साध्यात्मः साधिदैवश्च साधिभूत इति त्रिधा ।
विराट्प्राणो दशविध एकधा हृदयेन च ॥९॥

sÄdhyÄtmaḥ sÄdhidaivaÅ› ca
sÄdhibhÅ«ta iti tridhÄ
virÄá¹­ prÄṇo daÅ›a-vidha
ekadhÄ há¹›dayena ca

 sa-ÄdhyÄtmaḥ - the body and mind with all the senses; sa-Ädhidaivaḥ - and the controlling demigods of the senses; ca - and; sa-ÄdhibhÅ«taḥ - the present objectives; iti - thus; tridhÄ - three; virÄá¹­ - gigantic; prÄṇaḥ - moving force; daÅ›a-vidhaḥ - ten kinds; ekadhÄ - one only; há¹›dayena - living energy; ca - also.


Text

The gigantic universal form is represented by three, ten and one in the sense that He is the body and the mind and the senses, He is the dynamic force for all movements by ten kinds of life energy, and He is the one heart where life energy is generated.

Purport

In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.4-5) it is stated that the eight elements earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind, intelligence and false ego are all products of the Lord’s inferior energy, whereas the living entities, who are seen to utilize the inferior energy, originally belong to the superior energy, the internal potency of the Lord. The eight inferior energies work grossly and subtly, whereas the superior energy works as the central generating force. This is experienced in the human body. The gross elements, namely earth, etc., form the external gross body and are like a coat, whereas the subtle mind and false ego act like the inner clothing of the body.

The movements of the body are first generated from the heart, and all the activities of the body are made possible by the senses, powered by the ten kinds of air within the body. The ten kinds of air are described as follows: The main air passing through the nose in breathing is called prÄṇa. The air which passes through the rectum as evacuated bodily air is called apÄna. The air which adjusts the foodstuff within the stomach and which sometimes sounds as belching is called samÄna. The air which passes through the throat and the stoppage of which constitutes suffocation is called the udÄna air. And the total air which circulates throughout the entire body is called the vyÄna air. Subtler than these five airs, there are others also. That which facilitates the opening of the eyes, mouth, etc., is called nÄga air. The air which increases appetite is called ká¹›kara air. The air which helps contraction is called kÅ«rma air. The air which helps relaxation by opening the mouth wide (in yawning) is called devadatta air, and the air which helps sustenance is called dhanañjaya air.

All these airs are generated from the center of the heart, which is one only. This central energy is superior energy of the Lord, who is seated within the heart with the soul of the body, who acts under the guidance of the Lord. This is explained in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15) as follows:

sarvasya cÄhaá¹ há¹›di sanniviṣṭo
 mattaḥ smá¹›tir jñÄnam apohanaá¹ ca
vedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
 vedÄnta-ká¹›d veda-vid eva cÄham

The complete central force is generated from the heart by the Lord, who is seated there and who helps the conditioned soul in remembering and forgetting. The conditioned state is due to the soul’s forgetfulness of his relationship of subordination to the Lord. One who wants to continue to forget the Lord is helped by the Lord to forget Him birth after birth, but one who remembers Him, by dint of association with a devotee of the Lord, is helped to remember Him more and more. Thus the conditioned soul can ultimately go back home, back to Godhead.

This process of transcendental help by the Lord is described in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (10.10) as follows:

teá¹£Äá¹ satata-yuktÄnÄá¹
 bhajatÄá¹ prÄ«ti-pÅ«rvakam
dadÄmi buddhi-yogaá¹ taá¹
 yena mÄm upayÄnti te

The buddhi-yoga process of self-realization with intelligence transcendental to the mind (devotional service) can alone elevate one from the conditioned state of material entanglement in the cosmic construction. The conditioned state of the living entity is like that of a person who is within the depths of a huge mechanical arrangement. The mental speculators can reach the point of buddhi-yoga after many, many lifetimes of speculation, but the intelligent person who begins from the platform of intelligence above the mind makes rapid progress in self-realization. Because the buddhi-yoga process entails no fear of deterioration or retrogression at any time, it is the guaranteed path to self-realization, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (2.40). The mental speculators cannot understand that the two birds (ÅšvetÄÅ›vatara Upaniá¹£ad) sitting in one tree are the soul and the Supersoul. The individual soul eats the fruit of the tree, while the other bird does not eat the fruit but only observes the activities of the eating bird. Without attachment, the witnessing bird helps the fruit-eating bird perform fruitful activities. One who cannot understand this difference between the soul and the Supersoul, or God and the living entities, is certainly still in the entanglement of the cosmic machinery and thus must still await the time when he will be free from bondage.