa-buddhi, intelligence in igno-
rance. This, further, represents the unmanifested stage of the three
modes of material nature. The unmanifested modes of material nature
are called pradhāna.
One who desires to know the twenty-four elements in detail along with
their interac ons should study the philosophy in more detail.
In Bhagavad-gītā, a summary only is given”.

“The body is the representa on of all these factors, and there are
changes of the body, which are six in number: the body is born, it
grows, it stays, it produces by-products, then it begins to decay, and at
the last stage it vanishes. Therefore the field is a nonpermanent materi-
al thing. However, the kṣetra-jña, the knower of the field, its proprietor,
is different.” (Bg 13. 6-7)
bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ / khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra i yaṁ me / bhinnā prakṛ r aṣṭadhā)
“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego – all to-
gether these eight cons tute My separated material energies.” (Bg 7.4)

“The science of God analyzes the cons tu onal posi on of God and His
diverse energies. Material nature is called prakṛ , or the energy of the

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