Chapter 13 Verse 6

The great elements, egoism, intellect, and also the Unmanifested Nature, the ten senses, and one mind, and the five objects of the senses.

Core Meaning

This verse lists what makes up the "field" of experience: the five great elements (body and its material basis), the ego (I-sense), the intellect (power to decide), the unmanifest (the subtle ground behind forms), the eleven inner instruments (the five senses, the five sense-objects, and the one mind). Together they form everything you can feel, think, and perceive.

Philosophically, these are the changing contents of experience, not the true knower. The Self or witness sits apart from these moving parts; it observes but is not identical with the body, mind, or senses.

Seeing these as components—not as you—opens the way to inner freedom. When you stop identifying with the shifting elements, ego, and thoughts, you create space for clarity, calm, and wise action.

Life Application

• When you feel strong emotion, name what arises: body sensation, thought, or an ego reaction. Naming creates distance and reduces reactivity.
• Practice short witness-awareness: for two minutes, observe one sense input (sound or breath) without adding story. This trains seeing the mind as separate from the Self.
• Before deciding, pause and ask: is this choice coming from clear intellect or from ego/habit? Choose from clarity, not from a blind "I must."

Reflection Question

When you look inward, which of these—body, ego, mind, or senses—do you most identify with right now?