सख्यस्तद्वृत्तयः प्राणः पञ्चवृत्तिर्यथोरगः ॥६॥
sakhÄya indriya-gaṇÄ
jñÄnaá¹ karma ca yat-ká¹›tam
sakhyas tad-vá¹›ttayaḥ prÄṇaḥ
pañca-vṛttir yathoragaḥ
sakhÄyaḥ - the male friends; indriya-gaṇÄḥ - the senses; jñÄnam - knowledge; karma - activity; ca - also; yat-ká¹›tam - done by the senses; sakhyaḥ - female friends; tat - of the senses; vá¹›ttayaḥ - engagements; prÄṇaḥ - life air; pañca-vá¹›ttiḥ - having five processes; yathÄ - like; uragaḥ - the serpent.
The five working senses and the five senses that acquire knowledge are all male friends of Purañjanī. The living entity is assisted by these senses in acquiring knowledge and engaging in activity. The engagements of the senses are known as girlfriends, and the serpent, which was described as having five heads, is the life air acting within the five circulatory processes.
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha haÃ±Ä bhoga-vÄñchÄ kare
nikaá¹a-stha mÄyÄ tÄre jÄpaá¹iyÄ dhare
(Prema-vivarta)
Because of his desire to enjoy the material world, the living entity is dressed with the material gross and subtle bodies. Thus he is given a chance to enjoy the senses. The senses are therefore the instruments for enjoying the material world; consequently the senses have been described as friends. Sometimes, because of too much sinful activity, the living entity does not get a material gross body, but hovers on the subtle platform. This is called ghostly life. Because of his not possessing a gross body, he creates a great deal of trouble in his subtle body. Thus the presence of a ghost is horrible for those who are living in the gross body. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.10):
utkrÄmantaá¹ sthitaá¹ vÄpi
bhuñjÄnaá¹ vÄ guṇÄnvitam
vimÅ«á¸hÄ nÄnupaÅ›yanti
paÅ›yanti jñÄna-caká¹£uá¹£aḥ
“The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.â€
The living entities are merged into the air of life, which acts in different ways for circulation. There is prÄṇa, apÄna, udÄna, vyÄna and samÄna, and because the life air functions in this fivefold way, it is compared to the five-hooded serpent. The soul passes through the kuṇá¸alinÄ«-cakra like a serpent crawling on the ground. The life air is compared to uraga, the serpent. Pañca-vá¹›tti is the desire to satisfy the senses, attracted by the five sense objects, namely form, taste, sound, smell and touch.
